The fight against 'fragile states'

July 17, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

The world must help stabilize shaky states – for the sake of global security and the safety of the men, women, and children in those states.

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The United States imposed new sanctions Wednesday on lucrative Russian energy and defense entities, as well as major banks, as the Obama administration struggles for a way to quell an insurgency in eastern Ukraine widely believed to be backed by Moscow. The penalties significantly expand on previous US sanctions, which were limited to Russian individuals and companies. But the new sanctions still stop short of fully cutting off key Russian economic sectors, a step US officials said they were continuing to hold in reserve in case Moscow launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine or takes similarly provocative actions.

A typhoon left at least 20 people dead, knocked out power in many areas, damaged a parked plane but spared the Philippine capital of Manila on Wednesday when its fierce wind shifted, officials said. Still, Typhoon Rammasun's winds of 93 miles per hour and blinding 115-mph gusts brought down trees, electric posts and ripped off roofs across the capital of 12 million people, shutting government offices and schools. More than 370,000 people moved from high-risk villages to emergency shelters in six provinces.

Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said Time Warner has rejected an $80 billion offer it made last month to combine the two media entertainment giants. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. also said Wednesday in a brief statement that it is not currently in discussions with Time Warner. Shares of Time Warner jumped 16 percent to $83 Wednesday, while Twenty-First Century Fox had dipped by 2 percent to about $34.50.

An Orbital Sciences Corp cargo ship reached the International Space Station on Wednesday with a delivery of food, supplies, science experiments and a fleet of tiny Earth-imaging satellites that will be launched from the orbital outpost. Working from a control panel inside the station's Cupola module, commander Steven Swanson delicately steered the station's 58-foot long robotic arm to pluck the Cygnus capsule, named SS Janice Voss in tribute to a five-time space shuttle astronaut who died in 2012, from orbit at 6:36 a.m. EDT as the ships sailed 260 miles above northern Libya.

Some residents in northwestern South Carolina say they found bags of candy on their street containing a piece of paper asking them to join the Ku Klux Klan. Residents in an Oconee County subdivision found the bags Saturday night or Sunday morning. The paper said "Save Our Land, Join the Klan." It had a phone number that led to an automated message discussing KKK efforts against illegal immigration.

Derek Jeter soaked in the adulation from fans and players during one more night on baseball's national stage, set the tone for the American League with a pregame speech and then delivered two final All-Star hits. Mike Trout, perhaps the top candidate to succeed the 40-year-old Yankees captain as the face of the game, seemed ready to assume the role with a tiebreaking triple and later a go-ahead double that earned the 22-year-old MVP honors. On a summer evening filled with reminders of generational change, the AL kept up nearly two decades of dominance by beating the National League, 5-3, Tuesday night for its 13th win in 17 years.

“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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