North Korea's inevitable change

October 10, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

Whatever is going on in the country's inner circle today, the 'hermit kingdom' cannot last.

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French writer Patrick Modiano has won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature for works that made him "a Marcel Proust of our time," the Swedish Academy said on Thursday. Relatively unknown outside of France, Modiano's works have centered on memory, oblivion, identity and guilt that often take place during the German occupation of World War Two. He has written novels, children's books and film scripts. The academy said the award of 8 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) was "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has aggravated a leg injury he suffered in late August or early September that needs three months to heal, but remains fully in charge of the country, a source with access to the North's leadership said on Thursday. North Korea's state media, which usually chronicles the 31-year-old's whereabouts in great detail, has not made any mention of Kim's activities since Sept. 3, fueling speculation that he may be in ill health or his grip on power may be slipping.

Hong Kong called off talks with protesting students on Thursday, dealing a heavy blow to attempts to defuse a political crisis that has seen tens of thousands take to the streets to demand free elections and calling for leader Leung Chun-ying to resign. The government's decision came as democratic lawmakers demanded anti-graft officers investigate a $6.4 million business payout to Leung while in office, as the political fallout from mass protests in the Chinese-controlled city spreads.

Ebola's economic toll could reach $32.6 billion by year's end if the disease ravaging Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone spreads across West Africa, the World Bank said Wednesday. The president of Sierra Leone is calling on the world to send millions of dollars, hundreds of doctors and thousands of nurses to his nation to help fight what he calls "a tragedy unforeseen in modern times." President Ernst Bai Koroma says, "Our people are dying." Koroma says the world's response has been slower than the spread of the disease, and its spread will threaten people everywhere. The presidents of Guinea and Liberia also made pleas for more aid to fight the virus that has killed more than 3,800 people in West Africa.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to nearly its lowest level since before the 2007-09 recession, a sign of growing steam in the US labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000 in the week ended Oct. 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The data adds to the view that some strength is building in the US economy.

Danish toy maker Lego said Thursday it won't renew a deal allowing Shell to hand out Lego sets at its gas stations in some 30 countries, following a viral campaign protesting Arctic drilling. Environmental activists Greenpeace launched in July a video showing an Arctic landscape with a Shell drilling platform made of Lego bricks covered in oil. Lego CEO Joergen Vig Knudstorp said the protest "may have created misunderstandings among our stakeholders," adding the company didn't want to be embroiled in the environmental campaign.

“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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