Nominee to head IRS gets Senate approval
WASHINGTON –A cross Congress ended its business for the year Friday as the Senate approved a new boss for the troubled Internal Revenue Service but remained slowed and bitterly riven over majority Democrats’ weakening of Republicans’ power to filibuster.
Before leaving town, senators voted 59-36 to approve President Barack Obama’s nomination of John Koskinen, a retired corporate and government turnaround expert, to become IRS commissioner.
New violence in Africa leaves several dead
BANGUI, Central African Republic – After days of relative calm, sectarian violence once more exploded Friday in the Central African Republic, claiming at least 30 lives.
Despite international efforts to contain the crisis, the cleavages in the impoverished country remain wide, threatening to tear it apart.
A mob of young men wearing crucifixes attacked a mosque Friday, pounding holes into its cinderblock walls and methodically stripping apart the corrugated iron roof and tossing the pieces on the ground.
“We don’t want mosques in our country,” shouted Clavert Bettare, a machete strapped to his back, over the din of the destruction. “We don’t need them (Muslims)” because he said they make up what he thinks is a small percentage of the population.
Associated Press
