Blackwater Guards’ Shots Are Not Provoked, Iraq Concludes
Iraq’s Ministry of Interior has concluded that employees of a private American security firm fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting last Sunday in which at least eight Iraqis were killed and is proposing a radical reshaping of the way American diplomats and contractors here are protected.
Summer Holds On
With the passage of the autumnal equinox early Sunday morning, the summer season will soon draw to a close. Nevertheless, rather summer-like conditions will prevail through the middle of next week, as a ridge of high pressure stations itself over the eastern portion of the country. For the weekend, the wind will switch to offshore from the recently prevailing onshore direction, allowing daytime temperatures to rise above 80°F (27°C). The wind direction on Monday is uncertain, but if it stays offshore, the temperature will be warmer than currently expected.
Euro Climbs to All-Time High; Canadian Dollar Exceeds USD
The world dumped the dollar on Thursday, pushing it to an all-time low of $1.40 against the euro and to parity with the Canadian dollar for the first time in three decades as currency traders around the world digested the full implications of the Federal Reserve’s new course for interest rates.
Baghdad Bans U.S. Contractor After Gunfire Kills Eight Iraqis
Blackwater USA, an American contractor that provides security to some of the top American officials in Iraq, has been banned from working in the country by the Iraqi government after a shooting that left eight Iraqis dead and involved an American diplomatic convoy.
A Place in the Sun
After this past weekend’s cooler weather, we can expect temperatures to rise for the next few days. A high pressure system is keeping the New England skies clear, so look forward to plenty of sun on this beautiful September afternoon. The lack of cloud cover and subsequent radiation cooling will contribute to an overnight low in the lower 50s°F.
Officials Say Israeli Raid Was Result Of Nuclear Aid to Syria From N. Korea
The Sept. 6 attack by Israeli warplanes inside Syria struck what Israeli intelligence believes was a nuclear-related facility that North Korea was helping to equip, according to current and former American and Israeli officials.
Dems Warn They May Delay Approval of Bush’s Nominee
Two Senate Democrats warned Monday that they might delay confirming President Bush’s choice to be the next attorney general unless the White House turns over documents relating to several investigations, a move that could provoke the kind of confirmation fight the administration was hoping to avoid.
Shorts (right)
France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, sought on Monday to tone down remarks he made in a radio and television interview the day before that the world had to prepare for possible war against Iran.
Shorts (left)
Gov. Deval L. Patrick unveiled a proposal on Monday to allow three resort-style casinos in Massachusetts. The revenues, he said, would help the commonwealth pay for road and bridge and repair, and provide property tax relief to homeowners.
Clinton Unveils New Proposal For Universal Health Insurance
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a plan on Monday to guarantee health insurance to all Americans, but in a way carefully designed to avoid nearly every major political flaw in her failed proposal of 1993–94.
Antitrust Ruling Against Microsoft May Bode Ill For Other Companies
Europe’s second-highest court delivered a stinging rebuke to Microsoft on Monday, but the impact of the decision upholding an earlier antitrust ruling may extend well beyond the world’s largest software maker to other high-technology companies.
Aug. Fires Change Outlook For Greek Parliamentary Elections
Just a month ago, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis called for early parliamentary elections, when his center-right New Democracy party seemed a shoo-in for victory.
Two More Earthquakes Hit Indonesia; Strongest Shock Was 8.4 in Magnitude
Two more strong earthquakes shook the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Thursday, after the powerful quake that hit on Wednesday, but the area escaped a major tsunami like the one that devastated the region in 2004.
Success Allows Limited Troop Cuts, Bush Says in Nat’l Address
President Bush contended on Thursday night that his plan to begin withdrawing some troops from Iraq gradually was based on a principle he called “return on success,” saying that progress made so far could be squandered by the deeper and speedier reductions that the war’s opponents have demanded.
Shorts (left)
Though President Bush said he would withdraw five Army combat brigades and several Marine units from Iraq by next summer, as the top commander in Iraq had recommended, the White House was careful Thursday not to be pinned down on just how many soldiers would remain.
Shorts (right)
The group whose $10 million prize spurred privately financed rocketeers to send a small piloted craft to the cusp of space in 2004 has issued a new challenge: an unmanned moon shot.
Fifteen Pakistani Commandos Killed in Apparent Suicide Blast
At least 15 soldiers from an elite commando unit were killed Thursday evening when a blast, apparently set off by a suicide bomber, tore through the dining hall of a military installation in northwestern Pakistan, military officials said.
Sunni Sheik Who Backed U.S. In Iraq Killed in Bomb Attack
A high-profile Sunni Arab sheik who collaborated with the American military in the fight against jihadist militants in western Iraq was killed in a bomb attack on Thursday near his desert compound. The attack appeared to be a precisely planned assassination meant to undermine one of the Bush administration’s trumpeted achievements in the war.
Pleasant Weather to Continue
September is typically one of the most comfortable (and easy to forecast) months in the New England year. Last year, the warmest days during September were in the low 80s°F while the coolest were generally in the mid 60s°F. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the days featured sunshine. By contrast, this month we have already experienced two days with highs in the mid 90s°F. However, those days were quite anomalous and most likely we are done with such hot weather for 2007. Already the fall march of cool Canadian high pressure areas towards the south has begun, with the first hard freeze since the spring being felt in the Upper Midwest earlier this week. This time of year marks the peak of Atlantic Hurricane season and there are two systems currently of note. After making landfall in east Texas Wednesday, the remains of Hurricane Humberto may add some moisture to a cold front for us over the weekend, and Tropical Depression 8 east of the Virgin Islands bears watching.
So Long Summer
Although technically not yet autumn, temperatures over the foreseeable future will certainly make it feel like the fall season. Contrast this to just a few days ago when Logan tied a record high of 95°F, previously set way back in 1872. A cold front moved through early Sunday morning, bringing substantially cooler and somewhat drier air with its passage. The weekend also saw a weak Tropical Storm Gabrielle brush the North Carolina coast with mainly light rain and some gusty winds. Cape Hatteras recorded a top wind speed of 53 mph. Now a tropical depression, Gabrielle is currently racing off to the northeast and passed about 200 miles south of Nantucket last night.