The lady and the generals

September 09, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

Can civil society take root in an authoritarian regime?

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The Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples was released Tuesday after five days behind bars, emerging to a tumultuous reception from thousands of cross-waving supporters. Her lawyer refused to say whether she would defy the courts again. Kim Davis, whose jailing helped make her a hero to the religious right, walked free after the federal judge who ordered her locked up lifted the contempt order against her, saying he was satisfied that her deputies were fulfilling their obligation to grant licenses to same-sex couples in her absence. But US District Judge David Bunning also warned Davis not to interfere again.

The family of Freddie Gray, who died after being critically injured in police custody, reached a tentative $6.4 million wrongful death settlement with the city of Baltimore, resolving civil claims about a week after the first hearing in the criminal case against six police officers, officials said Tuesday. Six Baltimore police officers face criminal charges stemming from Gray's death. Gray, who was black, was critically injured April 12 in the back of a prisoner transport van after he was arrested. His death sparked protests, rioting and unrest that shook Baltimore for days. The settlement still needs the approval of a board that oversees city spending. That board meets Wednesday.

Turkey deployed ground forces across the border into northern Iraq on Tuesday for the first time since 2011, stepping up its battle against Kurdish rebels who have stung the Turkish military with a string of attacks in recent weeks. The move, however, could frustrate the US-led alliance's efforts against Islamic State because Turkey is now hunting down the very fighters who are trying to hold back the militant group from taking more territory in Syria and Iraq. Turkish authorities haven't given a specific time frame for the operation in northern Iraq, although one official said it was a "short-term" offensive to root out rebels. Turkish jets also carried out more airstrikes against rebel camps in the region.

After spending three hours in an old water well, a 4-year-old boy was rescued along with his dog in southern Mississippi as emergency workers cheered. Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Clifford Galey says Gabe Allbritton was in the yard with his grandmother when he disappeared Monday afternoon. The boy and his dog were trapped 23 feet below ground in an 18-inch wide hole. Galey said the boy wasn't stuck but couldn't grasp the rope. Rescuers tried several times of hoist the boy up with a rope. He said they finally made a seat with the rope, the youngster climbed in and was pulled to safety.

North and South Korea agreed Tuesday to hold reunions next month of families separated by the Korean War in the early 1950s, a small but important bit of progress for rivals that just last month were threatening each other with war. One hundred mostly elderly people from each country will be reunited with their relatives Oct. 20-26 at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry and North Korean state media. The decision came after overnight talks among the Koreas' Red Cross officials at the border village of Panmunjom that began Monday. The Koreas initially agreed to push for the reunions after striking a deal last month that eased a standoff that had flared after a mine explosion blamed on Pyongyang maimed two South Korean soldiers.

A Saudi-led alliance killed at least 20 Indian nationals in air strikes on fuel smugglers at a Yemeni port on Tuesday, fishermen said, and more foreign troops were reported to be arriving to intensify the campaign against Houthi forces. The Houthi-run state news agency Saba also said that 15 citizens were killed in air strikes on Sanaa, and medical sources said at least 15 civilians were killed in similar attacks on Monday. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the figures. The alliance, made up mainly of Gulf Arab countries, has increased air strikes on Sanaa and other parts of the country since Friday, when a Houthi missile attack killed at least 60 Saudi, Bahraini and United Arab Emirates soldiers at a military camp east of Sanaa.

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