Six In The Morning

Goldman Sachs ties enrich Romney

No other company but Bain so closely intertwined with candidate's public, private lives

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, PETER LATTMAN and KEVIN ROOSE
When Bain Capital sought to raise money in 1989 for a fast-growing office-supply company named Staples, Mitt Romney, Bain’s founder, called upon a trusted business partner: Goldman Sachs, whose bankers led the company’s initial public offering. When Mr. Romney became governor of Massachusetts, his blind trust gave Goldman much of his wealth to manage, a fortune now estimated to be as much as $250 million. And as Mr. Romney mounts his second bid for the presidency, Goldman is coming through again: Its employees have contributed at least $367,000 to his campaign, making the firm Mr. Romney’s largest single source of campaign money through the end of September.

Israel warns time is running out before it launches strike on Iran
Growing body of opinion suggests that Iranian response to an attack would be muted

Saturday 28 January 2012
Economic sanctions by the European Union and the United States can only be allowed a limited time period to prevent Iran from attempting to acquire a nuclear arsenal before a military strike must be contemplated, Israeli leaders have declared. The tough public stance from Tel Aviv comes amid conflicting reports on the readiness of the Israeli military establishment to carry out an attack on Iran.

Syria: claims of 'racial cleansing' as 14 family members are killed
Even by the numbing standards of Syria's uprising, the most brutal of the Arab Spring, the images are harrowing.

By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent
Their faces battered and bloodied, the four children are laid out on a bed. The camera hovers first over the corpse of a male toddler in a turquoise sleep suit and blue and pink socks. He is not yet of walking age; his legs are still bowed. A bib around his neck is splattered in blood and he is lying on the upstretched hand of his older sister, whose face is stained crimson. Beneath them on the sheet are the bodies of two more young children, a boy and a girl, both bearing horrific injuries.

Libya prisoners make new torture allegations
New evidence has emerged that supporters of the former Libyan leader, Col Gaddafi, have been tortured while in detention.

The BBC 28 January 2012
The BBC has been told by inmates at a jail in Misrata that they were beaten, whipped and given electric shocks. The head of the city's military council has dismissed the allegations. United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has called on Libya's transitional government to take full control of all prisons. The allegations come exactly 100 days after Col Gaddafi's violent death at the hands of former rebels.

Army up his sleeve: Mugabe’s military strongmen likely to stay


RAY NDLOVU HARARE, ZIMBABWE
The two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube have now threatened to fight Mugabe "legally and politically" in a bid to block the reappointments, which observers believe will strengthen Mugabe's position ahead of elections expected this year. The terms of office of Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri expire at the end of this month. Coming to an end in February are the terms of office for the prisons services commissioner, retired Major General Paradzai Zimondi, air force commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri and Zimbabwe National Army commander Lieutenant General Philip Sibanda.

How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash
With many of Haiti's physical banks destroyed, Haitians are beginning to rely on their cell phones as 'mobile wallets.'

By Margo Conner, Global Envision /
In Haiti, cash is escaping from wallets and savings accounts are breaking free from brick-and-mortar banks. Two years after 2010’s devastating earthquake, mobile money has taken off in the island nation. While the country has seen setbacks in many areas and continues to struggle, one bright spot is the transformation of the country’s traditional banking sector. Physical banks were wiped away by the quake and subsequent hurricane, and a mobile banking network that uses cell phones has grown up in their place.