UN report confirms rockets loaded with Sarin in Aug. 21 Syrian attack
Rockets armed with the banned chemical nerve agent sarin were used in a mass killing near Damascus, Syria on Aug. 21, U.N. chemical weapons inspectors reported Monday in the first official confirmation by nonpartisan scientific experts, saying such munitions had been deployed “on a relatively large scale” in the Syria conflict.
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ISTANBUL — Turkey said its fighter planes shot down a Syrian military helicopter on Monday that flew into Turkish airspace, a potentially significant escalation of tensions between the neighbors and former allies, which are now bitterly divided over Syria’s civil war.
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NEW YORK — It began as just another bizarre Times Square scene, a disoriented man lurching amid traffic, seemingly throwing himself into the path of oncoming cars.
Spain on track to meet budget targets, emerge from recession
MADRID — Spain is on track to meet the 2013 budget deficit target it agreed on with its European Union partners and should emerge from recession before the end of the year, its economy minister said Monday.
More rain expected in as Colorado as rescuers wait for fog to clear out
DENVER — As rain continued to fall Monday along Colorado’s Front Range, officials waited for a clearing in the weather so National Guard helicopters grounded by rain and fog could resume searching for hundreds of people who remain cut off by floodwaters.
High pressure takes hold; sunshine in store
The cold front that brought yesterday’s morning showers has departed to our east, and in its wake has come a strong high pressure system that will take control of our weather for the remainder of the week. This broad anticyclone is poised to remain over the Northeastern United States at least through Friday, resulting in calm, clear weather throughout the region. Sunshine is in store for each of the next few days, and relatively light winds will make the seasonable fall temperatures particularly enjoyable.
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WASHINGTON — New satellite photographs showing steam emerging from a newly reconstructed nuclear reactor in North Korea suggest that the country may be making good on its promise to resume the production of plutonium for its small nuclear arsenal, six years after it reached an agreement with the Bush administration to dismantle the facility.
Ceremony unites those affected by 9/11 and Marathon bombings
Anna Sweeney was only 5 when her mother died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and wishes she remembered her better. Sometimes she flips through scrapbooks her mother made and watches old home videos, just to hear her voice and see her face.
Sizzling summer to slide aside to stormy showers
Our latest serving of heat is not to stay for long. Though we have recently found time to cherish some remnants of summer, a cold front is set to pass through the Boston area this morning, bringing rain and likely thunderstorms. Highs today are in the upper 70s°F. Expect further plunging into the upper 60s°F for tomorrow. Into next week, expect mostly sunny skies with highs continuing in the upper 60s °F.
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BRUSSELS — EU legislators overwhelmingly approved Thursday a law that puts about 130 of the eurozone’s largest banks under the scrutiny of the European Central Bank.
In Lybia, strikes and threats bring oil industry close to a standstill
Two years after local militias overthrew the Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, many of those same fighters have brought Libya’s critical oil industry to a halt, as a challenge to the latest in a series of that country’s interim governments.
European rail crashes hint at gaps in increasingly precarious system
PARIS — In the wake of a fiery train crash this summer in northern Spain that killed 79 people, investigators, survivors and passengers are demanding to know why the rail line entrusted the train’s safety with a sole driver who had publicly boasted about past speeding and was talking on a mobile phone seconds before the derailment.
India sends security forces to north after deadly clashes
NEW DELHI — India deployed thousands of police officers and army troops to a region in the north of the country on Monday after weekend confrontations between Hindus and Muslims caused the death of at least 30 people and grave injuries of many more, according to the police.
Summer temperatures making a comeback
Many of us threw on our jackets yesterday morning before heading to campus as a high pressure system brought cooler weather to the area. Last night, that high pressure moved offshore, allowing a warm front to work into the region today.
Pakistan takes step toward talks with the Taliban
ISLAMABAD — A conference of Pakistan’s political and military leadership on Monday agreed to clear the way for peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, calling it the best strategy to end a decade of militant-driven bloodshed.
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BEIJING — A homemade bomb outside a school in the southern city of Guilin on Monday killed at least two people and injured 17, many of them children, according to state news reports.
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ROME — Pope Francis already has distinguished himself from his predecessor with a more down-to-earth style. Now, he is both unnerving the Vatican and delighting the faithful by picking up the telephone and spontaneously calling people, earning the nickname “the Cold Call Pope.”