Senate stalls bill to repeal gay exclusion policy in military
WASHINGTON — In a blaze of unusual bipartisan fury, a military policy bill that would repeal the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly in the military stalled in the Senate on Thursday, severely diminishing the chances of ending the Clinton-era policy this year.
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MUMBAI, India — When it was introduced in early 2009, the egg-shaped Tata Nano was billed as a modern-day people’s car, an ultracheap vehicle that would bring greater mobility to the masses of India and, eventually, the world. But those ambitions have stalled — for now, at least.
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WASHINGTON — While President Barack Obama presses the Senate to embrace a new arms control treaty with Russia, another nuclear pact with Moscow cleared its final hurdle on Thursday after more than four years with virtually no notice but potentially significant impact.
UK student protesters attack car carrying Prince Charles
LONDON — Britain’s coalition government survived the most serious challenge yet to its austerity plans on Thursday when Parliament narrowly approved a sharp increase in college fees. But violent student protests in central London, including an attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the theater, provided a stark measure of growing public resistance.
Sports stars seek profit from catchphrases, nicknames, epithets
Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis shut down so many receivers last season that teammates started calling his turf Revis Island, where opposing players were inevitably marooned.
Weekend weather warmer, wetter
A proverbial grab bag of weather will be on display this weekend, with clouds, sunshine, rain, and possibly even snow all on tap. First, clearing skies and calm winds will result in some of the coldest air of the autumn this morning, with temperatures plunging into the mid-teens. However, as a high pressure center drifts offshore, southerly flow will advect warm air to our area, and temperatures will increase steadily throughout the day and overnight, bringing Saturday’s high to the mid-40s.
China moves to block foreign broadcasts on Nobel prize
SHANGHAI — Chinese censors apparently began blocking the news websites of CNN, the BBC and the Norwegian broadcaster NRK from appearing in China on Thursday, a day before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is to be held in Oslo, Norway, to honor Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned dissident.
Illegal immigrants who drive risk more than a ticket
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — It was just another suburban fender-bender. A car zoomed into an intersection and braked too late to stop at a red light.
Supreme Court to hear Wal-Mart discrimination case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal in the biggest employment discrimination case in the nation’s history, one claiming that Wal-Mart Stores discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in pay and promotion. The lawsuit seeks back pay that could amount to billions of dollars.
Germany reluctant to expand European bailout fund
BRUSSELS — Despite rising pressure for new measures to draw a line under the debt crisis, Germany moved Monday to close off debate on an increase to a 750-billion-euro bailout fund, or the more radical step of issuing common euro zone bonds.
Three Republicans in race to lead appropriations committee
WASHINGTON — The thick binder is dominated by a drawing of a chubby Uncle Sam, with shirt buttons straining against his girth, and a fleshy hand open and outstretched.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers dressed as police officers detonated explosive vests at a meeting of hundreds of people with the top civilian official in the tribal agency of Mohmand, killing more than 40 and wounding at least 100, government officials said.
In Obama’s deal with GOP, a portent for the next two years
WASHINGTON — For President Barack Obama, this is what bipartisanship looks like in the new era: messy, combustible and painful, brought on under the threat of even more unpalatable consequences and yet still deferring the ultimate resolution for another day.
Cables show how U.S. strains to stop arms flow
WASHINGTON — Just a week after President Bashar Assad of Syria assured a top State Department official that his government was not sending sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah, the Obama administration lodged a confidential protest accusing Syria of doing precisely what it had denied doing.
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TEHRAN — The wedding nearly 1,400 years ago of Imam Ali, Shiite Islam’s most revered figure, and Fatemeh al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, is commemorated in Iran’s packed political calendar as a day to celebrate family values.
Blustery conditions, but no snow for this week
Chilly temperatures will maintain their grip on New England. Over the past few days, highs only reached the lower 30s°F which is about 10°F below normal for late Autumn. In fact, current trends show that it will get even colder over the region, with lows near 15°F by mid-week!
Afghan corruption shows in leaked cables from Wikileaks
WASHINGTON — From hundreds of diplomatic cables, Afghanistan emerges as a looking-glass land where bribery, extortion and embezzlement are the norm and the honest man is a distinct outlier.
Obama seeking aid for jobless in return for deal on taxes
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Thursday that it wanted an extension of unemployment assistance and a variety of tax breaks for low-wage and middle-income workers as part of a deal with congressional Republicans to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts.
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Scientists said Thursday that they had trained a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic, in place of phosphorous –one of six elements considered essential for life — opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe or even here on Earth using biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about.
Russia, Qatar to host World Cups, expand reach of premiere event
The world’s biggest sporting event continued its spread to new corners of the globe Thursday as Russia and Qatar were named as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup soccer tournaments.