Fighting high-tech censorship

December 22, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

Art and entertainment are often controversial. But those who attempt to censor reveal their own lack of confidence.

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A tumultuous year all but behind him, President Barack Obama set off for his annual winter getaway in Hawaii hoping for one thing: Quiet. Air Force One touched down late in the evening at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, with the president, first lady Michelle Obama, their daughters and two dogs on board. Vacationing in Hawaii, where the president was born and spent much of his childhood, has been a tradition every year that Obama has been in the White House. Obama is scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 4.

Four Afghans held for over a decade at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent home, the Pentagon said on Saturday, the latest step in a gradual push by the Obama administration to close the jail. The men were flown to Kabul overnight aboard a US military plane and released to Afghan authorities, the first such transfer of its kind to the war-torn country since 2009. With the repatriation of the four Afghans, Guantanamo’s detainee population has been whittled down to 132.

US-led air forces attacked Islamic State targets on Sunday with 13 air strikes in Iraq and three in Syria, the US military said. The bombing in Iraq has helped Kurdish forces roll-back advances by the self-styled Islamic State, which led to a stunning victory for the Kurds yesterday. One of the Iraq strikes were near Sinjar in the north of the country, which destroyed Islamic State buildings, tactical units and vehicles.

President Barack Obama says the United States is reviewing whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism as Washington decides how to respond to what he calls an "act of cybervandalism," not one of war, against a movie company. Obama is promising to respond "proportionately" to an attack that law enforcement blames on North Korea. "We're not going to be intimidated by some cyberhackers," he said.

Tunisian polling firms have declared Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old official from previous regimes, as the winner of Sunday's presidential runoff, cementing his dominance over a country where his party already controls Parliament. Celebrations began immediately at Essebsi's party headquarters and he struck a conciliatory note, urging his opponent's supporters to work with him to rebuild the country. The election cements control by Essebsi's party over government; the party was formed from a broad secular coalition to oppose the moderate Islamist party that has controlled Tunisia since its revolution during the Arab Spring.

Everyone in Cuba is talking about the startling turn in relations with the United States, with one notable exception: Fidel Castro. So far, the larger-than-life retired Cuban leader has made no public comment on the biggest news in years — that the U.S. and his island nation will restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of hostility. His younger brother, Raul Castro -- the current president of Cuba -- has already addressed the nation once on the topic and it is speculated he may do so again shortly.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

“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.

To send a comment to the Editor, email editor@csmonitor.com.

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