The loosening grasp of autocratic rule

January 08, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

For almost 25 years, Saddam Hussein kept the Shiite-Sunni-Kurd divisions of Iraq under control via extreme repression.

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White House-backed legislation to renew jobless benefits unexpectedly cleared an initial Senate hurdle on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a mid-winter compromise to ease the impact of the recession on the long-term unemployed. The vote was 60 to 37 to limit debate on the three-month legislation, with a half-dozen Republicans siding with the Democrats on the test vote. At the same time, the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said he and his rank and file would seek changes so the bill’s $6.4 billion cost would not add to deficits.

The first batch of the most dangerous chemicals in Syria’s arsenal was loaded onto a Danish ship and taken out of the country Tuesday under tight security, an important milestone in the international operation to rid President Bashar al-Assad of the weapons by midyear. The operation at Syria’s port of Latakia took place against the backdrop of a widening civil war and escalating infighting between a chaotic mix of Syrian rebel brigades and an Al Qaeda-linked militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., already beset by other costly legal woes, has agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle criminal charges accusing the bank of ignoring obvious warning signs of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, federal authorities said Tuesday. The government said the $1.7 billion represented the largest ever bank forfeiture and the largest Department of Justice penalty for a Bank Secrecy Act violation.

An Iraqi government airstrike killed 25 Al Qaeda-linked militants and fierce clashes broke out west of Baghdad on Tuesday in a flare-up to a days-long standoff in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar, Iraqi officials said. Iraqi forces and fighters from government-allied Sunni tribes have been battling militants to recapture two key cities, Fallujah and Ramadi, the provincial capital. The Al Qaeda gains in Anbar – once bloody battlegrounds for US troops – poses the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government since the departure of American forces in late 2011.

Brutal, record-breaking cold descended on the East and South, sending the mercury plummeting Tuesday into the single digits and teens from Boston and New York to Atlanta. Birmingham, Ala., dipped to a low of 7 degrees F., shattering the record for the date of 11 degrees, set in 1970.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says some 350 police officers have been removed from posts in Ankara, the capital, as the government continues to battle a corruption scandal that has ensnared former cabinet ministers. Claiming that it is the target of a conspiracy, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has dismissed hundreds of police chiefs and officers since police launched raids targeting close Erdogan allies on Dec. 17.

The US trade deficit fell in November to its lowest level in four years, an encouraging sign that economic growth in the final three months of the year was stronger than analysts had forecast. Gains in energy production and stronger sales of American-made airplanes, autos, and machinery lifted exports to an all-time high. The trade gap dropped 12.9 percent in November to $34.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The Senate confirmed Janet Yellen, a longtime Federal Reserve official and economist at the University of California, Berkeley, as the new Fed chairman by a 56-to-26 vote Monday. Yellen begins her four-year term Feb. 1, when Ben Bernanke steps down. She has been Fed vice chair since 2010.

Two Goodyear managers held captive for two days by angry French workers have been freed after police intervened. The plant in Amiens, which Goodyear has tried to sell or shutter for five years, has become an emblem of France’s labor tensions. The seizure Monday morning of the two managers appeared to resurrect the once-common practice of “boss-napping.”

Ireland has made a triumphant return to global debt markets as it saw strong demand for its first sale of benchmark 10-year bonds since the country exited its international bailout last month. Analysts say Tuesday’s offering attracted bids of nearly €15 billion ($20.5 billion), five times the conservative target set. Last month, Ireland exited its three-year emergency loan program supplied by European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

A Chinese icebreaker that became trapped last week after coming to the rescue of a Russian research ship stuck in heavy sea ice in Antarctica broke free on Tuesday, state media reported. The Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, became trapped on Friday, a day after its helicopter rescued 52 scientists, journalists, and tourists.

Compiled from wire service reports

“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.

Compiled from wire service reports

“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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