Democracies need each other

April 07, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

With their young, fragile democratic traditions, Afghans and Pakistanis are now linked.

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Afghans and the international community hailed its presidential election as a triumph of democracy over violence Sunday, despite complaints about ballot shortages and sporadic fraud after millions of people braved a Taliban threat to vote Saturday for a new president. But some cautioned against declaring a premature defeat of the Islamic militants. A roadside bomb hit a pickup truck transporting ballot boxes Sunday in the northern province of Kunduz, killing three people, officials said. But the major attacks that had been feared did not materialize.

Crowds of pro-Russian demonstrators stormed government buildings Sunday in several major cities in eastern Ukraine, where secessionist sentiment has sparked frequent protests since Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president was ousted in February. In Donetsk, 50 miles west of the Russian border, a large group of people, including many in masks carrying sticks and stones, surged into the provincial government building and smashed windows.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a twopronged warning to Asia Pacific nations Sunday, announcing that the US will send two additional ballistic missile destroyers to Japan to counter the North Korean threat, and saying China must better respect its neighbors. Hagel drew a direct line between Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region and the ongoing disputes among China, Japan, and others over islands in the East China Sea.

About 100 people were arrested and at least 44 people were taken to the hospital during a weekend college party in southern California that devolved into an out-of-control street brawl, authorities said. The violence broke out in the beachside community of Isla Vista Saturday night during the annual spring break party known as Deltopia, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.

Immigration advocates and supporters rallied Saturday in cities across the United States in a renewed effort to push President Obama to put a freeze on deportations. Organizers of the more than 50 planned “Day of Action” demonstrations said Obama has the executive power to stop deportations that separate immigrants living in the country illegally from their loved ones.

Counting down his final weeks in office, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli on Saturday inaugurated the most-emblematic project of a five-year term marked by fast economic growth – Central America’s first subway system. The metro will alleviate Panama City’s dreadful traffic. But critics say the $2 billion spent on the nine-mile rail line would have been better used building a surface transport network and expanded bus system.

At a news conference in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, NCAA President Mark Emmert called an effort to unionize players a “grossly inappropriate” way to solve problems in college sports while insisting schools have been working to get athletes more involved in decisions that impact them.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Compiled from wire service reports

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

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