*** PLEASE NOTE: Some papers have Syria slated as a filler story, so make sure it’s not running as a separate before including it in briefs. Thanks. ***
SYRIA
Mortar attack kills Damascus students
Mortar shells crashed into an outdoor cafe at Damascus University on Thursday, killing at least 10 students in the deadliest of a rising number of mortar attacks in the heart of the Syrian capital. The strikes have escalated as rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad try to enter the city, terrifying civilians whose support the opposition needs to advance its cause. It was unclear who fired the rounds. The government blamed “terrorists,” its blanket term for those fighting Assad’s regime. Anti-regime activists accused the regime of staging the attack to turn civilians against the rebels.
FRANCE
Hollande: Companies to pay for big salaries
French President Francois Hollande may have finally found a way to tax the really rich: by making their companies pay. In a televised interview Thursday night, he said he wants companies that pay their employees more than $1.3 million to pay 75 percent payroll taxes on those salaries. The proposed tax, which still needs to be approved by parliament, replaces one of Hollande’s signature campaign proposals: to tax individuals who earns more than 1 million euros at 75 percent. France’s highest court has thrown out that plan and the government has been looking for a replacement.
KAZAKHSTAN
Crew blasts off for space station
A Russian spacecraft carrying a three-man crew blasted off today from a launch pad in the steppes of Kazakhstan, for the first time taking a shorter path to the International Space Station. Instead of the two-day approach maneuver used by Soyuz spacecraft in the past, this journey to the station would take NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin just under six hours. The three are “on a fast track to the International Space Station,” NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Council doesn’t drop apostrophe
To grammarians’ delight, local officials in southwest England who had considered expunging apostrophes from street signs threw out the idea Thursday and vowed to follow the rules of proper English. Proponents of good grammar lambasted the Mid Devon District Council for even thinking of killing off such a useful punctuation mark and for lowering the standards of civic discourse. The original proposal suggested that eliminating the apostrophe would avoid “potential confusion.” Apparently deeming the proposal a fool’s game, the council’s Cabinet ordered staff to come up with a revised plan for road signage that would save the apostrophe from the chop.
KENYA
Vote commission cites Bush vs. Gore
A lawyer for Kenya’s election commission cited the U.S. Supreme Court case Bush vs. Gore on Thursday during arguments before a Kenya Supreme Court that must now rule on the outcome of this East African country’s presidential election. Ahmednasir Abdullahi told Kenya’s highest court Thursday it should adhere to judicial restraint and uphold the March 4 result from Kenya’s election commission showing that Uhuru Kenyatta won with 50.07 percent of the March 4 vote. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the runner-up with 43 percent, and civil society groups are asking the court to order a new election because it wasn’t free and fair.
ISRAEL
Gaza border crossings reopen
Israel on Thursday fully reopened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip that were closed after militant rocket fire during President Barack Obama’s visit to the region last week, the military said. The attack prompted Israel to close its only border crossing for commercial goods with the coastal territory, and to restrict its only civilian crossing to humanitarian cases only. It also limited the stretch of the sea where Gaza fishermen were allowed to fish. The Israeli military said it has now reopened the commercial crossing and is allowing Palestinians with entry permits to cross into Israel through the civilian crossing, but the fishing restrictions are still in place.
ITALY
Leader fails to form government
Italy remained in political gridlock Thursday after the center-left leader announced he had failed to form a government. Pier Luigi Bersani, who has been talking with parties since last Friday, expressed some bitterness when he told reporters at the president’s office in Rome that he found “unacceptable” attempts by some parties to set “preclusions and conditions.” The next move belongs to President Giorgio Napolitano, who will hold a day of consultations today to “personally ascertain the developments possible,” the president’s secretary general, Donato Marra, said.
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