Much of Pakistan’s progress is lost in its floodwaters
SUKKUR, Pakistan — Men waded waist deep all week wedging stones with their bare hands into an embankment to hold back Pakistan’s surging floodwaters. It was a rudimentary and ultimately vain effort to save their town. On Thursday, the waters breached the levy, a demoralizing show of how fragile Pakistan’s infrastructure remains, and how overwhelming the task is to save it.
Struggling cities shut down firehouses in budget crisis
SAN DIEGO — Fire departments around the nation are cutting jobs, closing firehouses and increasingly resorting to “rolling brownouts” in which they shut different fire companies on different days as the economic downturn forces many cities and towns to make deep cuts that are slowing their responses to fires and other emergencies.
As miners face long wait, <br />Chile filters notes and food
SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — The government has consulted NASA about the extreme isolation of space. Chilean Navy officers have come to discuss the emotional stress of living in a submarine. Doctors stand at the ready with antidepressants. Even a tiny home theater is being funneled down in plastic tubes to occupy the 33 miners stuck in their subterranean home.
Shorts (left)
WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced a sweeping effort to improve efficiency that, among other things, takes aim at the military’s sacrosanct corps of generals and admirals. He ordered his staff to cut at least 50 positions and made clear that he would be happier if they cut more.
Shorts (right)
The foreclosure crisis might have finally peaked in the first half of this year, but with the continued weakness in the economy and the recent deterioration of the housing market, the gains may prove fleeting.
High pressure in control
No need to worry about rainfall! New England should see sunny skies for the next several days as a large area of high pressure dominates the weather across the northeastern U.S.
Tensions in Iowa town at the heart of the eggs recall
CLARION, Iowa — The conversation at the weekly gathering of local ladies at a coffee shop here turned uncharacteristically tense.
Shorts (left)
BOSTON — Children at a day camp near here were pulled from the swimming pool once an hour so the lifeguards could plunge in and cool off. Commuter trains in Washington were slowed because of overheating tracks. Horse-racing tracks were closed in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del.
Colleges learn cheaters’ tricks to stop them; this includes TEAL
ORLANDO, Fla. — The frontier in the battle to defeat student cheating may be here at the testing center of the University of Central Florida.
Circuitry with a feel for humanity
Nothing Eileen Oldaker tried could calm her mother when she called from the nursing home, disoriented and distressed in what was likely the early stages of dementia. So Oldaker hung up, dialed the nurses’ station and begged them to get Paro.
Dreaming of Winter Yet?
Boy, it’s hot! Yesterday’s air temperature reached 100°F (38°C) at Logan Airport, which fell just short of a record high. However, the heat index, which is a measure of how it actually feels due to the combined temperature and humidity, made it feel closer to 105°F (41°C). At night, there is little relief from the stifling heat, making it really uncomfortable to sleep for those without air conditioning.
Calls for shift on Gaza policy; building a private sector
GAZA — Three years after Israel and Egypt imposed an embargo on this tormented Palestinian strip, shutting down its economy, a consensus has emerged that the attempt to weaken the governing party, Hamas, and drive it from power has failed.
Independent labor movement stirs in China, workers seek to double wages
ZHONGSHAN, China — Striking workers at a Honda auto parts plant here are demanding the right to form their own labor union, something officially forbidden in China, and held a protest march Friday morning.
Shorts (left)
A government panel Thursday essentially doubled its estimate of how much oil has been spewing from the out-of-control BP well, with the new calculation suggesting that an amount equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could be flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every eight to 10 days.
Shorts (right)
JOHANNESBURG — The World Cup begins here Friday with excitement at so elevated a level that even many of the unhappy are happy.
MIT alum Carly Fiorina in race for U.S. Senate seat
You can parse a voting record. Flip-flops — political ones — are fair game. But don’t talk about a woman’s hair.
Macroburst causes wind damage
This past Sunday, a severe thunderstorm blew through the Boston area, leaving scattered branches and toppled trees in its wake. The National Weather Service has confirmed that the wind damage associated with this storm was caused by a macroburst, or a large downdraft of air usually generated by a thunderstorm, which can cause very strong, sustained winds over an area several miles wide. While quite different from tornadoes, macrobursts can cause similar damage in some cases. During the macroburst this past weekend, the Green Building recorded a wind gust of 56 mph.
A call to triple U.S. spending on energy research
WASHINGTON — The United States is badly lagging in basic research on new forms of energy, deepening the nation’s dependence on dirty fuels and crippling its international competitiveness, a diverse group of business executives warn in a study to be released Thursday.
New Israeli tack needed on Gaza, U.S. officials say
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration considers Israel’s blockade of Gaza to be untenable and plans to press for another approach to ensure Israel’s security while allowing more supplies into the impoverished Palestinian area, senior American officials said Wednesday.
Abortion foes advance<br />cause at state level
At least 11 states have passed laws this year regulating or restricting abortion, giving opponents of abortion what partisans on both sides of the issue say is an unusually high number of victories. In four additional states, bills have passed at least one house of the legislature.