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PARIS — For more than a century, the lengthy school days of French children have been punctuated by a midweek day off, in recent decades for most children on Wednesdays, originally created for catechism studies.
Afghan panel confirms torture of detainees
An Afghan government panel on Monday acknowledged widespread torture of detainees, after a two-week investigation of a U.N. report citing rampant abuses.
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DALLAS — Eddie Ray Routh, the former Marine corporal accused of killing Chris Kyle, an author and retired Navy SEAL sniper, had been released from a veterans hospital here four days before the shootings over the objections of his parents, Routh’s court-appointed lawyers said.
Catholic bishops reject contraception compromise
WASHINGTON — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops rejected the latest White House proposal on health insurance coverage of contraceptives on Thursday, saying it did not provide enough safeguards for religious hospitals, colleges
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HONG KONG — The police in a restive Tibetan area have arrested 12 people and detained dozens more accused of a playing a part in acts of self-immolation by Tibetan monks and others protesting Chinese rule, the state-run media said Thursday, as the government stepped up its campaign of attributing the protests to a plot inspired by the exiled Dalai Lama.
Some states push measures to repel new US gun laws
DENVER — A tide of anger at Washington’s gun-control efforts is sweeping through statehouses from South Carolina to North Dakota, taking the form of laws that would let states ignore — or at least resist — any new national gun restrictions.
Report faults Indian government over child sex abuse
NEW DELHI — Sexual abuse of children is “disturbingly common” in India, and the government’s response to it has fallen short, both in protecting children and in treating victims, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday.
Manhunt for ex-officer in three California killings
LOS ANGELES — A former Navy reservist who was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 has gone on a murderous rampage aimed at police officers and their families, law enforcement officials said Thursday, killing at least three people — including an 11-year veteran of the Riverside Police Department — and setting off a huge manhunt across Southern California.
Iran’s supreme leader rejects direct talks with US
WASHINGTON — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected any idea of bilateral talks with the United States on Thursday, in a speech in which he seemed to dismiss the views of Iranian officials — including the country’s foreign minister — who had advocated for such negotiations.
Winter megastorm Nemo, today through Saturday
A threatening nor’easter will impact our region today. The storm may have historic consequences, possibly dropping over 2 feet of snow across much of southeast New England and producing white-out conditions late today into tonight. A low pressure center moving northeast along the coast will rapidly intensify as it combines with another low pressure moving east over Pennsylvania and New York. The system is rich with moisture and will drop heavy snowfall across our region into Saturday. Snowfall totals will be around 10-12 inches over Cape Cod, reaching 20-28” over the Greater Boston area. In the heaviest snow bands, we cannot rule out thundersnow either.
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FRANKFURT, Germany — It was only a few years ago that some economists were arguing that Europe was “decoupling” from its long dependence on trade with the United States, and predicted that the Continent’s future lay with the so-called tiger economies of Asia.
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BEIRUT — Syria’s opposition coalition gave qualified backing Monday to its leader’s surprise offer last week for a dialogue with President Bashar Assad to end the civil war, pressing him to respond definitively and even offering the added inducement that he could avoid trial if he resigned and left the country.
Peace talks start between Myanmar and rebels
BANGKOK — China hosted peace talks between the Myanmar government and ethnic Kachin rebels Monday, as outside pressure grew on both sides to end the intense fighting of recent weeks.
French jets bomb Islamist militants in Mali’s north
PARIS — French warplanes bombed Islamist militant bases and depots deep into northern Mali to disrupt their supply routes, French officials said Monday, as secular Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said they had captured two Islamist commanders near the Algerian border.
States have varied responses to issue of gun violence
Although the debate over stemming gun violence after the massacre in Newtown, Conn., is breaking down mostly along partisan lines in the nation’s statehouses — with several Democratic governors calling for stricter gun laws as most Republicans urge tighter security or revamped mental health policies — the handful of exceptions show the political and geographical complexities of the issue.
Snow comes and goes this week
A series of relatively weak storms will skirt the Boston area this week, creating brief chances for light snowfall at various times. The first of these chances will come this morning, as a low pressure system passing to our south may spread some light flurries through southern New England. Next, another weak low will pass to our north overnight, bringing light snow or rain showers to the area through tomorrow afternoon. Finally, another weak disturbance will bring the chance of light snow or rain showers during the day on Friday.
US stepped in to halt Mexican general’s rise
As Mexico’s military staged its annual Independence Day parade in September, spectators filled the main square of Mexico City to cheer on the armed forces. Nearly 2,000 miles away in Washington, U.S. officials were also paying attention.
New Archbishop of Canterbury takes office
LONDON — On the eve of a divisive vote in Parliament on the legalization of same-sex marriage, Justin Welby, the former bishop of Durham, on Monday took over formally as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, saying he shares the Church of England’s opposition to marriage among people of the same gender.
Guantanamo defense lawyers seek 48-hour visits
FORT MEADE, Md. — Defense attorneys for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other accused accomplices in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, asked a military tribunal judge in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Tuesday to let them stay in prison with their clients for 48-hour periods every six months. But military prosecutors called that request unreasonable, saying the defense should be allowed to visit just once for two hours.
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WASHINGTON — As Congress and the White House prepare to refight two epic policy battles from the past — a new agenda to stem gun violence and another to address the nation’s heavily criticized immigration system — political, demographic and economic shifts are propelling immigration changes forward as forcefully as they are pulling lawmakers away on guns.