Kerry’s comments on Syria mark a shift over strike
WASHINGTON — When Secretary of State John Kerry dangled for the first time on Monday actions that President Bashar Assad of Syria could take to avoid a military strike, it seemed an acknowledgment that Congress, America’s allies, and the Russians were all looking for an off-ramp for what a week ago seemed like inevitably military action against Syria.
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LOS ANGELES — Inmates at California state prisons have ended a two-month hunger strike, corrections officials and inmate advocates announced Thursday.
Egypt’s interior minister survives assassination attempt
CAIRO — A powerful bomb blasted through a convoy of cars carrying the interior minister along a residential street Thursday, raising fears of a widely predicted turn toward terrorist violence by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi.
In Syria, Iraqis see replays of their past and fears for future
BAGHDAD — Abu Mohaned spent Tuesday night washing the bodies of victims of that evening’s car bombs, preparing them for burial. When a couple of roadside bombs went off the next day, he did the same thing.
Australia’s prime minister, facing election, drops in poll
SYDNEY — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who emerged triumphantly from the political wilderness to regain Australia’s leadership earlier this year, is battling widespread predictions of a defeat in federal elections Saturday that would bring an end to his party’s tumultuous six years in power.
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HONG KONG — A court in northwest China sentenced a former provincial safety official Thursday to 14 years in prison for graft, a year after he became a symbol of a callous and corrupt bureaucracy when Chinese Internet users circulated photographs suggesting he had been living beyond his means.
Fall weather envelopes New England
Fall semester has arrived and with it autumn weather. The overnight lows are dipping below 60°F, resulting in chilly mornings perfect for intense outdoor exercise. Daytime high temperatures will remain in the 70s°F for the next few days, with partly cloudy skies but no significant precipitation expected. Elsewhere in the Northeast, areas of MA, NY, VT, NH, and ME expected their first frost and freeze warnings this morning.
Europe offers compromise to US on airline emissions taxes
BRUSSELS — Seeking to end years of acrimony, the European Union has made concessions to the United States to try to gain support for global rules on airline emissions.
European Central Bank chief tamps down optimism
FRANKFURT, Germany — The president of the European Central Bank issued a sober assessment of the eurozone economy, saying Thursday that he was “very, very cautious” about prospects for growth and acknowledging concern about shock waves from the civil war in Syria.
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WASHINGTON — The spreading expectation that President Barack Obama will name Lawrence H. Summers to lead the Federal Reserve Board appears to be working against the central bank’s efforts to stimulate the economy.
Sunshine expected for the start of classes
This weekend’s stretch of humid, stormy weather will give way to a more settled pattern just in time for the start of the fall semester on Wednesday.
Chill hangs over Obama’s journey to summit in Russia
WASHINGTON — Just days before Vladimir Putin reassumed the presidency of Russia last year, President Barack Obama dispatched his national security adviser to Moscow. Obama had made considerable progress with Dmitry A. Medvedev, the caretaker president, and wanted to preserve the momentum.
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CBS and Time Warner Cable ended their protracted contract dispute Monday evening with the announcement of an agreement that restored CBS and its related channels, like Showtime, to millions of cable subscribers largely in three major cities, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.
Syrians thrown off balance by hesitation in Washington
BEIRUT — Two days after President Barack Obama shocked Syrians by delaying expected American missile strikes, the country remains off balance, with the military still bracing, the rebels still hoping to capitalize on the confusion, civilians increasingly fleeing across the borders and everyone uncertain whether the attack has been called off for good.
McCain urges lawmakers to back Obama’s plan for Syria
WASHINGTON — The White House’s aggressive push for congressional approval of an attack on Syria appeared to have won the tentative support of one of President Barack Obama’s most hawkish Republican critics, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who said Monday that he supported a “limited” strike if the president did more to arm the Syrian opposition.
Debate revives Merkel’s rival as credible challenger
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democratic challenger, Peer Steinbrück, returned to the campaign trail on Monday, with neither triumphant after their sole television debate, a mostly decorous 90-minute exchange that restored Steinbrück as a credible candidate but yielded a rhetorical draw.
Brazil angered over report that NSA spied on president
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government summoned the U.S. ambassador Monday to respond to new revelations of U.S. surveillance of President Dilma Rousseff and her top aides, complicating relations between the countries ahead of Rousseff’s state visit to Washington next month.
Leaked document outlines US spending on intelligence
The most detailed public disclosure of U.S. intelligence spending in history shows a surprisingly dominant role for the Central Intelligence Agency, a growing emphasis on both defensive and offensive cyberoperations and significant gaps in knowledge about targeted countries despite the sharp increase in spending after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
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WASHINGTON — All legally married same-sex couples will be recognized for federal tax purposes, regardless of whether the state where they live recognizes the marriage, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
Obama is willing to go it alone in Syria, aides say
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria, administration officials said Thursday, despite a stinging rejection of such action Thursday by America’s stalwart ally Britain and mounting questions from Congress.