NEWS BRIEFING
32 dead in new Syrian attack as U.N. delays cease-fire vote
At the United Nations, a vote on a Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire across Syria was delayed until Saturday to try to close a gap over the timing of a halt to fighting.
Kuwait’s U.N. Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaiba, the current council president, told reporters Friday night that “we are so close,” but there are still differences over the timing of a cease-fire.
The resolution sponsored by Kuwait and Sweden calls for a cease-fire to take effect 72 hours after its adoption, followed immediately by access for humanitarian convoys and medical evacuation teams. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has called a 30-day cease-fire unrealistic.
The new bombings came a day after Syrian helicopters dropped leaflets over the rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ghouta, urging residents to leave for their own safety and calling on opposition fighters to surrender because they were surrounded by government troops.
Opposition activists reported airstrikes and artillery shelling on a string of towns on the edge of Damascus or eastern Ghouta.
At least 32 people were killed in raids on areas including Hammouriyeh, Zamalka, Douma and al-Marj, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the civil war through a network of activists in Syria.
Driver arrested after vehicle rams barrier at White House
The U.S. Secret Service tweeted that the vehicle “did not breach the security barrier of the White House complex.” No shots were fired, the Secret Service said.
The agency added that the 35-year-old female driver was “immediately apprehended” after the incident on the southeast side of the complex, near the Old Executive Office Building. The driver was identified as a resident of La Vergne, Tenn., and as someone the Secret Service has had previous encounters with near the White House.
The agency said the woman was charged Friday with unspecified criminal violations and turned over to the District of Columbia police department.
Governors push bipartisan plan on tackling national health care
Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich lamented that one of the country’s largest challenges seems to have been set aside by policymakers.
“It’s like health care doesn’t even matter anymore down here,” he said.
Kasich and Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have been working for more than a year on identifying common ground in health care, immigration and other policy issues.
The plan includes ideas for improving affordability, restoring stability, promoting flexibility so that states can innovate and eliminate duplicative and burdensome insurance regulations.
Nasty flu season showing signs of winding down in the country
U.S. health officials on Friday said fewer visits to the doctor last week — 1 out of 16 — were for fever, cough and other flu symptoms than during the previous two weeks. The number of states reporting high patient traffic for the flu also dropped, to 39 from 43.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they’re cautious about saying the flu season has peaked but called the downturn encouraging. Flu usually peaks in February.
This season started early and surged for months. It has been driven by a formidable type of flu that tends to cause more hospitalizations and deaths. This year’s flu vaccine is estimated to be only 25 percent effective against that type.
Car bombs kill at least 18, hurt 20 in Somali capital
The explosions came a day after Somalia’s interior minister warned of an explosives-laden vehicle somewhere in the capital.
The first blast occurred near the country’s intelligence headquarters, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. He said the second occurred near parliament’s headquarters, where the vehicle had tried to speed through a checkpoint before security forces engaged with the gunmen suspected of trying to attack the presidential palace.
The Somalia-based al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its radio arm, Andalus.
Mexico finds 103 migrants abandoned in freight trailer
The container had apparently been abandoned by migrant traffickers, and a passing military patrol heard people pounding on the walls and calling for help, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said Friday.
The migrants included 91 Hondurans, seven Guatemalans and five Salvadorans. Among them were 24 youths and 12 unaccompanied minors who were turned over to child welfare authorities.
U.S. President Donald Trump called on the Mexican government Friday to block MS-13 gang members from traveling through Mexico to reach the United States.