Clear weather finally returns to New England
A weak, yet pesky, area of low pressure lingered just off Cape Cod earlier this week. The system brought cold temperatures, cloudy skies, rain, and breezy conditions. This system appeared “stuck” in one location on the weather forecast models from this past week. But why? The answer was evident in the central Atlantic Ocean, where a much larger low pressure center was parked, preventing the weaker low from exiting our area.
Spain holds a trump card in bank bailout talks
BERLIN — The bargaining has begun over a deal to rescue Spain’s ailing banks, confronting Europe with urgent choices about whether to try to enforce onerous bailout terms on Madrid as the crisis spreads to the region’s largest economies.
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Conflicting signs are emerging in Washington over whether JPMorgan Chase’s surprise trading loss will spur tighter regulation on Wall Street.
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BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party suffered a stinging defeat in elections in Germany’s most populous state on Sunday, one likely to embolden her political opponents both at home and abroad as the European debt crisis enters a critical new phase.
Colleges begin to confront higher costs and students’ debt
COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a wood-paneled office lined with books, sports memorabilia and framed posters (including John Belushi in “Animal House”), E. Gordon Gee, the president of The Ohio State University, keeps a framed quotation that reads, “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
Pattern of rainy weekdays, nice weekends to continue
After letting up for a warm, sunny weekend, rain will return to Cambridge today and tomorrow. While unfortunate for those who wish to enjoy the outdoors, the rain should help ease the drought conditions that plague part of every state on the Atlantic seaboard. Drought combined with record high temperatures are also taking a toll on the Southwest, where wildfires have already forced evacuations in Arizona, and many other regions sit at high fire risk.
Iran sees success in stalling on nuclear issue
TEHRAN, Iran — As Iran starts a critical round of talks over its nuclear program, its negotiating team may be less interested in reaching a comprehensive settlement than in buying time to further establish its enrichment program, Iranian officials and analysts said.
Facebook needs to turn data trove into investor gold
SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief, has managed to amass more information about more people than anyone else in history.
Greek turmoil may spur new bargaining in eurozone
BERLIN — As gridlock among Greece’s political parties made new elections and another month of uncertainty there all but inevitable, European markets dropped significantly Monday amid concerns that Greece’s departure from the euro was near, and right behind it a new round of financial instability for Europe and the outside world.
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ATHENS, Greece — With Greece still rudderless after inconclusive elections, the leader of the Socialist party indicated Thursday that he might be able to establish common ground with the leader of the moderate Democratic Left Party and try to form a government that would extricate the country from a deepening political crisis that has angered its foreign creditors and roiled global markets.
Germany likely to allow modest growth policy in Europe
BERLIN — The outlines of a potential compromise in Europe’s battle between deficit-cutting austerity and policies to promote growth has begun to take shape. The question is whether the kind of cautious measures palatable to Germany, austerity’s champion, will do enough to combat the Continent’s imbalances and do it soon enough to put its weaker countries on more solid economic footing.
As Putin puts off meeting Obama, analysts consider future
WASHINGTON — The first meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin as the leaders of their respective countries was supposed to be an ice-breaker, a moment for two outsize figures to put behind them some of the friction that surrounded the Russian elections two months ago.
House approves $310 billion in cuts, shifts savings to Pentagon
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved sweeping legislation to cut $310 billion from the deficit over the next decade — much of it from programs for the poor — and to shift some of that savings to the Pentagon to stave off automatic military spending cuts scheduled for next year.
Sunny skies to return this weekend
After a couple days of clouds and rain, the sun will return just in time for the weekend. As a low pressure system exits the region today, lingering showers should be limited to this morning with the skies clearing as we move into the evening hours. Tomorrow, an upper level ridge and surface high pressure will build over New York and the off the mid-Atlantic coast, respectively.
Chinese economy losing some of its sizzle, import growth halts
HONG KONG — As China’s leaders have been preoccupied with a political struggle leading up to a once-in-a-decade leadership change this autumn, there are increasing signs that the Chinese economy may be running into trouble.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — An attack by six Taliban infiltrators in the eastern province of Paktika on Thursday killed three police officers but was put down before it reached the government offices that were its target, Afghan officials said.
Greece suffering from political chaos, faces possible new elections
ATHENS, Greece — A day after Greece’s two dominant parties collapsed at the polls, the leader of the center-right New Democracy party announced Monday that he had failed to form a governing coalition, pushing the mandate to the second party amid growing uncertainty about Greece’s political stability and staying power inside the eurozone.
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JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected appeals for the release of two Palestinian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 69 days to protest their incarceration without formal charges, sharpening concern for their lives and raising the specter of widespread unrest in the event of a death.
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MADRID — Rodrigo Rato, executive chairman of Bankia, Spain’s largest real estate lender, resigned Monday before an anticipated government recapitalization of the company, which is sitting on 32 billion euros, or $42 billion, in troubled assets.
Changes in Paris may better fit economic conditions in the US
WASHINGTON — With the victory of the Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, in the French presidential election, the White House has lost one of its closest allies on the Continent, but perhaps gained one with economic policy beliefs more closely aligned with its own.