Head of air traffic controllers Henry P. Krakowski resigns
The official in charge of air traffic controllers for the Federal Aviation Administration resigned Thursday after a series of episodes in which controllers across the country slept as airplanes landed.
House and Senate approve compromise 2011 federal budget
WASHINGTON — Congress voted Thursday to keep the government financed through September, putting an end to a raucous first skirmish in this year’s showdown between Democrats and Republicans over federal spending while presaging bigger ones to come.
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TOKYO — Japan has decided to raise its assessment of the accident at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from 5 to the worst rating of 7 on an international scale, putting the disaster on par with the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, the Japanese nuclear regulatory agency said on Tuesday.
Budget cuts raise doubt on course of recovery
WASHINGTON — The budget deal struck last week amounts to a bet by the Obama administration that the loss of $38 billion in federal spending will not be the straw that breaks the back of a fragile economic recovery.
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Pro-democracy protests in Syria spread for the first time to a university campus and were violently suppressed on Monday, a day after the government of President Bashar Assad acknowledged that it was using force against protesters.
Blast kills at least 11 at subway station in Belarus capital
MOSCOW — An explosion believed to have been caused by a bomb ripped through a subway station next to the office of Belarus’ authoritarian president on Monday evening, killing at least 11 people, wounding more than 100, and worsening an already tense political situation there.
Level 3 pays $3 billion for Internet service provider Global Crossing
More than a decade after the dot-com bust, two fallen Internet stars hope to regain some of their glory with a $3 billion deal that could prompt similar transactions.
April showers
The weather gods cooperated with MIT this past weekend, providing sunny skies and warmth for CPW and the convocation celebrating MIT’s 150th anniversary. Temperatures over the weekend were 5–10°F above normal, while yesterday’s high of 72°F was only 6°F shy of the record high (78°F) and 18°F above the climatological value of 54°F. The weather the next few days will be a bit less pleasant, however. A cold front stalled to our south will cause cloudy skies and the chance of scattered rain showers for tomorrow. The real action will be late tonight and tomorrow, as a coastal low impacts our region.
Former leader’s arrest in Ivory Coast ends four-month deadly standoff
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The strongman of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, was captured and taken into custody by his rival Monday, ending a four-month standoff that left hundreds dead in this once-prosperous West African nation, put international diplomacy to a severe test, and ultimately dragged the country back into civil war.
Vote on GOP plan for Medicare could shape 2012 races
WASHINGTON — Just four months into their new majority, House Republicans face a potentially defining Medicare vote this week that is sure to become a centerpiece of Democratic efforts to recapture the House in 2012 and spill into the presidential and Senate campaigns as well.
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Little more than a year after General Motors engineered a sale that saved Saab from oblivion, the carmaker is facing a fresh bout of financial troubles that threaten to spread pain across Sweden.
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ZUEITINA, Libya — The commander of the Libyan rebel army said it was “likely” that NATO warplanes conducted an airstrike against a convoy of rebel tanks early Thursday, killing at least four people in the second case of friendly fire in less than a week. The commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, said the tanks — deployed by the rebels on Thursday to the frontlines for the first time — came under “a fierce attack” around 10:30 a.m. “It is likely it is NATO by mistake,” he said, adding that the rebels had notified NATO well in advance that the tanks were headed to the battlefield.
Obama’s regulatory air emission program halted by Congress
WASHINGTON — The House voted 255 to 172 Thursday to halt the Obama administration’s program to regulate industrial air emissions linked to climate change, delivering a rebuke to a central tenet of the president’s energy and environmental policy.
Government shutdown might damage economic recovery
It’s not just an estimated 800,000 federal employees who would feel the financial pinch of a government shutdown.
Disney to open $4.4 billion theme park in Shanghai by end of 2015
SHANGHAI — The Walt Disney Co. placed a huge bet on China’s shifting approach to Westernized entertainment on Friday as it broke ground here on a $4.4 billion theme park — even if it is one without classic American features like a Main Street.
At Yale University, harassment of women attracts national attention
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — It has taken on the predictability of an annual ritual, like parents’ weekend or commencement: the outburst of raunchy male behavior that has shaken the Yale University campus in each of the last few school years.
Weather is looking good for CPW
You should trade in the umbrellas for sunglasses today and tomorrow. The gloomy, rainy weather of early this week has given way to cool, sunny conditions. A high pressure center will slowly move through the area today, keeping skies clear and winds light. Saturday looks even better, with temperatures climbing into the lower 60s°F (15–17°C) under fair conditions once again. However, clouds will be rolling in on Sunday along with a chance for some rain. A low pressure system, expected to form in the Midwest, will bring this rain. The rain may even be accompanied by some thunderstorms late Monday. Otherwise, the weather is looking just fine through Sunday for the CPW events. Wetter conditions will stay away until the new workweek begins.
Tsunami alert and raised fears pervade Japan after 7.1 aftershock hits northeast
TOKYO — The strongest aftershock to hit since the day of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan rocked a wide section of the country’s northeast on Thursday night, prompting a tsunami alert, raising fears of further damage to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and knocking out external power at three other nuclear facilities.
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BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday nominated a lesbian who is married to her partner to serve on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Raped Libyan woman gets support through TV network
TRIPOLI, Libya — Eman al-Obeidy says the government of Moammar Gadhafi victimized her twice. First members of his militia kidnapped and repeatedly raped her. Then his state television network attacked her as a thief and a prostitute.