How winter keeps us warm

January 28, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

A major snowstorm in the northeastern United States isn't unusual this time of year. And spring isn't far away.

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President Obama defended the US government's willingness to cooperate closely with Saudi Arabia on national security despite deep concerns over human rights abuses, as he led an array of current and former American statesmen in paying respects Tuesday following the death of King Abdullah. Saudi Arabia's status as one of Washington's most important Arab allies has at times appeared to trump US concerns about the terrorist funding that flows from the kingdom and about human rights abuses. But Obama said he has found it most effective to apply steady pressure over human rights "even as we are getting business done that needs to get done."

A US blizzard swept past New York City and struck hardest at some 4.5 million people around Boston Tuesday, dropping nearly three feet of snow in areas and triggering high tides that breached a seawall and forced residents to flee their coastal homes. The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut lifted travel bans they had imposed a day earlier and New York City's subway system restarted after being closed for 10 hours, but officials urged people to stay off snow-covered roadways. The snow was forecast to continue into early Wednesday morning in eastern New England, which could set a new snowfall record in Boston, where 20.8 inches of snow was already on the ground early afternoon, often piled higher by strong winds.

Anti-terror raids in France and Belgium netted eight more suspects on Tuesday as Paris urged its European Union partners to step up the fight against terror financing with new measures to make transactions more transparent. Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that raids in southern France detained five people and broke up "one more network" in a small town that has seen several youths leave to fight in Syria and Iraq. In western Belgium, authorities detained three men and found a cache of arms in an operation linked to a terror threat, said prosecutor spokeswoman Karlien Ververken.

Liberia said Monday that there are currently only five confirmed cases of Ebola in the entire country – a dramatic turnaround in the West African nation where the virus has taken its deadliest toll. At the height of the outbreak in August and September, Liberia was recording more than 300 new cases of the virus every week. To date 3,636 Liberians have died of Ebola, according to the World Health Organization.

Several airlines suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday after a passenger plane arriving from the Mideast's busiest airport in Dubai came under fire as it landed in the Iraqi capital. Iraqi Transportation Minister Bayan Jabr said authorities believe the shooting was unintentional – possibly from someone firing off rounds at a social event such as a wedding or funeral – but they are not ruling out the possibility that it was an intentional terrorist attack.

The euro rose and shares slipped in Europe on Tuesday as mixed corporate earnings and concerns over Greece kept investors cautious ahead of a busy week which will include the first policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve this year. Russian markets were also jittery after a cut to the country's sovereign credit rating. Investors will be keen to hear the Fed's response to the recent policy easing by global central banks such as the European Central Bank, whose long-awaited plan to buy bonds to revive the flagging euro-zone economy has propelled bond yields and the euro to multi-year lows and stocks to multi-year highs.

US consumers welcomed the new year with a surge in confidence. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index climbed this month to 102.9, highest level since August 2007 – four months before the start of the Great Recession. January's figure was up from a revised 93.1 in December. Americans haven't felt this good about current economic conditions since January 2008. And they are the most optimistic they've been since February 2011 about business conditions over the next six months.

“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.

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