U.S. Citizen Sentenced 24 Years Prison Time For Crimes Related to Terrorism
A California man convicted last year of aiding terrorists and lying to the FBI was sentenced on Monday to 24 years in prison.
Top U.S. Commander Warns Against Hurried Iraq Pullout
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, warned in stark terms against the kind of rapid pullback favored by the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, in a day of testimony that drove home the continuing inability of the Democrats to force a change in strategy in Iraq.
Sept. 11 Commemoration Moved Away From Ground Zero to Park
The planning for Tuesday’s commemoration of the 2001 terror attacks had become a seemingly familiar standoff. On one side was a vocal core of victims’ relatives threatening to hold their own event because the ceremony would, for the first time, take place not at ground zero but across the street, at Zuccotti Park. On the other, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, accused by the relatives of insensitivity, was holding firm that it was unsafe to allow mourners at what was now an active construction site.
Petraeus in Support of ProposalReducing No. of U.S. Troops in Iraq
Under the timetable embraced on Monday by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the number of American combat brigades would decline by one-fourth by next summer, from 20 now to 15 in July, with the prospect of deeper, if as yet unscheduled, reductions to come.
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The government’s ability to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists overseas allowed the United States to obtain information that led to the arrests last week of three Islamic militants accused of planning bomb attacks in Germany, said Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence.
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Li Runsen, the powerful technology director of China’s ministry of public security, is best known for leading Project Golden Shield, China’s intensive effort to strengthen police control over the Internet.
Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan Kills Afghan Civilians, Policemen
In one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, at least one suicide bomber killed at least 26 Afghans, half of them civilians, in a crowded market in southern Afghanistan on Monday night, Afghan officials said.
NIH Funds Local Mass. Teams For Daring Scientific Research
Boston researchers are about to begin a bold experiment that, if it works, could help solve the organ shortage and provide other replacement parts for worn-out humans: They will try to grow heart valves, and parts of a pancreas and a tooth, from scratch in the lab.
Petraeus, Viewing Gains as Fragile, Is Wary of Pullbacks
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has told President Bush that he wants to maintain heightened troop levels in Iraq well into next year to reduce the risk of military setbacks, but could accept the pullback of an initial brigade beginning in January, according to senior administration and military officials.
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Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on Wednesday criticized a congressional proposal to soften provisions of President’s Bush signature education law, saying it would severely weaken the federal effort to raise achievement among poor and minority children.
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Apple unexpectedly cut the price of its iPhone on Wednesday, claiming that it was seeking to broaden the market for the popular but pricey phone for the Christmas season.
Germany Building a Case Against Others Implicated in Terrorist Plot
German investigators were trying to build a case on Thursday against a handful of suspects beyond the three arrested in connection with a foiled terrorist attack by Islamic militants, and German officials prepared to debate whether security services should be given wider surveillance powers.
Transitions
As you transition from a summer of frolicking to a fall of problem sets or an orientation week of free food to a first week of sudden starvation, the weather seems to be the only thing somewhat constant this first week of the semester. September is considered to be the nicest month of the year, but it is not without its variety. Autumn’s chill can come barreling out of Canada and hurricanes can approach from the Atlantic, though none of that is in the cards the next few days.
Eleven NJ Officials Arrested in Corruption Investigation by FBI
Eleven local public officials, including two members of the state Assembly, were charged Thursday with taking thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for promising municipal business to undercover officers posing as insurance brokers, in the latest federal probe into New Jersey’s rampant political corruption.
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Make no mistake, Dell is in the black. But production delays, particularly problems in getting the vivid paint colors of its new line of notebook computers right, are preventing the struggling company from growing as quickly as investors have hoped.
Taliban Frees the Last Seven South Koreans After Holding Direct Talks
The Taliban freed the seven remaining South Korean hostages in central Afghanistan on Thursday evening, Afghan officials announced, ending a six-week hostage crisis that had placed enormous political pressure on the South Korean government.
Sunny Weekend
A cold front sweeping through the region may provide the necessary trigger for some showers today, but will ultimately make way for a spectacular Labor Day weekend. Sunny skies, a comfortable late summer diurnal temperature range, and low humidity will prevail from Saturday through Monday. Such conditions are not surprising for early September, which on average is the sunniest time of year in Cambridge.
Independent U.S. Panel Urges Purging Corrupt Iraq Officers
An independent commission established by Congress to assess Iraq’s security forces will recommend remaking the 26,000-member national police force to purge it of corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings, Bush administration and military officials said Thursday.
Texas Governor Commutes Disputed Murder Accomplice’s Death Sentence
Hours before his scheduled execution on Thursday as a disputed accomplice in a 1996 murder, Kenneth Foster won a rare commutation to life in prison after Gov. Rick Perry followed the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and granted a death row reprieve.
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Two Boston firefighters were killed and 11 others were injured battling a blaze that appeared to start in a grease-caked ventilation shaft at a Chinese restaurant on Wednesday night, officials said Thursday. They were the first Boston firefighters to die in the line of duty since 1994.