Thousands Protest Thursday As Chavez Seeks More Power
Three days before a referendum that would vastly expand the powers of President Hugo Chavez, this city’s streets were packed on Thursday with tens of thousands of opponents to the change. The protests signaled that Venezuelans may be balking at placing so much authority in the hands of one man.
Broadway Bustling Again After Stagehands Strike for 19 Days
At “Chicago,” the cast had to do a run-through because the new leading man and two other stars joining the show — Vincent Pastore and Aida Turturro, of “The Sopranos” — had never rehearsed together.
Emergency Rule to Be Lifted on Dec. 16, Musharraf Announces
Hours after being sworn in to a second term, President Pervez Musharraf announced Thursday that he would lift his state of emergency on Dec. 16, leaving barely three weeks for election campaigning and setting the stage for further confrontation with his opposition.
In Slovakia, Three Arrested After Attempt to Sell Enriched Uranium
Two Hungarians and a Ukrainian were arrested Wednesday after trying to sell highly enriched uranium, Slovak diplomats and police authorities said Thursday. The quantity, however, was far too small to make a crude warhead.
Market Fears Prompt Sell-Off; Treasuries Hit 3-Year Low Point
Concerns that problems in the credit market could push the economy into a recession drove investors to the safety of Treasuries on Monday and led to a sell-off of stocks.
Fall This Week, Winter Next Week
Now that Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror, I have started wondering when that first accumulating snow of the season will arrive and really enhance the holiday feel. The first flakes of the season last week were somewhat of a surprise and also seemed sudden because of all the warm weather preceding it, but the average date for the first trace of snow in Boston is actually Nov. 4. For measurable snow, the average date for the first 0.5 inch is Dec. 5. I’m not sure if we will make it by that date this year, but the weather pattern looks to be favorable for chances of snow in the coming weeks. Until then, however, the forecast looks seasonally cool but not frigid.
Israelis and Palestinians Try to Plan Peace Talks as Bush Outlines Speech
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators made progress on Monday toward completing a joint statement for the planned Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Md., and President Bush appeared ready to paper over remaining differences between the two sides with his planned speech on Tuesday.
Youths Clash With Paris Police After Teens Die in Car Accident
Dozens of youths clashed with police on Monday for the second night in a row in a working- and lower-class suburb north of Paris, throwing stones, glass and firebombs against large contingents of heavily armed riot police officers and moving nimbly from target to target on several fronts, torching cars and a garbage truck.
Defense Secretary Urges Increase In Diplomatic Efforts, Negotiation
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called Monday for the U.S. government to commit more money and effort to “soft power” tools, including diplomacy, economic assistance and communications, because the military alone cannot defend America’s interests around the world.
Shorts (left)
The District of Columbia has the highest rate of AIDS infection of any city in the country, nearly twice that of New York, and the disease is being transmitted to infants, older adults, women and heterosexual men at an epidemic pace, according to a report released Monday by city health officials.
Hard-Liners in Middle East Resist Peace Efforts of U.S.
The leaders of Hamas on Monday espoused a hard line against Israel at a conference that they and the militant Islamic Jihad faction convened in Gaza on the eve of the American-sponsored Middle East peace gathering in Annapolis, Md.
Federal Prosecutors Subpoena Blackwater Employees in Iraq
Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to some of the Blackwater employees present at a Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad in which the company’s security personnel killed 17 Iraqi civilians, lawyers in the case and government officials briefed on the matter said Monday.
Pakistani Supreme Court Upholds Musharraf’s Presidential Election
The newly formed Supreme Court of Pakistan, which was appointed after emergency rule was imposed two weeks ago, Monday dismissed the main outstanding challenges to Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s election for another presidential term, almost certainly ensuring his confirmation as president later this week.
Shorts (left)
A security guard along with 20 other people who had been riding in a truck were arrested on Monday after the guard shot a teenage girl in central Baghdad, witnesses and an Iraqi army sergeant said. The guard, whose nationality was not immediately known, wounded the girl, who is 18, in the leg as she crossed the street in the bustling, mixed neighborhood of Karada around noon, according to witnesses.
Thousands Killed in Cyclone, Millions More Left Homeless
The number of people left dead after the powerful cyclone that swept through Bangladesh on Thursday rose to more than 3,100 Monday, the government said. The United Nations estimated that a million people had been left homeless, many of them in remote areas without predictable food supplies.
Samsung Scandal Worsens With Former Legal Aide’s Accusation
Samsung, which has vigorously denied bribery charges in a snowballing corruption scandal, sustained another blow to its image Monday when a former legal adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun said the company had once offered him a cash bribe.
Auto Insurance Rates in MA Drop 7.7 Percent After Switching to New System
Massachusetts auto insurance premiums will drop an average of just under 8 percent in the first year of the state’s new competitive insurance system, less than what some analysts had forecast would happen if regulators continued to set the rates.
Shorts (right)
The latest round of talks between the producers’ league and the stagehands union broke down Sunday night, leaving no end in sight for the strike that has already darkened most of Broadway for nine days. Soon after the breakdown, the League of American Theaters and Producers announced it was canceling performances of the 27 shows affected by the strike through next Sunday.
Thanksgiving Travel Forecast
Although not exactly ideal, weather conditions today and tomorrow should not cause major problems for those departing Cambridge for the holiday. A warm front moving in from the west will make for a dreary day today, bringing cloudy skies and light rain or wet (non-accumulating) snow. Tonight will be chilly and damp, but then the temperature will rise all the way through Thanksgiving afternoon, in response to southerly flow induced by a low pressure area developing well to our southwest. Overcast skies will predominate during this interlude of warmth, with the clouds perhaps squeezing out a few showers on Thanksgiving.
Shorts (left)
President Bush announced Thursday he was nominating a federal judge and former prosecutor from Chicago as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department.