In Haiti, pressure rising for displaced to vacate church
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As tent camps go, the one on the 28-acre Church of God property overlooking the Valley of Bourdon is almost bucolic, with hundreds of canvas-draped shelters under leafy shade trees and a cohesiveness among residents. But panic is building there.
UNTITLED
JERUSALEM — Arsonists suspected of being radical Israeli settlers damaged part of a Palestinian mosque early Monday in a village near the West Bank city of Hebron, setting fire to rugs and copies of the Quran and scrawling the word “revenge” in Hebrew on a wall, police officials and witnesses said.
Shorts (left)
JERUSALEM — Arsonists suspected of being radical Israeli settlers damaged part of a Palestinian mosque early Monday in a village near the West Bank city of Hebron, setting fire to rugs and copies of the Quran and scrawling the word “revenge” in Hebrew on a wall, police officials and witnesses said.
A wet and windy week
A large low pressure system currently situated off the Mid-Atlantic coast will drift slowly northward this week, bringing more cloudy, windy, and rainy conditions to our area. The slow, meandering track of this storm means that these unfavorable conditions will persist for the majority of the week. While rain and drizzle will hang around for most of the day today, Wednesday will likely be the worst day of the week, with winds increasing and rain becoming heavy at times. The system will gradually move out on Thursday, with rain tapering off.
Student’s online musings show<br />state of mind before a suicide
It started with a Twitter message Sept. 19: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”
Wet & muggy today, clearing for weekend
Make sure you have a poncho as heavy rain will dominate the weather for most of today. An umbrella might not work since winds will also be gusts approaching 40 mph. Some flooding may also be possible in low lying areas, along with ponding of water on most roads. Today’s high humidity and rainfall is the result of low pressure riding northward along the East Coast. Temperatures should not reach 80°F like on previous days, but it will remain muggy until a cold front finally pushes through tonight, ushering in cooler and drier air. In response to the front, the weekend looks perfect with highs in the 60s°F and sunny skies. Good luck staying dry today!
U.S. presses Israelis on<br />renewal of settlement freeze
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.
20 light-years away, planet may be able to nurture life
It might be a place that only a lichen or pond scum could love, but astronomers said Wednesday that they had found a very distant planet capable of harboring water on its surface, thus potentially making it a home for plant or animal life.
Shorts (left)
The MBTA is to release real-time data Friday telling riders where subway trains are located and how long it will take for the next train to arrive.
Shorts (right)
In many ways, it had the makings of the kind of classic late-campaign political dust-up that happens so regularly in high-profile California campaigns: the celebrity lawyer, the illegal immigrant, a welter of conflicting allegations and conspiracy charges, a candidate willing to take a lie-detector test and the scene of reporters clustered in a swanky lawyer’s office overlooking the Hollywood Hills. News conferences were streamed live on TMZ.com, the scandal-chasing Hollywood website that has become a force in politics and celebrity in this town.
North Korea offers peek at leader’s presumed heir
North Korean state media released a photograph on Thursday of Kim Jong-un, the son and presumed heir of the ailing dictator, Kim Jong-il, the first verified image of the young man as an adult.
Dark horse emerges in Alaska race for Senate: the incumbent
JUNEAU, Alaska — The night Lisa Murkowski announced she would mount a write-in campaign to retain her Senate seat, she acknowledged to a crowd of supporters that her odds were slim. Then she prompted a defiant roar: Invoking Native Alaskan culture, she told the crowd that the ancient Aleutian language contained no word for “impossible.”
Zeal for dream drove scientist in secrets case
Many people who know P. Leonardo Mascheroni describe him as a maverick and a technology zealot. Now, the Justice Department will try to prove that he is dangerous, too — a man willing to sell atomic secrets in exchange for a chance to realize his dream.
Petraeus says Taliban have reached out to Karzai
PARWAN, Afghanistan — The top American commander in Afghanistan said Monday that high-level Taliban leaders had reached out to senior Afghan government officials in the context of starting reconciliation discussions that could pave the way to end the fighting in Afghanistan.
As Florida condos sit empty, voters enter battle on growth
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Lesley Blackner drove through a maze of condominium towers, rarely seeing any curtains in the windows, or residents, and tried to contain her anger.
Kim’s son is elevated to general before North Korea meeting
SEOUL, South Korea — The youngest son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s reclusive leader, has been promoted to a military general, that country’s official Korean Central News Agency reported early Tuesday, the clearest sign yet that he is in line to succeed his father as the country’s leader.
Weather
With no hurricanes currently active in the Atlantic, today’s weather description will focus on New England’s current weather. For the next couple days, there will continue to be cloudy, rainy weather. Last night there was the unusual occurrence of temperatures rising overnight; a consequence of a warm frontal passage. This frontal passage is responsible for the warm, humid weather today, with a chance of showers throughout the day. With rain that could be heavy at times as well as strong winds, it will certainly not be the nicest of weather. Tomorrow will also be cloudy with a slight chance of showers, especially in the evening. By Thursday, a strong low pressure system is forecast to track into the Northeast, bringing tropical moisture with it, although there is still uncertainty in the timing. The combination of high levels of precipitable water and lift means that there is the potential for heavy rain and urban flooding from Wednesday night to Friday morning.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — The CIA has drastically increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in recent weeks, U.S. officials said, strikes that are part of an effort by military and intelligence operatives to try to cripple the Taliban in a stronghold being used to plan attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Shorts (right)
NEW DELHI — In the last year, the Indian government surprised foreign telecommunications equipment suppliers like Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco Systems by temporarily blocking the import of new network gear.
Republican spells out policy agenda in “Pledge to America”
WASHINGTON — House Republicans will issue a legislative blueprint Thursday called “A Pledge to America” that they hope will catapult them to a majority in the November elections. Its goals include a permanent extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts, repeal of the newly enacted health care law, a cap on discretionary federal spending and an end to government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.