Six In The Morning

Amid Reports of New Massacre, Nations Press Syria

　

By RICK GLADSTONE and ANNIE LOWREY Published: June 7, 2012
Syrian opposition activists reported a mass killing of villagers by pro-government militiamen and security forces on Wednesday — if verified, the fourth massacre in less than two weeks — threatening to inject a new surge of angry momentum into the growing international effort to isolate President Bashar al-Assad and remove him from power. But China, one of Mr. Assad’s leading allies along with Russia, reiterated its opposition on Thursday to any effort to oust Mr. Assad outside an existing plan by special envoy Kofi Annan to end the fighting, seeming to limit the prospects for any breakthrough at new talks scheduled at the United Nations. “The Syrian issue should be resolved based on envoy Annan’s six-point proposal within the U.N. framework,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told a news conference in Beijing, Reuters reported.

Eurozone divided as time runs out for Spain
Bailout now 'inevitable' despite official denials

Thursday 07 June 2012
The eurozone sovereign debt emergency showed no signs of abating yesterday as the Spanish government desperately haggled over the terms of its expected bailout and the European Central Bank refused to ease monetary policy for the currency bloc, despite signs of stricken European economies sinking still deeper into recession. Madrid's Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, insisted once again he was not making any plans to follow Greece, Portugal and Ireland in requesting a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. But, behind the scenes, Spanish ministers accept that an external rescue of the country's beleaguered banking sector is now necessary.

Intravenous drips, hormone injections, nannies and 'high-flyer' rooms: drastic measures as China students sit college exams


June 7, 2012 - 4:24PM
Students have reportedly been given pre-exam injections and intravenous drips designed to boost energy levels, while girls have resorted to hormone injections and birth control pills to delay menstruation. "There are situations where girls take pills to delay their periods until after the exams," a gynaecologist at Beijing's Chaoyang Hospital, who declined to give his name, said.

Alarming assaults on women in Egypt's Tahrir
Reports of assaults on women in Tahrir have been on the rise.

Sapa-AP | 07 June, 2012 08:00
These assaults come with a new round of mass protests to denounce a mixed verdict against the ousted leader and his sons in a trial last week Women, who participated in the 18-day uprising that ended with Mubarak’s Feb. 11, 2011 ouster as leading activists, protesters, medics and even fighters to ward off attacks by security agents or affiliated thugs on Tahrir, have found themselves facing the same groping and assaults that have long plagued Egypt’s streets during subsequent protests in the square. Women also have been targeted in recent crackdowns on protesters by military and security troops, a practice commonly used by Mubarak security that grew even more aggressive in the days following his ouster.

Mexican presidential election: Why the left is struggling.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the presidential candidate from Mexico's leftist party, is facing an uphill battle for the presidency due to his controversial past and Mexico's unique political histor

By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer
Across Latin America, the left – from the fiery nationalism of Venezuela to the more market-friendly left of Brazil – dominates. Even in places where leftists are not in power, they’re still a force to be reckoned with. But in Mexico this election cycle, the left has only recently become competitive, less than a month before presidential elections July 1. After languishing in third place as he struggled to brand himself as a capable leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is now in second, though most polls show his rival, frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto, with a comfortable lead. Many say the left should be a powerhouse in Mexico, due to the country’s vast disparities between rich and poor. But the main leftist party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), has never held the presidency.

Nearly 100 bird species face increased risk of extinction in the Amazon
Deforestation causing loss of habitat across the region, as vulture numbers decline in Africa and long-tailed ducks disappear from Europe

Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 June 2012 00.01 BST
Birds in the Amazon are under increasing threat from deforestation, while large populations of duck have disappeared from northern Europe, and vultures are under intensifying attack in Africa, according to the latest survey of the world's birds. The Rio Branco Antbird has been singled out for particular concern – it lives in the Amazon, but its relatively long lifespan makes it more vulnerable than some other species to even moderate deforestation. The Hoary-throated Spinetail is predicted to lose more than 80% of its habitat in the same region, putting it on the "critically endangered" list, meaning the species faces serious risk of extinction.