Six In The Morning

Updated with Cnn video of Malala's arrival at hospital in Birmingham England

Softbank of Japan says deal reached to acquire 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion


By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, October 15
Tokyo-based mobile phone company Softbank Corp. has reached a deal to acquire 70 percent of U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel for $20.1 billion in the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Japanese company. The deal, announced Monday at a joint news conference in Tokyo by Softbank President Masayoshi Son and Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse, was given a green light by the boards of both companies. It still needs approval from Sprint shareholders and U.S. regulators. Softbank said the deal is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. The deal will bring together the third biggest mobile carriers of both Japan and the U.S., underlining the growth ambitions of Softbank, which has made a series of acquisitions and investments over the last couple of decades, including Yahoo Japan, the Japan unit of British mobile company Vodafone and Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company.

Iran accused of plotting Gulf oil spill to punish West for sanctions by poisoning Gulf


TONY PATERSON MONDAY 15 OCTOBER 2012
A top-secret Iranian plan to cause a deliberate and massive oil-tanker spill at the entrance to the Persian Gulf has been leaked to Western intelligence agencies. The plan, codenamed "Dirty Water" and first reported in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, was reportedly intended to "punish" the West for imposing sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme. The idea, said to have been drawn up by the leader of Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, was to wreck or sabotage an oil tanker in the Straits of Hormuz – the narrow seaway between Iran and Oman which is used by more than a third of the world's oil tankers to enter the Persian Gulf.

Air space dispute escalates between Turkey, Syria
Tensions between Syria and Turkey continue to increase. Following Syria's move to block its air space to Turkish flights, Turkey has responded in kind. Some thorny issues in air space control have emerged in the case.

AVIATION
What began as a border conflict has now turned into a dispute about air space. Beginning Saturday (13.10.2012), Syria declared that Turkish planes must not enter its skies. The Turkish government responded by banning Syrian aircraft from entering its air space. On Wednesday, the Turkish government forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus to land in Ankara. Turkey said the move was motivated by suspicions from Turkish intelligence that military equipment may have been on board the flight. The Airbus A-320 was intercepted by Turkish F-16 fighter jets. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan then claimed that Turkish authorities had found military gear on board, but the Russian government has denied these claims. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the plane was carrying a legal delivery of radar parts.

Talk of north Mali intervention grows
Before Islamists seized the northern half of Mali, Mamadou Sekere sold masks and jewelry in Timbuktu to European tourists.

14 OCT 2012 18:05 - SAPA-AP
Now, Sekere is in Mopti where one of his wives gathers leaves to feed the family. His other wife, who stayed behind when he fled Timbuktu, calls several times a day. He's got 10 children with one and eight with the other, but can only shake his head when asked where they all are now. Sekere waits for the day when the Islamists leave Timbuktu, where they recently carried out a public execution in front of 600 people and have banned items ranging from perfume to Nokia ringtones. Sekere's handicrafts are hidden inside the walls of his home until he, and the tourists, can return.

Food fight: Naples protests 'culinary racism' over pizza snub
Naples prides itself as the birthplace of pizza. So when a top Italian food guide overlooked the city's famed dish, protests erupted.

By Nick Squires, Correspondent / October 14, 2012
It prides itself as the birthplace of the pizza and the global benchmark for Italy’s most famous culinary export. So when Naples heard this week that the latest edition of Italy’s most respected restaurant guide had nominated a pizzeria in faraway, foggy Verona as the best in the country, there was spluttering outrage. Worse than that, not a single one of Naples’ estimated 2,000 pizzerias had made it into the 2013 edition of Gambero Rosso, Italy’s ‘bible’ for foodies. Indignant “pizzaioli”, as pizza makers are known, staged noisy demonstrations in some of Naples’ most famous pizzerias to rail against what they saw as an injustice and a humiliation.

Philippines and Muslim rebels sign key peace plan
The Philippines has signed a framework peace plan with the country's largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

15 October 2012 Last updated at 09:26 GMT
The deal follows lengthy negotiations aimed at ending a 40-year conflict that has cost an estimated 120,000 lives. The agreement was reached in early October after talks in Malaysia. It provides for a new autonomous region in part of the south where Muslims are a majority in a mainly Catholic nation. The framework deal was signed by the chief negotiators of the government and the rebels, and witnessed by President Benigno Aquino and MILF leader Murad Ebrahim at the presidential palace in Manila. The two leaders met and exchanged gifts ahead of the signing. Murad Ebrahim, said to be in his 60s, is the first MILF leader to visit the palace.