Reshaping the Pentagon

December 04, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

President Obama's likely choice for defense secretary signals a major shift in national security.

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The Pentagon says that Iran has launched airstrikes against Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq. Rear Adm. John Kirby says the US believes this may be the first time Tehran has launched manned aircraft from inside Iran to strike targets in Iraq. The Pentagon spokesman says the US has not coordinated airstrikes or military activities with Iran.

Ukraine's energy minister said Wednesday that a technical fault at a nuclear power plant in the south of the country has cut power production but he insisted the incident poses no danger. Volodymyr Demchishin said that the fault at a power-generating unit No. 3 in the Zaporozhiya plant led to a drop in electricity production, and that normal output will be restored by the weekend. The plant's operator revealed earlier this week that a problem had occurred with a power-generating unit, but concern was provoked Wednesday after Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to an unspecified incident during a Cabinet meeting.

The Supreme Court is taking up a pregnancy discrimination case with the potential to affect many American women who continue to work throughout their pregnancies. The case before the justices Wednesday involves a former driver for United Parcel Service who wanted a temporary assignment to avoid lifting heavy packages after she became pregnant in 2006. UPS refused to accommodate driver Peggy Young, who did not return to work until two months after she delivered her baby. The court is weighing whether the company's actions violated the 36-year-old federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a motion on Wednesday to dissolve the Knesset in a preliminary vote, paving the way for early elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to iron out differences with coalition partners. Israel's government, which took office in early 2013, has been riven by divisions from the beginning over major issues facing the country. On Tuesday, Netanyahu fired two rebellious Cabinet ministers and called for elections, plunging the country into a bitter campaign set to culminate in polls early next year.

An American school teacher was stabbed to death in a public restroom at an Abu Dhabi mall by a suspect wearing the traditional black robe, full-face veil and gloves commonly worn by local women throughout the Arab Gulf region, local police said Tuesday. A statement posted on the Abu Dhabi Interior Ministry's website said the victim was stabbed Monday with a sharp tool that has been confiscated by police.

Three decades after lethal gas swept through Bhopal, the central Indian city remains haunted by memories of the world's worst industrial disaster. Hundreds of survivors of the gas leak that claimed thousands of lives took to the streets Wednesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster, chanting slogans and carrying placards demanding harsher punishments for those responsible and more compensation for the victims. On the morning of Dec. 3, 1984, a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide leaked about 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate gas into the air in Bhopal, quickly killing about 4,000 people. Lingering effects of the poison pushed the death toll to about 15,000 over the next few years, according to Indian government estimates.

President Barack Obama announced an initiative Wednesday aimed at improving conditions and opportunities for American Indian youth, more than a third of whom live in poverty. Obama's Generation Indigenous initiative calls for programs focused on better preparing young American Indians for college and careers, and developing leadership skills through the Department of Education and the Aspen Institute's Center for Native American Youth. Members of the president's staff also plan to visit reservations next year.

“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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