Six In The Morning

Germany Looks to Its Own Costly Reunification in Resisting Stimulus for Greece

　

By NICHOLAS KULISH
MUNICH — When Germany wants to understand Greece and the crisis afflicting Europe it not only looks south to the Continent’s periphery but also turns inward, to the former East Germany, still struggling more than two decades after German reunification. To an extent not often appreciated by outsiders, the lessons provided by that experience — with the nation pouring $2 trillion or more into the east, by some estimates, to little immediate benefit — color the outlook and decisions of policy makers and the attitudes of voters, a majority of whom would like to see Greece leave the euro zone, polls show.

Assad's troops 'kill 50 people' in Homs


Saturday 26 May 2012
President Bashar Assad's forces killed at least 50 civilians, including 13 children, in central Syria, activists said. It is one of the highest death tolls in one specific area since an internationally-brokered ceasefire went into effect last month. Syrian troops using tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns pounded the area of Houla, a region made up of several towns and villages in the province of Homs, yesterday, British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Co-ordination Committees activist groups said.

Support at record high for Greece's radical-left party
The Irish Times - Saturday, May 26, 2012

DAMIAN Mac CON ULADH in Athens
ONE WEEK into the campaign for the second Greek general election, to be held on June 17th, a poll shows the country’s main anti-bailout leftist party has overtaken its principal promemorandum conservative rival. Support for the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza), led by Alexis Tsipras, is now at 30 per cent, an all-time high and a solid four points ahead of New Democracy, according to the Public Issue/ Kathimerini poll, which was published late on Thursday. Growth in support for the two main parties has been at the expense of the plethora of parties that failed to make the parliamentary threshold in the inconclusive May 6th contest and reflects the increasing polarisation around the memorandum issue.

Mob attacks cast doubt on withdrawal of Solomons mission


Rory Callinan May 26, 2012
WHEN a mob started yelling death threats and burning down homes in Koa Hill, an impoverished settlement in the Solomon Islands, last month, residents started asking themselves one question: what were the police and the Australian-led assistance mission going to do to stop the violence quickly? The answer was - nothing. The response of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to the revenge attack on April 21 after the murder of a prominent bureaucrat, Simon Fuo'o, in the town centre, was considered severely lacking by residents in Koa Hill, a collection of shanties on the south-western side of the Honiara hills.

Somali militants vow to intensify war against AU troops
Despite the fall of their key stronghold of Afgoye, Al-Qaeda-linked Somali militants vowed to intensify the war against government and AU troops

26 May 2012 09:54 - Sapa-AFP
Al-Qaeda-linked Somali militants vowed on Saturday to intensify the war against government and African Union troops, despite the fall of their key stronghold of Afgoye, the latest in a string of military losses. “God willing we will continue the war and we will win the battle without doubt,” said Sheik Abdiaziz Abu Musab, spokesman for the hardline Shebab, a day after AU and Somali troops entered Afgoye, a former strategic rebel base. The bulk of Shebab fighters left ahead of an advancing column of hundreds of AU and Somali government troops, who launched a long-awaited assault on the town, which controls key roads some 30km northwest of the capital Mogadishu.

Eurovision: Singing in Baku for prizes and freedom
Twenty-six countries will be competing at the Eurovision Song Contest in the Azeri capital Baku on Saturday, but away from the performances, a battle for free speech and democracy is taking place on the capital's streets.

By Steve Rosenberg BBC News, Azerbaijan
There cannot beanyone in Baku who does not know that the Eurovision Song Contest has come to town. Everywhere you look there are signs declaring "Light Your Fire!" - this year's competition slogan. You can see them on advertising hoardings, on the sides of buildings, and also on the 1,000 London cabs that Baku has bought to make it feel more like a European city. By the way, Baku's taxis are not black - they have all been re-painted purple - which has earned them the nickname "aubergines on wheels".