A sharp critique of war

January 09, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

In a surprisingly candid book about national security, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates criticizes the White House under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

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Syrian rebels on Wednesday seized control of a hospital in the northern city of Aleppo that was used as a base for the area by their Al Qaeda rivals, activists said. The capture of the hospital was a boost for the rebels, who only the day before saw 20 of their fighters killed in an Al Qaeda suicide car bombing in the northern city of Darkoush, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Dennis Rodman sang “Happy Birthday” to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before leading a squad of former NBA stars onto the court Wednesday at a Pyongyang stadium for a game Rodman said is part of his “basketball diplomacy” with the North, which has been heavily criticized in the United States. Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim.

Germany’s trade surplus widened to a near record in November, official figures showed Wednesday in a development that may add potential fuel to critics’ concerns that the country is not spending enough to help out its struggling partners in the eurozone. The figures could well form the backdrop to discussions later between US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

In the three years since she was severely injured in a mass shooting at a political event in Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords has made an impressive recovery, learning to walk again. On Wednesday, while others gathered for bell-ringing and flag-raising ceremonies, she marked the anniversary by skydiving. The former Arizona congresswoman landed safely at a skydiving site between Phoenix and Tucson.

India chipped away at America’s diplomatic perks Wednesday, ordering the envoys to obey local traffic laws and warning that a popular US Embassy club violates diplomatic law because it is open to outsiders. The move was the latest in a campaign to exert pressure on the US following the arrest and strip search last month of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat based in New York City. Indian officials have called the strip search barbaric and unnecessary.

A political furor surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie intensified Wednesday with the release of e-mails and text messages that suggest one of his top aides deliberately created traffic jams in a New Jersey town last September to punish its mayor. The shutdown caused major backups in Fort Lee – whose mayor had refused to endorse Christie for reelection last fall. The messages, obtained by The Associated Press and other news organizations Wednesday amid a state legislative investigation into the dirty-tricks allegations, do not directly implicate Christie.

Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas were elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday, while Craig Biggio fell two votes short. Maddux was picked on 555 of 571 ballots by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. His 97.2 percentage was the eighth-highest in the history of voting.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

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