Bolstering allies

November 02, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

US forces into northern Syria will help the Kurds hold onto gains could help break apart the Iraq and Syria conflicts.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on North Korea to shrink and eventually eliminate its nuclear weapons program, while acknowledging during a visit Sunday to the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas that prospects for reconciling with the defiant North are dim. "For now what we have is what you see beyond us — a very starkly divided and heavily defended border area," Carter told reporters as he stood on the South Korean side of a marker inside the DMZ that forms the de facto border. Several yards to his rear was the start of North Korea's portion of the zone, which amounts to a buffer meant to keep the peace even though the two Koreas are technically still at war.

The Russian jetliner that crashed shortly after takeoff from an Egyptian resort city broke up at high altitude, scattering fragments of wreckage over a wide area in the Sinai Peninsula, Russia's top aviation official said Sunday as search teams raced to recover the bodies of the 224 people who died. Meanwhile in Russia, an outpouring of grief gripped the historic city of St. Petersburg, home of many of the victims. President Vladimir Putin declared a nationwide day of mourning, and flags flew at half-staff.

There's far more riding on the Americas' largest seawater desalination plant than the 50 million gallons of drinking water it will produce for the San Diego area each day. The plant, which opens this year, will help determine the future of seawater desalination in the U.S. The billion-dollar project is only the nation's second major seawater plant. The first U.S. foray in Tampa Bay is widely considered a flop. "You have to be able to say we did it there, it worked there," said Peter Beland, North America editor for Global Water Intelligence, which tracks the industry.

The al-Zazas have much to celebrate these days, after returning a few weeks ago to their neighborhood in the Gaza Strip — the first Palestinian family to move back into a completely rebuilt home since last year's war between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas. It was a much-anticipated homecoming. Their house was one of thousands of dwellings that were reduced to rubble in the war. A push to reconstruct the battered coastal territory has been sluggish, relying on international funding pledges that have only partially been fulfilled.

Five Islamic extremists attacked a hotel at dawn Sunday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people and injuring 10, before all the assailants were killed, a police official said. Security forces ended the siege by the al-Shabab attackers at the Sahafi Hotel by midday, said police commander Ali Ahmed. "It's over now, we have killed all the attackers." said Ahmed. "They came under cover of darkness and attacked the hotel while some of the guards were sleeping."

Kenya's Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany swept the titles at the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Keitany became the first woman to repeat since Paula Radcliffe in 2008. Biwott won his first major marathon title after placing second in London last year. He finished in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 34 seconds, beating countryman Geoffrey Kamworor by 14 seconds. Reigning Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa was third and defending champion was Wilson Kipsang fourth.

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