Cat, mouse, and dealmaking

November 29, 2013 - Daily News Briefing

China and Japan know business. They know they’ll have to strike a deal.

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Thailand’s prime minister begged protesters Thursday to call off their sustained anti-government demonstrations and negotiate an end to the nation’s latest crisis. But the protesters marched instead to new targets, including the national police headquarters, where they cut power lines. Yingluck Shinawatra issued the plea after she easily defeated a no-confidence vote pushed by her opponents, who are heavily outnumbered in Parliament but have taken to the streets in droves to demand her ouster. They say they want to uproot the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

Small US businesses interested in buying marketplace health insurance plans for their workers will have to purchase them from agents, brokers, or insurance companies for the next year, rather than through the government website. The Obama administrationis putting off the launch of its online portal to the health insurance marketplace for small businesses until November 2014. The move was needed because repairs are still under way to the troubled HealthCare.gov website, which is the primary way for individuals to apply for insurance, and that has priority.

European Union leaders sought Thursday to revive a stalled agreement with Ukraine after the former Soviet republic shocked the 28-country bloc last week by opting for closer ties with Russia in a geopolitical tug of war. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held out few hopes that a deal will be cobbled together during a two-day EU summit with eastern partners that opened Thursday evening.

Bulgarian authorities say they are constructing a fence on a 19-mile stretch of the country’s 171-mile border with Turkey in an effort to stop illegal immigration. Defense Minister Angel Naydenov said Thursday that the 10-foot-high fence is expected to be ready by February. It will run mainly through forested, hilly areas where visibility for border patrols is limited.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck a town Thursday in southern Iran, killing seven people while causing no damage at the country’s only nuclear power plant, state television reported. Iran is located in a zone of tectonic compression, leaving more than 90 percent of the country crisscrossed by seismic fault lines.

The state news agency is reporting that China has sent warplanes into its newly declared maritime air-defense zone. The flights Thursday came after South Korean and Japanese flights through the zone added to the international defiance of rules Beijing says it has imposed in the East China Sea.

The big balloons soared along with the crowd’s spirits Thursday as the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade made its way through the streets of New York City. There had been some concerns about whether the wind could keep 16 giant balloons grounded, but the cherished tradition prevailed.

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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