Europe, war, and memory

April 16, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

Despite a rise in tension and conflict recently in Europe, the lessons of the 20th century have not been forgotten.

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Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in a deadly late-night shooting, sealing the downfall of an athlete who once had a $40 million contract and a standout career ahead of him. Hernandez, 25, looked to his right and pursed his lips as the jury forewoman announced him guilty in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old landscaper and amateur weekend football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole and automatically triggers an appeal to Massachusetts' highest court.

Survivors of a capsized migrant boat off Libya have told the aid group Save the Children that an estimated 400 people are believed to have drowned. Even before the survivors were interviewed, Italy's Coast Guard said it assumed that there were many dead given the size of the ship and that nine bodies had been found. The coast guard had helped rescue some 144 people on Monday and immediately launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others.

Boston marked the second anniversary of the deadly attack on its annual marathon on Wednesday with a quiet ceremony at the site where three died, unveiling a pair of banners marked with a heart. Mayor Marty Walsh joined a group of survivors of the April 15, 2013, blasts. Some 264 people, including spectators, volunteers, and runners at the Boston Marathon were injured. At 2:49 p.m. ET New England's largest city observed a moment of silence to mark the time the first bomb went off.

Police arrested a man who steered his tiny, one-person helicopter onto the West Lawn of the US Capitol Wednesday, astonishing spring tourists and prompting a temporary lockdown of the Capitol Visitor Center. Capitol Police didn't immediately identify the pilot or comment on his motive, but a Florida postal carrier named Doug Hughes took responsibility for the stunt on a website where he said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress in order to draw attention to campaign finance corruption.

Protests for pay of $15 an hour and a union for fast-food and other low-wage workers took place around the country Wednesday, marking the biggest effort yet in an ongoing campaign by labor organizers. The push comes just two weeks after McDonald's announced a pay bump for workers at its company-owned stores, suggesting the chain is trying to take control of its image as an employer. The Fight for $15 campaign is being spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union and began in late 2012 with fast-food workers. Since then, the campaign has morphed to rally a variety of low-wage workers, including airport workers and home care workers.

The European Union's executive branch hit Google with official antitrust charges on Wednesday that allege the company abuses its dominance in Internet searches, and also opened a probe into its Android mobile system. The move massively raises the stakes in the highest profile antitrust case in Europe and could lead to billions in fines for Google if the case shows the way it does business in the 28-country bloc is illegal.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

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