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The Asahi Kasei Corp. of Japan agreed Monday to buy Zoll Medical, a health care equipment maker in the United States, for $2.2 billion, becoming the latest Japanese company to expand abroad.
Santorum’s delegate math looks different from Romney’s
WASHINGTON — Rick Santorum’s campaign has begun to argue forcefully that Mitt Romney will fail to win the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, leaving the decision to a wide-open national convention in Tampa, Fla., this summer.
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BAGHDAD — A recent spate of killings and intimidation aimed at gay Iraqis and teenagers who dress in brash Western fashions is sending waves of fear through Iraq’s secular circles while casting doubt on the government’s will to protect some of its most vulnerable citizens.
Britain taking steps toward legalization of euthanasia
LONDON — A British stroke victim paralyzed from the neck down and suffering from so-called locked-in syndrome won the right Monday to seek changes in a law that would enable a doctor to end what he has called an “intolerable life” without risking murder charges.
Unseasonably warm weather will continue
NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center just confirmed that the past winter was the fourth warmest on record in the mainland United States; it certainly felt like it in Cambridge! A variety of factors combined to set the stage for this warmth, including La Niña conditions in the Pacific, positive phases in the North Atlantic Oscillation, and potentially Earth’s upward trend in global average temperatures (although one must be careful not to confuse climate — which is defined as the long-run average of weather — with weather, which consists of short-scale variations).
China hints at easing monetary policy, adjusting reserve ratio
BEIJING — As China seeks a soft landing for its bubble-prone economy, senior economic officials said Monday that they might encourage bank lending, while also hinting that the country’s currency might not appreciate as fast as it has in recent years — a hot-button issue in the U.S. presidential election this year.
House Republicans split over a bid to revise the budget deal
WASHINGTON — The House is bracing for a rancorous showdown over a 2013 budget plan that has already divided Republicans because of a push by conservatives to cut spending below the level both parties agreed to in last year’s deal to raise the federal deficit.
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BEIJING — China moved on Thursday to enhance the rights of suspects and defendants in criminal cases, recommending that its handpicked national legislature adopt a series of Western-style safeguards in the most sweeping revisions to its criminal procedure code in 15 years.
Iran pressed on access for nuclear inspectors
The six world powers that have agreed to resume negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program issued a blunt request Thursday that the Iranians allow international inspectors unfettered access, most notably to Parchin, a large restricted military complex that the inspectors suspect may house a testing chamber for explosives used in atomic weapons triggers.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s interior minister said Thursday that Osama bin Laden’s three wives had been charged with illegally entering the country, in the first legal action against them since they were taken into custody after their husband’s death in May.
Solar storm reaches Earth, and experts say to expect more
Solar storms like the one that buffeted the Earth’s magnetic field Thursday will soon become a common occurrence.
Japan looks beyond its borders for investors after catastrophes
AIZU-WAKAMATSU, Japan — Mayor Shohei Muroi knows it is a tough sell to get new companies to invest in this struggling industrial city just 60 miles from Japan’s most notorious nuclear plant.
Democrats warm to Obama as a campaign ally
WASHINGTON — Just six months ago, having their names uttered in the same sentence as President Barack Obama’s was something many congressional Democrats could have lived without.
Yesterday’s warm day a record high for Boston
Yesterday’s decidedly spring like weather set a record high temperature for March 8 in Boston. The recorded high at Logan Airport was 68°F, surpassing the previous record set in 1995 at 67°F, and a whopping 25°F above the climatological value. In addition, as anyone who was outside yesterday knows, it was quite windy, with a sustained wind of 37 mph and gusts to 49 mph at Logan. The weather station on the roof of the Green Building recorded a high temperature of 68.8°F, a maximum sustained wind of 23 mph, and a maximum wind gust of 36 mph. These strong winds were felt across much of the Northeast, with maximum wind gusts of up to 54 mph along coast south of Boston. Unfortunately for those hoping the warm weather was here to stay, we will have a brief period of chillier weather (around normal values in the low 40°Fs) today and Saturday, following a cold front. The high temperatures look to return early next week, with temperatures near 70°F possible.
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The Supreme Court of Iran has tossed out the death penalty conviction of a former U.S. Marine accused of spying and ordered a retrial in a separate court, Iranian news services reported Monday.
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has boasted for months about playing host to the annual summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations this May in his hometown, Chicago. But Monday, without explanation, the White House announced a shift to the secluded setting of Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
Leadership rift emerges in Pakistani Taliban
ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban faced the prospect of a damaging leadership rift Monday when the abrupt dismissal of a senior commander provoked an angry reaction in the militants’ ranks, offering the Islamabad government a fresh opportunity to weaken a foe that in recent years has killed thousands of Pakistanis and tried to detonate a crude car bomb in Times Square in 2010.
Unusual warming trend will continue until Friday
A broad ridge of high pressure will slowly build over the Atlantic this week. As a result of its slow evolution, New England will benefit from tranquil weather through at least Thursday, including a noticeable increase in temperatures. In fact, temperatures could very well reach the upper 60s (19–21°C) by Thursday due to a sustained, southwesterly flow on the western side of the ridge. This flow and its accompanying surface winds should strengthen day-by-day, reaching their maximum by Thursday and funneling in very warm air from the mid-Atlantic states.
Big sentencing disparity seen among US judges
A new analysis of hundreds of thousands of cases in federal courts has found vast disparities in the prison sentences handed down by judges presiding over similar cases, raising questions about the extent to which federal sentences are influenced by the particular judges rather than by the specific circumstances of the cases.
At least 20 police officers killed in western Iraq
Yasser Ghazi contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Anbar province.