First flakes possible, but not likely
The season’s first forecasted chance of snow is in the cards for our area this weekend, but chances are low that we will actually see much, if any, of the white stuff. From Saturday night into Sunday morning, precipitation associated with a cut off low pressure system located over northeastern Maine could push south into our area. The result could be a few overnight or early-morning sprinkles or flurries. However, the chance of precipitation will be slight, and a significant snowfall will be highly unlikely.
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WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and Vietnam-era war hero, took on the nation’s top defense and military officials Thursday when he repeatedly challenged the Pentagon’s position that gay men and women should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces.
Rain wednesday, then cooling off
Yesterday’s sunny skies and seasonal temperatures will give way today and tomorrow to increasing clouds and warmer than average temperatures ahead of an approaching low pressure systems. The models are predicting a secondary low (associated with a low pressure in Ontario) to form in central New York and affect our region on Wednesday.
Obama declares two-year freeze on federal pay
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced Monday a two-year pay freeze for civilian federal workers as he sought to address concerns over high annual deficits and appealed to Republicans to find a common approach to restoring the nation’s economic and fiscal health.
Leaked cables show a guessing game over North Korea
WASHINGTON — Over an official lunch in late February, a top South Korean official confidently told the U.S. ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, that North Korea would fall “two to three years” after the death of Kim Jong Il, the country’s ailing leader, Stephens later cabled Washington. A new, younger generation of Chinese leaders “would be comfortable with a reunited Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the United States in a benign alliance,” the diplomat predicted.
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The very high levels of vitamin D that are often recommended by doctors and testing laboratories and can be achieved only by taking supplements — are unnecessary and could be harmful, an expert committee says. It also concludes that calcium supplements are not needed.
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WASHINGTON — Global talks on climate change opened in Cancun, Mexico, on Monday with the toughest issues unresolved and little expectation of a breakthrough on shaping an international treaty to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases linked to global warming.
In U.S. terrorism sting operations, questions of entrapment
WASHINGTON — The arrest Friday of a Somali-born teenager who is accused of trying to detonate a car bomb at a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., has again thrown a spotlight on the government’s use of sting operations to capture terrorism suspects.
Bomb attacks made on two Iranian nuclear experts
TEHRAN — Unidentified assailants riding motorcycles carried out separate bomb attacks here Monday against two of the country’s top nuclear scientists, killing one and prompting accusations that the United States and Israel were again trying to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.
Years after end of Apartheid, affirmative action opens rift
CAPE TOWN — The University of Cape Town was once a citadel of white privilege on the majestic slopes of Devil’s Peak. At the height of apartheid, it admitted few black or mixed-race students, and they were barred from campus dormitories, even forbidden to attend medical school postmortems on white corpses.
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OTTAWA — For more than a decade, a handful of therapists have been using virtual environments to help people to work through phobias, like a fear of heights or of public spaces. But now advances in artificial intelligence and computer modeling are allowing them to take on a wider array of complex social challenges and to gain insight into how people are affected by interactions with virtual humans — or by inhabiting avatars of themselves.
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WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued new federal rules Monday that will require many health insurance companies to spend more on medical care and allocate less to profits, executive compensation, marketing and overhead expenses.
Some suggest U.S. look at Israeli airport screening
WASHINGTON — Amid the uproar that airport screenings have become too intrusive, some Americans are now asking why the United States cannot do it like the Israelis.
FBI raids hedge fund offices in Wall Street trading inquiry
FBI agents raided the offices of three hedge funds Monday, the government’s latest salvo in an escalating investigation into insider trading on Wall Street.
Founder of Libertarian Party, David Nolan ’65 is dead at 66
David Nolan ’65, whose opposition to the Vietnam War and President Richard M. Nixon’s wage and price controls impelled him in 1971 to join with a few friends to found the Libertarian Party to fight against government power, died Sunday in Tucson, Ariz. He was 66.
Taliban leader in secret peace talks was an impostor
KABUL, Afghanistan — For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the repeated appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement.
Getting colder, but no snow for this week
The eastern half of the U.S. is lucky to escape the weather on its neighboring side. From the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean, snow is piling up in many areas. Not only are many areas getting snowed in, but winds are howling as a vigorous storm system pushes through the Northwest.
Obama forces showdown with Senate Republicans on arms pact with Russia
WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after an election that left him struggling to find his way forward, President Barack Obama has decided to confront Senate Republicans in a make-or-break battle over arms control that could be an early test of his mettle heading into the final two years of his term.
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Reading scores for the nation’s 12th-grade students have increased somewhat since they dropped to a historic low in 2005, according to results of the largest federal test, released Thursday. Average math scores also ticked upward.
Aggressive TSA pat downs leave passengers feeling humiliated
In the three weeks since the Transportation Security Administration began more aggressive pat downs of passengers at airport security checkpoints, traveler complaints have poured in.