Storm threatens travel on East Coast

1: EU’s Iran sanctions may ease this month

BRUSSELS — European Union sanctions against Iran could be eased as soon as December, officials said Monday, after the weekend’s potentially history-shaping deal that gives Tehran six months to increase access to its nuclear sites in exchange for keeping the core components of its uranium program.

The deal, announced Sunday, envisions lifting some of the sanctions that have been crippling the country’s economy. The sanctions were in response to fears that Tehran is using its nuclear program to build atomic arms. Iran denies it wants such weapons.

The United States and the EU have separate sanctions on Iran.

2:

NEW YORK — Thanksgiving travelers scrambled to book earlier flights Tuesday to avoid a sprawling storm bearing down on the East Coast with a messy mix of snow, rain and wind that threatened to snarl one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Meteorologists warned that the storm, which has moved across the country, would almost certainly upset holiday travel plans on Wednesday for those hoping to visit loved ones in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

The storm system already was blamed for at least 11 deaths.

3: Latvia PM resigns in wake of tragedy

RIGA, Latvia — Latvia’s prime minister resigned Wednesday in the wake of the supermarket collapse that killed 54 people and provoked outrage among the Baltic country’s citizens.

Valdis Dombrovskis’ unexpected announcement, which automatically triggers the fall of the entire center- right government, followed his meeting with President Andris Berzins.

Police have opened a criminal investigation into the cause of last week’s tragedy.

4: Scientists see hope that comet survived

STOCKHOLM — A comet that gained an earthly following because of its bright tail visible from space was initially declared dead after essentially grazing the sun. Now, there is a sliver of hope that Comet ISON may have survived.

New images, basically faint smudges on a screen, being analyzed Friday showed a streak of light moving away from the sun that some said could indicate it wasn’t game over just yet.

“It certainly appears as if there is an object there that is emitting material,” said Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Basically a dirty snowball from the fringes of the solar system, scientists had pronounced Comet ISON dead when it came within 1 million miles of the sun Thursday.