Six In The Morning

Six in the morning is indelibly late due to a typhoon which is currently hammering Eastern Japan. Which leads to trains being delayed or stopped.

Report: Russian shipment of attack helicopters for Syria effectively halted

　

By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com
A ship carrying military helicopters and missiles from Russia to Syria has been effectively stopped off the coast of Scotland after its British insurers canceled the vessel’s cover, according to a report. The MV Alaed was carrying weapons and Mi25 helicopters from the Russian port of Kaliningrad, the Daily Telegraph reported. The vessel has been closely monitored by intelligence since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said such shipments were adding to the arsenal of weaponry available in Syria, which has spiraled into civil war. Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the report, but declined to give further details. It said the vessel was being monitored but that no physical intervention had been made to prevent the ship's progress.

Eurozone debt crisis poses serious threat to emerging markets
Trade finance downturn reduces flow of critical goods into and out of poor countries as banks cut back on credit

Mark Tran guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 June 2012 07.00 BST
The eurozone crisis poses a greater threat to developing economies than the 2008 financial crisis and is already having a negative impact on trade finance and remittances, according to the World Bank. The drop in trade finance has resulted in a reduction in the flow of critical goods into and out of emerging markets amid warnings that gaps in the agriculture and energy sectors in particular would hurt poor countries. A decline in trade finance affects the trade in goods, because exporters in developing countries rely on international banks to provide them with credit until they are paid.

Two Burmese children a week conscripted into military
UN-verified accounts of child soldiers undermine junta's assurances on democratic reforms

Jerome Taylor Tuesday 19 June 2012
Children are being sold as conscripts into the Burmese military for as little as $40 and a bag of rice or a can of petrol. Despite assurances from Burma's ruling junta that it is cleaning up its act in a bid to see Western sanctions lifted, recruitment of child soldiers remains rampant. The Independent understands that 24 instances of children being forced to become soldiers have been verified by the UN in the first three months of 2012 alone – the equivalent of two a week.

Face to Face with Syria's Apocalypse
The Syrian conflict is becoming increasingly brutal, with eyewitnesses describing horrific scenes of rape and massacres. Both sides have the sense that the end game is approaching, but no one knows how it will play out.

By Christoph Reuter
A military helicopter has been circling high above our heads for several minutes now, like an angry insect in the midday heat. The pilot seems to be looking for something here between the fields and farm buildings. From the cover of a stand of trees, we have a clear view when the helicopter, a couple of hundred meters away, suddenly drops lower and fires four missiles. It then circles once more, tilted slightly to one side to allow the machinegun operator to fire into the tall fields of wheat, before the helicopter disappears into the milky haze of the horizon.

Ouattara to bring Ivorian refugees home from Israel
Cote d'Ivoire leader Alassane Ouattara will work to repatriate Ivorians from Israel, after talks with Israel's premier and its parliamentary speaker

19 Jun 2012 06:20 - AFP
Ouattara held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with speaker Reuven Rivlin, with both meetings touching on the issue of illegal immigration from Africa. “Côte d’Ivoire President Ouattara expressed agreement that Israel should repatriate Côte d’Ivoire nationals who arrived here without permits,” Netanyahu’s office said. But after talks with Rivlin, Ouattara raised questions about Israel’s estimate of some 2 000 Ivorians living illegally in the Jewish state. “We are not sure that this number is accurate,” a Knesset statement quoted Ouattara as saying, indicating his belief that “a large part” of that number were not Ivorians.

Waziri 'oasis' braces for attack
AN ATOL EXCLUSIVE

By Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud
Residents in Wana, headquarters of Pakistan's restive South Waziristan Agency, fear that a recent spate of insurgent violence will spur a major new government offensive in the unruly tribal belt. A fragile ceasefire between militants, a local warlord and authorities in the town has been put under severe strain by the increasing number of US drone attacks in the region. In the past few months, militants purportedly affiliated with Pakistan's largest militant umbrella organization, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistani Taliban, have carried out a flurry of deadly ambushes on military camps and checkpoints in Wana. It is widely believed these attacks were carried out by rogue members of a Taliban faction led by the warlord Mullah