US secretary of state for political affairs visits Somalia amid signs of rebound
NAIROBI, Kenya — Wendy Sherman, the under secretary of state for political affairs, visited Somalia on Sunday, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to set foot in the country in more than 20 years, the State Department announced Monday.
Egyptian vigilantes crack down on abuse of women
CAIRO — The young activists lingered on the streets around Tahrir Square, scrutinizing the crowds of holiday revelers. Suddenly, they charged, pushing people aside and chasing down a young man. As the captive thrashed to get away, the activists pounded his shoulders, flipped him around and spray-painted a message on his back: “I’m a harasser.”
Merkel’s coalition moves to ease Germans’ welfare costs
BERLIN — Leaders from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition agreed Monday on a raft of changes to social welfare programs aimed at easing costs for average Germans to bolster the government’s sagging popularity less than a year before parliamentary elections.
Chinese government retaliates in trade dispute with Europe
HONG KONG — The Chinese government announced Monday that it had filed a case with the World Trade Organization accusing some European Union member countries of violating free trade rules with policies that favor the purchase of solar energy equipment produced in Europe.
Nor’Easter to impact region midweek
Over a week later, the Northeast is still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Sandy. With many people not regaining electricity until the last few days (and many still without), the recent cold temperatures have been especially unpleasant. Today will be another chilly day, with temperatures in Cambridge only reaching the mid 40°F’s.
Shorts (right)
NEW YORK — Mary Wittenberg, chief executive of New York Road Runners, defended the decision to put on the New York City Marathon as scheduled Sunday after some runners and politicians called for the race to be canceled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Campaigns brace to sue for votes in crucial states
CLEVELAND — Thousands of lawyers from both presidential campaigns will enter polling places Tuesday in a kind of Spy vs. Spy with one central goal: tracking their opponents and, if need be, initiating legal action.
Estimate of economic losses from storm now up to $50 billion
Economic damages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy could reach $50 billion, according to new estimates that are more than double a previous forecast. Some economists warned Thursday that the storm could shave a half percentage point off the nation’s economic growth in the current quarter.
Winter is coming
The next few days will see a steady decline in temperatures as the month of November gets off to a relatively chilly start. While five of the last seven days of October saw high temperatures warmer than their normal values in Boston, a change in the weather pattern will bring below-normal temperatures for the week ahead.
Shorts (left)
There’s a single message across the television spectrum since Hurricane Sandy: Please give.
Lingering unemployment poses long-term risk
WASHINGTON — In the economy-focused presidential campaign, the two candidates and their teams have scarcely mentioned what economists describe as not just one of the labor market’s most pressing problems, but the entire country’s: long-term unemployment.
China presents plan to end Syrian conflict
A new proposal to end the conflict in Syria was presented Thursday by China, one of the Syrian government’s few foreign defenders, which calls for a phased-in truce, the establishment of a transitional authority and an intensified international response to the humanitarian crisis afflicting millions of Syrians.
Improved economic conditions seen in China and much of Asia
HONG KONG — Two surveys released Thursday buttressed the view that the giant Chinese economy is picking up a little speed after months of deceleration.
International observers denounce the Ukrainian election
KIEV, Ukraine — International observers delivered scathing criticism Monday of Ukraine’s parliamentary election, saying the vote was heavily tilted in favor of President Viktor F. Yanukovych’s Party of Regions through the abuse of government resources, the dominance of media coverage and the jailing of two prominent opposition leaders.
Court hears challenge to 2008 law letting US eavesdrop
WASHINGTON — A challenge to a federal law that authorized intercepting international communications involving Americans appeared to face an uphill climb at the Supreme Court on Monday, but not one quite as steep as many had anticipated.
Shorts (left)
ISTANBUL — At a reception Monday evening at the president’s mansion to celebrate Turkey’s founding 89 years ago, something previously unheard of occurred: The country’s top military commander stood alongside the wives of the president and prime minister, even while the women wore Islamic headscarves.
Attacks continue during failed holiday truce in Syria
BEIRUT — The declared four-day holiday truce between the warring factions in Syria ended on Monday much as it had begun — with airstrikes, artillery barrages and other firefights around the country that made a mockery of the cease-fire.
Hurricane Sandy strikes East Coast
The largest Atlantic hurricane in over 25 years made landfall on the New Jersey coast on Monday evening. High winds from Sandy have downed power lines and trees over a vast expanse of the U.S., from Florida all the way to Maine. Blizzard warnings are in effect over parts of the Appalachians, where a cold Arctic air mass clashed with the moisture-laden air rotated counter-clockwise from the Atlantic Ocean. Peak tide levels and coastal flooding may overtop that observed in New York during Hurricane Irene last year.
Low voter turnout in Sicily suggests anger at politicians
ROME — Sicilians shunned regional elections to renew the island’s Parliament on Sunday in record numbers, in an unequivocal signal of growing disaffection with Italy’s political class, even as the center-left wrested control from center-right parties that had governed the region since 2000.
Shorts (right)
Stock markets in the United States will be closed again Tuesday for a second day without trading as Hurricane Sandy roared closer to the New York area.