Shorts (left)
LAHORE, Pakistan — The Pakistani government on Monday further postponed the resolution of the question of whether a CIA operative being investigated for a double murder is entitled to diplomatic immunity.
Saudis, fearful of Iran, send troops to Bahrain protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s military rolled into Bahrain on Monday, threatening to escalate a local political conflict into a regional showdown with Iran.
Clinton meets with Libyan opposition leader Mahmoud Jibril
PARIS — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met late Monday with a leader of Libya’s increasingly beleaguered opposition, but did so privately and without a public statement.
Third explosion threatens Japanese nuclear core
TOKYO — Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident on Tuesday morning as an explosion at the most crippled of three reactors at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Station damaged its crucial steel containment structure, emergency workers were withdrawn from the plant, and much larger emissions of radioactive materials appeared imminent, according to official statements and industry executives informed about the developments.
Both sides of March this weekend
An old weather adage describes March entering as a lion and leaving like a lamb. Fortunately, March hasn’t been too terrible so far, bringing only mild temperatures and no snow. Although this mild pattern will persist, today will be a downright miserable March day with heavy rain and strong winds. The bad news will continue for skiers as warm air pushes very far north, leaving the lower elevations of ski resorts wet, rather than fluffy. However, don’t be completely discouraged; the other face of March will emerge later this weekend. Expect a better day on Saturday as the clouds slowly clear out. Sunday looks to be a pristine late winter day with mostly sunny skies and a high near 50°F.
Hearings on American Muslims reveal a deep partisan rift
WASHINGTON — A congressional hearing on Thursday addressing homegrown Islamic terrorism offered divergent portraits of Muslims in America: one as law-abiding people who are unfairly made targets, the other as a community ignoring radicalization among its own and failing to confront what one witness called “this cancer that’s within.”
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama poked fun at his own big ears and funny name Thursday, but all in the service of a serious subject as he and Michelle Obama opened a White House conference to spur anti-bullying efforts in schools and communities nationwide.
Consumer agency to post a database of unsafe products
Despite threats of a budget cut, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will unveil on Friday a database that will allow the public to search for complaints about the safety of everyday products.
Wisconsin Democrats see a gift in bitter battle over unions
MADISON, Wis. — After nearly a month of angry demonstrations and procedural maneuvering in the State Capitol here, Gov. Scott Walker won his battle Thursday to cut bargaining rights for most government workers in Wisconsin.
GM’s chief financial officer to step down, treasurer will take his place
DETROIT — General Motors said Thursday that its chief financial officer, Christopher P. Liddell, was stepping down, less than four months after helping the automaker execute the largest initial public offering in American history.
Regulators and drug company reach agreement for greater federal oversight
Federal regulators reached an agreement Thursday with a unit of Johnson & Johnson that would impose greater federal oversight at three manufacturing plants responsible for recalls of Children’s Tylenol and many other popular over-the-counter medicines.
Shorts (right)
Anthropologists studying living hunter-gatherers have radically revised their view of how early human societies were structured, a shift that yields new insights into how humans evolved away from apes.
Libyan government presses rebel assault in east and west
RAS LANUF, Libya — Government warplanes taunted rebels with flyovers and repeatedly bombed their positions near this coastal city’s oil refinery Monday, seeking to drive the opposition forces back farther to the east, as Libya continued what appeared to be a slide into civil war.
LVMH buys Bulgari, doubles presence in jewelry market
The Bulgari family’s long quest to figure out the future of its 127-year-old jewelry and watch business ended last Thursday at a dinner overlooking the Roman skyline.
Time for a thaw
Every year, one of the early signs that spring is on the way is the thawing of the Charles River. That sign has arrived this week as the layer of ice covering the river has melted away from most of the river’s surface. As of Monday evening, the only sections of the river close to MIT with remaining ice cover were near the Harvard Bridge, and the total frozen area appeared to be decreasing throughout the day.
Shorts (right)
NEW YORK — The producers of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark were negotiating on Monday with their director, Julie Taymor, for her to work with a newly expanded creative team to fix the critically derided, $65 million musical or possibly leave the show, according to people who work on Spider-Man or have been briefed on the negotiations.
Brooklyn bike lane pitting residents against riders and city
NEW YORK — A group of well-connected New Yorkers has taken the unusual step of suing the city to remove a controversial bicycle lane in a wealthy neighborhood of Brooklyn, the most potent sign yet of opposition to the Bloomberg administration’s marquee campaign to remake the city’s streets.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to nominate Gary Locke, the commerce secretary and one of the highest-ranking Chinese-Americans in the administration, as the next U.S. ambassador to China, administration officials said Monday. Locke, 61, would replace Jon Huntsman, who is stepping down next month to explore a bid for the Republican nomination for president.
Jewish texts lost in World War II are surfacing in New York
In 1932, as the Nazis rose to power in Germany, a Jewish librarian in Frankfurt published a catalog of 15,000 books he had painstakingly collected for decades.
Defense secretary says US ‘well positioned’ for pullout
KABUL, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that the United States was “well positioned” to begin withdrawing some U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July, but he said that a substantial force would remain and that the United States was starting talks with the Afghans about keeping a security presence in the country beyond 2014.