Six In The Morning

African mercenaries in Libya nervously await their fate


Mercenaries captured in Libya are facing an uncertain future, writes Nick Meo in Al-Bayda.

By Nick Meo, Al-Bayda, Libya 7:30AM GMT 27 Feb 2011
Crowded into an empty classroom which was stinking of unwashed bodies and reeking of fear, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's defeated mercenary killers awaited their fate.
A week earlier the men – Libyan loyalists of the dictator and black African recruits – had been landed at airports throughout eastern Libya and sent out into the streets to shoot protesters in a murderous rampage. They killed dozens before they were overwhelmed by anti-Gaddafi militias.
The survivors were exhausted, filthy, far from home, and fearful of execution, even though they had been assured of good treatment. Fifty of them lay on mattresses on the floor in one classroom alone, with nearly 100 more in the same school building which was being used as a temporary prison. Most looked dazed. Some were virtually children

Devastated Christchurch will be uninhabitable for months

With a possible toll of up to 350 dead, last week's earthquake may be New Zealand's worst disaster
By Steve McMorran in Christchurch Sunday, 27 February 2011
The earthquake in Christchurch may go down as New Zealand's worst disaster, according to the Prime Minister, John Key, as the death toll reached 145 with more than 200 people missing. And the prognosis for the city centre will do nothing to lift spirits. Engineers and planners said the devastated centre may be completely unusable for months and that at least a third of the buildings must be razed and rebuilt after last Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude quake.
On the outer edge of the central district, Brent Smith watched in tears as workers demolished the 1850s-era building where he lived and ran a bed and breakfast. His three daughters hugged him, also weeping. "You don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I've been doing more of the latter," Mr Smith said.

China spooked as people power flexes its muscle


February 27, 2011
AS THE protests escalated in Libya, tens of thousands of demonstrators massed in pivotal cities across Yemen, holding their largest demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh since the wave of anti-authoritarian unrest began sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East.
In Taiz, a mountainous city in central Yemen, as many as 100,000 demonstrators held Friday prayers in unison and a local cleric told the crowd: ''This is not a revolution against a person, a family or a tribe. This is a revolution against oppression and corruption.''
The death toll from Iraq's ''Day of Rage'' had hit 14 after protesters clashed with police in Baghdad.

Missing $300m highlights Zim's corrupt regime

Zimbabwe is fast becoming a "kleptocracy" judging by the recent disappearance of $174.2-million within government in public funds realised from diamond revenues.

Feb 27, 2011 12:08 AM | By Zoli Mangena
Cabinet on Tuesday discussed this issue following a series of contradictory statements between Treasury and other government departments.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti says he has received a schedule from President Robert Mugabe's office showing he had been given $174.2-million from the state-owned mining company Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), although he has not actually received the money. ZMDC chairman Godwills Masimirembwa has responded saying Biti has the funds. Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu has not been able to explain the issue.

Anxiety on all sides of upcoming House hearing on radicalization of U.S. Muslims



By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer

In some ways, Zuhdi Jasser doesn't match the profile of the typical Muslim American. He's an active Republican who has supported U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, advocates for Israel and says his faith harbors "an insidious supremacism."
Yet the prominent Scottsdale, Ariz., doctor is the face of American Islam for a Capitol Hill moment. Other than members of Congress, Jasser is the only witness New York Rep. Peter T. King has identified so far forhis upcoming hearings on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims.

Mormon polygamists shared the flaws of the fruit fly


Biologist Michael Wade of Indiana University has found that a harem lifestyle was bad for a female rate of reproduction
• Robin McKie, science editor
• The Observer, Sunday 27 February 2011

In Utah, women used to marry young. In particular they married Brigham Young, leader of the Mormon Church. The religious leader had 55 wives by whom he had 56 children before he died, aged 76, in 1877. His followers had similar polygamous marriages.
But scientists have now uncovered an odd fact about 19th-century Mormons: the more women in a household, the lower the average birthrate. In other words, the more sister-wives a Mormon woman had, the fewer children she was likely to produce.