U.S. says it told Qatar not to pay a ransom for Peter Curtis
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Monday that it brought the family of the American hostage Peter Theo Curtis together with the government of Qatar in an effort to secure his release, but insisted that it told the Qataris not to pay a ransom for the captured journalist.
French cabinet is dissolved, a victim of austerity battles
PARIS — The collapse of the French government Monday exposed widening divisions both within France’s leadership, and Europe more broadly, over austerity policies that many now fault for threatening to tip the eurozone back into recession.
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has authorized surveillance flights over Syria, a precursor to potential airstrikes there, but a mounting concern for the White House is how to target the Sunni extremists without helping President Bashar Assad.
Cristobal forms as hurricane season reaches peak
Tropical Storm Cristobal formed on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean, just to the northwest of the Bahamas. Cristobal is the third named tropical cyclone of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, and like Hurricanes Arthur and Bertha before it, Cristobal is forecast to attain hurricane strength later this week. Although the storm is forecast to become a hurricane, it will not pose a threat to the United States, as strong mid-level westerly winds are forecast to sweep the storm out to sea.
Syria declares its readiness in efforts to fight jihadists
BAGHDAD — Syria’s foreign minister said Monday that his government was ready to cooperate with international efforts to fight the extremists of the Islamic State. But in a nod to the possibility of expanded U.S. airstrikes, he warned that any action inside Syria without the government’s approval would be considered “aggression.”
Strikes in Libya broaden fight for Arab power
CAIRO — Twice in the last seven days, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have secretly launched airstrikes against Islamist-allied militias battling for control of Tripoli, Libya, four senior U.S. officials said, in a major escalation of a regional power struggle set off by Arab Spring revolts.
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LONDON — After years of complaints about declining standards for high school exams, the British government has made them harder to pass: The latest results show the first drop in the passing rate in three decades. And in a nation where education has long been a political battleground between progressives and traditionalists, the changes are an emphatic victory for the old school.
On Ferguson unrest, poll shows sharp racial divide
A poll taken since a white police officer in Missouri shot dead an unarmed black teenager shows blacks and whites sharply divided on how fairly the police deal with each group, along with a rising feeling, especially among whites, that race relations in the country are troubled.
Secretary allows reprieve on test-based teacher ratings
Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Thursday that states could delay the use of test results in teacher-performance ratings by another year, an acknowledgment, in effect, of the enormous pressures mounting on the nation’s teachers because of new academic standards and more rigorous standardized testing.
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With everyone from former President George W. Bush to Justin Bieber and Shakira posting online videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice over their heads in the name of charity, the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” continues to dominate social media and has now raised more than $41.8 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Two US Ebola patients are released by Atlanta hospital
ATLANTA — The two American aid workers who were the first patients ever to be treated for the Ebola virus at a hospital in the United States have been released, capping a transcontinental medical drama that stirred public debate about whether any American with the virus should have been allowed to return.
US Supreme Court delays gay marriage in Virginia
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a last-minute order delaying same-sex marriages in Virginia, less than a day before officials there were to begin providing marriage licenses to gay couples.
Summer to make comeback after cool weekend
As summer comes to a close, the second half of August has been a bit cooler than usual so far at the Institute. While normal high temperatures for this time of year are around 80°F (27°C), temperatures observed at Logan Airport in Boston have not exceeded 80°F since Aug. 17. This trend of cool weather will continue into the weekend, as a weak low pressure system passes over New England. This system will bring cloudy skies, scattered rain showers, and a steady easterly breeze, which will blow cooler ocean air over the the coastal land region.
Despite horror of Islamic State, Hill wary of US military expansion
WASHINGTON — For weeks, Capitol Hill has watched U.S. military engagement in Iraq with quiet unease.
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MOSCOW — Russia’s Federal Migration Service on Tuesday moved to deport the American wife of a high-profile human rights lawyer living in St. Petersburg, labeling her “a threat to national security.”
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ATLANTA — The North Carolina missionary who contracted the Ebola virus while working in Liberia arrived in Georgia on Tuesday and joined another aid worker in the specialized isolation ward of a hospital here.
US diplomacy on Gaza strains ties with Israel
WASHINGTON — When the State Department condemned Israel’s strike on a United Nations school in Gaza on Sunday, saying it was “appalled” by this “disgraceful” act, it gave full vent to what has been weeks of mounting American anger toward the Israeli government.
Japan imposes new sanctions on Russia but keeps a diplomatic door open
TOKYO — Torn between maintaining solidarity with Washington and keeping a diplomatic door open with Moscow, Japan imposed new sanctions on Russia on Tuesday but kept them more limited than those recently ordered by the United States.
Putin urges economic retaliation for sanctions
MOSCOW — Russia should retaliate against the economic sanctions being imposed on the country over the Kremlin’s Ukraine policy, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. His was the strongest endorsement yet for calls in Russia to ban everything from major Western accounting firms to overflights by European airlines to frozen U.S. chickens.