Six In The Morning

Turkish border a crucial link in Syrian conflict

　A network of activists is taking advantage of tensions between the two countries

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
The onetimeragtag militias of the Syrian opposition are developing into a more effective fighting force with the help of an increasingly sophisticated network of activists here in southern Turkey that is smuggling crucial supplies across the border, including weapons, communications gear, field hospitals and even salaries for soldiers who defect. The network reflects an effort to forge an opposition movement linking military, governmental and humanitarian organizations, that together can not only defeat the vastly superior military of President Bashar al-Assad, but also replace his government.

Robert Fisk: Egypt has no constitution, parliament... or control
Morsi's victory has done nothing to calm fears among Egyptians – or to rein in the army

Robert Fisk Cairo Tuesday 26 June 2012
A couple of hours after Mohamed Morsi's supporters greeted the democratic election of the first Islamist president in the Arab world with cries of "Allahu Akbar", a young Egyptian Christian woman walked up to my coffee table and told me that she had just been to church. "I have never seen the place so empty," she said. "We are all afraid." I'd like to say that Morsi's placatory speech on Sunday – CNN and the BBC made much of his all-inclusive message because it fits in with the Western narrative on the Middle East (progressive, non-sectarian, etc) – was a pretty measly effort in which the army got as much praise as the police for Egypt's latest stage of revolution.

The Disastrous Consequences of a Euro Crash
As the debt crisis worsens in Spain and Italy, financial experts are warning of the catastrophic consequences of a crash of the euro: the destruction of trillions in assets and record high unemployment levels, even in Germany.

By SPIEGEL Staff
It wasn't long ago that Mario Draghi was spreading confidence and good cheer. "The worst is over," the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) told Germany's Bild newspaper only a few weeks ago. The situation in the euro zone had "stabilized," Draghi said, and "investor confidence was returning." And because everything seemed to be on track, Draghi even accepted a Prussian spiked helmet from the reporters. Hurrah. Last week, however, Europe's chief monetary watchdog wasn't looking nearly as happy in photos taken in front of a circle of blue-and-yellow stars inside the Euro Tower, the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters, where he was congratulating the winners of an international student contest.

Mutineers: More DR Congo soldiers desert ranks
More than 100 soldiers including two senior officers have quit the army in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to join a mutinous armed force.

SAPA-AFP
The deserters were all members of a former rebel movement, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), who were integrated into the army in 2009 after a peace pact, Vianney Kazarama, a spokesperson for mutinous armed focres M23, told AFP. Government spokesperson Lambert Mende denied the report and claimed the M23 was a fake movement created to hide Bosco “Terminator” Ntaganda, a renegade general and former rebel leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for using child soldiers.

Abu Jundal's arrest leaves Pak in the cold on Lashkar


Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Hindustan Times New Delhi, June 26, 2012
The main political gain for India from the arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Abu Jundal, also known by his operational name Abu Hamza, will be its impact on Pakistan. Islamabad, already isolated on other issues, will be shocked when it realises how the arrest took place. Various sources say the initial tip-off that Jundal was in Saudi Arabia came from US intelligence. He was then apprehended by Riyadh which in turn told India to send a special plane to pick him up. “That a number of governments worked together to help India increases pressure on Pakistan,” says counter-terrorism expert Ajai Sahni.

Beneath Argentina's growth, economic fault lines simmer
Economic policies are based on short-term gains instead of long-term growth strategies, and have created 'fundamental instability.

By Melissa Lockhart Fortner, Guest blogger
To the untrained eye, Argentina’s economic future might seem bullish. Under current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, an average annual growth rate of 7 percent has been impressive, and is lower than that of only one other government in Argentine history. Positive external forces have been working in the nation’s favor in recent years: new agricultural technology has allowed increases in production and output; the rise of China and India have simultaneously fueled demand for its agricultural products and commodities; and most significantly, since 2003-4, high prices for these products have improved Argentina’s terms of trade. Brazil has become Argentina’s top trading partner, and that relationship will continue to be fruitful for Argentina as Brazil’s prosperity boosts its own.