Scores of Palestinians killed, wounded as conflict continues
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — After a night of sustained Israeli strikes by air and sea and a morning of rocket attacks on Israel, the Health Ministry here said Monday that the Palestinian death toll in six days of conflict had risen to 91 with 700 wounded, including 200 children, as the assault ground on unrelentingly despite efforts toward a cease-fire.
Quiet weather in store for Thanksgiving
The high pressure system that has been parked over the Northeast for the last few days will remain in control of our weather through the end of the week. It will continue to be dry and seasonably cool (highs around 50°F). Onshore flow off the ocean today and tomorrow will advect some moist air, causing some cloudiness. Thanksgiving looks to be a pleasant day, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 50°F’s expected. The high pressure will finally move away from our region on Friday, with a cold front approaching from the west. Southeasterly flow could allow temperatures to make it into the mid 50°F’s. Looking ahead to the weekend, the cold front is expected to move through on Saturday, but shouldn’t bring a great deal of precipitation. Following that, Sunday will be much cooler and breezier.
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BEIJING — In his first speech to the Chinese Communist Party’s elite Politburo, Xi Jinping, the new party chief, denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state.”
Fighting breaks standoff between rebels and Congo forces
KAMPALA, Uganda — Heavy shelling and gunfire Monday broke a tense standoff between Congolese rebels on the outskirts of the eastern Congolese city of Goma and government soldiers backed by U.N. troops who were hunkered down inside, as fears also rose of a direct military confrontation between the Democratic Republic of
Bold response by Hamas tests Arab alliances
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Instead of the wedding drums that typically provide the evening soundtrack in this forlorn coastal strip, the black, still air was pierced by gunshots Thursday, as citizens fired celebratory rounds after the ruling Hamas faction announced that one of its rockets had hit an Israeli aircraft.
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WASHINGTON — The Postal Service on Thursday reported a record $15.9 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, bringing the financially troubled agency another step closer to insolvency.
Wal-mart expands foreign bribery investigation
Wal-Mart disclosed Thursday that it has expanded an internal investigation into bribery accusations in Mexico to Brazil, China
Pentagon to review ethical standards
WASHINGTON — Responding to a string of recent scandals that have tarnished the military, the Pentagon’s top two leaders, Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, served notice on Thursday that they would strictly enforce ethical standards for their most senior officers.
Here comes the sun
While dull, grey skies have been the norm for the last couple of days, sunshine is due to return for the weekend. A broad high pressure system will move very slowly across the Northeast United States over the next few days, bringing with it sunshine, calm winds, and moderate temperatures. In fact, almost the entire region east of the Mississippi River will be enjoying clear skies and relatively warm temperatures at least through Monday.
US in talks with Afghans on presence after 2014
WASHINGTON — The United States and Afghanistan began talks Thursday on a security agreement that would authorize a U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan after 2014, when Afghan forces are to assume responsibility for the war.
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NEW YORK — President Barack Obama got a look on Thursday at the muddy wreckage that Hurricane Sandy left in its wake, flying over ravaged neighborhoods in Queens, consoling devastated homeowners under tents and in the streets on Staten Island, and promising a strong and continuing federal role in the recovery.
BP to admit crimes and pay $4.5 billion in Gulf settlement
BP, the British oil company, said Thursday that it would pay $4.5 billion in fines and other payments to the government and plead guilty to 14 criminal charges in connection with the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.
US may surpass Saudi Arabia as world’s top oil producer
In a turnaround that would have seemed far-fetched a few years ago, the United States is projected to surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2020 while cutting its own energy use faster than any other nation, the International Energy Agency reports.
Return to seasonal temperatures
After a lovely weekend more reminiscent of September than late fall, temperatures in Cambridge will cool down after a cold front passes through this morning. For the rest of the week, high pressure will dominate, bringing mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 35-45°F range.
Afghanistan deployment is under review
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — White House and Pentagon officials hope to determine within weeks the number of U.S. troops that will remain for the long term in Afghanistan after the bulk of U.S. forces come home in 2014, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Monday.
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Regulators failed Monday to win a clear victory over the father-and-son team whose mutual fund failed in one of the signal events of the 2008 financial crisis. It was the latest setback in efforts by regulators to hold individuals responsible for the risk-taking that nearly brought down the U.S. economy.
Labor leaders have Obama’s back and are ready to push
Having helped President Barack Obama win re-election, labor leaders will meet with him Tuesday and intend to offer their robust support for what they view as his mandate: Stand tough against cuts in Medicare, Medicaid
Democrats like a Romney plan on income tax
WASHINGTON — With both parties positioning for difficult negotiations to avert a fiscal crisis as Congress returns for its lame-duck session, Democrats are latching on to an idea floated by Mitt Romney to raise taxes on the rich through a hard cap on income tax deductions.
In Petraeus case, FBI inquiry into emails raises questions
WASHINGTON — Are a string of angry emails really enough, in an age of boisterous online exchanges, to persuade the FBI to open a cyberstalking investigation?
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NDJAMENA, Chad — More than 10 Kenyan police officers, and possibly as many as 31, have been killed by cattle rustlers in an ambush in a remote part of northern Kenya known as death valley, Kenyan officials said Monday, in of one the more brazen cases in recent years in the war against livestock thieves.