Iran's moment of truth approaches

July 15, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

The clock is ticking on negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. For the sake of the Middle East, real progress is greatly needed.

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Egypt is proposing a temporary cease-fire as a first step in ending the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has left more than 175 people dead. The Foreign Ministry announced a three-step plan starting with a 12-hour cease-fire by the Israelis and the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers that would take effect Tuesday morning. That would be followed by the opening of border crossings and negotiations between both sides in Cairo within 48 hours.

A Ukrainian military transport plane was shot down Monday along the country's eastern border with Russia, the defense minister said. Rebels in conflict-wracked eastern Ukraine immediately claimed responsibility for downing the Antonov-26, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said the rocket may have been fired from Russia. Heletey said the plane was flying at an altitude of 21,300 feet, which he said was too high to be reached with the weapons used by the separatists fighting government troops.

The Church of England voted on Monday to allow women to become bishops, a historic decision which overturns centuries of tradition in a Church that has been deeply divided over the issue. Two years ago, a similar proposal failed narrowly due to opposition from traditionalist lay members, to the dismay of modernizers, the Church hierarchy and politicians. But after a five-hour debate on Monday, the General Synod, the governing body of the Church of England, voted overwhelmingly in favor of an amended plan at its meeting in the northern English city of York.

Citigroup Inc said it agreed to pay $7 billion to settle a US government investigation into mortgage-backed securities the bank sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement figure was more than twice what many analysts expected earlier this year but less than the $12 billion the government had sought in negotiations with the bank. Citigroup said it took a related pre-tax charge of about $3.8 billion in the second quarter. Taking the charge into account, the bank reported a 96 percent drop in earnings.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan promised on Monday that more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militants would "soon" return home, teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai said after meeting him. Malala, who became a global celebrity after surviving being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, was visiting Nigeria to support an international campaign for the release of the teenage students abducted in mid-April by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram. The Pakistani teenager, who turned 17 on Saturday, met parents of the schoolgirls this past weekend.

U.S. prosecutors and defense attorneys have rested their cases in the trial of a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Azamat Tazhayakov is charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy. Prosecutors ended their case Monday after the testimony of an FBI agent. The defense called no witnesses. Closing arguments in his trial are scheduled for Wednesday.

The wreck of the luxury liner Costa Concordia was re-floated on Monday and will soon be towed away and broken up for scrap, more than two years after it capsized off the Italian coast, killing 32 people. The 290-meter Costa Concordia ran aground on rocks near the Tuscan holiday island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012. The rusting hulk of the once-gleaming-white ship had been resting on a temporary platform since being righted a year ago. In what has become one of the largest salvage operations in history, air was pumped into 30 large metal boxes, or sponsons, attached around the hull of the 114,500-ton ship. The air forced out the water in the sponsons, lifting the vessel off the underwater platform.

“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.

“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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