Six In The Morning

Tamils deported to Sri Lanka from Britain being tortured, victim claims

Government under pressure to change policy after court halts removal of 40 people and victim tells of brutal two-week ordeal

• Shiv Malik
• guardian.co.uk

The British government is forcibly deporting asylum seekers who are then tortured in Sri Lanka, according to the testimony of one victim who was left scarred and suicidal after a brutal two-week ordeal.

The victim told the Guardian he was tortured over the space of 17 days after being deported from the UK last year. His torturers accused him of passing on to British officials information about previous beatings at the hands of state officials and other human rights abuses, to ruin diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Spain caves in to market pressure and asks Europe for bank bailout

German Chancellor urged to press ahead with plans for greater fiscal union to tackle crisis

Spain dropped its opposition to external funding and for the first time yesterday appealed to Europe for help in overcoming its worsening financial crisis, after Germany proposed a banking union to stabilise the Continent's economy and ease eurozone turmoil.

Madrid's call signalled a departure from the previous stance of Mariano Rajoy's conservative government, which had rejected the idea of external funding to assist the country in recapitalising its ailing banks because of fears that such a move would undermine market confidence in Spain.

Egypt rulers demand constitution panel in 48 hours

Sapa-AP | 06 June, 2012 09:50

Egypt's ruling military council has set a 48-hour deadline for political parties to finalize the formation of a 100-member panel to write a new constitution, or it will draw up its own blueprint.

Lawmaker Mustafa Bakri on Tuesday outlined the ultimatum after representatives of 18 parties and independent lawmakers met with the head of the council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

The process has been deadlocked since the Islamist-dominated parliament tried to stack the body with its own people, leading to a walkout by secular and liberal members and cancellation of the whole assembly.

The dispute mirrors the splits in Egypt, two weeks before a presidential election runoff between a Muslim Brotherhood member and the last prime minister to serve the ousted President Hosni Mubarak - the two most polarizing candidates.

Cold counter to warming US-Vietnam ties

Southeast Asia

Jun 7, 2012 By Adam Boutzan  In late May, an analysis of supposed United States intentions toward Vietnam was posted on a popular Vietnamese blog site. The document cited what was purported to be a Vietnamese military intelligence analyst's report on remarks made by US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Claire Pierangelo and three younger American officials named only as Gary, Greg and Chuck.  The blog site, Dan Lam Bao (People Make the News), says the report is one of many leaked to it by an anonymous source. Some foreign experts who have reviewed the document in question believe that it's a fabrication. Perhaps so, but probably not; a fake would have likely been more expertly done.  Virginia's dying marshes and climate change denial By Daniel NasawBBC News Magazine, York River, Virginia Dying wetland trees along Virginia's coastline are evidence that rising sea levels threaten nature and humans, scientists say - and show the limits of political action amid climate change scepticism. Dead trees loom over the marsh like the bones of a whale beached long ago. In the salt marshes along the banks of the York River in the US state of Virginia, pine and cedar trees and bushes of holly and wax myrtle occupy small islands, known as hummocks. But as the salty estuary waters have risen in recent years, they have drowned the trees on the hummocks' lower edges. If - when - the sea level rises further, it will inundate and drown the remaining trees and shrubs, and eventually sink the entire marsh. Syria expels diplomats but allows more humanitarian aid Syria President Bashar Assad retaliates for diplomatic expulsions but consents to demands for greater access for humanitarian aid. By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Syria retaliated Tuesday for last week's expulsion of its diplomats from Washington and other capitals, barring or expelling foreign envoys from 11 nations, including the United States. But the government of President Bashar Assad also consented to longtime international demands for augmented humanitarian access, agreeing to allow United Nations and other aid workers to enter four strife-ridden provinces: Homs, Idlib, Dara and Dair Alzour. Human rights groups had complained about restricted access for providing food, medical assistance and shelter for victims of Syria's escalating violence. By some estimates, more than 1 million Syrians are in need of help.