Six In The Morning

Rebels lay siege to Gaddafi stronghold

Desperate dictator tells faithful: 'We can crush any enemy'
By Donald Macintyre, Terri Judd and Catrina Stewart in Benghazi Saturday, 26 February 2011
The beleaguered Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi defiantly appealed to his hardcore supporters to "defend the nation" against an uprising which was last night closing in on Tripoli after thousands of protesters braved gunfire to try to march through the capital.
Standing on the ramparts of a fort overlooking the city's Green Square, Colonel Gaddafi pumped his fist and told 1,000 pro-regime demonstrators: "We can crush any enemy. We can crush it with the people's will. The people are armed and when necessary, we will open arsenals to arm all the Libyan people and all Libyan tribes."

Eco v Berlusconi: Some Recent Literary Controversies

Italian author Umberto Eco isn't the first novelist to have waded into political controversy: bitter battles have been waged from antiquity on issues like faith, gender and politics.

7:15AM GMT 26 Feb 2011
The controversies are interesting not just for themselves, but because they give us a flavour of the big issues of the times.
§ Ian McEwan, author of Solar and For You: A Liberetto, angered some critics by accepting the Jerusalem Prize at the International Book Fair in Israel – the same festival where Mr Eco made his remarks. His critics argue that Mr McEwan's decision legitimises the actions of the Israel government in the occupied territories. He donated the prize money to Combatants for Peace, a joint Israeli-Palestinian peace organisation.
§ Günter Grass, author of The Tin Drum, admitted in 2006 that he had served with the Waffen-SS during the Second World War – leading some Jewish organisations to call on him to return his literature Nobel Prize. Mr Grass said admitted served in the organisation in 1944, when he was 17, before being injured and captured by US troops in 1945.

Chinese rights defender back in jail after two days

The Irish Times - Saturday, February 26, 2011
CLIFFORD COONAN in China
CHINESE HUMAN rights defender Mao Hengfeng was released from “re-education through labour” camp on medical parole on February 22nd, but just two days later she was back in the camp accused of violating the terms of her parole.
According to Ms Mao’s husband, Wu Xuwei, Shanghai Yangpu district police came to their home at about 4pm on February 24th and said they wanted to talk to Ms Mao. They were soon joined by officials from the Anhui province re-education through labour camp where she served her time. Over 30 police surrounded their house.

Fearful Uighurs live under eye of security cameras


Tom Lasseter
February 26, 2011
URUMQI, China: Looking slowly around his own bedroom, the nervous Uighur man with hunched shoulders said he was not sure whether he could speak openly about the Chinese government.
''Someone may be listening on the other side of any wall here,'' said Anwar, a 50-year-old shopkeeper. ''We must think of our own safety.''
It was no idle concern. Chinese officials added about 17,000 surveillance cameras last year to the tens of thousands already installed in Urumqi, apparently centred on neighborhoods frequented by Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority

Wisconsin Gov. Walker threatens to trigger layoffs for thousands of public workers


By Michael Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 26, 2011; 12:00 AM

MADISON, WIS. - The jobs of thousands of state and local workers slipped into deeper jeopardy Friday, as Gov. Scott Walker threatened to trigger as many as 12,000 layoffs beginning next week unless lawmakers enact his plan to strip public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights.
Though unions have offered concessions they say would close the state's budget gap, Walker remained determined to achieve a resolution that he said would give state and local governments leverage to limit employee costs well into the future.

Brazilian judge blocks plans for construction of Belo Monte dam


Project to build world's third-largest hydroelectric plant is suspended after failing to meet environmental requirements
• Amy Fallon
• The Guardian, Saturday 26 February 2011

Plans for the construction of the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Amazon rainforest have been suspended by a Brazilian judge over environmental concerns.
The proposal to build Belo Monte, which would be the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam, has sparked protests in Brazil and abroad because of its impact on the environment and native Indian tribes in the area.
A federal court in Para state, under judge Ronaldo Desterro, has halted plans for the construction because environmental requirements for the project had not been met.