Six In The Morning

Afghans fearful of push to negotiate with Taliban
Many Afghans fear that the Karzai government's U.S.-backed effort to reconcile with the Taliban may result in too many concessions to the militants, eroding freedoms and undercutting gains in women's and minority rights.
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan— It was a peaceful afternoon in a rose-fragrant Kabul park set aside for women. But when girls and women strolling its pathways were asked about the Afghan government's overtures to the Taliban movement, faces that had been alight with pleasure grew tight with apprehension.

"They don't change — if the Taliban had power, things would be just as they were before, when we could not work, or leave our houses, or even imagine a place like this, where we can walk freely," said Maryam Hashimi, a 49-year-old office worker who recalled witnessing Taliban beatings of women for infractions such as allowing a glimpse of their ankles to be visible under full-body veils.

Japan cabinet approves Fukushima nuclear compensation
Cabinet agrees estimated $100bn-plus payout package after reactor meltdown but political manoeuvring could delay payments
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 June 2011

Japan's government has approved a plan to help the owners of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant provide trillions of yen in compensation, but political manoeuvring could delay payments to tens of thousands of victims of the country's nuclear crisis.

The cabinet's approval of the scheme on Tuesday came after the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco], said a further six workers had exceeded the annual legal dose of radiation, underlining the risks they face as they struggle to stabilise overheating nuclear reactors by early next year.

'They shot people who were trying to get away'
A dispatch that reveals the brutal truth about regime's crackdown
Exclusive by Kim Sengupta and Justin Vela in Idlib, Syria Tuesday, 14 June 2011

The haunting memories of savage violence and loss are fresh in their minds. Now, with the vengeful forces of the regime closing in, the terrified and exhausted stream of the dispossessed fleeing Syria's strife await an uncertain fate. More than 10,000 people have headed for the Turkish border in an attempt to escape the onslaught unleashed by Bashar al-Assad. They were living in squalor with little food and water and no shelter. But they were prepared to suffer that to reach a place of relative safety away from the tanks, artillery and helicopter gunships, and the death they bring.
It is not known just how long this respite will last. The regime's forces are less than 15km away, and yesterday Damascus announced that the current offensive in Idlib province, which saw the storming of Jisr al-Shughour – a city which had become a symbol of militant opposition – will continue to roll on until the

Gaza unemployment levels 'among worst in world
Gaza's unemployment rate was among the world's highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel's blockade of the territory enters its fifth year.

The BBC 14 June 2011
Real wages meanwhile fell by more than a third, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said.

Its report says that private businesses have been hardest hit by the continuing ban on virtually all exports.

Israel tightened sanctions on Gaza in 2006 after militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

'Disturbing'
The blockade tightened again a year later when Hamas ousted rival Palestinian organisation Fatah from the territory.

A year on, and the Belgians are in no rush to form a government
EUROPEAN DIARY:
ARTHUR BEESLEY
The representatives of Wallonia and Flanders show no signs of compromising and some feel that only an external shock might force them to do so

IN THE metro stations of Brussels they pipe old pop hits for commuters. Songs in English, Spanish and Italian can be heard. They no longer play songs in French, the city’s main language, because Dutch-speakers took umbrage.

No battle is too trivial in Belgium’s language wars.

If the linguistic schism permeates everything in Belgian life, the divisions are only worsening.

Toms Shoes expands 'buy one, give one' to glasses
The innovative canvas shoe company will now sell eye wear – and donate glasses or eye care to those in need.
By Gregory M. Lamb, Staff Writer /
Five years ago, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie had a canvas-and-rubber-soled epiphany. He would sell fun, fashionable shoes at a moderate price to Americans. For each pair he sold, he'd donate a pair of shoes somewhere in the developing world.

Toms Shoes has been a hit, and Mr. Mycoskie has given away 1 million pairs since 2006.

Last week he announced he'd be expanding into eye wear – a pair of fun and fashionable sunglasses sold to paying customers would underwrite prescription glasses or medical eye care for those in need.