Six In The Morning

Syria rejects Arab League peace plan, brands it a 'conspiracy'

Foreign ministers had called on President Bashar Assad to hand over to a deputy, set up a new unity government

msnbc.com news services
Syria rejected on Monday a request by Arab League foreign ministers that President Bashar Assad hand over power to a deputy and set up a new unity government, saying the plan was part of a "conspiracy against Syria." "Syria rejects the decisions of the Arab League ministerial council ... and considers them a violation of its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in its internal affairs," state news agency SANA quoted an official source as saying. Arab foreign ministers called on Assad on Sunday to hand over to a deputy and set up a new unity government, as a prelude to early parliamentary and presidential elections.

The real North Korea by Kim's forsaken son
When Kim Jong-il's presumed heir was shunned, his life changed forever. David McNeill sifts exclusive extracts from a new book that explains why he believes his half-brother's fledgling reign is doomed

Monday 23 January 2012
Every family has its black sheep but few families are as shrouded in myth as the reclusive Kim regime of North Korea. Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the recently deceased dictator Kim Jong-il, famously left the family fold and apparently spends much of his time in the Chinese gambling resort of Macau. Until this month, he was known mainly for a bizarre clandestine attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001. He used a fake passport and Chinese alias that translates as "fat bear" – a stunt that reportedly embarrassed his father and ended any chance he had of becoming leader.

Britain, US and France send warships through Strait of Hormuz
Britain, America and France delivered a pointed signal to Iran, sending six warships led by a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier through the highly sensitive waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

By David Blair, Chief Foreign Correspondent 6:00AM GMT 23 Jan 2012
This deployment defied explicit Iranian threats to close the waterway. It coincided with an escalation in the West's confrontation with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions. European Union foreign ministers are today expected to announce an embargo on Iranian oil exports, amounting to the most significant package of sanctions yet agreed. They are also likely to impose a partial freeze on assets held by the Iranian Central Bank in the EU.

Treblinka: Revealing the hidden graves of the Holocaust
Any doubts about the existence of mass graves at the Treblinka death camp in Poland are being laid to rest by the first survey of the site using tools that see below the ground, writes forensic archaeologist Caroline Sturdy Colls.

The BBC 23 January 2012
When the Nazis left Treblinka in 1943 they thought they had destroyed it. They had knocked down the buildings and levelled the earth. They had built a farmhouse and installed a Ukrainian "farmer". They had planted trees, and - contemporary reports suggest - lupins. But if they thought they had removed all evidence of their crime, they hadn't. For a forensic archaeologist, there is a vast amount to study.

Egypt's new parliament to hold first session
Islamist-dominated lower house will meet on Monday days after completing first election since fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Last Modified: 23 Jan 2012 08:04
Just days after finishing a historic election that put Islamists in the legislative driving seat, Egypt's lower house of parliament on Monday will sit for the first time since former president Hosni Mubarak was deposed nearly one year ago. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, which took roughly 43 per cent of the People's Assembly, has vowed to guide Egypt through the transition from military to civilian rule while upholding personal liberties. The Brotherhood has also promised not to ally with the ultra-conservative Nour Party, which largely represents Egypt's fundamentalist Salafi community and came in second, winning around 21 per cent of available seats. The rise of the Islamists marks a sea change from the Mubarak era, when parliament was a compliant body dominated by a supermajority of his National Democratic Party (NDP).

Salman Rushdie slams Rajasthan government
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot says threat was real

Sunny Sebastian
The eminent author Salman Rushdie has said he is “outraged and very angry” over information that Rajasthan authorities fabricated a threat to his life in order to keep him away from the Jaipur Literature Festival. “I have investigated [the issue],” he wrote on his Twitter feed in response to a story published by The Hindu on Sunday, “and believe I was indeed lied to.”