Six In The Morning

Reuters: Neil Heywood killed in cover-up plot

　

By Chris Buckley, Tuesday, April 17
CHONGQING, China — The British businessman whose killing has sparked political upheaval in China was poisoned after he threatened to expose a plan by a Chinese leader’s wife to move money abroad, two sources with knowledge of the police investigation said. It was the first time a specific motive has been revealed in the killing of Neil Heywood in November, a death that ended Chinese politician Bo Xilai’s hopes of emerging as a top central leader and threw off balance the Communist Party’s looming leadership succession. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, asked Heywood late last year to move a large sum of money abroad, and she became outraged when he demanded a larger cut of the money than she had expected, the sources said.

We must not forget hundreds still in Belarus gulag, warns freed dissident
Democracy activist released by 'last dictator in Europe' tells of life as a political prisoner in camp

Jerome Taylor Tuesday 17 April 2012
One of Belarus's most prominent political prisoners has for the first time described conditions in the notorious gulag prison camps where hundreds of pro-democracy activists have been incarcerated as the country's brutal dictatorship cracks down on dissent. In his first interview with a British newspaper since his release at the weekend, Andrei Sannikov said he was held in solitary confinement for weeks and that the normal jail inmates were forbidden from contacting him once he rejoined them.

Kabul attacks 'meant to humiliate' Afghan allies


Aimal Yaqubi, Mark Magnier, Kabul April 17, 2012
THE brazen and well-co-ordinated attacks on four embassies and other key sites in the heart of Kabul were aimed less at inflicting high casualties, analysts said, than humiliating the government and its foreign allies as Afghan forces were taking increasing responsibility for protecting their country. From high-rise construction sites, attackers targeted the US, British, German and Russian embassies and NATO headquarters. Other teams struck airfields and police stations in three eastern provinces and tried to assassinate one of the country's two vice-presidents.

Why I lost World Bank presidency, by Okonjo-Iweala


Tuesday, 17 April 2012 00:00 By Dele Fanimo, Bukky Olajide , Femi Adekoya (Lagos) and Mathias Okwe (Abuja) with agency report
HOURS before the official announcement yesterday of United States (U.S.) nominee, Jim Yong Kim, as the new president of the World Bank in Washington DC, Nigeria’s Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was the key contender in the race, said the appointment was not being decided on merit and that the American would win. America’s might and not merit, she said, would be the deciding factor. Her prediction eventually came to pass with the selection of the American, Kim, by the board of the bank yesterday.

After Istanbul, confidence for confidence


By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
On Saturday, the world stepped back from the brink of a showdown on Iran's nuclear program as both sides in the multilateral nuclear talks emerged from 10-hour negotiations in Istanbul in a positive mood, setting the stage for a follow-up "substantive meeting" in Baghdad in late May. The talks, after a 13-month hiatus, included representatives of the "Iran Six" - also known as the P5+1 - the United States, Great Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany.

A generational divide widens in Cuba
Older Cubans are grateful for the peace and stability of the Castro years. But many younger ones, though grateful for the gains of the 1959 revolution, face a stifled future, and want more.

By Cecilia Sanchez, Los Angeles Times April 17, 2012
SANTIAGO, Cuba — The way Cesar Cruz and his buddies see it, the "revolution of our grandparents" just doesn't cut it anymore. The 19-year-old student and his friends gather every Saturday in leafy Cespedes Park in the shadow of Santiago de Cuba's cathedral, listening to music and sharing spins on an old scooter, and dreaming of an impossible future. "We don't have the chance to think of a better life, without misery," Cruz said. "The only option is to leave the country. But we aren't allowed to do that."