Six In The Morning

Afghanistan’s Soldiers Step Up Killings of Allied Forces



By MATTHEW ROSENBERG Published: January 20, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan — American and other coalition forces here are being killed in increasing numbers by the very Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train, in attacks motivated by deep-seated animosity between the supposedly allied forces, according to American and Afghan officers and a classified coalition report obtained by The New York Times. A decade into the war in Afghanistan, the report makes clear that these killings have become the most visible symptom of a far deeper ailment plaguing the war effort: the contempt each side holds for the other, never mind the Taliban.

Cuban dissident dies in jail after hunger strike
Death of Wilmar Villar Mendoza, jailed in November for crimes against the state, blamed on mistreatment by Cuban government

Reuters in Havana guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 January 2012
A 31-year-old jailed dissident, Wilmar Villar Mendoza, died on Thursday in eastern Cuba from the effects of a 56-day hunger strike and what fellow opposition activists believe was mistreatment by the Cuban government, according to a human rights activist. Villar launched his hunger strike shortly after he was arrested in November, put on trial and sentenced to four years in prison for crimes including disobedience, resistance and crimes against the state, said Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights.

Dreams turn to reality for surrealist film director
The Czech film director, Jan Svankmajer discusses a troubled childhood and the inspiration for his new film.

Emily Jupp Friday 20 January 2012
Dreams are "undoubtedly one of the most substantial sources of inspiration," says the Czech film director, producer and animator, Jan Svankmajer, discussing his new film, Surviving Life.The plot follows a man who meets and falls in love with a woman in his dreams. The dreams compel him to try to uncover their meaning and in his obsession with his dream world he begins to spend more time away from his real life. The story evolved from Svankmajer's own dream, "after waking up I concluded that it was like the beginning of a film, bearing a mystery, and so I wrote the rest of it.

Costa Concordia disaster: Crew urged 'return to cabins'
A video has emerged showing the crew of the Costa Concordia reassuring passengers nothing was wrong, after the cruise ship had begun taking in water.

The BBC 20 January 2012
In the amateur footage, a crew member says "everything is under control" and asks passengers to go to their cabins. It is thought the delay in deciding to abandon the ship may have cost lives. At least 11 people died. Rescue workers have suspended their search once again after the ship shifted in choppy waters on Friday. The boat's movements have twice before hampered the work of rescuers, with the search suspended almost all day on Wednesday. The ship may have only moved by a metre or as little as a few centimetres, but officials fear it could suddenly slip into much deeper water, says the BBC's Alan Johnston at the scene.

Women Take Power in Brazilian Government
Brazil's new president, Dilma Rousseff, has quickly stepped out of the shadow of her charismatic predecessor Lula. After one year in office, she is more popular than any former president was at this stage.

By Jens Glüsing in Brasília
The epicenter of Brazilian power can be found on the fourth floor of the Palacio do Planalto in Brasília, the nation's capital. Liveried waiters elegantly carry trays of coffee through the hallways of the presidential palace, high-ranking officials wait in anterooms and air-conditioning units hum in the offices. Planning Minister Miriam Belchior rushes past on her way to visit Chief of Staff Gleisi Hoffmann, with whom she will discuss a multi-billion-real investment program to combat poverty. On the way she is greeted by Ideli Salvatti, the woman who manages the government's relations with Congress. Two floors down, Press Secretary Helena Chagas is talking on the phone. In the front office, several women are reviewing the day's newspapers.

Nigeria's Christmas massacre 'mastermind' escapes
The man thought to have masterminded an attack on a Nigerian church that killed 37 people on Christmas Day has escaped from police custody, still wearing handcuffs, less than a day after his arrest.

MONICA MARK LAGOS, NIGERIA
Kabir Sokoto, an influential businessperson and alleged gunrunner, was a huge catch for authorities investigating the church bombing just outside the capital, Abuja. A radical Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack. Sokoto was detained after unexpectedly turning up at the Abuja home of the governor of Borno, a state in the north plagued by Boko Haram attacks. The following day, Sokoto fled while being escorted by five armed police officers to search his nearby flat.