A Little Bit of Everything
It’s becoming that time of year when terms like “pop up thunderstorms” or “hit-or-miss showers” are often found in the forecast. When one minute it is sunny, the next it can be pouring rain. As we transition to the summer season, if there is sufficient convection, moisture, and lift, this can trigger thunderstorms. Today’s chance of thunderstorms may make you wonder how there can be thunderstorms when it’s not that hot. This is because the convection from today’s scattered thunderstorms is “upside down.” Typically, convection is trigged from the strong heating at the surface. Instead, the instability here is from the cold air aloft. This too can drive buoyancy differences and help initiate thunderstorms.
At Obama Health Care Meeting, Goals Not Shared
President Barack Obama engineered a political coup on Monday by bringing leaders of the health care industry to the White House to build momentum for his ambitious health care agenda.
Iran Frees American Reporter Jailed for Espionage
An Iranian-American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of spying for the United States was released Monday, a legal turnabout that removes an obstacle to President Barack Obama’s opening to Iran but illustrates the volatility of the Iranian government.
Pentagon Replaces Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David D. McKiernan, was forced out Monday in an abrupt shakeup intended to bring a more aggressive and innovative approach to a worsening seven-year-old war.
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Sen. Charles E. Schumer has never struggled to find a reason to hold a news conference on a Sunday. But the inspiration for the one on Mother’s Day arrived unexpectedly, when the senator’s cell phone rang during a health care meeting on Capitol Hill last week.
Katrina Victims Face Loss of Temporary Housing
Earnest Hammond, a retired truck driver, did not get any of the money that went to aid property owners after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Baseball Star Ramirez Is Sport’s Latest Drug Failure
When Major League Baseball officials examined the results of urine tests from the slugger Manny Ramirez earlier this season, they became suspicious. While the tests did not show clear evidence of a performance-enhancing drug, there were traces of banned substances present, enough to initiate a process that has now left one of the best hitters in baseball history with a 50-game suspension.
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The Amazon Kindle, an electronic reader, has had praise lavished on it by hopeful newspaper and book executives who believe it has the potential to do for newspapers and books what the iPod did for music.
Lives of Student and Her Stalker Collide at Wesleyan University
She was a disciplined, fearless young woman of great promise, a Wesleyan University junior with a passion for women’s health issues. He was apparently disturbed, a man with shaky relationships and a malevolence toward Jews who threatened them and others on the campus in Middletown, Conn.
U.S. Orders 10 Big Banks to Raise Another $75 Billion
After subjecting the nation’s biggest banks to the most public scrutiny in decades, federal regulators ordered 10 of them on Thursday to raise a total of $75 billion in extra capital and gave the rest a clean bill of health.
GM’s Losses Accelerate, Fueling Trek Toward Bankruptcy Filing
Even after receiving $15.4 billion in federal loans, General Motors is once again on the brink of financial collapse.
A Spring Sampler
This weekend’s weather will feature a sampling of typical spring conditions for New England. Sunny skies will be prevalent at times, but will be interspersed with clouds and rain. The average high temperature for this time of the year in Boston is around 65 degrees, and temperatures will range near this figure for most of the weekend. The Boston area will get a taste of partly sunny spring days today and tomorrow, but a thunderstorm or two are likely to make their way across the region this afternoon. Finally, a cold front will reach the area toward the end of the weekend, bringing with cooler temperatures, cloudy skies, and a even a few showers. Hence, our campus will experience warm, sunny weather, thunder and lightning, and a few spring showers over the course of a single weekend.
Shorts (right)
After a year of obfuscation, the authorities on Thursday released the first official tally of student deaths from the earthquake last May, saying that 5,335 children either were dead or remained missing. An additional 546 were left disabled, they said.
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President Hamid Karzai named a powerful former warlord as one of his two vice-presidential running mates on Monday, a day of scattered insurgent attacks that left as many as 26 people dead.
S&P 500 Erases 2009 Losses As Stocks Jump
For many investors, breaking even never felt so good.
Hamas Says It Has Grounded Its Rockets to Israel
The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967.
Mexico Objects to China’s Stringent Quarantines
Medical experts are calling the new influenza virus A (H1N1), but for many Mexicans it is simply a scarlet A.
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Sumit Sapra is a member of that ambitious, impatient generation of young Indians who rode the crest of the global economy. In five years, he changed jobs three times, quadrupling his salary along the way.
Obama Seeking to Cut Foreign Taxation Havens
President Barack Obama on Monday called for curbing offshore tax havens and corporate tax breaks to collect billions of dollars more from multinational companies and wealthy individuals.
All Stuffed Up
Seasonal allergy sufferers don’t need the visual cue of the blooming flowers and budding leaves to know that everything is coming alive. The recent hot spell is partially to blame for the sudden rise in sneezing and stuffy noses as the near record temperatures have really accelerated the greening of trees and plants. Along with the warmth, days with low humidity and a stiff breeze can really aggravate the suffering as pollen is more easily suspended in the air.