Six In The Morning

Libyan rebels: 'Why won't the world help us?'
Protest movement pleads for intervention as Gaddafi's forces step up counter-attack
By Kim Sengupta in Ras Lanuf Thursday, 10 March 2011
As Colonel Gaddafi's forces carried out bloody assaults on rebel-held towns yesterday, those on the receiving end of the wrath were increasingly asking a stark question: Why is the West failing to offer help in our desperate time of need?

Two frontline towns held by dissidents came under sustained attack and an oil facility was set ablaze yesterday during ferocious fighting that left dozens dead as Gaddafi forces rolled back military gains of the opposition.

The feeling was growing in opposition ranks that the disorganised and disunited political and military leadership of the protest movement would not withstand for much longer the sustained pressure being applied by Colonel Gaddafi's forces.

Saudi expectations high before Friday's 'day of rage' protests
Shia minority have defied ban on demonstrations for two days and are optimistic that change can be effected
Ian Black, Middle East editor
The Guardian, Thursday 10 March 2011
Al-Qatif in Saudi Arabia's eastern province has a harsh climate: summer temperatures often reach the mid-40s, though the winter is pleasantly mild. But it is not the weather that is exercising locals and the government in these days of political turbulence across the Middle East.

Residents say all seems calm, and see no sign that security has been reinforced. But there is a mood of expectation about Friday's Saudi "day of rage" and whether the "Arab spring" will spread to the conservative kingdom.

The city lies in the heartland of the country's oil-producing area, home to a restive Shia minority that has long complained of poverty and discrimination.

Ex-prisoners claim practice of extreme torture was shaped by British
The Irish Times - Thursday, March 10, 2011
BAHRAIN : Former detainees want Britain held to account for barbaric acts, writes FINIAN CUNNINGHAM in Manama
BLINDFOLDING, electrocution, physical and sexual assault are just a few of the maltreatments to which recently released political prisoners have claimed they were subjected to during their detention by the Bahraini state.

Up to 25 prisoners were set free last week by the state. It was a concession to appease the growing popular uprising that is demanding the overthrow of the unelected government headed by King Hamad al-Khalifa and his uncle and prime minister Prince Khalifa al-Khalifa. The latter has been in office for 40 years, since the country gained nominal independence from Britain in 1971.

Amnesty International said it is due to publish a report into what it calls “the increasing trend towards egregious abuses by the state security forces” towards those held in custody.

LDP plans censure motion against Kan after April 10

2011/03/10

The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party plans to hammer Prime Minister Naoto Kan with a censure motion possibly on April 11, but the party's long-time ally has expressed reservations about the timing.

Under the LDP's apparent game plan, the party will watch the unpopular ruling Democratic Party of Japan take a drubbing in the first round of local elections April 10, and submit the censure motion against Kan the following day to the opposition-controlled Upper House. It will boycott Diet deliberations if the motion is passed.

If all goes according to the LDP's plan, the Lower House could be dissolved in April for a snap election.

The first round of unified local elections will choose prefectural governors and assembly members, among other local leaders.

Côte d'Ivoire's Ouattara heads to mediation summit

ABIDJAN, CôTE D'IVOIRE - Mar 10 2011

Thursday's talks at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa come amid an increase in clashes linked to the leadership dispute, with scores killed, thousands made refugees and the risk of civil war and regional instability.

"We expect the confirmation of the recognition of the election of president Ouattara and a firm engagement to force the departure of Laurent Gbagbo, who persists in defying the whole world," his spokesperson Anne Ouloto said.

"The African Union is playing with its credibility," she said, confirming Ouattara had departed.

Mexico lawmakers livid over US 'Operation Fast and Furious'

By Nacha Cattan, Correspondent / March 9, 2011

Mexico has long complained that drug gangs are terrorizing cities with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States. But Mexican lawmakers are now up in arms over the recent revelation that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) purposefully allows some of these weapons to be smuggled south of the border so it can track them as part of "Operation Fast and Furious."

“[The operation] is a grave violation of international rights,” Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín, president of Mexico's lower house of Congress, said Tuesday. “What will happen if next time they’ll need to funnel in trained assassins, for example, or nuclear arms?”