Beyond the Ferguson tragedy

December 01, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

The divides exposed by the Aug. 9 incident and by what followed should be addressed.

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Ferguson, Mo., officials planned to address the resignation of a white police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, a black resident. Last Monday night, prosecutors announced that a grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson, stoking racial tensions that led to looting and violence in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb of 20,000 residents, while also leading to weeklong protests nationwide. Wilson, who had been on administrative leave since the Aug. 9 shooting, resigned Saturday, effective immediately, according to his lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, who declined further comment.

Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police as they tried to surround Hong Kong government headquarters late Sunday, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months. Repeating scenes that have become familiar since the movement began in late September, protesters carrying umbrellas – which have become symbols of the pro-democracy movement – battled police armed with pepper spray, batons and riot shields.

A Spanish pledge of 120 million euros ($150 million) to a fund to help poor nations cope with global warming has raised the total close to the $10 billion UN target before a United Nations meeting in Peru next week to work on a climate deal. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) said on Friday that pledges now totalled $9.7 billion from 22 nations, just shy of the UN goal but well short of $15 billion demanded by developing nations for a first capitalization.

Voters in Switzerland on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected plans to protect the country's wealth by investing in gold and to drastically limit immigration or to eliminate a special tax that draws rich foreigners, according to polling firm gfs.bern. A proposal to require the Swiss central bank to hold a fifth of its reserves in gold was opposed by 78 percent of voters and supported by 22 percent, projections based on tallies provided by selected voting districts indicated. At last count, the measure – which had drawn attention worldwide and required the backing of a majority of voters and cantons (states) – was rejected in 22 of 26 cantons.

Two months ago, the World Health Organization launched an ambitious plan to stop the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, aiming to isolate 70 percent of the sick and safely bury 70 percent of the victims in the three hardest-hit countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – by December 1. Only Guinea is on track to meet the December 1 goal, according to an update from WHO. In Liberia, only 23 percent of cases are isolated and 26 percent of the needed burial teams are in place. In Sierra Leone, about 40 percent of cases are isolated while 27 percent of burial teams are operational.

A 13-year-old boy who had been reported missing four years ago was discovered alive, hidden behind a fake wall of a home near Atlanta, Georgia, and reunited with his mother early on Saturday, police said. Five people living in the home in Jonesboro, 17 miles south of Atlanta, were taken into custody, among them the boy's father, Gregory Jean, 37, and an adult female, said Sergeant Kevin Hughes of the Clayton County police.

“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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