BP to admit crimes and pay $4.5 billion in Gulf settlement
BP, the British oil company, said Thursday that it would pay $4.5 billion in fines and other payments to the government and plead guilty to 14 criminal charges in connection with the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.
US may surpass Saudi Arabia as world’s top oil producer
In a turnaround that would have seemed far-fetched a few years ago, the United States is projected to surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2020 while cutting its own energy use faster than any other nation, the International Energy Agency reports.
Return to seasonal temperatures
After a lovely weekend more reminiscent of September than late fall, temperatures in Cambridge will cool down after a cold front passes through this morning. For the rest of the week, high pressure will dominate, bringing mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 35-45°F range.
Afghanistan deployment is under review
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — White House and Pentagon officials hope to determine within weeks the number of U.S. troops that will remain for the long term in Afghanistan after the bulk of U.S. forces come home in 2014, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Monday.
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Regulators failed Monday to win a clear victory over the father-and-son team whose mutual fund failed in one of the signal events of the 2008 financial crisis. It was the latest setback in efforts by regulators to hold individuals responsible for the risk-taking that nearly brought down the U.S. economy.
Labor leaders have Obama’s back and are ready to push
Having helped President Barack Obama win re-election, labor leaders will meet with him Tuesday and intend to offer their robust support for what they view as his mandate: Stand tough against cuts in Medicare, Medicaid
Democrats like a Romney plan on income tax
WASHINGTON — With both parties positioning for difficult negotiations to avert a fiscal crisis as Congress returns for its lame-duck session, Democrats are latching on to an idea floated by Mitt Romney to raise taxes on the rich through a hard cap on income tax deductions.
In Petraeus case, FBI inquiry into emails raises questions
WASHINGTON — Are a string of angry emails really enough, in an age of boisterous online exchanges, to persuade the FBI to open a cyberstalking investigation?
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NDJAMENA, Chad — More than 10 Kenyan police officers, and possibly as many as 31, have been killed by cattle rustlers in an ambush in a remote part of northern Kenya known as death valley, Kenyan officials said Monday, in of one the more brazen cases in recent years in the war against livestock thieves.
Syrian opposition meets to seek unity in Doha on Thursday
DOHA, Qatar — The quarrelsome Syrian opposition was locked in extended bartering here in Doha on Thursday over the creation of a more diverse yet unified umbrella organization that its foreign backers hope will become a credible alternative to the Damascus government.
Republicans face an electoral challenge
Two more presidential elections, in 2016 and 2020, will be contested under the current Electoral College configuration, which gave President Barack Obama a second term on Tuesday. This year’s results suggest that this could put Republicans at a structural disadvantage.
Iran fired on military drone in first such attack, US says
WASHINGTON — Iranian warplanes shot at a U.S. military surveillance drone flying over the Persian Gulf near Iran last week, Pentagon officials disclosed Thursday. They said that the aircraft, a Predator drone, was flying in international airspace and was not hit and that the episode had prompted a strong protest to the Iranian government.
Clear skies and warmer temperatures arriving
After the first measurable snowfall this autumn, the Boston area will have better weather over the next few days. A nor’easter, moving off into the Atlantic and toward Newfoundland, was responsible for 6”+ snowfall totals across portions of interior New England. Winds also gusted over 50 mph across the Cape, whipping up mostly rain and some snow. Here in Cambridge, about 1-2” of snow was visible on grassy areas Wednesday night. The Weather Channel, which has decided to name winter storms, named this past storm after a familiar Greek goddess — Athena.
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Just months after going public, Kayak Software has been snapped up by a rival.
Bank of England and ECB hold rates unchanged
FRANKFURT, Germany — The president of the European Central Bank expressed satisfaction Thursday with efforts to resolve the eurozone crisis, saying that members of the currency area had made “amazing” progress toward reducing government spending.
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Eliot Orton traces the origins of the Vermont Country Stores’ interest in philanthropy to neighbors sitting around the potbellied stove at his grandfather’s small store in the Green Mountains and jawboning about things that needed to be done in the community.
Debt ceiling complicates fiscal cliff for United States
WASHINGTON — Come January, the United States will not only face immense tax increases and spending cuts, should Congress fail to act. It will also run out of room to finance its large running deficits.
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CAIRO — Five bombs exploded in the capital of Bahrain on Monday, killing two foreign workers and critically injuring a third, in a sharp intensification of the violence that has simmered in the island nation since the beginning of a pro-democracy uprising 21 months ago.
Dozens are killed in fierce outburst of Syrian violence
BEIRUT — Some of the worst violence in months racked Syria on Monday with residents of southern Damascus fleeing heavy shelling, several smaller towns shattered by air attacks, and at least two car bombs.