Needed: a federation plan for Syria

February 11, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

No one involved in the Syrian civil war is optimistic about a peaceful settlement.

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A second round of peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition bogged down quickly Monday over who was responsible for escalating violence that has killed hundreds in the past few days and disrupted food aid for trapped civilians. UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held separate closed-door meetings in Geneva with the Syrian government and opposition delegations to try to set an agenda for the coming week. The first face-to-face meetings adjourned 10 days earlier, having achieved little.

TV viewers increasingly are watching programs on their own schedule, according to a Nielsen company media study released Monday. In the past year, time-shifting of television content grew by almost two hours, averaging 13 hours per month, the study found. Viewers averaged nearly 134 hours of live TV viewing a month in 2013, down nearly three hours from 2012. Television still remains central to media consumption, the study found.

Insurgents accidentally set off their own car bomb Monday at a training camp in an orchard in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, leaving 21 dead and some two dozen arrested, Iraqi officials said. Authorities found seven car bombs, several explosive belts, and roadside bombs after searching two houses and a garage in the dense area, offering a rare glimpse into the workings of militants behind a resurgence in violence in the country.

Almost four years after a small Nebraska city tried to crack down on illegal immigration, the town is having second thoughts about requiring all renters to swear that they have legal permission to be in the US. Voters in Fremont, northwest of Omaha, will have a chance today to repeal the housing restrictions, which critics say are less effective and more costly than anyone expected and damaging to the city’s image.

In a sharp rebuke to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the European Union on Monday called for the formation of a new, inclusive government and constitutional reforms that would pave the way to “free and fair presidential elections.” The bloc’s 28 foreign ministers said in a joint statement they were “alarmed” by the human rights situation, including torture and intimidation.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous American philanthropists in 2013, with a donation of 18 million shares of Facebook stock, valued at more than $970 million, to a Silicon Valley nonprofit in December. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported Monday that Zuckerberg’s donation was the largest charitable gift on the public record in 2013.

The River Thames has burst its banks after reaching its highest level in years, flooding riverside towns upstream of London. Residents and British troops had piled up sandbags to protect properties from the latest bout of flooding but the river overwhelmed their defenses Monday, leaving areas including the center of the village of Datchet under water.

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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