Senate Moves to Prohibit Unconfirmed Appointment of Federal Prosecutors
The Senate moved Monday to revoke new authority it granted the Bush administration last year to name federal prosecutors, with Democrats accusing the administration of abusing the appointment power at the center of an escalating clash over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
Failings of Global Effort Seen In South Africa TB Outbreak
The spread of a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in South Africa illustrates a breakdown in the global program that is supposed to keep the disease, one of the world’s deadliest, under control.
State Farm Insurance Casts Off Judge in New Hurricane Plans
After more than eight weeks of stalemate over a federal court agreement to reopen thousands of insurance claims from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, State Farm said Monday that it would work instead through state regulators. The new plan would speed the flow of money to storm victims but they would lose the court’s oversight.
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Russia on Monday signaled its opposition to the United Nations proposal to settle the status of Kosovo, Serbia’s breakaway province, and said a new negotiator should be named and fresh talks started.
Effy, Brace Yourself
After a spot of Arctic air that was drier than a Churchill martini and colder than Dick Cheney's heart, there have been several beautiful days with temperatures in the 60s — we even opened the windows during dinner in my apartment. Given this time of year in New England, it should come as no surprise, though, that things are about to change. The first day of spring is only about a week away, but we will experience some weather whiplash as we're yanked back into winter.
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Massachusetts public safety officials said Wednesday they are looking into problems at the state medical examiner's office, which acknowledged that an increase in autopsies has recently led to a shortage of body bags, more autopsy-related injuries to staff, and on one occasion an overwhelmed plumbing system that resulted in blood and water pooling on the floor.
Senators Reject Democrats' Call to Pull Troops Thursday
The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic resolution to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq in 2008, but a similar measure advanced in the House, and Democratic leaders vowed to keep challenging President Bush to change course in Iraq.
UN Security Council Will Vote On New Draft of Iran Sanctions
The U.N. Security Council received on Thursday a draft of a new resolution to impose sanctions on Iran for its defiance of demands that it suspend its nuclear enrichment activities and return to negotiations over its nuclear program.
Hamas Aligns With Fatah But Fate Of Foreign Aid Remains in Doubt
The Hamas-led Palestinian government, boycotted by the West since its election more than a year ago because of Hamas' support of terrorism, announced on Thursday a unity coalition with the more moderate Fatah movement in hopes of ending the boycott.
Terrorist Confession Shoulders Blame But Complicates Linked Prosecutions
The admissions made by the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks illuminated and transformed the cases against him and the 13 other Qaida leaders transferred last year from CIA prisons to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
China Moves to Protect Private Property Rights Amid Discord
After more than a quarter-century of market-oriented economic policies and record-setting growth, China on Friday is expected to approve its first law to protect private property explicitly.
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With a swipe of his pen, some flowery remarks and a good backdrop, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday moved California's presidential primary to February of next year from June, placing the nation's most populous state at the increasingly congested front end of the primary calendar.
The Classic British Sports Car, Reincarnated as Chinese Model
MG, the legendary British brand that expired after a lengthy illness, will be revived this month as a Chinese sports car, when the Nanjing Automobile Corp. begins to produce convertible sports cars under that name in China.
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Ford Motor Co. will raise $848 million toward its overhaul plan by selling Aston Martin, its British luxury sports car brand, the automaker said Monday.
GOP Voters Voice Anxieties on Party’s Fate; Iraq War Strategy
After years of political dominance, Republican voters now view their party as divided and say they are not satisfied with the choice of candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Kennedy, Eager For GOP Support, Reconsiders Tactics on Immigration
Facing a rebellion from some key Republicans, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill and is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary committee as the starting point for negotiations this year, lawmakers said on Monday.
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DePauw University severed ties Monday with a national sorority that evicted two-thirds of the university’s chapter members last year in what the sorority called an effort to improve its image for recruitment, but which the evicted women described as a purge of the unattractive or the uncool.
UN Council: Sudanese Gov’t Participated in Darfur Crimes
A U.N. Human Rights Council mission to Darfur said Monday that the Sudanese government had organized and taken part in human rights crimes against its own population, and that international action to stop the killings and rapes had been inadequate.
17 Feet Under
When precipitation is measured in feet, it’s usually when it snows. For example, a severe Nor’easter may bring 2-3 feet over a day or two to New England, but how about 17 feet of rain in six days? A small island in the Indian Ocean, La Reunion, received an incredible amount of rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Gamede late last month. A new world record was set at Commerson’s Crater, a volcano on the island, with a staggering three day rainfall total of 155 in. (3.9 m) and a one week total of 213 in. (5.4 m). Compare this to the yearly average precipitation in Boston of 41.5 in (1.1 m). Although Gamede never made landfall on La Reunion, the excessive rainfall was caused by persistent rain squalls continually lashing the island as the tropical cyclone moved slowly toward the southwest.
China Nears Passage of Landmark Private Property, Corp. Tax Laws
China's national legislature began deliberating on Thursday a landmark law that would provide legal protections for private property as well as a law that would gradually equalize corporate taxes on foreign and domestic corporations.