Six In Morning

Syria crisis: Turkey refugee surge amid escalation fear

　Thousands of Syrian refugees have been fleeing into Turkey, officials there say, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warns the crisis is escalating.　

The BBC 6 April 2012
More than 2,300 fled on Wednesday, by far the highest number in one day. Earlier, the UN called for the Syrian government to "urgently" implement an agreed ceasefire. The approach of the deadline for a ceasefire seems to have brought an intensification rather than reduction in violence. In the Jouret al-Shiyah quarter of Homs, shells or rockets were falling at a rate of four in 30 seconds. Activists accuse the government of trying to complete its crackdown come what may; government officials say it is the rebel fighters who are exploiting the impending withdrawal of the military from towns and cities to improve their position.

Bahraini hunger striker casts a long shadow over claims of reform
As the government in Manama prepares to welcome back Formula One, activists say human rights abuses continue

Patrick Cockburn Friday 06 April 2012
Bahrain's best known human rights activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is on the 57th day of a hunger strike, could die in jail at any moment say those who have seen him recently. "His heart could stop at any time or he could slip into a coma," said his daughter Maryam. Mr al-Khawaja, 51, who was sentenced to life in jail last year for an alleged plot to overthrow the Bahraini monarchy, says he will continue his hunger strike until he is freed or he dies.

One town, two colleges, two philosophies


The Irish Times - Friday, April 6, 2012
ESSEC LOOKS the part. The main building on its gleaming campus in the Paris suburb of Cergy has the calm, well-ordered feel of a corporate head office. The library is spartan and bright, the attractive cafe filled with multinational students, and the glass footbridges that link each building give a fine view over the sports grounds outside. Over coffee between classes, Anwesha Ghosh, a confident 25-year-old from Mumbai, explains that she chose to study business here because of the college’s good reputation and the doors it would open for her in Europe.

Call of the warrior women


Billy Briggs April 6, 2012
SARIA (a codename meaning ''flower'') has long black hair and honey-coloured eyes and she wears olive military fatigues. She is 25 years old and in charge of 500 fighters in a zone that stretches for 100 kilometres covering the Shaho mountain range inside Iran. Born in the Iranian city of Maku, Saria left her family to join PJAK (Party for a Free Life), the outlawed paramilitary group, in Kurdistan in 2008 and she has not seen them since. ''There was a lack of opportunity to participate in the political and economic life of Iran. I wanted independence and to be part of the gender struggle for equality and Kurdish identity,'' she says. ''Marriage and a husband does not interest me. It would be so mundane after life in the mountains. I would prefer to be a wife for the Kurdish people, not just for one man. We want peace and democracy and for the Kurds to have the same rights as everyone else.''

Senegalese musician Youssou lends golden voice to politics


By Malick Rokhy Ba
Senegal’s music icon Youssou N’Dour has gone from stirring up fans of his homegrown Mbalax beats to rousing political protests for an opposition poll triumph, landing the crooner the culture minister’s job. One of Africa’s most recognised artists, N’Dour has been a star for over three decades while also becoming a savvy businessman and humanitarian and now, Senegal’s minister of culture and tourism.

US playing cat and mouse with Pakistan


By Karamatullah K Ghori
ISLAMABAD - The devil is in the timing of the April 2 United States announcement of a US$10 million bounty on the head of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, accused by the Indian government as the mastermind behind the Mumbai mayhem of November 2008 that resulted in the death of 166 people, including seven Americans, when militants stormed the city. Saeed’s religious outfit, the Jamaat-ul-Dawa (Party for Propagation), has been on Washington's list of terrorist organizations for some time; it also figures on a United Nations list of a similar classification. The Dawa is a successor to the Lashkar-e Taiba, which Saeed founded as armed militant group to fight against Indian control in Kashmir and which was banned in 2002 after being linked to an attack on India's parliament.