Shorts (left)
The leader of the World Health Organization criticized the drug industry Monday, saying that the drive for profit was one reason no cure had yet been found for Ebola.
China approves security law emphasizing counterespionage
BEIJING — President Xi Jinping of China has signed a new Counterespionage Law, replacing the 1993 National Security Law with an updated set of rules that will more closely target foreign spies and Chinese individuals and organizations who collaborate with them.
Data-driven campaigns lack messages
WASHINGTON — Modern political campaigns home in on their key voters with drone-like precision, down to the smallest niche — like Prius-driving single women in Northern Virginia who care about energy issues. They compile hundreds of pieces of data on individuals, from party registration to pet ownership to favorite TV shows. And they can reach people through Facebook, Pandora, Twitter, YouTube or cable television.
Off-shore storm to make weekend weather unpleasant
A cold and rainy weekend is in store for the Boston/Cambridge area as a low pressure system rides Northward just off the coast. On Saturday and Sunday, temperatures will likely top out in the mid 40s (°F) and will likely drop below freezing on Sunday night. There is a very good chance of rain on Saturday, with up to half an inch possible, depending on the path the off-shore storm takes.
Sweden recognizes Palestinian state
JERUSALEM — The Swedish government on Thursday officially recognized the state of Palestine, as the new prime minister, Stefan Lofven, ignored Israeli protests and followed through on a pledge he made at his inauguration this month.
Shorts (left)
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Demonstrators surged through the dusty streets of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Thursday, overrunning state broadcasters, setting fire to the Parliament building and torching the homes of relatives of President Blaise Compaoré in a swelling of protest against his plans to extend his 27 years in office.
Ukraine and Russia reach deal on natural gas supplies
BRUSSELS — Russian and Ukrainian officials reached an agreement Thursday to resume Russian deliveries of natural gas to prevent shortages during the winter months, which require large amounts of energy for heating.
GDP grows at 3.5 percent rate, lifting hopes
Unlike the seventh game of the World Series, the debate over the economy’s strength sometimes seems like a playoff competition between skeptics and believers. But on Thursday, the boosters won at least a temporary victory with a government report that estimated the nation’s economic output rose at a healthy 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter.
North Korea said to impose Ebola quarantine
SEOUL, South Korea — For U.S. health officials fretting over states going their own way on Ebola quarantines, consider this: North Korea, which in the best of times allows a limited number of people in or out, is rattled enough about the virus that it reportedly will quarantine anyone coming into the country from anywhere.
Shorts (right)
BEIJING — The announcement by administrators of the SAT college entrance test that scores are being withheld for students from China and South Korea who took the exam this month has infuriated many and raised anxiety about what for a number of them is a high-stakes college application process.
Shorts (left)
NEW YORK — Around the time New Yorkers started fretting over the city’s first diagnosis of Ebola on Thursday, Sal Pain began drawing up plans for four decontamination chambers, customized for a cramped Harlem hallway.
A final October warmup
Even though November is just around the corner, the Institute will experience temperatures more typical of mid-to-late September in the next couple of days. As a cold front approaches from the west, a high pressure system will remain situated to our southeast, leading to mostly sunny skies and warm-air advection. Until the front reaches eastern New England, winds will be from the south and southwest, allowing temperatures to rocket into the high 60s and low 70s (°F) this afternoon and tomorrow. The cold front will pass through tomorrow evening, bringing the possibility of rain showers as it returns temperatures to more seasonally-appropriate levels.
Trying to raise profile of climate change for Washington voters
SEATTLE — The effort by a California billionaire named Thomas F. Steyer to bolster global climate change measures in Washington has turned the battle over the state Senate into one of the most expensive legislative elections in state history.
School gunman used texts to gather victims at lunch, police say
SEATTLE — The student who opened fire with a handgun in his high school cafeteria Friday morning in northwest Washington state, killing two and wounding three, arranged through text messages for the five fellow students to be there together, police investigators said Monday.
Seeking unity, US revamps Ebola protocol
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Monday tried to take charge of an increasingly acrimonious national debate over how to treat people in contact with Ebola patients by announcing guidelines that stopped short of tough measures in New York and New Jersey and were carefully devised, officials said, not to harm the effort to recruit badly needed medical workers to West Africa.
Netanyahu expedites plan for new homes in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday that Israel would fast-track planning for more 1,060 new apartments in populous Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, a move that appears calibrated to appeal to the maximum number of Israelis while causing the minimum damage to Israel internationally, according to Israeli analysts.
Shorts (right)
KIEV, Ukraine — In a parliamentary election with historic ramifications, Ukrainians overwhelmingly reaffirmed on Sunday their support for the ideals of the February revolt in the Maidan and the country’s push to the West, while rejecting far-right nationalist parties.
New York City agency and vendor bilked Medicaid, US says
NEW YORK — Federal authorities have accused New York City officials of a five-year scheme to defraud Medicaid, working with a contractor to exploit loopholes in Medicaid’s computerized billing system to collect reimbursements that amount to tens of millions of dollars.
UN urges China to allow free elections in Hong Kong
HONG KONG — The U.N. Human Rights Committee urged China on Thursday to allow elections in Hong Kong without restrictions on who can run as a candidate. The move appeared likely to draw strong criticism from Beijing, where officials decided in August to set strict guidelines for the 2017 election of the city’s next leader, prompting mass sit-in protests.
Taliban gain strength in Afghanistan’s north
CHAHAR DARA, Afghanistan — The last time that Afghans in the northern province of Kunduz felt so threatened by the Taliban was in 2009, just before President Barack Obama deployed thousands of troops to push the insurgents back from the outskirts of the province’s capital.