Six In The Morning

U.S. Adds Forces in Persian Gulf, a Signal to Iran

　

By THOM SHANKER, ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER. Published: July 3, 2012
The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates. The deployments are part of a long-planned effort to bolster the American military presence in the gulf region, in part to reassure Israel that in dealing with Iran, as one senior administration official put it last week, “When the president says there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it.”

Syrian regime engages in systematic torture, says report
Former detainees have described torture methods and locations of detention centres, according to Human Rights Watch

Ian Black Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 July 2012 06.04 BST
Evidence that Syrian intelligence agencies systematically use torture and ill treatment that constitutes a crime against humanity is laid out in a report that activists say they hope will serve as a basis for future prosecutions. Information given by former Syrian detainees and defectors has identified the locations, agencies responsible, torture methods used, and in many cases the commanders in charge of 27 detention facilities run by the country's four main intelligence and security organisations, according to Human Rights Watch. The 81-page report by the New York-based watchdog relies on over 200 interviews conducted since the start of demonstrations against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

Kosovo may gain sovereignty this year
The Irish Times - Tuesday, July 3, 2012

DANIEL McLAUGHLIN
THE GROUP of 25 countries overseeing Kosovo’s independence intends to hand full sovereignty to the fledgling state later this year, despite concerns expressed by Serbia. The so-called International Steering Group, which comprises the US and many European nations, including Ireland, said Kosovo had made enough progress since its 2008 declaration of independence from Belgrade to merit the withdrawal of international supervision.

The voice: 'Every one person you kill there is like taking 50 lives'


July 3, 2012 - 11:00AM
Forty-eight hours into the bloody assault on Mumbai in November 2008, smoke was billowing from the wreckage of the Taj Mahal hotel and commandos were flushing out the last gunmen holed up in the opulent landmark of India's financial capital. A short distance away in the city's southernmost peninsula, security forces were still battling at Nariman House, a Jewish centre where two of the Islamist militants had taken half a dozen people hostage, including a rabbi and his pregnant wife.

Senegal's Sall eyes parliamentary majority
Senegal has voted for a new Parliament with Macky Sall seeking a majority to put his policies into action after ousting Abdoulaye Wade in March.

AFP
Sall, who kicked off his presidency with a probe into possible wrongdoing by the previous regime, has been determined to end the current dominance of Parliament by members of Wade's party. Concern was high over low turnout as polls closed with only a trickle of voters at most polling stations throughout the day. The Cultural Association of Educational and Social Self-Promotion (ACAPES) which had 1 695 observers in the field across the country, estimated that turnout was as low as 21% across the country during Sunday's vote, in a statement. The elections commission said it was "largely satisfied" with the vote.

For Mexicans, relief that next president won't have free rein
Peña Nieto's win restores power to the PRI, which long held an authoritarian grip on Mexico before being ousted 12 years ago. But more than a decade of democracy has changed things.

By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer
Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is the clear victor in the nation's presidential race. But the candidate, of the historic Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), won with a much smaller mandate than pollsters had anticipated. With 94 percent of votes counted, he has about a six-point margin. Surveys had him anywhere from 10 to 15 points ahead of his nearest rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Now Mr. Lopez Obrador, the leftist who famously led a six-week sit-in in downtown Mexico City to contest the razor-thin defeat in his first presidential bid in 2006, is saying he won't concede defeat.