Daily News Summary
Saturday December 13, 2014
Last updated around 8pm, CST (GMT-6)
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To avoid government shutdown, Senate extends federal spending until next Wednesday at midnight. House slashes IRS budget by $350 million - final vote up to the Senate, this evening. Under pressure from financial industry lobbyists, law banning derivatives trading (risky) by FDIC-insured banks is overturned. As recovery from floods goes on in California, tornado sweeps through LA, a first since 1983. Gang member arrested in connection with yesterday's school shooting in Portland, OR. Nationwide protests planned this weekend against black men's deaths at the hand of the police; thousands already marching in DC; 23 arrested in Boston. Exceptional weekend session in the Senate to vote on the $1.1 trillion spending bill. After all, US Attorney General will not compel NYT reporter James Risen to reveal confidential sources for his book.
Change of CEO at Christie's, with potential restructuring at the 248-year-old auction house. Following falling crude prices, number of active US oil rigs falls by highest weekly amount in two years. China used more cement over the past three years than the US did in the entire 20th century (BI). With the ruble losing nearly half its value against the dollar since January, Russia's on the verge of a recession, despite raising interest rates and using foreign reserves to buy its own currency.
Microsoft confirms problems with patch KB 3004394 on Windows 7, and recommends manually uninstalling it (Forbes). This year's most shared YouTube video was the spider dog (100m+ views). Apple's new A9 chip, for the iPhone 7, will be made in the US, in Samsung's factory in Austin, TX. Following massive Sony hack, the company, unable to process payments, suspends filming. iOS developers' growing frustration with Apple, which inexplicably pulls apps from its mobile app store. WSJ guide to the best tablets for kids. Iowa first state in the US to put drivers' license on an officially approved mobile app.
Kurdish forces kill 16 ISIS fighters in Syria, near Turkish border. Leftist radical protesters in Zurich, Switerland, destroy private property and set fires across town. Americans and Belgians commemorate the 1944 Battle of the Bulge, during which 100,000 US soldiers died (TG). Hong Kong police: last pro-democracy encampments will have been cleared by Monday. In Poland, thousands march in support of an opposition conservative party candidate, alleging election fraud. India arrests man over his pro-ISIS Twitter feed (over 17,000 followers). In China, first official state commemoration of the Nanjing (Nanking) Massacre, during which Japanese troops killed thousands of Chinese civilians in 1937. 18 dead and over 90 missing after landslide on Java, Indonesia's main island. Gun and suicide attacks kill 19 in Afghanistan as NATO's combat missions are about to end. Despite 38 flights still canceled today, London's Heathrow airport, the busiest in Europe, has recovered from yesterday's air traffic computer glitch.