U.S. Questions Pakistan’s Will to Stop Taliban
As the Taliban tightened their hold over newly won territory, Pakistani politicians and U.S. officials on Thursday sharply questioned the government’s willingness to deal with the insurgents and the Pakistani military decision to remain on the sidelines.
Plight of Carmakers Could Upturn All Pension Plans
Decisions that the government will make soon on the future of General Motors and Chrysler could accelerate the decline of traditional pension plans, which have sheltered generations of workers from an impoverished old age.
New York Governor Offers Bill To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Gov. David A. Paterson introduced a bill on Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage, vowing to personally involve himself in the legislative debate at a level that is rare for a New York governor.
Ties to AIG Put Dodd on Bumpy Road to Re-Election
HARTFORD - The election is still more than 18 months away, but US Senator Chris Dodd is barnstorming Connecticut this week like an incumbent in trouble. Voters who have supported him for 29 years are showing anger over his personal finances and for legislation that allowed federal bailout money to be used for executive bonuses.
Pediatric Heart Surgery on Hold at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital has suspended its pediatric cardiac surgery program after two babies recently suffered serious complications following errors made during open-heart surgery.
Obama Releases Torture Memos that Guided CIA
The Justice Department made public detailed memos on Thursday describing brutal interrogation techniques used by the CIA, as President Barack Obama sought to reassure the agency that CIA operatives who carried out the techniques would not be prosecuted.
Shorts (right)
The era of personal genomic medicine may have to wait. The genetic analysis of common disease is turning out to be a lot more complex than expected.
Shorts (left)
French forces detained 11 people suspected of being pirates during an assault on what they described as a pirate “mother ship” in the Indian Ocean off Somalia on Wednesday.
Study Finds Mega-Droughts in Africa in Past
For at least 3,000 years, a series of potent droughts, far longer and more severe than any experienced recently, have seared a belt of sub-Saharan Africa that is now home to tens of millions of the world’s poorest people, climate researchers report in a new study.
Stormy Out West, Quiet Over East
Today will feature two extremes over the eastern two-thirds of the country: a strong spring storm will be slow to move over the eastern Rockies/southern Plains, while the East Coast will experience a pleasantly warm day. The exact track of the spring storm out west is still uncertain, but the potential exists for a foot to over two feet of heavy wet snow over the mountains and along the foothills and adjacent plains in Colorado. Imagine trying to shovel that! Meanwhile. on the warm side of the storm, areas of Texas will receive beneficial heavy rain. The entire storm-affected area is currently in a moderate to severe drought, so any precipitation will be helpful.
Militants Joining Forces To Advance Into Pakistan
Taliban insurgents are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads in Punjab, the province that is home to more than half of Pakistanis, reinvigorating an alliance that Pakistani and American authorities say poses a serious risk to the stability of the country.
Shorts (left)
Just a year ago, working as a product presenter at an auto show was a pretty straightforward job. You stood next to a vehicle, you called it a marvel of engineering, style and comfort and then you fielded softball questions like, “What does this baby cost?”
Shorts (right)
China’s Cabinet released on Monday what it called a human rights action plan, a lengthy document promising to improve the protection of civil liberties, which are often neglected and sometimes systematically violated in China.
U.S. May Drop Key Condition For Iran Talks
The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a long-standing American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.
Goldman’s Profit Topped Forecast; Share Sale Planned
Six months after accepting a financial lifeline from Washington, a newly profitable Goldman Sachs is pushing to return the billions of taxpayer dollars that it received in an effort to extricate itself from heightened government control.
Stormy Down South, Dry Up North
Severe weather has been wreaking havoc in the southeastern United States over the past few days. Over the weekend, severe thunderstorms caused widespread power outages, toppled trees, and spawned tornadoes as they carved a path through parts of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Carolinas. Widespread damage and flooding was reported as were several deaths and injuries. The region was then battered by another storm system on Monday, with strong winds, heavy rain, and hail reported across Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida. More severe weather was expected at the time of this writing Monday night, with severe thunderstorm and tornado watches posted by the National Weather Service across the Southeast.
Strife Swells In the Streets of Bangkok
Soldiers armed with assault rifles fought running street battles with anti-government protesters in Bangkok on Monday as unrest spread through a wider swath of the city, and the chief of Thailand’s armed forces vowed to use “every means to end the chaos.”
Shorts (left)
Frank Ricci has been a firefighter here for 11 years, and he would do just about anything to advance to lieutenant.
CIA to Close Its Overseas ‘Black Site’ Prisons
The CIA said Thursday that it would decommission the secret overseas prisons where it subjected al-Qaida prisoners to brutal interrogation methods, bringing to a symbolic close the most controversial counterterrorism program of the Bush administration.
U.S. Navy Tracks Somali Pirates and Their American Hostage
The Indian Ocean standoff between an $800 million U.S. Navy destroyer and four pirates bobbing in a lifeboat low on fuel showed the limits facing the world’s most powerful military in dealing with a booming pirate economy in a treacherous patch of international waters.