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WASHINGTON — Lost work: 6.6 million days. Back-pay costs: $2 billion. Private-sector jobs lost: 120,000.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government acknowledged Monday that its top intelligence agency had spied on diplomatic targets from countries including the United States, Iran and Russia, putting Brazilian authorities in the uncomfortable position of defending their own surveillance practices after repeatedly criticizing U.S. spying operations.
Morsi calls trials ‘illegitimate,’ and case in Egypt is delayed
CAIRO — As Egypt’s new military-led government consolidates its power, Mohammed Morsi, the deposed president, went on trial Monday, facing charges of inciting the murder of protesters, but he rejected the court’s authority and proclaimed himself to be the country’s legitimate ruler.
As US weighs spying changes, officials want data sweeps to go on
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has told allies and lawmakers it is considering reining in a variety of National Security Agency practices overseas, including holding White House reviews of the world leaders the agency is monitoring, forging a new accord with Germany for a closer intelligence relationship and minimizing collection on some foreigners.
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BERLIN — The German government said Monday that it had been informed months ago about a valuable trove of art discovered in a Munich apartment, which a German magazine describes as a collection of hundreds of works confiscated by the Nazis or sold cheaply by people desperate to leave Germany.
Bill on workplace bias clears Senate hurdle
WASHINGTON — A measure that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity overcame a significant obstacle in the Senate on Monday as seven Republicans crossed party lines and voted to begin debate on the bill.
SAC Capital agrees to plead guilty to insider trading
SAC Capital Advisors has agreed to plead guilty to insider trading violations and pay a record $1.2 billion penalty, becoming the first large Wall Street firm in a generation to confess to criminal conduct. The move caps a decade-long investigation that turned a once mighty hedge fund into a symbol of financial wrongdoing.
Warm week is a pause in approach of winter
We have entered November and thus have started to notice below-freezing temperatures popping up now and then in the mornings. At this time last year, we were receiving snow from Sandy’s Nor’easter encore. This year, to the contrary, we will be seeing local temperatures on the rise, until in fact seeing mid to upper 60s°F in the afternoon of Nov. 7.
Contrite White House spurns health law’s critics
BOSTON — The White House on Wednesday blended expressions of contrition for the troubled rollout of its health care law with an aggressive rejection of Republican criticism of it, as the administration sought a political strategy to blunt the fallout from weeks of technical failures and negative coverage.
Red Sox clinch first title at Fenway since 1918
BOSTON — For much of the 20th century, the Boston Red Sox were a symbol of frustration and pain for an entire region. As popular as they were in their corner of the nation, either they were good enough to lose in agonizing fashion on baseball’s grandest stage or they were just plain bad.
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WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives, with bipartisan support, passed legislation Wednesday that would roll back a major element of the 2010 law intended to strengthen the nation’s financial regulations by allowing big banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to continue to handle most types of derivatives trades in house. The bill, which passed by a 292-122 vote, would repeal a requirement in the Dodd-Frank law that big banks “push out” some derivatives trading into separate units that are not backed by the government’s insurance fund.
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MOSCOW — Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor living in asylum in Russia, now has a job at one of the country’s major Internet companies, a lawyer who has represented him since he arrived here as a fugitive from U.S. prosecution four months ago said Thursday.
Voter’s anger over shutdown is inspiring Democrats to run
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1994, and until this month, prospects for changing that were dim at best. Of the state’s three House seats, a Democrat has a fighting chance only in the district encompassing Omaha and its suburbs. And the party’s sole hope there, Omaha’s popular City Council president, had declared that he was not going to run.
Senate Republicans block two Obama nominees
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the confirmation of two of President Barack Obama’s nominees, one to a powerful appeals court and another to a housing lending oversight post, setting up a confrontation with Democrats that could escalate into a larger fight over limiting the filibuster and restricting how far the minority party can go to thwart a president’s agenda.
Bodies of dozens of migrants found in Niger’s desert
DAKAR, Senegal — The decomposing bodies of 87 migrants from the impoverished West African nation of Niger were discovered in the Sahara this week just a few miles from a well, apparently stranded after a desperate search for water, said the head of a local humanitarian organization who helped bury many of the bodies.
Cold front brings warmer temperatures and rain
Grab an umbrella instead of a sweater today: today’s temperatures will be among the warmest we’ve experienced in recent days, but we will also see rain for most of the day. The source of the rain is a powerful cold front which has been moving across the Midwest this week, producing strong winds and up to several inches of rain. Here in Boston, we will likely see about a quarter of an inch of rain. Winds may gust as high as 30 miles per hour. The cold front will then move off the coast tonight into tomorrow morning.
Judge blocks major part of Texas abortion law
A federal judge in Texas on Monday blocked an important part of the state’s restrictive new abortion law, which would have required doctors performing the procedure to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
US at odds with Afghans on overtures to Taliban
KABUL, Afghanistan — A bungled attempt by the Afghan government to cultivate a shadowy alliance with Islamist militants escalated into the latest flashpoint in the troubled relationship between Afghanistan and the United States, according to new accounts by officials from both countries.
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Penn State has agreed to pay $59.7 million to 26 sexual abuse victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in exchange for an end to their claims against the university, Penn State announced Monday. Of the 26 settlements, 23 are fully signed and three are agreed to in principle, with final documentation expected within the next few weeks.
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NEW DELHI — Investigators believe that Indian Mujahedeen, an outlawed Islamic group, was behind a series of explosions Sunday that killed at least six people and disrupted a huge political rally in Patna, a senior official said Monday.