Shorts (right)
BEIJING — The strange disappearance from public view of China’s presumptive new leader is turning a year that was supposed to showcase the Communist Party’s stability into something of an annus horribilis.
Autumn-like weather becoming calmer and warmer this week
Stiff winds and cool temperatures poured into New England this weekend, behind a strong cold front which passed through Saturday evening. Hence a deep trough, located in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere, has overtaken our recent weather. The trough’s northerly winds, out of Canada, have brought much cooler and drier air. These winds are occurring ahead of a surface high pressure approaching our region.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — Russian Parliament members moved a step closer to stripping an opposition lawmaker of his post Monday, heightening tension before an opposition march planned for this weekend.
Spreading Palestinian economic protests focus on leaders
HEBRON, West Bank — A week of Palestinian protests against rising prices and economic hardship erupted Monday into rioting against the Palestinian Authority in this city and others in the West Bank, posing a new challenge to the Western-backed government that has worked to promote stability. Anger has mostly been directed at Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, an internationally respected economist who has been widely credited abroad with shepherding the authority toward sound fiscal policies and the building of the institutions needed for a future state.
UN warns Syrian rebels over human rights violations
BEIRUT — The top U.N. human rights official warned opposition fighters in Syria on Monday that they would not be immune from prosecution for atrocities, as videos from the Syrian city of Aleppo appeared to show a mass execution by rebel fighters of bound and blindfolded Syrian government soldiers.
Shorts (left)
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sauntered into U.S. presidential politics on Thursday, praising President Barack Obama as “a very honest man” and chastising the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, for describing Russia as “without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.”
Arizona immigration law survives ruling
TUCSON, Ariz. — A decision by a federal judge Wednesday paved the way for the most controversial section of Arizona’s sweeping immigration legislation, requiring the authorities to verify the status of people who they suspect are in the country illegally, to finally take effect.
Shorts (right)
KYOTO, Japan — The Japanese government has struck a tentative agreement to buy three uninhabited islands that are part of a chain at the center of a heated territorial dispute with China, a person close to the talks said Thursday.
European Central Bank moves aggressively to ease euro crisis
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank on Thursday took its most ambitious step yet toward easing the eurozone crisis, throwing its unlimited financial clout behind an effort to protect Spain and Italy from financial collapse.
Assassination highlights rifts facing Syria rebels
BEIRUT — The assassination of a Syrian rebel fighter linked to al-Qaida called new attention Thursday to the ideological differences among the Islamists fighting the government of President Bashar Assad and threatened to set off new strife among the rebels.
Enthusiasm in Europe helps lift US stocks
Decisive moves by the head of the European Central Bank to preserve the eurozone pushed the benchmark U.S. stock index to a four-year high Thursday and fueled hopes that the rally may have staying power.
Weekend weather goes from warm to wet
This weekend’s weather will alternate between sunshine and showers as a set of disturbances creates an unsettled atmospheric pattern. First, southwesterly flow associated with a low pressure system to our northwest will bring warm air to campus, making for a sunny day with temperatures into the 80s °F. However, a weak cold front will also pass through the area today, possibly kicking off a few showers and thunderstorms along the way.
Shorts (left)
BEIJING — As tensions between China and its neighbors over islands in nearby strategic waterways, China has scored some subtle victories, making the United States and its friends increasingly uneasy about the potential for violent confrontations.
Remnants of Isaac to bring rain to region
After a lovely Labor Day Weekend with sunny skies and seasonal temperatures, rain will return to the area just in time for the start of the semester.
U.S. prepares economic aid to bolster democracy in Egypt
WASHINGTON — Nearly 16 months after first pledging to help Egypt’s failing economy, the Obama administration is nearing an agreement with the country’s new government to relieve $1 billion of its debt as part of a U.S. and international assistance package intended to bolster its transition to democracy, administration officials said.
US vehicle rammed by suicide bomber in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a sport utility vehicle belonging to the U.S. Consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday morning, Pakistani and U.S. officials said, in one of the most brazen attacks against Americans in the country in recent years.
Protesters gather in Charlotte for Democratic Convention
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Protesters from scores of groups around the country filled the streets of Charlotte on Sunday afternoon to push their agenda as Democrats gathered in the city for their convention.
Trial set to open for former Detroit mayor Sept. 6
During his nearly seven-year stint as mayor of Detroit, there was little about Kwame M. Kilpatrick that was not big. His 6-foot-4 frame. His “hip-hop mayor” persona and the 1 1/2-carat diamond that pierced his ear. His wide appeal made him, at the age of 31, the youngest person ever to lead the city.
Shorts (right)
NEW YORK — New York City may have regained all of the jobs it lost during the recession, but its labor unions have not and the steep decline in the past several years may signal a lasting erosion of one of the few remaining bastions of union power, according to the authors of a report to be released this week.
As growth flags, China shies from stimulus
HONG KONG — As evidence has mounted that the Chinese economy is slowing, Beijing has kept the world on tenterhooks, delivering none of the big, headline-grabbing economic stimulus measures many analysts have predicted.