Six In The Morning

Wukan goes to the polls

Chinese village on course to elect new leadership after people-power rebellion ousts land-grabbing officials

• Reuters
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 February 2012 04.40 GMT

Wukan residents have cast ballots that mark the start of grassroots rights being restored after violent confrontations during which the authorities were run out of town over land grabs.

The rebellion in 2011 against abuse of power and the illegal sale of hundreds of hectares of farmland in the coastal village has become a benchmark of rural defiance against the land grabs and corruption that blight villages nationwide.

About 4,000 eligible people in the southern Chinese village voted on Wednesday to select an independent election committee that will oversee forthcoming ballots, including one for the village committee on 1 March.

Israel sets up elite command unit to strike behind 'enemy' lines

Covert operations on rise amid concern that sanctions may not halt Iran nuclear programme

KIM SENGUPTA 

 

TEL AVIV

 

WEDNESDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2012

Israel has set up a specialist commando unit designed to carry out missions deep inside enemy territory amid growing consensus in government circles that military strikes must be contemplated if economic sanctions do not halt Iran's nuclear programme.

The "Depth Corps" has been organised with the aim of co-ordinating deep penetration operations in other countries at a time when the defence ministry acknowledges that the number of covert Israeli operations abroad has increased significantly in the last year.

Oligarch's Election Bid

Tycoon Prokhorov's Tentative Challenge to Putin

By Matthias Schepp

Some see Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov, one of the world's richest men, as a Kremlin puppet, even though he has supporters among the Moscow protesters and oligarchs tired of Vladimir Putin. But he is challenging Putin in the campaign by calling for more privatization and less government.

Before Mikhail Prokhorov leaves his mansion on the outskirts of Moscow to embark on his campaign, he has to walk past a black panther. The panther, made of heavy plastic, stands in the lobby, next to the door, like a guard dog.

With a net worth of $18 billion (€13.7 billion) Prokhorov, 46, who has been an oligarch for almost two decades, ranks 32^nd in the list of the world's richest people compiled by American magazine Forbes. This has brought him many enviers and some enemies in his native Russia, while in the West he is seen as a predatory capitalist.

AU unveils bold free trade plan

I-Net Bridge | 01 February, 2012 00:03

At the end of its 18th summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday, the AU said that the Continental Free Trade Area would strengthen intra-African trade and deepen market integration to "contribute significantly to sustainable economic growth, employment generation, poverty reduction, inflow of foreign direct investment, industrial development and better integration of the continent into the global economy".

The AU wants to create the free trade area in three steps.

The first would be to finalise the tripartite agreement in the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Southern African Development Community by 2014.

My Business: Egyptian mothers on the net

What makes an entrepreneur? BBC Arabic's Marwa Amer and Tom Santorelli spoke to Yasmine El-Mehairy about setting up Egypt's first website designed specifically for mothers.

When Yasmine El-Mehairy looked online for pregnancy advice for her sister-in-law in 2010, she was bombarded with conflicting opinions and what she thought were old wives' tales.

She identified a niche in the online market and the idea for SuperMama was born: A website offering tips and expert advice for mothers and mothers-to-be, the first of its kind in the Arab world.

At U.N., Pressure Is on Russia for Refusal to Condemn Syria

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

Published: January 31, 2012

UNITED NATIONS — The battle over Syria moved to the United Nations on Tuesday with Western powers and much of the Arab world confronting Russia and its allies in the Security Council over their refusal to condemn the Syrian government for its violent suppression of popular protests.

As top diplomats gathered in the Council chamber for the showdown, the drumbeat of violence continued without pause in Syria, where government forces used heavy weapons and tanks to push rebels back from strongholds near Damascus.