Six In The Morning

'Sun Biofuels have left us in a helpless situation. They have taken our land'

The collapse of British company Sun Biofuels has left thousands of Tanzanians landless, jobless and in despair for the future. Residents of villages in Kisarawe district thought their dreams had come true as they were promised payments, jobs, water wells and more, but after the company went bust, they were left with nothing. Damian Carrington investigates what went wrong With thanks to ActionAid for assistance in Tanzania

Damian Carrington, John Paul, Takura Maurayi and Richard Sprenger guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 9 November 2011



Is it time to give up on tigers and pandas?

Controversial plans to save one species at expense of another are gathering pace

STEVE CONNOR WEDNESDAY 09 NOVEMBER 2011

A majority of professional conservationists believe it is time to consider shifting efforts away from some of the world's most famous species, such as the panda, to concentrate on others which have a greater chance of success. A survey of nearly 600 scientists involved in wildlife protection found that more than half agree with the idea of species "triage", where conservation efforts are concentrated on certain animals and plants that can be saved at the expense of species that are too difficult or costly to preserve in the wild.

From brainwashed North Korean assassin to espouser of freedom in South Korea

A man hired by the North Korean government to kill the South Korean president is now a democracy-loving grandfather and church pastor in South Korea.

By Bryan Kay, Correspondent

In the dark days of the winter of 1968, he was part of a commando squad that breached a heavily mined strip of land to carry out a set of grisly orders, among them: Eliminate Park Chung-hee, then president of South Korea. Today, Kim Shin-jo, the sole survivor of that squad, looks like any other South Korean grandfather: fastidiously attired, cuddly, and armed only with a smile. His disarming appearance aside, Mr. Kim once cast quite a different figure when he admitted on national TV all those years ago that he had come “to cut the throat” of the president.

Syria marchers show support for besieged city of Homs

Antigovernment protesters rallied across Syria, the opposition says. Meanwhile, the U.N. reports that the death toll in Syria's conflict has reached 3,500 amid President Bashar Assad's crackdown.

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times November 9, 2011

Reporting from Beirut— Protesters across Syria marched Tuesday in solidarity with the besieged city of Homs, opposition activists said, as the United Nations reported that the death toll in almost eight months of conflict had reached at least 3,500. Behind the bloodshed is "the brutal government crackdown on dissent," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said from Geneva.

Nigeria's plastic bottle house

Nigeria's first house built from discarded plastic bottles is proving a tourist attraction in the village of Yelwa.

By Sam Olukoya BBC Africa, Yelwa 9 November 2011

Hundreds of people - including government officials and traditional leaders - have been coming to see how the walls are built in the round architectural shape popular in northern Nigeria. The bottles, packed with sand, are placed on their side, one on top of the other and bound together with mud. "I wanted to see this building for myself as I was surprised to hear it was built from plastic bottles," said Nuhu Dangote, a trader who travelled from the state capital, Kaduna, to see the house. "They were saying it in the market that it looks like magic, that you will be amazed when you see it, that is why I have come here to feed my eyes. "The whole world should come and look at it."

Bolivia says US drug agents not welcome

President Evo Morales says despite normalisation of diplomatic relations with US, drug agents will not be allowed back.

Last Modified: 09 Nov 2011

Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has said that US drug agents are not welcome back in his country despite the newly announced normalisation of diplomatic relations with Washington. Morales told reporters in Bogota on Tuesday during a regional summit in the Colombian capital that it was a question of "dignity and sovereignty". As a coca growers' union leader before his 2005 election, Morales said he was "personally a victim" because US agents controlled Bolivia's military and police. Bolivia's anti-narcotics police, working closely with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), often clashed with coca growers and Morales has said they once beat him unconscious. "They repressed us in Bolivia. That has ended," Morales said.