Six In The Morning

U.S. policy on Iraq questioned as influence wanes, Maliki consolidates power

　　

By Liz Sly, Monday, April 9, 7:23 AM
BAGHDAD — On the face of it, Iraq’s first springtime since American troops withdrew in December is turning into the most peaceful and promising the country has witnessed in a decade, offering what U.S. and some Iraqi officials say amounts to a vindication of President Obama’s Iraq policy. A feared collapse of order have not materialized. Although the group al-Qaeda in Iraq has continued to stage headline-grabbing attacks, they are diminishing in frequency and intensity. Oil is being pumped at record levels from the refurbished fields of the south. Iraq’s government has not rushed into the arms of Iran and, instead, has been wooing its Arab neighbors.

Slaughter set to continue as Assad backs away from ceasefire plan
President in 11th-hour request for written guarantees from rebels as death toll soars

Loveday Morris Monday 09 April 2012
Hopes for a Syrian ceasefire faded dramatically yesterday as rebels rejected a last-minute demand from the regime for "written guarantees" that they will lay down their arms after government troops withdraw. The 11th-hour request from President Bashar al-Assad was widely dismissed by opposition members and analysts as another stalling technique. It came as the joint UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, hit out at what he termed an "unacceptable" escalation in violence that violated promises made to him by Syria.

Festering sore that is northern Kosovo
The Irish Times - Monday, April 9, 2012

MARY FITZGERALD in Mitrovica
The divide between the ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority remains intractable NOT SO long ago the smoke-filled La Dolce Vita bar next to Mitrovica’s flashpoint bridge was synonymous with Serb vigilantes known as “bridge watchers” whose job it was to keep ethnic Albanians out of their enclave. Its position overlooking the Ibar river that marks the dividing line between the town’s Serb-dominated northern flank and its ethnic Albanian south provided the bar’s patrons with a birds-eye view, but also made it a target for attack. The “bridge watchers” are still there, but La Dolce Vita’s customers are now a more diverse bunch. They include university students such as Alexandra and Sasha who chain-smoke while bemoaning the lack of opportunity in this grimy former industrial town

Aceh's love hotel gives sharia the cold shoulder


Michael Bachelard April 9, 2012
BY WESTERN standards, the rooms are dingy, but Aceh's love hotel is doing a roaring trade. "Fauzi", 45, who regularly brings his 25-year-old girlfriend to this motel-style hideaway in the suburbs of Banda Aceh, says he's not interested in luxury anyway. "All I need is a bed, air conditioning and a toilet." Advertisement: Story continues below And it also has the benefit of being safe.

Consequences of coup falls on Mali's interim leader


SERGE DANIEL AND COUMBA SYLLA BAMAKO, MALI - Apr 09 2012 07:45
Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure, toppled in a military coup last month, formally resigned on Sunday, paving the way for the departure of the junta that ousted him. Under the terms of a transition deal with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the junta's leaders said they would allow a return to democracy once Toure formally quit.

Home again in Mexico: Illegal immigration hits net zero
Tiny Tamaula is the new face of rural Mexico: Villagers are home again as the illegal immigration boom drops to net zero

By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer
At this time of year in this tiny rural outpost that sits on a mountainside in Guanajuato State, most able-bodied men are gone. They're off plucking and cutting chicken in processing plants in Georgia or pruning the backyards of Seattle. But this year, Pedro Laguna and his wife, Silvia Arellano, are clearing rocks from their yard to prepare a field for corn. They've returned home to Tamaula, Mexico, with their four young children, after 20 years in the United States working illegally. Pedro's cousin Jorge Laguna and his brothers are planting garbanzo beans in the plot behind their father's home. Their next-door neighbor Gregorio Zambrano is also home: One recent morning he badgered a visiting social worker for funds