Why Turkey changed its mind

July 28, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

Islamic State looms as a threat. So does the prospect of another Kurdish enclave on Turkey's border.

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The US Coast Guard scoured the seas off Florida and friends combed the shoreline Monday for any sign of two teenage fishermen, described as experienced boaters, who went missing three days earlier after setting out for the Bahamas on a stormy afternoon. What began as a teenage summer adventure — a chaperone-free getaway on the high seas — took an ominous turn after the 19-foot boat that carried Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos was found capsized and days of searches proved fruitless. But authorities and the boys' families held out hope, saying the teens were consummate seamen and a rescue is still possible.

President Obama launched a personal push for peace in South Sudan on Monday, convening African leaders for urgent talks in neighboring Ethiopia aimed at keeping the world's newest nation from collapsing amid civil war. "The possibilities of renewed conflict in a region that has been torn by conflict for so long, and has resulted in so many deaths, is something that requires urgent attention from all of us," Obama said. "We don't have a lot of time to wait."

The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) on Monday nixed Boston's bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, just hours after Mayor Martin Walsh said he would not "commit" to a deal if it left city taxpayers vulnerable to the costs of hosting such a large-scale event. "We have not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games," said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, in a statement. "Therefore the USOC does not think that the level of support enjoyed by Boston's bid would allow it to prevail over great bids from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto," it added.

Wall Street sank on Monday, with the Nasdaq down 1 percent, after the steepest decline in Chinese stocks in eight years increased concerns that cooling growth in the world's No. 2 economy could hurt its key trading partners. The Dow Jones industrial average fell to its lowest since February, while the Nasdaq composite touched a four-week low and the benchmark S&P 500 hit its lowest in over two weeks. The NYSE showed 471 stocks at 52-week lows, the most in one day since Oct. 15. After Chinese shares plunged more than 8 percent, the country's top securities regulator said Beijing would keep buying shares to stabilize the market as an unprecedented rescue plan already in place appeared to sputter.

Sunday's massive truck bomb that killed a Kenyan diplomat has stunned the capital and raised fears Monday that the Islamic extremist Al Shabab rebels are escalating their violence. Senior police official Capt. Mohammed Hussein said the toll has risen to 15. "This is a very worrying situation," he said as he stood outside the Hotel Jazeera. In a visit to neighboring Ethiopia, President Obama said Monday the bombing is a reminder "we have more work to do" in stemming terrorism in the region and that groups like Al Shabab offer nothing but destruction.

Three major league pitchers who became dominant after trades and a rock-solid catcher-turned-second baseman have a new moniker — Hall of Famer. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday and basked in the spotlight one more time with at least 40,000 fans cheering from a sun-drenched field in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

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