Why US Middle East activism is needed

July 09, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

Middle East leaders should themselves work harder for peace. But history shows that a hands-off US policy seldom helps.

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A powerful typhoon pummeled the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Tuesday, paralyzing transport and prompting US forces based there to cancel all outdoor activity. The Okinawan government said 10 people were injured, one seriously. Separately, a man was reported missing from a fishing boat in rough seas off Kyushu island, to the north. One of the strongest and biggest typhoons to hit during Japan's summer months, Typhoon Neoguri was packing sustained winds of 120 miles per hour and gusts up to 148 mph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Polish prosecutors opened a criminal investigation Sunday into a plane crash that killed 11 people – parachuting instructors and students and the pilot of the plane. The Piper Navajo plane was carrying 12 people when it crashed and burst into flames in an orchard Saturday just minutes after taking off from Rudniki Airport in southern Poland. One person was also injured. Tomasz Ozimek, a spokesman for the prosecutor in Czestochowa, said the criminal investigation aimed to determine whether foul play was involved in the crash. The incident is Poland's worst civilian plane accident in several years.

General Motors' deadly ignition switch flaws emerged from an effort to improve its cars. As the company began developing new small cars in the late 1990s, it listened to customers who complained about "cheap-feeling" switches that required too much effort to turn. GM set about making switches that would work more smoothly and give drivers the impression that they were better designed, a GM switch engineer testified in a lawsuit deposition in the spring of 2013. The switches, though, were too loose, touching off events that led to at least 13 deaths, more than 50 crashes and a raft of legal trouble for the Detroit automaker.

More than 400 Memphis police officers have called in sick in the past week in what appears to be a deliberate action to protest planned cuts to their health care, officials said Monday. Memphis Police Department spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said 404 officers have called in sick since June 30, an increase from 308 officers who had called in sick through Sunday. The department has about 2,280 officers. According to The Commercial Appeal newspaper, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said the actions come in an apparent protest to a City Council vote that will reduce health care subsidies for city employees so that the funds can be redirected to the city's troubled pension fund.

A mother accused of abandoning her baby by pushing its stroller onto the platform in a New York City subway station before hopping on a departing train was in custody on Tuesday, police said. The 20-year-old woman is suspected of leaving the 10-month-old child when a train arrived at the Columbus Circle train station on Monday, police said. City officials were looking after the child, who appeared to be unharmed.

A roller coaster hit a tree branch at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in southern California Monday, dislodging the front car, leaving four people slightly injured and keeping nearly two dozen summer fun-seekers hanging 20 to 30 feet in the air for hours as day turned to night. Two of the four people hurt on the Ninja coaster were taken to a hospital as a precaution, but all the injuries were minor, fire and park officials said.

Cleveland won the backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio. The Republicans' site selection committee backed Cleveland over donor-rich Dallas, and the full 168-member RNC is expected to ratify the choice next month. The move signals the role Ohio – and its 18 electoral votes – plays in presidential campaigns. The RNC did not announce a start date for the convention but Priebus said that June 28 or July 18, 2016, are the two options under consideration.

“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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