Six In The Morning

High stakes, low hopes for Iran nuclear talks

　As world powers prepare to meet with Iran in Turkey, the question is whether sanctions are persuading Tehran to rethink its enrichment program.　

By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times
ISTANBUL, Turkey — The stakes will be high when diplomats from six world powers meet with Iranian officials here over the weekend to discuss the Islamic Republic's nuclear program: War or peace, the global economic recovery and a U.S. presidential election may ride on the outcome. Expectations are much lower. It will be enough for the diplomats if there is sufficient common ground with Iran to keep talking.

Return of the Shining Path
Terrorist group kidnaps 40 workers less than a week after Peru's President said it had been 'totally defeated'

SIMEON TEGEL LIMA FRIDAY 13 APRIL 2012
Less than a week after President Ollanta Humala declared Peru's Shining Path rebel group "totally defeated", the terrorist group has reportedly demanded a $10m (£6.3m) ransom for the return of around 40 gas workers kidnapped in the Amazon. A heavily-armed group burst into a hotel housing the workers in the remote town of Kepashiato in the early hours of Monday morning. They used two stolen pickup trucks to flee with their victims.The government has sent around 1,500 soldiers to the area and declared a state of emergency in the vast rainforest district of Echarate.

Greece undone by toxic blend of clientelism and corruption
The Irish Times - Friday, April 13, 2012

RICHARD PINE in Athens
THERE IS an uncanny correlation between the proliferation of political parties in Greece and that of anarchist or terrorist groups. Both phenomenons are due to the current debate about democracy and the nature of the state. Democracy for Greeks doesn’t mean allowing trusted politicians to run the country: it means the right to get out on the streets, whether peacefully or not. It means debating the credentials of the state as against the interests of the individual and the family.

$815m spent on North Korea rocket could have fed millions


April 13, 2012 - 10:59AM
North Korea spent $US850 million ($815 million) on the launch of its failed rocket, enough to feed millions in the impoverished country. The cost, disclosed in restricted documents seen by London's The Daily Telegraph, could have bought 2.5 million tonnes of corn and 1.4 million tonnes of rice. The launch was part of an attempt to legitimise the rule of 28-year-old Kim Jong-un, following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December. He was named first secretary of the Workers' Party on Wednesday.

Crossed lines and a king's tantrum


AMABHUNGANE REPORTERS JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Apr 13 2012
King Mswati III is blocking attempts to liberalise the mobile telephone market in Swaziland and promote a cheaper service for ordinary Swazis in a bid to protect his private business interests, government sources in the kingdom have told the Mail & Guardian. Mswati is widely known to have a 10% stake in Swazi MTN, which currently enjoys a monopoly.

Syria: Opposition protests will test uncertain truce
The opposition plans broad protests tomorrow in an effort to call attention to ongoing abuses in the country.

By Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Zeina Karam, The Associated Press
Syria's opposition called for widespread protests Friday to test the regime's commitment to an internationally brokered cease-fire that the U.N. chief described as so fragile it could collapse with a single gunshot. Regime forces halted heavy shelling and other major attacks in line with the truce that began at dawn Thursday, though there were accusations of scattered violence by both sides. The government ignored demands to pull troops back to barracks, however, defying a key aspect of the plan, which aims to calm a year-old uprising that has killed 9,000 people and has pushed the country toward civil war.