Six In The Morning

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood warn of 'dangerous' days

　 The Muslim Brotherhood has warned that Egypt's fragile democratic gains are under threat, after a surprise court ruling overturned last year's parliamentary elections.

The BBC 15 June 2012
Egypt could see "dangerous" days ahead if power is returned to those linked to the previous regime, it said. The group's candidate, Mohammed Mursi, faces ex-PM Ahmed Shafiq in a runoff presidential election this weekend. The decision by the Supreme Court on Thursday plunged Egypt into turmoil. The court said last year's parliamentary vote - the first free and fair poll in decades - was unconstitutional, and called for fresh elections.

Greece confronts its future – and recoils in fear
Crimewave fuelled by anger and poverty is unsettling the nation as crucial elections approach

Athens Friday 15 June 2012
As Greeks prepare to vote in the most important election in their history in two days' time, people in Athens fear they are facing a future full of uncertainty, poverty and violence. Well-publicised crimes help create an atmosphere of violence as the wealthy and vulnerable immigrants alike come under attack. In one incident this week two robbers armed with a gun and a knife took over the house of a shipping tycoon in the well-guarded suburb of Kifisia in north Athens. Evading all security measures, such as high walls, guards and CCTV cameras, they tied up his staff and stole a fortune in cash and jewels before escaping.

The Mystery of the Sinking South Pacific Islands
Environmentalist organizations have used images from South Pacific islands to illustrate the disastrous effects of rising sea levels. But a group of French researchers has found that the problem is much more complicated: The islands are also being pulled under by shifting tectonic plates.

By Gerald Traufetter
The island rises out of the ocean like a crenellated fortress. The trees on its slopes stand so close, their crowns so impenetrable, that the island appears to be wrapped in a blanket of green velvet. Below, palm trees line the beach and the shapes of huts, some emitting smoke, stand out against the blinding light of the rising sun. A team of French researchers steer their motorboat carefully through the reef toward Vanikoro, this fleck of earth that's part of the Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. They've come here to uncover the island's secrets.

Africa turns the tide on doomsday predictions
A decade ago, doomsday forecasts asserted the Aids pandemic would sharply curtail African economic growth but two countries have forced a rethink.

14 Jun 2012 17:36 - Ed Stoddard
A series of bumper maize harvests in two of the countries worst-hit by the disease, Zambia and Malawi, suggest the region’s economies have not followed this script, thanks in part to treatment programmes and farm subsidies. The predicted scenarios generally went like this: subsistence farming would be devastated because working-age peasants would sicken or die, leaving the back-breaking labour in the fields to the young and the old, with yields suffering. Aids was seen as potentially a greater economic shock to Africa than the bubonic plague was to Europe centuries ago as the latter killed far more of the very young and the very old than it did those in the prime of their lives.

Violent test for Myanmar reform
Southeast Asia

By Brian McCartan
Sectarian strife gripping Rakhine State offers a distinct test for Myanmar's quasi-civilian government. President Thein Sein's efforts to calm the situation have won some praise, but there are calls to do more. The real test will be whether his government can ensure long-term stability while continuing a reform drive that is removing controls that served to suppress past communal tensions. Hundreds of Muslims are reported to be fleeing Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh, which has has reinforced its land border, and with coast guards watching the River Naf, used by fleeing Rohingyas using small boats desperate to seek safety, CNN and other media reported. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday said her country was not willing to give shelter to Rohingya refugees, CNN reported.

Rio+20 Earth summit: walkout at 'green economy' talks
Negotiators from developing countries insist wealthy nations must help fund their move to sustainable development

Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012 01.34 BST
Europe's financial crisis should not be used as an excuse for inaction and underfunding of moves towards a more sustainable global economy, a senior Brazilian diplomat warned at the Rio+20 conference on Thursday as the UN talks suffered a disruption over money. Negotiators from developing nations walked out of a core working group on the "green economy" because wealthy countries were refusing to include the transfer of money and technology that might achieve this goal. The wobble was temporary but it bodes ill for the conference because negotiators were already running short of time to draft an agreement ahead of an Earth Summit next week that is billed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set mankind on a more sustainable path of development.