Giving Congress more time to consider alternatives, the service held back from the wholesale closures of thousands of mostly rural post offices or slowing down mail delivery, as it had proposed earlier. Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said the latest plan would take two years to put into effect and would save $500 million a year. That would not be nearly enough to fill its multibillion-dollar shortfalls.“The plan today will ensure rural communities will be served by the postal service,” Mr. Donahoe said. “It ... more→
Suicide Mission Volunteer Was Double Agent, Officials Say
In an extraordinary intelligence coup, the double agent left Yemen last month, traveling by way of the United Arab Emirates, and delivered both the innovative bomb designed for his aviation attack and inside information on the group’s leaders, locations, methods and plans to the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi intelligence and allied foreign intelligence agencies. Officials said the agent, whose identity they would not disclose, works for the Saudi intelligence service, which has cooperated closely with the C.I.A. for several years against the terrorist group ... more→
New Russian Aircraft Vanishes From Radar During Promotional Flight
Russian and Indonesian authorities confirmed the loss of contact with the crew of the airplane, the Superjet 100 manufactured by Sukhoi, Russia’s major aircraft company, during a flight that departed from Halim airport in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, and was to return to the same location 50 minutes later. The Russia Today news Web site said that 50 people were aboard the plane, including eight Russians and 36 citizens from other countries, mostly airline representatives interested in buying it. The Superjet 100 is the ... more→
The Caucus: Gay Marriage Issue Looming, Obama Sits for an Interview
President Obama, who is under mounting pressure to clarify his thinking on same-sex marriage after top aides publicly embraced it in recent days, will sit down for an interview with ABC News on Wednesday during which he is likely to be pressed on his “evolving” views on the issue, according to people familiar with the matter.The interview, to be conducted by Robin Roberts, an anchor on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and was secured in the wake of a declaration ... more→
Splintered Vote Throws Greek Politics Further Into Confusion
The prospects of political deadlock and possible new elections were rising after the traditionally dominant parties, New Democracy and the Socialists, which both backed Greece’s latest loan agreement with its foreign creditors, did not get enough of the combined vote to form a majority in Parliament. Several smaller parties, whose fortunes rose on a rich harvest of protest votes, refused to join in a coalition with the larger parties. The lack of a government could cast Greece’s loan agreement with its foreign creditors into ... more→