A shift in the wind

September 25, 2013 - Daily News Briefing

Call it the baby cold war.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

To read this post and thousands more articles, subscribe today!

Kenya’s president proclaimed victory Tuesday over the terrorists who stormed a Nairobi mall, saying security forces had “ashamed and defeated our attackers” following a bloody four-day siege in which dozens of civilians were killed. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the dead included 61 civilians whose bodies have been recovered so far and six security forces, while some 175 were injured, including 62 who remain hospitalized. Three floors of the mall collapsed and several bodies were trapped in the rubble, said Kenyatta.

Brazil’s president delivered a stinging rebuke Tuesday to the United States over its surveillance program that has swept up data from billions of telephone calls and e-mails that have passed through Brazil – including her own. She also called on the global body to create a framework of Internet regulation to halt the US and other nations from using it as the “new battlefield” of espionage. “In the absence of the respect for sovereignty, there is no basis for the relationship among nations,” Rousseff said on the first day of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York.

A major earthquake struck a remote area in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 39 people as houses collapsed and possibly pushing up the earth to create a new island off the country’s southern coast.The Pakistani military said it was rushing troops and helicopters to Baluchistan Province’s Awaran district, where the quake was centered, as well as the nearby area of Khuzdar.

Freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas says he will speak until he’s no longer able to stand in opposition to President Obama’s health-care law. Standing on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, Cruz began a lengthy speech urging his colleagues to oppose moving ahead on a bill he supports. The measure would prevent a government shutdown and defund “Obamacare.” Cruz’s quixotic approach is designed to prevent majority leader Harry Reid from stripping the health- care provision from the bill. A test vote is set for today.

The final six people who were unaccounted for after massive flooding in Colorado have been found safe and well, leaving only one person missing and presumed dead, authorities said Tuesday. Eight deaths have been confirmed. It was a remarkable outcome after a disaster that damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, washed out hundreds of miles of roads and left many small mountain towns completely cut off. At one point, more than 1,200 people were listed as unaccounted for.

Senior US officials said Tuesday that President Obama and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani would not meet while both leaders are at the United Nations. The officials said a meeting proved to be too complicated for the Iranians. But they say work is under way at the staff level to resolve an impasse over Iran’s nuclear program. US and Iranian leaders have not met in 36 years.

Burger King, the world’s No. 2 hamburger chain, launched a new crinkle-cut french fry on Tuesday that it says has about 20 percent fewer calories than its regular fries. The chain says its new “Satisfries” use a batter that doesn’t absorb as much oil. By comparison, a small order of its regular fries, sans crinkles, has 340 calories.

After a 21-year absence, the Pittsburgh Pirates clinched at least a National League wild card Monday night when they beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1. It will be Pittsburgh’s first trip to the postseason since the Barry Bonds-led Pirates won three straight National League East titles from 1990 to 1992.

US home prices rose 12.4 percent in July compared with a year ago, the most since February 2006. An increase in sales on a limited supply of available homes drove the gains. The Standard &Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index reported Tuesday improved from June, when it rose 12.1 percent from a year ago. And all 20 cities posted gains in July from the previous month and compared with a year ago.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has emerged from his self-imposed silence inside the Vatican walls to publish a letter to one of Italy’s most well-known atheists. In it, he denies having covered up for sexually abusive priests and discusses everything from evolution to the figure of Jesus Christ. Excerpts of the letter were published Tuesday by La Repubblica, the same newspaper that two weeks ago published a similar letter from Pope Francis to its own atheist publisher.

Miss Piggy is finally joining her love, Kermit the Frog, in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of Jim Henson’s Muppets, and Bert and Ernie will have a place in history, too. Henson’s daughter, Cheryl Henson, donated more than 20 puppets and props Tuesday to the National Museum of American History.

Compiled from wire service reports

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error