GM’s chief financial officer to step down, treasurer will take his place
DETROIT — General Motors said Thursday that its chief financial officer, Christopher P. Liddell, was stepping down, less than four months after helping the automaker execute the largest initial public offering in American history.
Regulators and drug company reach agreement for greater federal oversight
Federal regulators reached an agreement Thursday with a unit of Johnson & Johnson that would impose greater federal oversight at three manufacturing plants responsible for recalls of Children’s Tylenol and many other popular over-the-counter medicines.
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Anthropologists studying living hunter-gatherers have radically revised their view of how early human societies were structured, a shift that yields new insights into how humans evolved away from apes.
Libyan government presses rebel assault in east and west
RAS LANUF, Libya — Government warplanes taunted rebels with flyovers and repeatedly bombed their positions near this coastal city’s oil refinery Monday, seeking to drive the opposition forces back farther to the east, as Libya continued what appeared to be a slide into civil war.
LVMH buys Bulgari, doubles presence in jewelry market
The Bulgari family’s long quest to figure out the future of its 127-year-old jewelry and watch business ended last Thursday at a dinner overlooking the Roman skyline.
Time for a thaw
Every year, one of the early signs that spring is on the way is the thawing of the Charles River. That sign has arrived this week as the layer of ice covering the river has melted away from most of the river’s surface. As of Monday evening, the only sections of the river close to MIT with remaining ice cover were near the Harvard Bridge, and the total frozen area appeared to be decreasing throughout the day.
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NEW YORK — The producers of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark were negotiating on Monday with their director, Julie Taymor, for her to work with a newly expanded creative team to fix the critically derided, $65 million musical or possibly leave the show, according to people who work on Spider-Man or have been briefed on the negotiations.
Brooklyn bike lane pitting residents against riders and city
NEW YORK — A group of well-connected New Yorkers has taken the unusual step of suing the city to remove a controversial bicycle lane in a wealthy neighborhood of Brooklyn, the most potent sign yet of opposition to the Bloomberg administration’s marquee campaign to remake the city’s streets.
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to nominate Gary Locke, the commerce secretary and one of the highest-ranking Chinese-Americans in the administration, as the next U.S. ambassador to China, administration officials said Monday. Locke, 61, would replace Jon Huntsman, who is stepping down next month to explore a bid for the Republican nomination for president.
Jewish texts lost in World War II are surfacing in New York
In 1932, as the Nazis rose to power in Germany, a Jewish librarian in Frankfurt published a catalog of 15,000 books he had painstakingly collected for decades.
Defense secretary says US ‘well positioned’ for pullout
KABUL, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that the United States was “well positioned” to begin withdrawing some U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July, but he said that a substantial force would remain and that the United States was starting talks with the Afghans about keeping a security presence in the country beyond 2014.
No summer in sight; cold spring in store
After a week of relatively clear weather, the clouds will return this afternoon and will stick around at least through the weekend. Temperatures should rise into the 40s, which will feel balmy compared to yesterday and this morning. Don’t get too used to it, though — long-range forecasts are predicting a much colder spring than we had last year.
Egypt’s generals stumble in new leadership role
CAIRO — Egypt’s ruling military council answered a long-standing demand of the protest movement by forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq on Thursday, but the fitful pacwe of change has left all sides more anxious than ever about the rocky transition ahead.
Judge who ruled against health care law allows it to proceed
A federal judge in Florida stayed his own ruling against the Obama health care law Thursday, allowing the act to be carried out as the case progresses through the courts of appeal and on to the Supreme Court.
Obama says Col. Moammar Gadhafi ‘must leave’ Libya now
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama demanded Thursday that the embattled Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, “step down and leave” immediately and said he would consider a full range of options to stem the bloodshed there, though he did not commit the United States to any direct military action.
Gold rush stemming from high prices fuels Colombia’s conflict
CAUCASIA, Colombia — Officers pored over intelligence reports describing the movements of two warlords with private armies. Then the helicopters lifted off at dawn, carrying an elite squad armed with assault rifles to the newest front in this country’s long war: gold mines.
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PARIS — The European Union’s banking regulator said Thursday that it would start a new health check of banks Friday and would publish the results in June.
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ATLANTA — Newt Gingrich on Thursday became the first major Republican candidate to begin raising money for the 2012 presidential race, but he stopped short of declaring his candidacy until he finishes delivering paid speeches this month and distances himself from a web of business ventures that would interfere with a campaign.
Harvard University says it will allow the ROTC back on campus
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Nearly 40 years after Harvard expelled the Reserve Officers Training Corps program from its campus, university officials announced Thursday that they would officially recognize the Naval ROTC.
China takes Middle East as example, calls for action and protests begin
BEIJING — The call to action shot across mobile phones and Internet chat sites, urging people to converge on 13 Chinese cities to demand an end to corruption, inflation, and the strictures of authoritarian rule.