Weather
Although the weather has been a bit chilly this week, owing to the beginning of our annual plunge into New England autumn, we will get a reprieve this weekend from the recent crisp fall weather. A high pressure system will strengthen and stay in place over the northeast United States, leading to clear skies and warm temperatures. Today will be among the least windy days of the year, with abundant sunshine raising the temperature to a downright pleasant 64°F. This trend is set to continue through the long weekend, with sunny days and clear nights resulting in summerlike weather. In fact, Boston is actually likely to be warmer than San Diego, CA this weekend! It is sure to be a good opportunity to go outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather before it gets too cold.
Strong retail sales send stocks higher for third day
Wall Street registered gains for the third consecutive day Thursday, following European stocks higher after central banks in Europe took action to increase liquidity. Economic data, including retail sales, also showed a U.S. economy that is performing better than expected.
Tomas Transtromer, Swedish poet, wins Nobel Prize in literature
Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet whose sometimes bleak but graceful work explores themes of isolation, emotion and identity while remaining rooted in the commonplace, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday.
Shorts (right)
Moammar Gadhafi, the deposed Libyan leader now in hiding, broke more than a week of public silence Thursday with a recorded message beseeching his followers to flood the streets of their country and “raise our green flags to the skies.”
White House orders new computer security rules
WASHINGTON — The White House plans to issue an executive order Friday to replace a flawed patchwork of computer security safeguards exposed by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks last year.
Popular African contraceptive might double women’s risk of HIV infection
The most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa, a hormone shot given every three months, appears to double the risk of HIV infection among users, according to a large study published Monday. And when it is used by HIV-positive women, their male partners are twice as likely to become infected than if the women had used no contraception.
Emails reveal White House concerns about Solyndra
WASHINGTON — Some White House officials were so concerned last year about the financial health of Solyndra, a solar equipment manufacturer that had received federal loans, that they warned that a presidential trip to the company’s California factory could prove a major embarrassment, newly disclosed emails show.
Mosque in northern Israel set on fire after series of similar attacks
JERUSALEM — A mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel was set on fire early Monday in what police called an arson attack, and an outside wall was defaced with Hebrew graffiti.
US budget crisis forcing big cuts in foreign aid
WASHINGTON — America’s budget crisis at home is forcing the first significant cuts in overseas aid in nearly two decades, a retrenchment that officials and advocates say reflects the country’s diminishing ability to influence the world.
Shorts (left)
BEIRUT — The Syrian government said Monday that it had arrested dozens of people in a central Syrian region that has become a flashpoint in fighting between defectors and security forces waging a brutal crackdown on a six-month uprising.
Shorts (right)
A loose-knit populist campaign that started on Wall Street three weeks ago has spread to dozens of cities across the country, with protesters camped out near Los Angeles City Hall, assembled before the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and marching through downtown Boston to rally against corporate greed, unemployment, and the role of financial institutions in the economic crisis.
Sunny, but chilly, most of the week
A deepening low pressure moved up the coast toward our region last night, causing rainy conditions. As the low moves away throughout the day today, lingering rain showers are most likely this morning, before tapering off in the afternoon. As the low moves offshore tonight, skies will remain cloudy before yielding to partly cloudy skies tomorrow. The primary significant weather for tomorrow will be winds, as sustained winds out of the northwest of 15–20 mph are expected, with gusts up to 30 mph. Cold air advection associated with this strong northwest flow will usher in colder air for tomorrow and Thursday, with temperatures as low as the upper 30s possible tomorrow and Thursday nights. Compared with climatological low temperatures of around 50°F, this will quite a bit cooler. Overall, a high pressure system with abundant cold air aloft will keep the weather dry, sunny, and cool for the next few days before warming up again for the holiday weekend.
TransCanada pipeline foes allege bias in State Department emails
A State Department official provided Fourth of July picnic invitations, subtle coaching and cheerleading, and inside information about Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s meetings to a Washington lobbyist for a Canadian company seeking permission from the department to build a controversial pipeline that would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
Some common ground found for legal adversaries on health care law
WASHINGTON — The 2010 health care overhaul law has provoked an unprecedented clash between the federal government and 26 states, dividing them on fundamental questions about the very structure of the federal system. But the two sides share a surprising amount of common ground, too, starting with their agreement in briefs, filed Wednesday, that the Supreme Court should resolve the clash in its current term.
Pakistani politicians reject Mullen’s attack charges
ISLAMABAD — Even as it revealed growing skepticism toward Pakistan’s powerful military, an extraordinary national security conference ended here late Thursday with a statement rejecting as “baseless” allegations from America’s top military official that Pakistan was facilitating militant attacks in Afghanistan.
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However grumpy when they wake up, and whether they stumble to their feet in Mumbai, Mexico City or Minnetonka, Minn., people tend to brighten by breakfast time and feel their mood taper gradually to a low in the late afternoon, before rallying again near bedtime, a large-scale study of posts on the social media site Twitter found.
Cool, rainy weather for the weekend
Today’s weather will feature mostly sunny skies and a final opportunity for the thermometer to reach near 80°F (27°C). A low pressure system, which is slowly dragging its way eastward across the upper Midwest, will allow southerly winds to develop across our region. These winds will surge in a warm air mass for today. But the dry conditions will be short-lived as the aforementioned low pressure tracks just to our south, slows down, and stalls over the Northeast.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — With his support among blue-collar white voters far weaker than among white-collar independents, President Barack Obama is charting an alternative course to re-election should he be unable to win Ohio and other industrial states traditionally essential to Democratic presidential victories.
Banks to make customers pay debit card fee
Bank of America, the nation’s biggest bank, said Thursday that it planned to start charging customers a $5 monthly fee when they used their debit cards. It was just one of several new charges expected to hit consumers as new regulations crimp banks’ profits.
Madoff trustee says ruling not as bad as first thought
The trustee for Bernard L. Madoff’s fraud victims said Thursday that he had overestimated how much his recovery efforts would be affected by a court ruling this week in his case against the owners of the New York Mets.