Six In The Morning

In Monterrey, Mexico, a culture of fear is evident

The violence spawned by organized crime now dominates the mind-set of Mexico's wealthiest and third-largest city. Many of those who can leave do.

By Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times April 3, 2012
Javier Guzman, a 25-year-old industrial engineer, eased his SUV toward the curb on a recent Sunday as a masked state police officer in the middle of the road signaled him to pull over. Guzman rolled down his window, greeting the officer with a "buenas tardes." "Do you live here? Where are you coming from?" the officer asked. "I live here, this car is mine," Guzman replied. He had nothing to hide, yet began coughing nervously.

Netanyahu delays planned eviction of Jewish settlers


Tuesday 03 April 2012
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled the planned eviction on Tuesday of Jewish settlers from a building in an occupied West Bank city that is flashpoint of tensions with Palestinians. Some 20 settlers moved into the Hebron building last Thursday at night, seeking to expand a settlement of some 500 families in the heart of a biblical city overwhelmingly populated by Palestinians who regard Israelis as interlopers.

France's poor forced to live at the margins
The rich European country is facing a rising tide of workers struggling to live.

Liz Alderman April 3, 2012
WHEN Melissa Dos Santos leaves her job at the end of each day, she goes home to an unlikely place: a tiny trailer in a camp ground nearly 50 kilometres north of Paris, where scores of people who can barely make ends meet are living on a sprawling lot originally designed as a bucolic retreat for holidaymakers. ''I grew up in a house; living in a camp ground isn't the same,'' Ms Dos Santos, 21, said wistfully.

Invisible Children to release Kony 2012 sequel


DAVID SMITH JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Apr 03 2012 07:22
The California-based group Invisible Children promised that its new film would give more details and context than the first, which urged grassroots campaigners to pressure politicians and the military to hunt the notorious Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. The half-hour film broke records with more than 100-million views in less than a week, but provoked fierce debate and criticism over its slick style and simplification of the issues. It caused anger in north Uganda, where a public screening descended into scuffles and stone-throwing.

Indonesia backs off plans to hike price of gas after protests
But pressure continues to mount to increase prices from their current, government-subsidized $2 per gallon, as the subsidies sap resources from education, health care, and other programs.

By Sara Schonhardt, Correspondent
After more than 80,000 Indonesians took to the streets last week in violent protests against raising the price of heavily subsidized fuel, the Indonesian government has revised its budget to prevent the price hike planned for Sunday from taking effect. But with world oil prices soaring and Indonesia faced with a ballooning budget deficit, the respite is unlikely to last long. In recent weeks the government had been pushing for a 33 percent rise in the price of subsidized fuel to reduce the burden it puts on the country’s budget, which is based on an oil price assumption of $105 a barrel.

All of Kim Jong-eun's men
Korea

By Nate Thayer
The top managers of North Korea's clandestine nuclear and ballistic missile program have been methodically promoted and now dominate the inner circle of Kim Jong-eun's new government, confidential foreign government documents and official media reports from Pyongyang show. The shadowy group of power brokers in the world's most secretive nation emerged in the first military promotions prominently unveiled during recent high-profile ceremonies as the official mourning period for the death of former dictator Kim Jong-il concluded last week.