Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Storm expected for holiday travelers
MINEOLA, N.Y.
A nor’easter is expected to develop Wednesday along the East Coast just as millions of travelers are heading to their Thanksgiving destinations.
The storm, forecast to dump rain along the coast and snow inland, could cause delays at Northeast airports and along its busy highways. Precipitation was forecast to sweep in from the south tonight into Wednesday morning and exit the region Thursday morning.
Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist for Weather Underground, said coastal cities are likely to mostly receive rain, although he cautioned Monday afternoon that meteorologists would be keeping a close eye on the rain/snow line.
Iran nuclear talks extended 7 months
VIENNA
A yearlong effort to seal a nuclear deal with Iran fizzled Monday, leaving the U.S. and its allies little choice but to declare a seven-month extension in hopes that a new deadline will be enough to achieve what a decade of negotiations have failed to do — limit Tehran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon.
Pushback from critics in Congress followed almost immediately, with powerful Republicans saying that Iran is merely trying to buy time.
VA hospital chief ousted in scandal
WASHINGTON
The head of the troubled Phoenix veterans hospital was fired Monday as the Veterans Affairs Department continued its crackdown on wrongdoing in the wake of a nationwide scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking medical care and falsified records covering up the delays.
Sharon Helman, director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, was ousted nearly seven months after she and two high-ranking officials were placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into allegations that 40 veterans died while awaiting treatment at the hospital. Helman had led the giant Phoenix facility, which treats more than 80,000 veterans a year, since February 2012.
Flooding fears ease
BUFFALO, N.Y.
Fears of disastrous flooding from a rapid meltdown of the Buffalo area’s 7 feet of snow eased Monday, but high winds became a menace, threatening to knock down trees and power lines.
Forecasters, meanwhile, defended the National Weather Service after criticism from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who accused the agency of failing to anticipate how bad Buffalo’s epic snowstorm would be.
Cuomo, in the region for a sixth-straight day, said state-deployed pumps and sandbags were in place as rain and temperatures over 60 rapidly melted the snow. Residents shoveled snow in T-shirts against the backdrop of white drifts.
Hong Kong starts clearing protest sites
HONG KONG
Hong Kong authorities today began clearing away some barricades from part of a pro-democracy protest site in Mong Kok district, scene of previous violent confrontations with police and angry mobs.
Police were on hand to assist bailiffs working under a court order to remove obstructions from the site, which activists have occupied for nearly two months. It said police are authorized to arrest anyone obstructing the bailiffs.
Workers in white hard hats and gloves moved wooden pallets and other junk into the middle of an intersection to be taken away in a truck that pulled up. Dozens of police and bailiffs watched the operation, and there was no immediate resistance from protesters.
Associated Press