A global vote

March 18, 2016 - Daily News Briefing

Americans aren't just deciding who will be their next president. Their decision will be felt around the world.

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With the backing of Congress, Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday condemned the actions of the terrorist group known as Islamic State (IS) as genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. According to a recent report by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians, more than 1,100 identified Christians have been killed by Islamic State, and many more kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery, and driven from their homes. But a 2014 UN report found that in one year, IS killed 8,493 Iraqi civilians, a group that includes not only Christians but also Muslims.

What if your car could sense when its driver had lost control on the road and braked by itself before a crash? Automakers announced Thursday that by 2022, nearly all US cars will take advantage of automatic emergency brake technology, in one of the biggest coups for auto safety since the universal implementation of seat belts. The deal, forged between automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will require manufacturers to equip all but specified, older car models with automatic braking systems, according to Associated Press sources.

In partnership with the Humane Society of the United States, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment announced Thursday that it will end its breeding of orca whales and keeping them captive for public exhibition. The current group of 29 orcas in SeaWorld facilities will be the theme park’s last generation. The change comes after several years of pressure from animal rights activists concerned about the treatment of the park's orca whales and a "sea change" among consumers growing wary of the use of animals as entertainment.

Tension has risen between Argentina and China this week after the Argentinian coast guard sank a Chinese trawler fishing illegally in the Latin American country's waters. The coast guard warned operators on board the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 trawler before firing warning shots and engaging in a high seas chase into international waters. The altercation took place off the coast of Puerto Madryn, about 907 miles south of Buenos Aires. The fishing vessel sank some time between Monday and Tuesday. The coast guard rescued – and subsequently arrested – four crewmen and while others were picked up by another Chinese boat in the vicinity.

Newly released documents shed light on the mental state of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his perplexing decision to leave his post in Afghanistan in 2009. The documents, released to The New York Times on Wednesday, reveal that Sergeant Bergdahl told a general investigating the case that "it was a self-sacrifice thing." Attorneys for Bergdahl, who faces charges including desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, said they released the documents to help counteract negative publicity surrounding the case. Bergdahl’s military trial is set to begin this summer, but has been delayed by disagreements over access to classified materials.

Federal prosecutors in New York are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into health and safety conditions, particularly elevated blood lead levels, in the city’s public housing and homeless shelters. The investigation, disclosed Wednesday in a letter from Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and affirmed in a federal judge’s order, calls for the city’s health department to produce information about cases of lead paint exposure that led to elevated blood lead levels.

When the United States faced a severe shortage of pilots in 1942, military leaders took a chance on an experimental program: the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP for short. Until 1977, the 1,100-some female pilots were not considered military members. Even now, their fight for recognition from the US government continues: The Army currently does not allow the World War II veterans's ashes to be interred at the Arlington National Cemetery. But that could soon change. Acting Army Secretary Patrick Murphy called on Congress Wednesday to reverse a decision by his predecessor that prohibited the WASPs from receiving military honors and burial at the prestigious military cemetery. Problem is, there seems to be confusion about which government branch can make the change.

A three-century-old mathematics problem known as Fermat’s Last Theorem first caught the attention of Andrew Wiles, now a professor at Oxford University, when he was 10 years old. Now, his “stunning proof” that cracked the 358-year-old problem in 1994 has netted him the world’s top international prize for mathematics. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awarded its Abel Prize for mathematics to Dr. Wiles for his work on the problem that had captivated the mathematician for much of his life.

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