A way forward for Ukraine and Russia

August 21, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

When the dust clears, these two nations must live side by side -- only this time as independent equals.

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An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed the wife and infant son of Hamas's military leader, Mohammed Deif, the group said Wednesday, calling it an attempt to assassinate him after a ceasefire collapsed. Palestinians launched more than 130 rockets, mainly at southern Israel, with some intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said. Egypt, which has been trying to broker a long-term ceasefire in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks, said it would continue contacts with both sides, whose delegates left Cairo after hostilities resumed on Tuesday.

Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry has formally pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of leveraging his power to try to oust a Democratic district attorney convicted of drunken driving, according to court documents obtained Wednesday. The potential 2016 presidential candidate entered his plea in a Travis County court filing. He also waived an arraignment that had been set for Friday.

Rain-sodden slopes collapsed in torrents of mud, rock and debris Wednesday in the outskirts of Hiroshima, killing at least 36 people and leaving seven missing, police said. Public broadcaster NHK showed rescue workers suspended by ropes from police helicopters pulling victims from the rubble. Others gingerly climbed into windows as they searched for survivors in crushed homes. Hillsides caved in or were swept down into residential areas in at least five valleys in the suburbs of the western Japanese city after heavy rains left slopes unstable.

Opposition leader Imran Khan opened negotiations Wednesday with the Pakistani government, a lawmaker from his party said, in an effort to end protests against the prime minister and overcome a political impasse. The announcement came the day after Pakistan's powerful military said the two sides should engage in dialogue and warned that key government institutions were under its protection. Former cricket star Khan and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, who controls a network of Islamic schools and hospitals, have been leading protests in Islamabad since Friday. Both want Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign over allegations of corruption and election rigging. Sharif, who won the last election by a landslide, has refused.

Liberian security forces sealed off a seaside slum in the capital Wednesday in the latest effort to stop the spread of Ebola, setting off protests by angry residents. A resident of the West Point district said by phone that security forces were firing into the air to disperse crowds angry over the quarantine measures. People could be seen gathering at roadblocks just outside the West Point area to complain that they had been cut off from their homes.

Some Federal Reserve officials think the economy is improving fast enough that the Fed will soon need to signal a change in the extraordinary support it's been providing the economy in the form of ultra-low interest rates. Minutes of the Fed's discussion at its July 29-30 meeting show that some officials thought the economy was improving enough that the Fed would need "to call for a relatively prompt move" toward reducing the support it has been providing. Otherwise, they felt the Fed risked overshooting its targets for unemployment and inflation. In the end, the Fed made no changes at the July meeting. It approved on a 9-1 vote keeping its current stance on interest rates. But the minutes indicated rising support for a change.

“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.

“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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