Second thoughts on jihad

September 22, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

As Islamic State recruits trade the group's propaganda image for its grim reality, disenchantment grows.

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Alexis Tsipras received a formal mandate Monday to form a Greek government for the second time, after his left-wing Syriza party unexpectedly won a decisive victory in early national elections. Syriza's victory in Sunday's election marks a personal triumph for Mr. Tsipras, who served as prime minister between January and August – a tumultuous period that saw Greece's future in the 19-country eurozone come under real threat and strict banking controls imposed. Tsipras dominates Greek politics despite a major policy U-turn that saw him go against the anti-austerity platform that swept him to power in elections in January in return for a multi-billion bailout that keeps Greece in the eurozone.

Scott Walker abandoned his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, exiting the race that saw him rise to front-runner and fall to afterthought in a matter of months. One of the last Republicans to enter the race, Walker joins former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as one of the first to leave it, having been unable to adjust to the popularity of billionaire businessman Donald Trump or break out in either of GOP's first two debates. He will return to his job in Wisconsin as governor, where his term runs through 2018.

Volkswagen's chief executive was under withering pressure Monday as an emissions-testing scandal erased more than €13 billion (around $15 billion) from the company's market value in a single trading session. The stock plunge followed revelations that the German carmaker had rigged US emissions tests for about 500,000 diesel cars. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn apologized, acknowledging that his company had "broken the trust of our customers and the public."

The Burkina Faso general who seized power in a coup last week apologized to the nation Monday and said he would hand over control to a civilian transitional government after the military warned that its forces would converge on the capital and forcibly disarm the soldiers behind the power grab. Gen. Gilbert Diendere said his presidential guard unit "confirms our commitment to giving power back to civilian authorities." That was one of the key conditions of a draft agreement that resulted from weekend negotiations with regional mediators, but it had been unclear until his announcement whether the junta would abide by those terms.

Can mass killings be predicted and prevented? The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., hopes its new online tool will do just that by making both sophisticated statistical analysis and feedback from experts publicly available for the first time. The goal is to produce early warnings that can help governments, policy makers, advocacy groups and scholars decide where to concentrate their efforts.

The Colorado Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether cities can ban hydraulic fracturing, stepping into a high-stakes battle over whether local governments can impose tougher oil and gas rules than the state. The court heard cases from Longmont, where voters banned hydraulic fracturing in 2012, and Fort Collins, where voters approved a 5-year moratorium in 2013. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association sued the two cities, and lower courts overturned the local restrictions, saying regulation is the state's prerogative. The cities and several environmental groups appealed. The state Supreme Court's decision could settle a long-simmering battle fought on multiple fronts in Colorado, including public health, the environment and property rights.

Ten years after GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was unceremoniously fired from her job as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, her tumultuous business career is still the subject of heated discussion. Even as she enjoys a surge in momentum after last week's Republican debate (a new CNN poll has her in second place behind Donald Trump), Fiorina is facing more jibes about her tenure at HP. Rival candidate Donald Trump declared her time there "a disaster," after Fiorina boasted of HP's growth and the "tough choices" she made as CEO.

An emu that had been loose and wandering around New Hampshire for more than a week has been caught. Maria Colby, a bird specialist who operates Wings of the Dawn Wildlife Sanctuary in Henniker, says a father and son captured the large, flightless bird in Bow Sunday afternoon. The Concord Monitor reports Ms. Colby searched for the bird throughout the week with police and neighbors. The father and son used Colby's handheld net to capture the bird. Several people helped pick it up and carry it to Colby's car.

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