A futile fight

April 23, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

Today's Sunni-Shiite conflict – like an earlier one – likely will have no victor, no vanquished, and too much suffering.

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Pope Francis will visit Cuba en route to the United States in September, the Vatican said on Wednesday, capping his success in bringing the former enemies together after more than half a century of distrust. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi did not specify how long the stop in Cuba would last, saying only that Francis had accepted invitations made by the Cuban government and the Cuban Roman Catholic Church. It will be the Argentine pope's first visit to Cuba as pontiff. Both his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, visited the island and met revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

An Algerian man suspected of planning an imminent attack on a church has been arrested in Paris, with police discovering Kalashnikovs, hand guns and ammunition in his possession, top officials said on Wednesday. The 24-year old electronics student, who is also suspected of the murder of a 32-year-old woman, was detained on Sunday after he apparently shot himself by accident and called an ambulance. He was not named.

Oklahoma law allows former law enforcement officers to return to the profession as reservists with little training, but the state's top law-enforcement trainer is pushing for changes after a volunteer deputy — a patrolman for only a year in the 1960s — fatally shot an unarmed suspect. Steve Emmons leads the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, which oversees law enforcement training statewide. He is working with lawmakers to require more training after 73-year-old insurance executive Robert Bates, a volunteer for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, said he mistook his handgun for a stun gun before fatally shooting Eric Harris this month.

The timing of sanctions relief is the main sticking point in nuclear talks that resumed on Wednesday with a meeting between delegates from Iran and the European Union. Arriving in Vienna, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reiterated Iran's position: "All the economic sanctions should be lifted on the day that the deal is implemented," Iranian news agency Tasnim reported. The United States says the sanctions, imposed on Iran by countries concerned that its nuclear program could be aimed at weapons development, would have to be phased out gradually.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in Indonesia on Wednesday, the latest sign of a thaw between the Asian rivals that came despite an awkward diplomatic backdrop. Abe told reporters after the meeting that the two leaders agreed to work for better relations and contribute to regional stability by promoting "mutually beneficial strategic ties."

“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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