Six In The Morning

Toyota plans global sales comeback

World's third biggest carmaker aims to sell 8.48m vehicles in 2012 after a difficult year in which it was hit by the Japanese tsunami and flooding in Thailand

• Associated Press
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 December 2011

Toyota is aiming for a comeback, targeting global sales of 8.48m vehicles in 2012 and an even bigger number in 2013, after being battered this year by the March disaster in Japan and flooding in Thailand.

Japan's top carmaker relinquished its title as the world's biggest in global vehicle sales for the first half of this year, sinking to No 3 behind US rival General Motors and Volkswagen of Germany.

Toyota's global vehicle sales for this year total 7.9m vehicles, including group companies, down 6% from the previous year, it said.

Britain's new year resolution: intervene in Somalia

Cameron claims failed East African state poses a direct threat to British interests

KIM SENGUPTA 

 

 

THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2011

David Cameron describes Somalia as "a failed state that directly threatens British interests" and will convene a summit in London in February to bring together the countries currently active in the Horn of Africa state. A number of key decisions are expected to be made there, ranging from humanitarian aid to military missions.

The Prime Minister's decision to tackle the Somalia quagmire is seen by some as being fuelled by the success of the Libyan venture.

North Korea's military to share power with Kim's heir

December 22, 2011 - 8:40AM

North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un, who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after World War Two.

Egypt's army rulers hike tone against protesters

Sapa-AP | 22 December, 2011 09:03

Wednesday's statements stepped up a campaign by the military that has seemed intended to demonize protesters in the eyes of the Egyptian public. The warnings could signal a heavier crackdown on activists who demand that the generals who took power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February step down to let civilians rule.

They come after more than four days of heavy clashes as soldiers tried to break up protests outside parliament and the Cabinet headquarters in a crackdown that killed 14 people and left hundreds injured. The fighting eased Tuesday, but the atmosphere in Egypt's already stormy transition has become even more bitter and confused

Syria opposition alleges massacre of more than 100

Foes of President Bashar Assad say security forces surrounded and killed Syrians in a hail of tank and machine-gun fire in Idlib province.

By Alexandra Zavis, Kati Paul and Rima Marrouch, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Beirut— 

 

In one of the single deadliest episodes reported during the 9-month-old uprising, Syrian security forces surrounded and killed more than 100 people in a hail of tank and machine-gun fire in a valley near the Turkish border, opposition activists said.

The attack Tuesday near the village of Kfar Owaid came as government forces pressed an offensive against a mountainous region in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, that has been gripped for weeks by protests and fierce clashes with military defectors.

Almost 70 reporters killed worldwide in 2011

Cities in Syria, Egypt and Libya ranked among world's most dangerous places for media, says Reporters Without Borders.

Last Modified: 22 Dec 2011

Sixty-six journalists were killed worldwide in 2011, many of them while covering Arab revolutions, gang crime in Mexico or political turmoil in Pakistan, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said.

Ten journalists were killed in Pakistan - most of them murdered - making it the most dangerous country for news coverage for the second year running.

With pro-democracy demonstrations prompting violent reprisals from Arab governments, the number of reporters killed
in the Middle East doubled to 20 this year. 

A similar number were killed in Latin America, where criminal violence was rife, the Paris-based RSF said in a
statement released on Thursday.