Six In The Morning

Syria PM Riad Hijab defects to Jordan

　Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government, to join "the revolution", his spokesman says.


Mr Hijab was appointed less than two months ago and his departure is the highest-profile defection since the uprising began in March 2011. His family is reported to have fled Syria with him. A Sunni Muslim, Riad Hijab comes from the Deir al-Zour area of eastern Syria which has been caught up in the revolt. Continue reading the main story Riad Farid Hijab Born in 1966 in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria Married, with four children Holds a PhD in agriculture Joined the local branch of the Ba'ath Party command in 1998 Named governor of the southern province of Qunaytira in 2008 Transferred to head the Latakia governorate around the time protests were first reported - credited in state media with negotiating an end to a sit-in Appointed minister of agriculture on 14 April 2011 His spokesman Mohammed el-Etri told al-Jazeera TV that he was in a safe location. Mr Hijab is the first cabinet minister to defect. The BBC's Dale Gavlak in Jordan says the development underscores the cracks in the regime which are reaching beyond military ranks.

Curiosity rover: Nasa jubilant as Mars touchdown confirmed
£1.6bn robot the size of a small car has landed safely on Mars after daring interplanetary operation

Press Association guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 August 2012 07.39 BST
A £1.6bn one-tonne robot rover the size of a small car has landed safely on Mars after one of the most daring and difficult interplanetary missions attempted. The six-wheeled rover Curiosity was lowered to the Martian surface on three nylon tethers suspended from a hovering "sky crane" kept airborne with retro rockets. An expected signal confirming that the robot had landed was received on Earth at 6.31am UK time. There were scenes of jubilation at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California when the message came through to mission control: "Touchdown confirmed."

Rebirth of the wolf sees French Greens at each other's throats
Environmental battle ignites as predators begin to encroach on sheep-farming land

JOHN LICHFIELD MONDAY 06 AUGUST 2012
The lightning re-conquest of France by the wolf has provoked a civil war within French Greens, pitting one of the country's most renowned campaigners against environmentalists, some of whom are demanding his ousting from the movement. Wolves have been seen this summer for the first time since the 1920s in the sheep-rearing area in Lozère in the southern Auvergne, the home of Roquefort cheese. José Bové , sheep farmer-turned-environmental campaigner, has called publicly for the wolves to be shot, provoking protest from other French Greens, who point out that the grey wolf is a protected by European law.

Crustaceans shellacked by climate change


August 6, 2012 - 3:10PM
Ocean acidification caused by climate change is making it harder for creatures from clams to sea urchins to grow their shells, and the trend is likely to be felt most in polar regions, scientists said today. A thinning of the protective cases of mussels, oysters, lobsters and crabs is likely to disrupt marine food chains by making the creatures more vulnerable to predators, which could reduce human sources of seafood. "The results suggest that increased acidity is affecting the size and weight of shells and skeletons, and the trend is widespread across marine species," the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said in a statement of the findings.

A year on, oil still poisons Ogoniland
A landmark UN report last year slammed multinational oil companies for 50 years of oil pollution, but a year later, nothing has improved.

05 AUG 2012 14:51 - TIM COCKS
A bright yellow sign above the well in this sleepy Nigerian village says 'caution: not fit for use', and the sulphurous stink off the water that children still pump into buckets sharply reinforces that warning. "Can you smell it? Don't get any in your mouth or you'll be sick," said Victoria Jiji (55), as she walked past the bore hole in her home village of Ekpangbala, one of several in Ogoniland, southeast Nigeria, whose drinking water has turned toxic. Prosperity has flowed from Ogoniland, one of Africa's earliest crude oil producing areas, for decades.

Brazil: So hot right now
Brazilian culture is gaining popularity in the United States with everything from theater to video games. But its image isn't always positive or accurate.

By Rachel Glickhouse, Guest blogger
Brazilian culture is enjoying growing popularity in the United States, with everything from music to video games, from Neymar to cachaça. In some cases, they aren't positive or accurate visions of Brazilian culture, so it's something of a mixed blessing to see Brazil becoming increasingly visible stateside. Beginning in May, Max Payne 3 brought gritty visions of São Paulo to gamers in the US and all over the world. While it glorifies the violence often featured in other forms of entertainment about Brazil, it also had a surprising attention to detail, ranging from loads of Portuguese with native speakers to real Brazilian designer furniture in a penthouse scene.