The place where Edward Snowden lives

April 18, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

The Russia Mr. Snowden now lives in has made a sharp right turn, both internationally and internally.

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Top diplomats from the United States, European Union, Russia, and Ukraine reached agreement after marathon talks Thursday on immediate steps to ease the crisis in Ukraine. Reached after seven hours of negotiation, the agreement does not set out specific directions for Ukraine’s future, but it requires all sides to halt any violence, intimidation, or provocative actions. It calls for the disarming of all illegally armed groups and for control of buildings seized by pro-Russian separatists to be turned back to authorities. The agreement puts on hold additional economic sanctions the West had prepared to impose on Russia.

Astronomers have discovered what they say is the most Earth-like planet yet detected – a distant, rocky world that’s similar in size to our own and exists in the Goldilocks zone where it’s not too hot and not too cold for life. The find, announced Thursday, excited planet hunters who have been scouring the Milky Way galaxy for years for potentially habitable places outside our solar system. The planet was detected by NASA’s orbiting Kepler telescope.

An immediate evacuation order was not issued for the ferry that sank off South Korea’s southern coast, likely with scores of people trapped inside, because officers on the bridge were trying to stabilize the vessel after it started to list amid the chaos, a crew member said Thursday. Twenty people, were confirmed dead, but the toll was expected to jump amid concerns that more than 270 passengers – many high school students – may have drowned in the sinking ship.

Investigators were analyzing data collected by a robotic submarine that completed its first successful scan of the seabed Thursday in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, but say tests have ruled out that a nearby oil slick came from the aircraft. The Bluefin 21 finally managed to complete a full 16-hour scan of the seabed far off Australia’s west coast, but nothing of note had yet been discovered.

Secret Service investigators say they are close to gaining a full understanding of the methods hackers used to breach Target’s computer systems last December. But the agency says it could take years to identify the criminals who stole some 40 million debit- and credit-card numbers of Target shoppers and other personal information from as many as 70 million people in the pre-Christmas breach.

An effort to prosecute the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and four co-defendants veered off track again Thursday as a pretrial hearing ended with new obstacles that threaten to further derail the case before a military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay. The prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has already been stalled for years.

French special forces backed by helicopters led a predawn operation in northern Mali Thursday and freed five humanitarian aid workers who had been held captive by a “terrorist group” – killing about 10 of the alleged militants, officials said.

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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