Six In The Morning

Russian newspaper founder shot dead in North Caucasus

Gadzhimurat Kamalov is shot eight times outside offices of Chernovik, a newspaper known for investigating corruption

• Reuters
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 December 2011 08.09 GMT

The founder of a newspaper that investigated government corruption has been shot dead outside the newspaper's office in Russia's North Caucasus region, police say.

A gunman shot Gadzhimurat Kamalov as he was leaving the offices of the newspaper Chernovik in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan province, shortly before midnight on Thursday, the regional interior ministry said.

Police said Kamalov was shot eight times and pronounced dead on the way to hospital.

Will Iraq's 1.3 million refugees ever be able to go home?

As US forces formally exit battle-scarred nation, attention turns to victims of war

KIM SENGUPTA 

 

 

FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2011

Eight years and three months after "liberating Iraq", a time of unrelenting savage strife in which tens of thousands died and a society was torn apart, America has formally ended its war in Iraq.

After the colours of the US forces were lowered and the "Last Post" was played, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told troops: "You will leave with great pride, lasting pride, secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to cast tyranny aside and to offer hope for prosperity and peace to this country's future generations."

Egypt protesters clash with military police

Reuters | 16 December, 2011 11:04

Police fired in the air shortly after dawn to try to disperse around 300 demonstrators, who were angered by images posted online that appeared to show the activist badly beaten after his arrest, the witnesses said.

"The rumour is they beat him up badly and he is in hospital," said a doctor at a field hospital set up to treat injured demonstrators. "This led people to go down to protest."

There was no immediate reaction from security officials.

However, the security source said several people were injured in the clashes.

Memogate was conspiracy against army and national security: Pak Army chief Kayani

PTI | Dec 16, 2011, 01.30PM IST

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has for the first time acknowledged the existence of the memogatedocument describing it as conspiracy against his force as well as national security, and demanded a thorough probe.

The powerful general made these comments in a reply filed with the Supreme Court which is hearing petitions related to the matter, media reports here said.

ISI Chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha in a separate reply said he was satisfied with evidence given by memogate whistleblower Mansoor Ijaz.

Writer Christopher Hitchens dead at 62

Outspoken author and journalist, the scourge of public figures from Kissinger to Clinton, loses fight against cancer. Last Modified: 16 Dec 2011 07:20

Christopher Hitchens, the controversial British author and journalist and the scourge of public figures from Henry Kissinger to Mother Teresa, has died at the age of 62.

Hitchens, who had long been based in the US, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010 and died as a result of pneumonia, a complication caused by the disease, in a Texas hospital late on Thursday.

His death was announced by Vanity Fair, the magazine where Hitchens was a contributing editor and for whom he had written for almost two decades

"There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar," said Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

"Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

Pfc. Bradley Manning to appear in court in WikiLeaks case

The Army analyst is accused of releasing classified U.S. military reports and diplomatic cables the critics say did harm to U.S. troops and allies.

By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington— 

When U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning walks into a military court Friday in Maryland, his many supporters and detractors will get their first glimpse of the soft-spoken Oklahoma native since his arrest in Iraq 19 months ago.

Manning is the only person charged with unauthorized release of more than half a million classified U.S. military reports and diplomatic cables from around the globe, as well as a 2007 video of a deadly U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad, to theWikiLeaks website.

Supporters see Manning as a whistle-blower who helped expose U.S. military misdeeds and energize protests against corrupt regimes. Critics condemn him as a villain who did immeasurable harm to U.S. troops and allies while America was at war.