The road to Mandera

December 22, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

When a group of Muslim travelers refused to allow gunmen to single out Christian travelers, they became an example for everyone.

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A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden motorcycle into a joint NATO-Afghan patrol Monday, killing six American troops in the deadliest attack on international forces since August. Two US troops and an Afghan were wounded. The attack happened as Taliban fighters overran a strategic district in southern Helmand province, the scene of some of the deadliest fighting between the Taliban and international combat forces prior to the 2014 withdrawal, adding weight to Pentagon predictions that the insurgency is gaining strength. The soldiers were targeted as they moved through a village near Bagram Airfield, the largest US military facility in Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Rescuers were searching Monday for at least 91 missing people a day after a mountain of excavated soil and construction waste buried dozens of buildings when it swept through an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. China's official Xinhua News Agency said the landslide buried or damaged 33 buildings in the industrial park in Shenzhen, a major manufacturing center in Guangdong province across the border from Hong Kong that makes products used around the world ranging from cellphones to cars.

Another intentional car crash, this time in Las Vegas, has left at least one dead and 30 injured, and officials debate whether to treat it as an attack or another sign that America’s care for the mentally ill is lacking. A woman swerved multiple times onto a busy sidewalk on the famous Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, leaving police confident of her intent but unsure why. This is not the first fatal car incident to alarm and puzzle law enforcement this fall. Adacia Chambers has been charged with killing four people when she drove into a crowd at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade on Oct. 24. Her defense attorney insists she is mentally ill, although on Dec. 10 the judge in her case ruled her competent to stand trial.

Beijing is under another “red alert” for smog, just two weeks after the government first sounded the top smog alarm in early December. A red alert is issued when air pollution surpasses a level of 200 parts per million of fine particulates (referred to as PM2.5) for at least three days on a four-tier index that catalogs air pollutants. Beijing has struggled with dense smog for several years. The most recent red alert, which will last until midnight on Tuesday, prompted Beijing to remove half of its vehicles from the road, using an odd-even license plate system that will also be enforced in New Delhi starting next year. Outdoor construction has been banned, and factories and schools within the Beijing city limits are temporarily ordered to close.

The “emergency spacewalk” performed by International Space Station Commander Scott Kelly and recently-arrived astronaut Timothy Kopra ended successfully on Monday. The pair moved a stuck rail car out of the way before a Russian cargo ship is due to arrive later in the week. The car, which moves people and equipment around the exterior of the ISS, had become stuck when a crew equipment and translation aid, or CETA, cart, was left with its brake on. The spacewalk to move the stalled car to a different location along the space station’s exterior had been expected to take 3.5 hours but ended up only taking 15 minutes. Most spacewalks are planned months in advance, but this one was arranged on Friday.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) ethics committee has banned both its president Sepp Blatter and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Michel Platini for eight years from all soccer-related activities in a decision made Monday. A Swiss criminal investigation is ongoing. Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini were removed due to conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA in a $2 million payment deal. In the deal, Blatter approved Platini to take $2 million of FIFA money in 2011 to compensate for work done as a presidential advisor for three years from 1999-2002. In addition to the bans, Blatter and Platini were fined $50,250 and $80,400, respectively.

Scandal-plagued Japanese manufacturer Toshiba Corp. is cutting 6,800 jobs after projecting a net loss of 550 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2016. Toshiba said Monday it will slash the jobs in its personal computer, video product and consumer electronic businesses. The job cuts equal about 3 percent of Toshiba's overall employees. It is also selling its TV plant in Indonesia. Toshiba, which also makes nuclear power plants, has repeatedly apologized after acknowledging it had systematically doctored its books over several years to inflate profits by 152 billion yen ($1.3 billion).

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