1. Obama quietly approves expanded U.S. role in Afghanistan
Over the past few weeks, President Barack Obama reportedly gave the go-ahead on new guidelines for U.S. missions in Afghanistan. The new orders will not affect the number of U.S. troops stationed in the country — total American forces in Afghanistan are expected to be lowered to 9,800 by the end of 2014 — but they will impact the scope of the remaining troops' missions. Previous plans had limited troops to counterterrorism missions against al-Qaida, but the new guidelines will allow U.S. forces to provide air support to Afghan operations and target Taliban members who "directly threaten the United States."
The Associated Press
2. GOP-led panel finds no intelligence failure in Benghazi attacks
A Republican-led House Intelligence Committee concluded that both the CIA and U.S. military carried out appropriate responses to the 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic quarters in Benghazi, Libya. While the committee did find that initial assessments on the motives behind the attack, along with the identity of the militants, resulted in "flawed" talking points by then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, the overall findings agreed with the Obama administration's description of events.
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The Washington Post
3. Thailand's justice minister: Martial law to continue 'indefinitely'
Saying that martial law is "necessary" for the government and junta, Thai Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said on Friday that Thailand will not lift it for the foreseeable future. The army imposed marital law nationwide following a military coup in May. All political protests are banned under the law, although some demonstrators have tested that. "We are not saying that martial law will stay in place for 50 years, no this is not it, we just ask that it remain in place for now, indefinitely," Paiboon said.
Reuters
4. Rookie police officer fatally shoots unarmed Brooklyn man
A New York City police officer who had been on the force for less than 18 months fatally shot an unarmed Brooklyn man on Thursday night. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton called the shooting an accident during a press conference on Friday. Officer Peter Liang reportedly drew his flashlight and gun while patrolling the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York with his partner. The two were walking down an unlit stairwell when Akai Gurley, 28, and his girlfriend, Melissa Butler, 27, entered the stairwell a floor below. Bratton says Liang's weapon accidentally discharged at that time, and a single bullet struck Gurley in the chest.
The New York Times
5. Republicans officially file a lawsuit over ObamaCare
House Republicans filed a lawsuit against the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Treasury Departments on Friday. The suit accuses the Obama administration of "unlawfully postponing a requirement that larger employers offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay penalties." The White House originally deferred the requirement until 2015, and then delayed it until 2016 for employers with 50 to 99 employees.
The New York Times
6. U.S. stock markets see fifth-straight week of gains
The U.S. stock market closed out its fifth week of positive performance — its best stretch since 2011 — on Friday. The People's Bank of China announced an interest rate cut on Friday that nudged international markets higher, while the European Central Bank's president, Mario Draghi, made comments about the bank's plans to double down on boosting the eurozone economy. "It's short-term good news, but the really good news is going to take longer to play out," Tom Kolefas, of TIAA-CREF, said. "What we really need is real economic growth (outside the U.S.)."
Fortune The Wall Street Journal
7. Global study qualifies violence against women as 'epidemic'
A five-part series of studies presented in medical journal The Lancet reports that violence against women is a "global public health and clinical problem of epidemic proportions." Entitled "Violence Against Women and Girls," the series reports that 100-140 million women have undergone female genital mutilation, 7 percent of women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, and 70 million girls are married before turning 18 years old. The study's authors said one problem is that much of the research and education on violence against women takes place almost exclusively in high-income countries.
Time
8. Hackers attack websites supporting Hong Kong Occupy Central protests
Apple Daily and PopVote, two independent news sites which have been covering and supporting Hong Kong's Occupy Central protests, are being "bombarded by attacks of unprecedented size." The cyberattacks are "larger than any attack we've ever seen," Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudfare, a company that protects websites from distributed denial of service attacks, said. The identify of the hackers remains unclear, although it's likely the individual or group is against Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.
Forbes The International Business Times
9. Aereo files for bankruptcy following Supreme Court ruling
Streaming serviced Aereo announced in a statement on Friday that it is filing for bankruptcy. The Supreme Court ruled in the summer with Fox and CBS networks, which said that by allowing subscribers to view TV stations via the internet, Aereo was violating their copyright. "The U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively changed the laws that had governed Aereo's technology, creating regulatory and legal uncertainty," Chet Kanojia, the company's CEO, said. "Without that clarity, the challenges have proven too difficult to overcome."
NPR
10. New study finds most heavy drinkers are not alcoholics
A survey of 138,100 adults in the United States found that nine out of 10 people who drink too much are not alcoholics, and they could imbibe less with some encouragement. For men, five or more drinks on one occasion, or 15 drinks or more in a week qualifies as excessive drinking; for women, four per sitting, or eight drinks or more in a week qualifies. While about 29 percent of the population does drink excessively, 90 percent of those individuals do not fit the definition of an alcoholic. "We need to think about other strategies to address these people who are drinking too much," Dr. Robert Brewer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The New York Times
