Shorts (left)
JERUSALEM — The mainstream newspaper Maariv is on the verge of closing, apparently having lost a fierce 64-year contest against the populist Hebrew tabloid Yediot Aharonot. On Thursday, Haaretz, the flagship broadsheet of Israel’s left-wing intelligentsia, was not published for the first time in three decades; the newsroom held a one-day strike to protest the planned layoff of scores of employees.
After debate, a harsh light falls on a moderator
The new format for the presidential debate prompted plenty of partisan debate online —
Shorts (right)
BOSTON — Nearly four decades after this city was convulsed by violence over court-ordered busing to desegregate its public schools, Boston is working to reduce its reliance on busing in a school system that is now made up largely of minority students.
Karzai accuses US of duplicity in fighting Afghan enemies
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, on Thursday accused the United States of playing a “double game” by fighting a war against Afghan insurgents rather than their backers in Pakistan, and by refusing to supply his country with the weapons it needs to fight enemies across the border. He threatened to turn to China, India and Russia for those arms.
Anxiety rises as Iranian currency falls by 40 percent
TEHRAN, Iran — For months, since the imposition of harsh, U.S.-led sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, the country’s leaders have sworn they would never succumb to Western pressures, and they scoffed at the idea that the measures were having any serious impact. But after a week in which the Iranian currency, the rial, fell by a shocking 40 percent and protests began to rumble through the capital, no one is making light of the mounting costs of confrontation.
Warmth today/tomorrow before temps drop Sunday
Autumn weather is often characterized by large swings in temperature from one day to the next, and this weekend will be no exception. After several days of cloudy, drizzly conditions, today will be warm and dry, with highs reaching into the upper 70°F’s. With southerly warm air advection, 80°F is not beyond the realm of possibility. The warm temperatures will persist tomorrow before a cold front that is trailing a low in Canada moves through tomorrow night. There is a chance of showers tomorrow afternoon/evening, but the main effect of the front will be to drop the temperatures. Indeed, Sunday’s high is expected to be quite a bit chillier, only reaching the mid 50°F’s. An intensifying low moving up the coast will bring widespread rainfall on Sunday afternoon and evening. Clear skies should rebound for the holiday on Monday, but with cooler than normal temperatures.
Iranian officials offer plan to end nuclear crisis
WASHINGTON — With harsh economic sanctions contributing to the first major protests in Iran in three years, Iranian officials have begun to describe what they call a “nine-step plan” to defuse the nuclear crisis with the West, by gradually suspending the production of the uranium that would be easiest for them to convert into a nuclear weapon.
Fed members in accord on bond buying, minutes show
WASHINGTON — Policymakers at the Federal Reserve were nearly united last month in their belief that the economic recovery needed additional help and that the central bank had the ability to provide it, according to the official account of the meeting released Thursday.
Shorts (left)
LOS ANGELES — Facing a deadline of midnight Sunday to take action on bills the California Legislature passed this session, Gov. Jerry Brown signed dozens of them over the weekend on issues ranging from health care to corporate taxation, while vetoing dozens more.
Shorts (right)
PARIS — Unemployment in the eurozone hovered at a record 11.4 percent in August, according to data released Monday, underscoring the pain inflicted by the slowing world economy and the financial problems plaguing many of the countries that share the euro.
Greek government proposes deep cuts to foreign lenders
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government submitted its 2013 draft budget Monday, outlining enormous spending cuts as the country’s foreign lenders returned to resume talks over a broader austerity package in exchange for the rescue money the country needs to meet expenses.
Fighting spreads through Aleppo as city services vanish
BEIRUT — Chaos continued to spread in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, on Monday, as rebels attacked the towering municipality building with rockets, sending civil servants fleeing from one of the few government buildings still functioning as dozens of soldiers defended the city center.
Chinese Communist Party still unsettled over charges
BEIJING — With only six weeks to go before the formal unveiling of a new set of leaders for China, Communist Party elders and senior officials are still working to finalize decisions on who will ascend to the top ruling bodies and what policy direction they will adopt for the new team, political insiders and analysts say.
Weather will alternate between rain and sun
This week’s weather will alternate between pleasant and rainy as a series of disturbances sweeps across the region. Tuesday will be on the pleasant end of the spectrum, with partial sunshine and light winds accompanying comfortable temperatures in the mid 70s (°F). However, the possibility of rain showers will arrive on Wednesday and Thursday as we experience the remnants of a system that brought heavy rains to the Gulf Coast over the weekend.
Romney broadens attacks against Obama beyond the economy
From the very start, Mitt Romney’s campaign was premised on the belief that the economy’s struggles would make President Barack Obama politically vulnerable. Grim economic statistics, the assumption went, would make Romney’s argument for him.
US advises states to expand Medicaid or risk losing funds
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is putting pressure on states to expand Medicaid, telling them they may lose federal money if they delay.
Sudan and South Sudan sign cooperation deal
KAMPALA, Uganda — The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan signed a long-awaited cooperation agreement on Thursday, paving the way for the resumption of oil exports and casting their ailing economies a desperately needed lifeline. But several analysts said the deal came up far short.
Shorts (left)
SALT LAKE CITY — One desk, clean and empty, suggested a recently retired employee. The other, piled high with brown folders wrapped in rubber bands and bristling with color-coded tabs, screamed “backlog.”
Iranian spokesman assaulted by exile group near UN
NEW YORK — Iranian exiles and the Iranian government can make for a combustible combination, as a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry discovered after an address by the country’s president to the United Nations during this week’s General Assembly.
Reversing course, Soros to give to a pro-Obama ‘super PAC’
Billionaire George Soros is committing $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the “super PAC” supporting President Barack Obama, two people with knowledge of the matter said Thursday, a significant donation that could help spur further contributions to the group in the closing weeks of the election campaign.