Militants defy allies on third day of fierce combat
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Ten minutes after walking out of the small outpost on Monday morning, the Marines of K Company were ambushed again.
Greek bailout increasingly unpopular in Germany
BERLIN — As European finance ministers refused Monday to name specific measures to rescue Greece and the Continent’s common currency, opposition grew among Germans to bailing out what they call spendthrifts to the south after years of belt-tightening by workers at home.
Cyberspying fears help fuel China’s drive to curb internet
BEIJING —Deep inside a Chinese military engineering institute in September 2008, a researcher took a break from his duties and decided — against official policy — to check his private e-mail messages. Among the new arrivals was an electronic holiday greeting card that purported to be from a state defense office.
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<i>VAIL, Ariz.</i> —Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops.
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CAIRO —Iran’s president boasted Thursday that his nation had the capacity to make weapons grade nuclear fuel if it chose to, in a speech designed to rally the nation as it marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Obama has edge over GOP in NYT/CBS poll
WASHINGTON —At a time of deepening political disaffection and intensified distress about the economy, President Barack Obama enjoys an edge over Republicans in the battle for public support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Bill Clinton undergoes surgery to clear a blocked artery
WASHINGTON —Former President Bill Clinton was taken to a New York hospital on Thursday after experiencing chest pains and underwent a procedure to clear a blocked artery that, if untreated, might have led to a heart attack within days, aides said.
North Korea apologizes for currency change blunder
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —The North Korean government has made a rare apology for a policy blunder and lifted a ban on using foreign currency, South Korean news organizations said Thursday.
Sunny weekend ahead
Wednesday’s storm was a major disappointment for those hoping for significant snow accumulations here in Cambridge. While the storm dumped around a foot of snow along the I-95 corridor from Washington D.C. to New York City, it remained stalled off the Long Island coast for most of the day on Wednesday. We therefore only experienced light snow and some drizzly rain; Logan Airport recorded 1.2” of snow. It appears that warm air advection wrapping around the storm allowed the temperatures to increase enough to prevent significant snow accumulation in Eastern Massachusetts.
European leaders vow to aid Greece during euro plight
BRUSSLES —European leaders promised Thursday to safeguard their common currency, the euro, by aiding Greece during its debt crisis. But they offered no immediate assistance to the Greek government and remained silent on how they would respond if investors remain jittery about Greece and other nations with weak economies that use the euro.
Downward spiral continues as U.S. stocks fall below 10,000
NEW YORK The Dow Jones industrial average, a closely watched barometer of the economy’s health, dipped below the 10,000 threshold on Monday, delivering a psychological setback as investors braced for more market volatility.
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<i>MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. —</i>The coronation of Peyton Manning was canceled Sunday night at exactly 9:29. The lasting image of him was supposed to come much later, Manning standing on a podium and accepting his second Lombardi Trophy. It arrived early, Manning thrashed to the ground and watching his legacy run by.
Ukraine vote offers a model for the Russians
<i>KIEV, UKRAINE</i>—The apparent victory of Russia’s preferred candidate in the Ukrainian presidential race may be a relief to Vladimir V. Putin, who has long sought to discredit his neighbor’s raucous democracy and its drift to the West.
Paperwork ties up medievacs of Haitian children
<i>PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAIT</i><i>I</i> — Private medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian children to the United States for treatment have largely stopped because aid workers, doctors and government officials are worried about being accused of kidnapping if they transport the children without first getting paperwork that is slow to arrive or is unavailable.
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<i>LOS ANGELES </i>—Nearly eight months after Michael Jackson died suddenly, his personal physician was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter for providing him with a powerful anesthetic that was ruled a major factor in his death.
U.N. Climate chief under scrutiny for conflicts of interest
Just over two years ago, Rajendra K. Pachauri seemed destined for a scientist’s version of sainthood: A bearded vegetarian economist-engineer who leads the United Nations’ climate change panel, he accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the panel, sharing the honor with former Vice President Al Gore.
On health care bill, a roadmap by the Grand Old Party
WASHINGTON—When Republicans take President Barack Obama up on his invitation to hash out their differences over health care this month, they will carry with them a fairly well-developed set of ideas intended to make health insurance more widely available and affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net.
Weather
The Mid-Atlantic states are digging out after a historic winter storm this past weekend. Record snowfall totals were common from northern Virginia to eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In these areas, more than 25 inches fell from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. From the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center’s final Storm Summary, Colesville, MD is at the top of the list with 40 inches! Blizzard conditions were inevitable Friday night between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. Transportation stopped and hundreds of thousands lost power as heavy snow and gale-force wind gusts battered these locations. The storm responsible for the havoc has moved off into the Atlantic, giving a break for clean-up efforts.
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Viewers look forward to the commercials shown during a Super Bowl because they know the spots will almost always be different from and better than — the everyday ads they typically deride or ignore. For Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, the anticipation may be more keen than usual.
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<i>FLINT, Mich.</i>—It was a Saturday afternoon, April 19, 2008, and Guadalupe Alberto, a 77-year-old former autoworker, was driving her 2005 Toyota Camry. Within blocks of her home, witnesses told police, the car accelerated out of control, jumped a curb and flew through the air before crashing into a tree.