China's corruption dilemma

January 23, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

Xi Jinping came into office as China’s president vowing to root out corruption among China’s leadership.

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Peace talks intended to carve a path out of Syria’s civil war got off to a rocky start Wednesday as a bitter clash over President Bashar al-Assad’s future threatened to collapse the negotiations even before they really begin. The US and the Syrian opposition opened the conference by saying the Syrian leader lost his legitimacy when he crushed a once-peaceful protest movement. In a strong riposte, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem countered that terrorists and foreign meddling had ripped his country apart. He refused to give up the podium despite requests from the UN chief.

Israel on Wednesday said it had foiled an “advanced” Al Qaeda plan to carry out a suicide bombing on the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and bomb other targets in what analysts said was the first time the global terror network’s leadership has been directly involved in plotting an attack inside Israel. The Shin Bet intelligence agency said it had arrested three Palestinians who allegedly plotted bombings, shootings, kidnappings, and other attacks.

President Obama shone a light Wednesday on a college sexual assault epidemic that is often shrouded in secrecy, with victims fearing stigma, police poorly trained to investigate, and universities reluctant to disclose the violence. A White House report highlights a stunning prevalence of rape on college campuses, with 1 in 5 female students assaulted while only 1 in 8 student victims reports it.

Supreme Court justices expressed compassion Wednesday for a woman raped as a child as they struggled with how much money should be paid to her by one man convicted of possessing pornographic images of the abuse that have spread among thousands of online viewers. The woman known as “Amy” was in the courtroom, her legal team said, for arguments in which the justices talked frankly about the abuse she and other victims of child pornography suffer from those who look at the pictures.

Subcompact cars fared poorly in new crash tests performed by an insurance industry group. None of the 12 minicars tested got the highest rating of “good” from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Chevrolet Spark was the only car that earned the second-highest rating of “acceptable.”

The Pentagon has approved a new policy that will allow troops to seek waivers to wear religious clothing, seek prayer time, or engage in religious practices. Defense officials say the waivers will be decided on a case-by-case basis and will depend on where the service member is stationed and whether the change would affect military readiness or the mission. Until now there has been no consistent policy across the military to allow accommodations for religion.

After a two-month delay, Nepal’s newly elected Constituent Assembly convened Wednesday to begin its main task: drafting a constitution, which the Himalayan nation has lacked for the past five years.

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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