Data point to further gloom in eurozone
PARIS — The outlook for the eurozone remained unsettled Thursday, as data showed that confidence among European businesses and consumers continued to fall in September and the Spanish government prepared to unveil a plan to restore its finances next year.
Cool, wet weather approaching this weekend
As a low pressure system moves over the region, Cambridge will experience damp, cloudy conditions with intermittent precipitation. Temperatures will remain seasonable, with highs in the 60°s for the next several days.
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LOS ANGELES — The man thought to have been behind the crude anti-Islam video that set off deadly protests across the Muslim world in recent weeks was arrested Thursday for violating terms of his probation in a 2010 bank fraud case.
Mixed returns for endowments at largest universities
An uneven economic year yielded uneven results for the largest university endowments, with reports released through Thursday revealing a range of results, from a fractional loss on investments for Harvard to a healthy gain for MIT.
New rules upend House re-election races in California
PLEASANTON, Calif. — Running against the Vietnam War, Rep. Pete Stark entered Congress the year that Richard M. Nixon was re-elected president. Since then, ensconced in Democratic strongholds here in the Bay Area, Stark was easily re-elected 19 times. But Stark, 80, the dean of California’s congressional delegation, is facing a serious challenge for the first time. That is because Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat who became a city councilman less than two years ago in Dublin, his hometown near here, came just a few points behind Stark in the primary. Now Swalwell gets to carry the fight into November — thanks to a new primary system in California under which the top two vote getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
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WASHINGTON — Lawyers for three men who have been imprisoned by the U.S. military in Afghanistan without trial for nearly a decade are renewing their quest for hearings in U.S. courts. They say new information has emerged that undermines an appeals court ruling against them two years ago.
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TBILISI, Georgia — Georgian officials tried Monday to take control of a week-old prison abuse scandal, arresting three activists from an opposition party, Georgian Dream, and releasing video clips that purported to show them offering the police money to stage scenes of horrific abuse.
Attack against US in Libya was major blow to CIA effort
WASHINGTON — The attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans has dealt the Central Intelligence Agency a major setback in its intelligence-gathering efforts at a time of increasing instability in the North African nation.
Administration warns hospitals on Medicare billing
Saying there are “troubling signs” of abuse in the way hospitals use electronic records to bill for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, the administration of President Barack Obama warned in a letter to hospital associations Monday that it would not tolerate what it called attempts to “game the system” and vowed to vigorously prosecute doctors and hospitals implicated in fraud.
Foxconn plant closed after riot, company says
SHANGHAI — Foxconn Technology, a major supplier to some of the world’s electronics giants, including Apple, said it had closed one of its large Chinese plants Monday after the police were called in to break up a fight among factory employees.
Rainy conditions for mid-week; otherwise sunny and pleasant
Clear skies continue to rule the weather pattern as high pressure, located near the Carolinas, moves slowly northeast. Through Wednesday, the high will sustain southwesterly winds, bringing warm temperatures from the Gulf states.
International Monetary Fund sees economic deterioration ahead
WASHINGTON — Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, on Monday warned that the institution would probably cut its estimates of global growth yet again this year because of the tepid U.S. recovery, a slowdown in emerging economies and continued troubles in the eurozone.
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BRUSSELS — Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Thursday that China would continue to help the European Union recover from its economic crisis even as he sternly criticized the bloc for maintaining an embargo on weapons sales to his country.
Bill to keep science graduates in US fails
A Republican bill to provide permanent resident visas for foreigners who graduate from U.S. universities with advanced degrees in science and technology failed to pass the House on Thursday, a setback for technology companies that had strongly supported it.
Ruling lets Murdoch keep British broadcast license
More than a year after a phone hacking crisis in Britain engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the embattled media company received a clean bill of corporate health on Thursday from a critical British regulator.
Fall arrives tomorrow
The autumnal equinox will occur tomorrow morning at 10:49 a.m., marking the official end of summer and the beginning of fall. Meteorologically, the beginning of fall in New England is usually marked by the end of heat waves and thunderstorms, a slow decline in temperatures, and a general increase in windiness. This weekend’s weather will be seasonable and pleasant, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s and 70s °F.
Violence over video continues in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — On the eve of a public holiday to protest an anti-Islam video made in the United States, thousands of demonstrators battled with police officers for hours on Thursday near the capital’s diplomatic quarter, and the U.S. Embassy broadcast advertisements on local television stations showing U.S. leaders denouncing the video.
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NEW YORK — The state’s chief judge on Wednesday announced the details of a new rule — the first of its kind in the nation — requiring law students to perform 50 hours of unpaid work as a condition of practicing in New York.
Spanish leader fails to reach revenue deal with Catalonia
MADRID — Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, already under pressure from his European counterparts to clean up Spain’s banks and public finances, failed Thursday to ease what has recently turned into his biggest domestic political challenge — a separatist push by the nation’s most economically powerful region, Catalonia.
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Thousands of people were evacuated from the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on Monday after a telephoned bomb threat, the fourth such evacuation on a college campus in four days.