A new test for Congress's small steps forward

September 14, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

The Senate has made strides in recent months toward becoming a less dysfunctional place. The weeks ahead will be another good test.

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Germany introduced temporary border controls Sunday to stem the tide of thousands of refugees streaming across its frontier, sending a clear message to its European partners that it needs more help with an influx that is straining its ability to cope. Germany is a preferred destination for many people fleeing Syria's civil war and other troubled nations in the migration crisis that has bitterly divided Europe. More than a week ago, Germany and Austria agreed to let in migrants who had massed in Hungary, saying it was a one-time measure to ease an emergency.

At least 100 homes were destroyed by a wildfire in Northern California's Lake County that raced through dry brush and exploded in size within hours, officials said Sunday. The devastation comes after a separate wildfire to the southeast destroyed at least 81 homes. The 60-square-mile fire erupted Saturday afternoon and rapidly chewed through brush and trees parched from several years of drought. A third major fire near Kings Canyon National Park has been burning since July 31 and may threaten some of the park's famous giant trees.

One million more people will be displaced within Syria by the end of the year if the war there continues unabated, potentially adding to the flow of refugees to Europe, a senior UN official said. Yacoub El Hillo, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria, said the conflict had already displaced one million people within Syria so far in 2015, with intensified fighting in much of the country now in its fifth year of war. "Unless something big is done to resolve this conflict through political means, the human train that has started moving out of Syria and the neighborhood will continue to be running for many months to come," El Hillo said.

Former tennis star James Blake said on Saturday that the officer who wrongly arrested him should be fired. Blake's caught-on-camera takedown by a plainclothes New York City police officer prompted apologies from the mayor and police commissioner. "I don't think this person should ever have a badge or a gun again," Blake, 38, said a day after surveillance video of the arrest outside a Manhattan hotel — and details about previous complaints over the officer's use of force — became public.

Thai authorities on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for a 12th suspect in connection with last month's bombing at a Bangkok landmark that killed 20 people, identifying him as a 27-year-old ethnic Uighur from China. Police identified the suspect from the name that is in his passport, Abudusataer Abudureheman , but said he also uses the name "Ishan." Thai officials said Friday that they think Ishan may have fled to China, and have asked the authorities there to trace him.

Hundreds of Tunisians marched Saturday through the capital under heavy security to protest a law offering amnesty for those accused of corruption. The controversial draft law on economic reconciliation is a centerpiece of the new government's program and seeks to boost the economy by clearing cases against businessmen and civil servants accused of corruption. Opponents to the law, however, see it as an attempt to whitewash the crimes of the old regime and ignore an ongoing process of transitional justice.

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