Ground control

June 17, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

Kurdish paramilitaries are proving to be effective allies in taking territory from Islamic State.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

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

An apartment building balcony collapsed early Tuesday in Berkeley, California, killing six people and leaving seven others injured, many of them young people from Ireland, officials said. Officer Jennifer Coats, a spokeswoman with the Berkeley Police Department, said many of the injured have critical, life-threatening wounds. Witnesses told local TV stations that there was a party in the apartment where the balcony collapse occurred.

An Egyptian court sentenced deposed President Mohamed Morsi to death on Tuesday over a mass jail break during the country's 2011 uprising and issued sweeping punishments against the leadership of Egypt's oldest Islamic group. The general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and four other Brotherhood leaders were also handed the death penalty. More than 80 others were sentenced to death in absentia. The Brotherhood described the rulings as "null and void" and called for a popular uprising on Friday.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia would add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year, a remark that is likely to increase alarm in the West. Putin made his announcement a day after Russian officials denounced a U.S. plan to station tanks and heavy weapons in NATO states on Russia's border as the most aggressive act by Washington since the Cold War. Tension has resurged between Russia and Western powers over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, in which pro-Russian separatist forces have seized a large part of the country's east after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in early 2014. The West, led by the European Union and United States, have imposed punitive economic sanctions on Russia.

China will complete land reclamation projects on its disputed South China Sea territorial claims as planned within days, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, in an apparent bid to reassure its neighbors over moves seen as sharpening tensions in the strategically vital region. However, in a sign that developments were far from over, a statement posted to the ministry's website said China would follow up by building infrastructure to carry out functions ranging from maritime search and rescue to environmental conservation and scientific research.

The US Coast Guard temporarily detained two dozen protesters who formed a blockade with kayaks and other vessels Monday to try to stop Royal Dutch Shell's drill rig as it left Seattle on its way to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean. The protesters were scooped up from the water because they were violating the safety zone around the Polar Pioneer, which departed around 6 a.m., Coast Guard Lt. Dana Warr said. They were released after receiving violation notices that carry fines, the Coast Guard said.

Apparel retailer Gap Inc said it would close a quarter of Gap specialty stores in North America over the next few years, including 140 this year, potentially affecting thousands of jobs as the company struggles with a slump in sales at its namesake brand. San Francisco-based Gap also said it would cut 250 jobs at its headquarters. A series of fashion misses has resulted in shoppers turning away from Gap to fast fashion rivals such as H&M, Inditex's Zara, and Forever 21.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error