Six In The Morning

Obama authorizes Predator drone strikes in Libya

By Greg Jaffe and Edward Cody
President Obama has authorized the use of armed drones in Libya, deepening U.S. involvement in the stalemated conflict and once again putting U.S. assets into a strike role against loyalist ground forces.

The U.S. military began flying armed Predators on Thursday and will continue to maintain at least two of them over Libya at all times, officials said.
At a news conference, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was adamant that the use of the drones was not a prelude to an even deeper U.S. commitment involving more strike aircraft or U.S. ground troops. “I think the president has been firm, for example, on boots on the ground,” he said. “There is no wiggle room in that. . . . This is a very limited capability.”

Earth Day's 41st anniversary celebrated by Google
Earth Day, credited with launching modern environmental movement in US, appears as Google doodle again

If you open Google's homepage you will be greeted by an Eden-like scene of diverse wild animals in their natural habitats.

This Google doodle, built around the search giant's logo, is its latest celebration of Earth Day, started 41 years ago to raise awareness of and appreciation for the natural world.

The interactive scene features two pandas, one of which shocks the other with a sneeze when you place your mouse on it, a nod to this YouTube video.

Brain illness could have affected Stalin's actions, secret diaries reveal
Accounts by his inner circle give new insight into dictator's life
By Shaun Walker in Moscow Friday, 22 April 2011
It's one of the great questions of history, and indeed philosophy: what does it take to create a Hitler or a Stalin? What circumstances does it require to produce such evil? Newly released diaries from one of Joseph Stalin's personal doctors suggest that, in Stalin's case, illness could have helped to contribute to the paranoia and ruthlessness of his rule over the Soviet Union.

Alexander Myasnikov was one of the doctors called to Stalin's deathbed when the dictator fell ill in 1953, and, in diaries that have been kept secret up to now, he claims that Stalin suffered from a brain illness that could have impaired his decision-making.

Japan government announces disaster relief budget
The Japanese government has announced a 4 trillion yen ($48.9bn; £29.6bn) emergency budget for disaster relief, after March's earthquake and tsunami.

The budget still needs approval from parliament later this month, and could be implemented in May.

Authorities say no new bonds were issued to fund the spending, to prevent adding to Japan's huge public debt.

The government estimates it will cost as much as 25tn yen to rebuild the country.

The emergency budget is aimed at disaster relief, including providing temporary housing, restoration of infrastructure and disaster-related loans.

Fighting threatens Côte d'Ivoire's return to normality
Fresh fighting and splits in the coalition that brought Alassane Ouattara to power could derail Côte d'Ivoire's recovery.
ABIDJAN, CôTE D'IVOIRE - Apr 22 2011
Gunfire and explosions returned to Abidjan this week as Ouattara's army takes on two separate militias resisting his control in the country's commercial capital.

Reports of infighting in the port city of San Pedro, a polio outbreak and humanitarian emergency in the west indicate that the West African country's return to normality will be far from smooth.

The violence in Abidjan, the worst since defeated president Laurent Gbagbo was toppled last week, is concentrated in two pockets: the northern suburb of Abobo and the western district of Yopougon.

Israel and North Korea: Missing the real story

By Aidan Foster-Carter
I can only assume March 11 was a slow news day in Israel - though there was plenty going on in the neighborhood. Otherwise, why would that distinguished daily, the Jerusalem Post, deem it worthwhile to devote quite a long article, in its International Section, to the exciting, world-shattering news that Israel now boasts a North Korea friendship group?

The moving spirit is one Shmuel Yerushalmi: originally from Ukraine, now of Beersheba. Many former Soviet Jews who moved to Israel are conservative, but not Shmuel. An avowed Marxist-Leninist, he's quoted as saying that the true dictators of the modern world aren't the likes of Kim Jong-il of North Korea - he also cites Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko - but the leaders of the US and "Western empires". Whatever you say, comrade.