Inside a bargain

October 10, 2013 - Daily News Briefing

Negotiations seldom happen in a vacuum.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

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

The Obama administration, scrambling to tamp down a controversy over suspended death benefits for the families of fallen troops, announced Wednesday that a charity would pick up the costs of the payments during the government shutdown. “The Fisher House Foundation will provide the families of the fallen with the benefits they so richly deserve,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement, adding that the Pentagon would reimburse the foundation after the shutdown ended. Hagel said Fisher House, which works with veterans and their families, had approached the Pentagon about making the payments.

The US is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in mostly military aid to Egypt following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and the subsequent crackdown by the military-backed government. The US provides $1.5 billion in aid each year to Egypt. The State Department did not provide an exact dollar amount. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the US will withhold delivery of certain large-scale military systems as well as cash assistance to the Egyptian government until “credible progress” is made toward an inclusive government.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was granted bail Wednesday in a case involving the death of a separatist leader, paving the way for his release from house arrest, said his lawyers. Musharraf has faced legal problems ever since his return from exile in March, in a series of cases that have undermined the once sacrosanct position of the Pakistan military.

Three US-based scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing powerful computer models that any researcher can use to understand complex chemical interactions and create new drugs. Research in the 1970s by Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel has led to programs that unveil chemical processes such as how exhaust fumes are purified or how photosynthesis takes place in green leaves, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will go on trial on Nov. 4 on charges of inciting the killing of opponents while he was in office, an Egyptian court announced Wednesday. Morsi was ousted in a popularly backed coup on July 3 and has been held incommunicado at an unknown location and has not been seen since.

NASA’s Jupiter-bound spacecraft swung by Earth Wednesday in a flyby designed to boost its speed for the long trip toward the outer solar system. Juno was launched in 2011, hurtling beyond the orbit of Mars before looping back toward Earth. The Earth flyby increased its speed to 87,000 m.p.h. relative to the sun. It will arrive at Jupiter in 2016 for a yearlong study of the giant planet’s atmosphere and interior.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers has proposed to buy rival retailer Men’s Wearhouse in a $2.3 billion acquisition that would pair two retailers dealing with slumping earnings.

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.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers has proposed to buy rival retailer Men’s Wearhouse in a $2.3 billion acquisition that would pair two retailers dealing with slumping earnings.

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.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error