Wall Street protesters clean up, hope to avoid eviction
NEW YORK — Young people in knit hats and jeans scurried around Thursday wielding brooms and trash bags, moving mountains of sleeping bags, backpacks and jackets out of the way.
Weather
Today looks to be a wet and gloomy Friday. A large low pressure system centered over Michigan will pull warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean into the New England region. Significant rainfall is possible as thunderstorms will be embedded within the rain bands.
Dennis Ritchie, programming trailblazer, dies at 70
Dennis M. Ritchie, who helped shape the modern digital era by creating software tools that power everything from search engines like Google to smartphones, was found dead Wednesday at his home in Berkeley Heights, N.J. He was 70.
Shorts (right)
NEW YORK — The fallen hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam received the longest prison sentence ever for insider trading on Thursday, capping an aggressive government campaign that has ensnared dozens and may help deter the illegal use of confidential information on Wall Street.
Drone strike in Pakistan kills Haqqani commander
WASHINGTON — A CIA drone strike Thursday killed a high-level commander in the Haqqani network, the militant group that has been the largest killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.
Massachusetts clears big hurdle in approval of casinos
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Thursday that would legalize casino gambling, paving the way for three resort-style casinos and one slots parlor in the state.
Obama obliquely warns Pakistan about long-term relations
President Barack Obama cast some doubt on the long-term relationship between the United States and Pakistan on Thursday, saying his administration was concerned about the Pakistani government’s commitment to U.S. interests because of ties between anti-U.S. militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s own intelligence service.
Shorts (left)
Mitt Romney appeared Thursday to be rapidly consolidating support among some of the Republican Party’s most sought-after uncommitted donors, who have joined Bush administration veterans and other stalwarts of the Republican establishment in backing the former Massachusetts governor as the Republican presidential field settles.
Anti-tax pledges lose their allure as eyes turn to reform
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah has signed a pledge never to raise taxes. He signed another pledge too, one that made it nearly impossible to vote for a bill to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. But right before that vote over the summer, in a meeting with scores of his Republican colleagues, he stood up and proclaimed that he would never sign another pledge. While some pledges, like marriage vows, may always carry weight, strict anti-tax pledges may be losing their sheen.
Weather
Although the weather has been a bit chilly this week, owing to the beginning of our annual plunge into New England autumn, we will get a reprieve this weekend from the recent crisp fall weather. A high pressure system will strengthen and stay in place over the northeast United States, leading to clear skies and warm temperatures. Today will be among the least windy days of the year, with abundant sunshine raising the temperature to a downright pleasant 64°F. This trend is set to continue through the long weekend, with sunny days and clear nights resulting in summerlike weather. In fact, Boston is actually likely to be warmer than San Diego, CA this weekend! It is sure to be a good opportunity to go outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather before it gets too cold.
Strong retail sales send stocks higher for third day
Wall Street registered gains for the third consecutive day Thursday, following European stocks higher after central banks in Europe took action to increase liquidity. Economic data, including retail sales, also showed a U.S. economy that is performing better than expected.
Tomas Transtromer, Swedish poet, wins Nobel Prize in literature
Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet whose sometimes bleak but graceful work explores themes of isolation, emotion and identity while remaining rooted in the commonplace, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday.
Shorts (right)
Moammar Gadhafi, the deposed Libyan leader now in hiding, broke more than a week of public silence Thursday with a recorded message beseeching his followers to flood the streets of their country and “raise our green flags to the skies.”
White House orders new computer security rules
WASHINGTON — The White House plans to issue an executive order Friday to replace a flawed patchwork of computer security safeguards exposed by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks last year.
Popular African contraceptive might double women’s risk of HIV infection
The most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa, a hormone shot given every three months, appears to double the risk of HIV infection among users, according to a large study published Monday. And when it is used by HIV-positive women, their male partners are twice as likely to become infected than if the women had used no contraception.
Emails reveal White House concerns about Solyndra
WASHINGTON — Some White House officials were so concerned last year about the financial health of Solyndra, a solar equipment manufacturer that had received federal loans, that they warned that a presidential trip to the company’s California factory could prove a major embarrassment, newly disclosed emails show.
Mosque in northern Israel set on fire after series of similar attacks
JERUSALEM — A mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel was set on fire early Monday in what police called an arson attack, and an outside wall was defaced with Hebrew graffiti.
US budget crisis forcing big cuts in foreign aid
WASHINGTON — America’s budget crisis at home is forcing the first significant cuts in overseas aid in nearly two decades, a retrenchment that officials and advocates say reflects the country’s diminishing ability to influence the world.
Shorts (left)
BEIRUT — The Syrian government said Monday that it had arrested dozens of people in a central Syrian region that has become a flashpoint in fighting between defectors and security forces waging a brutal crackdown on a six-month uprising.
Shorts (right)
A loose-knit populist campaign that started on Wall Street three weeks ago has spread to dozens of cities across the country, with protesters camped out near Los Angeles City Hall, assembled before the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and marching through downtown Boston to rally against corporate greed, unemployment, and the role of financial institutions in the economic crisis.