Six In The Morning

CIA interrogation probe ends without any charges

　The US justice department has ended its investigation into the CIA's interrogation programme for terror detainees, without bringing charges.

The BBC 31 August 2012 Last updated at 02:24 GMT
The probe, which studied two deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, ends a series of reviews into the treatment of 101 detainees in US custody since 9/11. Attorney General Eric Holder said there was not enough evidence to "sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt". A prominent civil rights group said the result was a "scandal". But CIA officials welcomed the decision. In June 2011 the justice department began a full criminal investigation into the deaths of two men while in custody. The department has never named the men, but they are widely reported to have been Gul Rahman and Manadel al-Jamadi.

Neighbors of Pakistani Christian girl in blasphemy case living in fear


By Saheed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers
The Christians are trickling back to the poor neighborhood in Islamabad that they fled after a blasphemy allegation ignited terror earlier this month. But fear still haunts them. By Thursday, perhaps half of the 300 to 500 hundred families that had run in horror from their homes the night of Aug. 16 – after a Christian girl was charged with burning pages of the Quran – had returned. “We are also Pakistanis. We have the right to live here in peace,” said Khursheed Ahmed, 65, who returned after a week to her family’s home in the Mehrabadi district on the outskirts of the capital. “Where else would we go?”

Call for nationalisation of South African resources


ALEX DUVAL SMITH CAPE TOWN FRIDAY 31 AUGUST 2012
The controversial politician Julius Malema yesterday said black South Africans are worse off than during apartheid and launched a hit list for nationalisation as he capitalised on discontent over the Marikana mine massacre. The hit list included the South African arm of world's biggest steel company and the country's iron and platinum resources.

German journalists in China ask for Merkel's help
Foreign journalists are under strict surveillance in China, Johnny Erling, correspondent for the daily 'Die Welt,' has told DW. He and other journalists sent a letter to the German chancellor asking for help.


Twenty-six German correspondents working in China sent a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel. In it they describe how Chinese authorities are increasingly making it difficult for them to do their work, how their informants are threatened and their colleagues intimidated. The journalists asked the chancellor to consider this during inter-governmental consultations in Beijing and demand better working conditions.

Morsi delivers his calling card
ROVING EYE

By Pepe Escobar
You'd better not mess with Muslim Brother Morsi. Straight out of "communist" China - where he secured a red carpet welcome from President Hu Jintao and vice-president Xi Jinping - the Egyptian president lands in "evil" Iran as a true Arab world leader. [1] Imagine conducting a poll in Tampa, Florida, among delegates at the Republican convention anointing the dodgy Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan duo as their presidential ticket. Chances are Morsi would be ranked worse than Hitler (oh no; that was Saddam. Or maybe Osama. Or maybe Ahmadinejad ... )

Lessons learned from El Salvador's constitutional crisis
El Salvador's National Assembly reelected previously barred magistrates, moving a step toward national consensus that the Supreme Court has the last word on the country's Constitution.

By Tim Muth, Guest blogger
El Salvador's constitutional crisis is officially over. The National Assembly has re-elected the magistrates to the classes of 2006 and 2012. The four judges of the constitutional chamber including Belarmino Jaime continue with their roles set out in El Salvador's constitution. The Supreme Court has a new President, Salomón Padilla. What are the lessons of this protracted crisis? A victory for constitutional order. The resolution of the crisis represented a vindication for the Constitutional Chamber.