Shorts (right)
Danvers neighborhood last November, state officials Monday outlined the first federally approved plan to inspect small chemical and hazardous waste plants that they said could pose "a significant danger to populations in the event of a problem or accident."
Mass. Governor Patrick Moves To Reshape Executive Branch
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, in his latest effort to reshape his administration, has informed all commissioners and agency leaders appointed by his Republican predecessors that they must reapply for their jobs and will be notified by June 1 if they can remain in their positions.
The Heat Is On
After the generally dreary weather of March and April, anyone looking forward to summer will surely enjoy an early taste this week, as temperatures flirt with 80°F (27°C) in the coming days.
Report on Child Deaths Finds Some Hope in Poorest Nations
The rate at which young children perish has worsened most disastrously over the past 15 years in Iraq, hard hit by both sanctions and war, and in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, devastated by AIDS, according to a report released Monday by Save the Children. But researchers also found against-the-odds progress is some of the world's poorest nations.
As Top Aide Resigns, Future For Wolfowitz Still Uncertain
World Bank president Paul D. Wolfowitz's efforts to keep his job floundered Monday as one of his top two aides resigned and several senior bank officials expressed concern in interviews that countries might withhold donations if his fate as head of the world's leading development institution isn't settled soon.
A Fan of the American Way Takes The Reins in France After Election
Two days before the first round of the presidential election last month, Nicolas Sarkozy donned a red checked shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, mounted a small white horse named Universe and rode around the Camargue country in France's deep south. A gaggle of reporters and cameramen followed him in a cart pulled by a tractor. The black bulls on the nearby pasture stayed away.
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Survives 3 No-Confidence Votes in Parliament
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, survived three no-confidence votes against his government on Monday, part of the political fallout from a harsh report on the country's leadership during last summer's war in Lebanon.
Shorts (left)
Students at Amir Kabir University fended off club-wielding university security guards on Monday and went ahead with elections for a pro-democracy association.
L.A. Weather?
Sunny for five days in a row — is that possible? Yes! New England is well known for its changing weather, so several consecutive days of sunny skies can seem implausible. According to the National Climate Data Center, Boston receives clear skies for 98 days out of an average year, with clear skies being defined as less than 30 percent cloud cover. (Meanwhile, if you are curious, the number one city for clear skies is Yuma, AZ, which enjoys a whopping 242 clear days in an average year.) So statistically, the odds are against a string of clear days in Boston.
Scientists Discover Gene Linked To Heart Disease in Europeans
Two rival teams of scientists have discovered a common genetic variation that increases the risk of heart disease up to 60 percent in people of European descent.
Senator Clinton Proposes Vote to Rescind Bush’s War Authorization
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., proposed Thursday that Congress repeal the authority it gave President Bush in 2002 to invade Iraq, injecting presidential politics into the congressional debate over war funding.
Seeking An Edge, Florida Legislature Approves Plans to Move Up Primary
Casting more uncertainty over the presidential nominating process for 2008, the Florida Legislature on Thursday moved the state’s primary up to Jan. 29, ignoring the threat of sanctions from the national Republican and Democratic parties.
Shorts (right)
Sen. Barack Obama, whose crowds at political rallies across the country have often numbered in the thousands, was placed under Secret Service protection Thursday, a spokesman for the agency said.
Shorts (left)
A federal official whose investigations of waste and corruption in Iraq have repeatedly embarrassed the Bush administration is being investigated himself by an oversight committee with close links to the White House and by the ranking Republican on the House Government Reform Committee.
Meeting With Syrian Minister Marks Shift in Bush Strategy
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Thursday with her Syrian counterpart in the first high-level diplomatic contact between Washington and Damascus in more than two years.
Former Deputy General Claims U.S. Attorneys Show Competency
A former deputy attorney general told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that he regarded most of the fired U.S. attorneys as highly competent prosecutors who should not have been dismissed.
The Springtime Jet
Yesterday started off very cold and damp, however it quickly shifted to sunny weather and temperatures slightly above 70°F. If you are curious about the source of this springtime variability, at least part of it is due to the jet stream that is currently located over Boston. The jet acts as a guide for smaller scale perturbations that can potentially cause weather variations over a few hours. Also, since the jet stream in the upper atmosphere is concomitant with a large temperature gradient near the surface and lower atmosphere, to be close to the jet is also to be close to the boundary between the polar air masses and the tropical air masses. This is yet another source of variability since it provides the potential for rapid changes in temperature due to air crossing over either from the pole or from the equator side of the boundary.
Senior Officer Testifies Against Previous Military Jailer in Iraq
A senior commander in the American military’s main detention center here testified Monday at a military hearing that his predecessor, Lt. Col. William H. Steele, gave computer programs and other gifts to the daughter of a high-value detainee.
Sunni Ministers Threaten to Quit Iraqi Government in Frustration
The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet Tuesday in frustration over the Iraq government’s failure to deal with Sunni concerns.
Five Muslims Convicted For Planning 2005 Bomb Attack
A jury found five British Muslim men guilty on Monday of planning fertilizer-bomb attacks around London, ending a yearlong trial that linked the plotters with two of the four men who blew themselves up on London’s transit system in July 2005.