Video shows photographer being killed in 2007 air attack
WASHINGTON —The Web site WikiLeaks.org released a graphic video on Monday showing an American helicopter shooting and killing a Reuters photographer and driver in a July 2007 attack in Baghdad.
Shorts (left)
LOS ANGELES <i>— </i>A powerful earthquake southeast of Tijuana shook Southern California on Sunday afternoon, damaging buildings in border towns and rattling a seismically-sophisticated population as far north as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas as chandeliers swayed, homes shook and the earth seemed to slide under the feet of people emerging from Easter church services for well over a minute.
Anglican archbishop rebukes Irish church for abuse scandal
LONDON — At a time when his relations with Pope Benedict XVI are already strained over the pope’s offer to dissatisfied Anglicans of fast-track conversion to Roman Catholicism, the archbishop of Canterbury has plunged into the crisis over cases of abuse by Catholic priests, choosing the Easter weekend to describe the Catholic Church in Ireland as “losing all credibility” because of its poor handling of the crisis.
As mayhem erupts in Times Square, 4 are shot and 33 arrested
NEW YORK — As Sunday night turned into Monday, what has become something of a violent Easter night ritual began to unfold. Hundreds of people filled Times Square, some pouring out of the subway, howling and unruly. By night’s end, four people had been shot, and the police had arrested 33 people.
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CARCAS, Venezuela — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia visited Venezuela on Friday to sign a series of military and oil agreements with President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking to expand ties with Russia as a way of countering the influence of the United States in Latin America.
More warmth, finally!
The first days of April are much more welcoming than many of those cold, wet, windy days of March. Don’t expect new floods to engulf your surroundings later this week. We will continue to dry out from all that rain as unseasonably warm temperatures stream into New England. A high of 77°F was recorded at Logan airport on Sunday, breaking the 1950 record by 2 degrees. A large ridge of high pressure, centered just north of the Bahamas, is responsible for transporting the warm southern air into our neck of the woods. For today, expect warm westerly winds and some partly cloudy skies by evening. There may even be a shower overnight due to a weak impulse approaching from the west.
Obama limits when United States would use nuclear weapons
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self- defense.
Top european clerics defend Pope Benedict abuse decision
ESSEN, Germany — The case that has raised questions about the future pope’s handling of a pedophile priest in Germany came to light three decades after it occurred, and then almost by chance. It happened when Wilfried Fesselmann, an early victim, said he stumbled on Internet photographs of the priest who sexually abused him, still working with children.
Court ruling on wiretap a challenge for President Obama
WASHINGTON — As a presidential candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama declared that it was “unconstitutional and illegal” for the Bush administration to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans. Many of his supporters said likewise.
After Iraq vote, Tehran seeks to weigh in on establishing government
BAGHDAD — Iran may seem an unlikely place to turn for guidance when it comes to putting together a democratic government, but that is exactly what most of Iraq’s political class did immediately after last month’s parliamentary elections.
Strains easing, Chinese leader plans visit to United States
WASHINGTON — Tensions between China and the United States have ebbed significantly in recent days, with the countries now working together to confront Iran over its nuclear ambitions and with the Obama administration backing off a politically charged clash over China’s currency.
Health care for all, in practice, with Obama down the street
PORTLAND, Maine — First through the door of the Portland Community Health Center on Thursday morning was a stick figure of a man, oblivious to the homemade signs and the White House advance team across the street. He had a bald eagle drawn on his sweatshirt, a street-hard weariness in his eyes and a throbbing pain in his right hand.
A beautiful weekend
After a week filled with cloudy skies and drenching rain that brought record flooding to much of New England, the Boston area will be treated to a picture-perfect spring weekend. The cutoff low pressure system that brought persistent rainfall earlier this week has moved off the coast, leaving in its wake a high pressure system that will bring sunny skies and warm temperatures to the region.
Shorts (left)
MOSCOW — President Dmitri Medvedev, trying to demonstrate the government’s resolve after a spate of terrorist bombings, made a surprise visit on Thursday to one of the most tumultuous areas of Russia and called for “harsher” tactics to combat the insurgency.
Shorts (right)
BANGKOK — In southern China, the worst drought in at least 50 years has dried up farmers’ fields and left tens of millions of people short of water.
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A Pakistani court Monday eased some travel restrictions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist and pioneer of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, who admitted six years ago that he had been running an illicit proliferation network. But the court maintained a prohibition on news interviews with him about his past nuclear activities, according to lawyers involved in the case.
Female suicide bombers blamed for Moscow blasts
Brazen suicide bombings in the center of Moscow on Monday confronted Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin with a grave challenge to his record of curbing terrorism, and raised the possibility that he will respond as he has in the past by significantly tightening control over the government.
Rainiest March on record?
As you read this, we are surpassing the record for Boston’s rainiest March in the last century. As of last night, we have seen a total of more than 11.2 inches of rain this month, while the rainiest March prior totaled 11.0 inches in 1953. Flooding throughout the region will occur; the NWS has flood warnings out for all of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as much of New York and New Jersey. Today, a strong southerly low-level jet stream from the E/SE feeds lots of moisture over us. Upper level winds slowly push the low pressure system directly on top of us, centering a strong region of convergence right over Massachusetts. We should see the heaviest rain today around noon; totals for the day will be around three or more inches. Surface winds will be predominantly from the north/northwest and reaching a maximum speed of 20 mph.
Delaware and Tennessee win Obama’s U.S. school grants
Delaware and Tennessee beat out 38 other states and the District of Columbia to win a share of $4 billion in federal education grants, convincing the Obama administration that they have bold plans for overhauling their public school systems.
10 Mexican students among dead in drug violence massacre
Mexico reeled Monday from another bloody weekend of drug-related killings that was made even more horrible by the baffling massacre of 10 young people and children traveling in a pickup truck in Durango state.