Pakistani judges press prime minister to turn on president
ISLAMABAD — The political and legal crisis in Pakistan took a new turn on Tuesday when the Supreme Court threatened to dismiss Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for failing to comply with court orders to reopen corruption cases against his political boss: President Asif Ali Zardari.
Israel braces for refugees after Syrian collapse
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military chief said on Tuesday that Jerusalem was preparing for a potential influx of refugees into the Golan Heights from Syria with the demise of the government of President Bashar Assad, which he said was inevitable.
Interactive tools used to assess the likelihood of death
To help prevent overtesting and overtreatment of older patients — or undertreatment for those who remain robust at advanced ages — medical guidelines increasingly call for doctors to consider life expectancy as a factor in their decision-making. But clinicians, research has shown, are notoriously poor at predicting how many years their patients have left.
Nor’easter to bring wintry mix tomorrow
This year, the Boston area has been experiencing a very anomalously mild winter. The brief snow showers that passed through the area on Monday night constituted our first measurable snowfall since October. This is rather extraordinary, considering that Boston normally records a total of over 10 inches of snow by the end of December. However, the winter is far from over, and the relative lack of snowfall so far does not necessarily mean that the rest of the season will be as mild.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday carried out its first drone strike in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas in nearly two months, ending a pause that was intended to avoid worsening relations between the countries after a U.S. airstrike in November killed two dozen Pakistani troops.
Weeks of indecision end for many New Hampshire primary voters
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Some cast votes grudgingly, others with utmost confidence in their choice, and many in New Hampshire’s famously late-breaking electorate voted in New Hampshire’s Republican primary on Tuesday after making up their minds at the last minute. Their decisions were based on economic concerns and, in many cases, pragmatism, with the aim of defeating President Barack Obama in November.
Hearing on terror suspect explores Miranda warning
Almost two years ago, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent was in Nigeria to question an Eritrean man who was in custody on suspicion of supporting terrorism. The suspect, Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, had already been interrogated by other U.S. officials for intelligence-gathering purposes, without having been read his rights.
As Syria urges local voting, UN puts death toll at 5,000
BEIRUT — The Syrian government called Monday for voters to turn out for local elections that it portrayed as good-faith reform efforts, but activists said that most citizens, observing a second day of a general strike, rejected the polls as irrelevant to a country in such turmoil.
Bill would block food stamps, jobless pay for millionaires
WASHINGTON — It is an image many Americans would find rather upsetting: a recently laid-off millionaire, luxuriating next to the pool eating grapes bought with food stamps while waiting for an unemployment check to roll in.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Arizona may impose tough anti-immigration measures. Among them, in a law enacted last year, is a requirement that the police there question people they stop about their immigration status.
All-time warmest Autumn in Boston
In last Friday’s weather discussion, Austin DiOrio noted that this November was the second-warmest November recorded at Logan Airport. This fits in with the fact that this autumn (September-October-November) broke the record for all-time warmest autumn, with an average temperature of 58.5°F. This is 4°F above normal, and above the previous record of 58.3°F set in 1931. December started out warm as well, with the high temperatures on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week a whopping 18°F, 17°F, and 15°F, respectively, above normal. The past few days however, have seen a return to more seasonable temperatures, a trend that will continue today and tomorrow before a brief excursion into the low 50s on Thursday. Looking further ahead, the weekend looks to be chilly with highs in the mid 30s — good weather for staying inside and studying for finals!
Shorts (right)
COARSEGOLD, Calif. — The bottom line of the six-page, single-spaced letter that Nancy Dondero and about 50 of her relatives received last month was brutally simple: “It is the decision by a majority of the Tribal Council, that you are hereby disenrolled.”
Republican bill would benefit doctor-owned hospitals
WASHINGTON — The House Republican bill to hold down payroll taxes and extend unemployment benefits, coming up for a vote Tuesday, offers a special dispensation to doctors who invest in hospitals.
British regulator takes partial blame for RBS failure
LONDON — Britain’s financial regulator said Monday that it was partly to blame for the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland, and it proposed new preventive measures, including holding bank executives more accountable for bad decisions.
Shorts (right)
BEIRUT — A pipeline carrying oil to a refinery in the tense Syrian city of Homs was blown up Thursday, activists and the official Syrian news agency said, casting a huge pillar of black smoke over the city’s cloudy horizon.
T weighs options on fare increases
A single subway ride could soar to $3.25, a monthly bus and subway pass could hit $80, and a commuter rail pass from the farthest suburbs could climb to $338 under one proposal prepared for the MBTA to balance its budget, according to documents obtained by the Globe Wednesday.
2 dead in shooting on Virginia Tech campus
Two people, including a police officer, are dead after a shooting Thursday afternoon on the campus of Virginia Tech, the scene of a 2007 massacre in which 33 people were killed, university officials said.
Obama backs Sebelius stance on morning-after pill
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, who took office pledging to put science ahead of politics, averted a skirmish with conservatives in the nation’s culture wars Thursday by endorsing his health secretary’s decision to block over-the-counter sales of an after-sex contraceptive pill to girls younger than 17.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of inciting unrest in Russia, as he grappled with the prospect of large-scale political protest for the first time in his more than decade-long rule.
Clinton warns against restricting internet access
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other international leaders urged countries and private businesses on Thursday to fight increasing efforts to restrict access to the Internet by repressive governments and even some democratic ones.