Six In The Morning

U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb



By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI
Even as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said in a new report Friday that Iran had accelerated its uranium enrichment program, American intelligence analysts continue to believe that there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb. Recent assessments by American spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier, according to current and former American officials. The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America’s 16 intelligence agencies.

'We are not afraid of Assad any longer. But why must more people die?'
Eyewitness

Kim Sengupta Author Biography Saturday 25 February 2012
The bodies were in a field, dumped during the night. They were men who had been arrested and taken away for interrogation after the forces of the Syrian regime began a vicious and vengeful sweep through this region. The families in the village of Kurin have not been able to collect and bury their dead because they would be walking into a trap; any approach so far, they say, has been met with sniper fire. A force of rebel fighters who went to carry out the task twice had to retreat under fire from mortars.

Burma's Punk Scene Fights Repression Underground
Despite signs of greater openness, Burma's government continues to wield an iron fist. Among its targets is the punk scene, whose bands are forced to play and practice in secret to avoid harsh punishments. Here, punk isn't a lifestyle. It is an act of genuine rebellion.

By Alexander Dluzak, in Rangoon
The punk band Rebel Riot stands on a makeshift stage in an abandoned restaurant on the outskirts of downtown Rangoon, Burma's largest city. They wear their hair spiked straight up and studded leather jackets. "Saida! Saida! Saida!" singer Kyaw Kyaw barks into the microphone, "Resistance! Resistance! Resistance!" The drummer pounds away at his set while the guitars reverberate through the room. "No fear! No indecision! Rage against the system of the oppressors!" Kyaw Kyaw howls.

Native Americans are on a roll as tribal cigarettes exploit tax loophole


Thomas Kaplan February 25, 2012
ONEIDA, New York: The trucks trundle past cornfields and dilapidated farm houses, pull up to a one-time bingo hall and unload their cargo: boxes of tobacco imported from the Carolinas. Inside, employees of the Oneida Indian Nation dump the shredded tobacco leaves into rolling machines and fashion them into cigarettes to be sold at a dozen tribal convenience stores midway between Syracuse and Utica in New York state.

Mali clashes forced 120,000 to flee their homes: UN report


By AFP DAKAR
Clashes between the army and Tuareg rebels in northern Mali have forced 126,400 people to flee their homes since mid-January, the United Nations said in a statement on Friday. The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it needed Sh2.9 billion ($35.6 million) to cover the needs of those displaced by the escalating conflict. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said people were continuing to flee and estimated 61,400 were displaced internally, while 65,000 had sought refuge in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Algeria. In addition, at least 7,563 Niger citizens who were living in Mali had returned home.

Summit of the Americas standoff: Cuba wants in
President Obama could take the high road and allow Cuban President Raul Castro to observe the Summit of the America's in Cartagena

By Anya Landau French, Guest blogger
It’s never easy to sit at the same table as someone with whom you have deep disagreements, especially when you believe that that someone shouldn’t even be at the table. But, President Obama could find himself in that position at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia this April. President Obama and thirty-three other heads of state from around the region, all members of the Organization of American States (OAS), are expected to attend the summit.