Behind Cuba trip, the resonance of humility and respect

March 21, 2016 - Daily News Briefing

President Obama's trip to Cuba is controversial. But it also shows how a change in approach can echo through a region.

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday ruled out the possibility that the Senate could confirm President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee in a "lame duck" congressional session after the November presidential election. This would open up the possibility of a Democratic president sending the Senate a nominee who is more liberal than Merrick Garland next year.

Turkey's interior minister on Sunday identified the suicide bomber who killed himself and four foreign tourists in Istanbul as a militant with links to the Islamic State group. Turkey has endured six suicide bombing attacks in less than a year. The country faces a wide array of security threats including from ultra-left radicals, Kurdish rebels demanding greater autonomy who currently are locked in battle with security forces in the southeast, as well as the Islamic State group.

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