Shorts (left)
GENEVA — The World Health Organization declared Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, officially free of Ebola infections on Monday, calling the outcome the triumphal result of “world class epidemiological detective work.”
Hong Kong leader reaffirms tough stance on elections
HONG KONG — The Beijing-appointed leader of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, said Monday that allowing his successors to be chosen in open elections based on who won the greatest number of votes was unacceptable in part because it risked giving poorer residents a dominant voice in politics.
Gene variant may protect Hispanic women from cancer
A genetic variant that is particularly common in some Hispanic women with indigenous American ancestry appears to protect against breast cancer, a new study found.
Break out the umbrellas!
It was a cool start to the week this week thanks to the passage of a cold front on Saturday evening. Boston’s low temperature early Monday morning was a chilly 39°F (4°C), the coldest it’s been in the city since April 21!
Amid a shift in strategy. IBM reports weak earnings
After IBM reported surprisingly weak quarterly profits and sales Monday morning, Virginia M. Rometty did something most unusual for an IBM chief executive. She joined the conference call with analysts, and forcefully made the case for investing heavily in new fields that promise growth in the future, despite a near-term financial setback.
Hong Kong leader open to talks with protesters
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s leader said Thursday that the city government hoped to meet with student protest leaders as soon as possible, as authorities struggled to remove pro-democracy demonstrators who have occupied some of the city’s most important thoroughfares for nearly three weeks.
Goldman stock falls on worries over sustainable returns
Goldman Sachs on Thursday reported strong third-quarter results, but investors and analysts expressed concerns that the performance might not be sustainable over time.
Calls to use a proposed nuclear site, now deemed safe
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday released a long-delayed report on the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a disposal spot for nuclear waste, finding that the design met the commission’s requirements, laying the groundwork to restart the project if control of the Senate changes hands in the elections next month.
Shorts (right)
WASHINGTON — The director of the FBI, James B. Comey, said Thursday that federal laws should be changed to require telecommunications companies to give law enforcement agencies access to the encrypted communications of individuals suspected of crimes.
Unseasonable warmth to end over weekend
The warm weather of the past few days is likely to end overnight on Saturday as cold air is brought down behind a Low passing across the Eastern Canadian provinces. Today and Saturday are likely to have warm highs in the lower 70s (°F) before Sunday’s colder high in the lower to mid 50s (°F). There is a chance that Cambridge will see showers on Saturday afternoon, but nothing like the rainfall from yesterday.
Shorts (left)
Google is still pulling in money hand over fist, but in its latest earnings report Thursday there were signs that its ultra-profitable business in search advertising was starting to slow.
Calm returns to Wall Street, but Europe remains a worry
For a day at least, Wall Street was able to work through its worries about the world economy.
Europe evaluates Ebola measures as possible cases emerge
PARIS — Several new suspected cases of Ebola were reported in Europe on Thursday, amid heightened fears that measures to prevent the virus from spreading here are insufficient and that more people, especially health personnel attending to Ebola patients, are at risk of contamination.
Pentagon says global warming presents immediate security threat
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon released a report Monday asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster response as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.
British Parliament recognizes Palestinian state
LONDON — Against a backdrop of growing impatience across Europe with Israeli policy, Britain’s Parliament overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution Monday night to give diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state. The vote was a symbolic but potent indication of how public opinion has shifted since the breakdown of American-sponsored peace negotiations and the conflict in Gaza this summer.
Republican-majority Senate is starting to look likelier
The polls have shown Republicans faring quite well over the last couple of weeks, and they now appear to lead in the polls in enough contests to win 52 seats, with Iowa, Colorado and the six Democratic-held states won by John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Mitt Romney in 2012.
Shorts (right)
Prime Minister Viktor Orban continued his steady consolidation of power in Hungary in local and municipal elections on Sunday with his governing Fidesz party winning control of all county assemblies and all but one of the largest cities, including the capital, Budapest.
Shorts (left)
Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader whose unexplained absence from public view for more than a month raised intense speculation that he was ill or deposed, apparently has been seen.
Warm air precedes late-week storm
The storm system that spawned severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes over the Mississippi River Valley yesterday will arrive in New England later this week, bringing the potential for heavy rainfall to the Institute on Thursday and Thursday night. Until then, the Boston area will be wedged between an offshore high pressure system and the approaching cold front. This setup will result in considerable pre-frontal warming, with temperatures expected to exceed 70°F (21°C) on each remaining day this week, whereas normal highs for this time of year are around 62°F (17°C).
Egypt cracks down on new student protests
CAIRO — Egyptian security forces are tightening their crackdown on student activism by arresting scores of students at the start of the school term in an effort to crush a renewed wave of protests against the military-backed government that took power last year.