China and the power of ‘soft power’

February 13, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

China may be seeing that soft power is more effective than hard power.

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After a dramatic Senate tally in which top GOP leaders cast the crucial votes, must-pass legislation to allow the government to borrow money to pay its bills cleared Congress Wednesday for President Obama’s signature. The Senate approved the measure by a near party-line 55 to 43 vote. All of the “aye” votes came from Obama’s Democratic allies. But the vote to pass the measure was anticlimactic after a dramatic 67-to-31 tally – held open for more than an hour – in which the measure cleared a filibuster hurdle insisted on by tea party Republican Ted Cruz of Texas.

Syrian warplanes pounded a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Wednesday, activists said, in an apparent attempt to dislodge opposition fighters from the area and consolidate control over the border region. Yabroud is the last rebel stronghold in Syria’s mountainous Qalamoun region. Backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters, the Syrian Army has been on a crushing offensive there since early December.

French President François Hollande arrived Wednesday in the heart of tech country for meetings with Silicon Valley and government leaders, just days after a French regulator hit Google with an embarrassing regulatory slap, and after years of efforts to wrest more taxes from tech firms.

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, best remembered for his impassioned pleas for help after the levees broke during hurricane Katrina, was convicted Wednesday of accepting bribes in exchange for helping businessmen secure millions of dollars in city work, including after the devastating storm. The Democrat, who left office in 2010 after eight years, was indicted in January 2013.

A moderate Republican city councilman has been elected mayor of San Diego in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Bob Filner, who resigned amid a torrent of sexual harassment allegations. San Diego becomes the nation’s largest city with a Republican mayor, and Kevin Faulconer will be the only Republican to lead a major city in California, where Democrats hold all statewide offices. Filner was San Diego’s first Democratic leader in 20 years.

The Swiss government says it will propose a draft law by the end of the year that would impose curbs on immigration as sanctioned by a weekend referendum. Government leaders, who had opposed the referendum to impose quotas on foreign workers, say they also will hold exploratory talks with the European Union on a package of agreements affected by the referendum’s result that includes the free movement of people and goods across borders.

Sid Caesar, the TV comedy pioneer whose rubber-faced expressions and mimicry built on the work of his dazzling team of writers that included Woody Allen and Mel Brooks, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. While best known for his TV shows, he also had success on Broadway and occasional film appearances, notably in “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.”

Compiled from wire service reports

“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.

Compiled from wire service reports

“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.

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