Satire, humor, and freedom

June 04, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

While satire isn’t always pleasant, it is a form of free expression.

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Egypt’s president-elect, the former Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, told Egyptians it is now “time to work” to rebuild the country after he was officially declared the landslide winner of last week’s election. Thousands celebrated in public squares around the country with cheers, fireworks, and pro-military songs after the Election Commission officially announced Sisi’s victory with nearly 97 percent of the vote in an election that it said saw a turnout of 47.45 percent. Sisi is to be sworn in Sunday to replace Egypt’s first democratically elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, whom the then-Army chief ousted last summer.

President Obama pledged Tuesday to boost US military deployments and exercises throughout Europe, an effort costing as much as $1 billion to demonstrate American solidarity with a continent rattled by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. But even as Obama warned that Moscow could face further punishments, leaders of Britain, France, and Germany were lining up to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at week’s end. Those one-on-one meetings would appear to send a mixed message about the West’s approach to relations with Russia, given that the same leaders are also boycotting a summit Putin had been scheduled to host this week.

Brisk demand for SUVs and pickup trucks – and five sunny weekends – likely pushed US auto sales to a seven-year high in May. Chrysler, Nissan, and Toyota all reported double-digit sales gains over last May. Even General Motors, battling bad publicity from a mishandled recall, surprised with a 13 percent sales increase. Ford’s sales rose a better-than-expected 3 percent, while Hyundai’s were up 4 percent. Of major automakers, only Volkswagen’s sales fell.

President Obama’s new climate change program may be derided by some activists as too modest, but it could still turn into a significant leap if it results in a worldwide agreement that includes China. The initiative may be a crucial move in pressuring Beijing to accept binding goals to cut greenhouse gases, while also allowing the US to start catching up with the European Union in the fight against climate change.

Right up until the moment Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was freed, US officials weren’t sure the Taliban would really release the only American soldier held captive in Afghanistan in exchange for high-level militants detained at Guantánamo Bay. It was touch and go. But then came the call at 5:12 p.m. Saturday on a secure phone line at the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar. US negotiators learned that Bergdahl, a 28-year-old from Hailey, Idaho, held by the Taliban for nearly five years, was aboard a Delta Force helicopter bound for a US base north of Kabul.

Movie and music piracy thrives online in part because crafty website operators receive advertising dollars from major companies such as Comcast, Ford, and McDonald’s. That’s the conclusion of several recent reports that shed light on Internet piracy’s funding sources. Content thieves attract visitors with the promise of free downloads and streams of the latest hit movies, TV shows, and songs. Then they profit by pulling in advertising from around the Internet, often concealing their illicit activities so advertising brands remain unaware.

Two weeks ago, Attorney General Eric Holder vowed to bring to a US courtroom five members of the Chinese military who the US accused of hacking computers for economic espionage purposes. The FBI even published “Wanted” posters with pictures of all five. But nothing has publicly happened since then. The men have yet to be placed on a public, international list of wanted criminals. And there is no evidence that China would even entertain a formal request by the US to extradite them.

Waving photos of President Bashar al-Assad and dancing with flags, tens of thousands of Syrians pledged renewed allegiance to Assad as they voted Tuesday in a presidential election that excluded a vast swath of the prewar population and was decried by the opposition as a charade. Some stamped their ballots with blood after pricking their fingers with pins supplied by the government in a symbolic act of allegiance and patriotism. Others chose to vote in full sight of other voters and television cameras – rather than go behind a partition curtain for privacy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he is “deeply troubled” by the US’s decision to maintain relations with the new Palestinian unity government, urging Washington to tell Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that his alliance with the Hamas militant group is unacceptable.

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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