Six In The Morning

Venezuela's Chavez wins re-election, officials say


By NBC News staff and wire services
CARACAS - With 90 percent of the votes in, President Hugo Chavez was declared the winner in the Venezuela presidential election Sunday night. Chavez received 54 percent of the vote to serve an unprecedented third term after he changed the country's constitution, NBC News reported. Jubilant Chavez supporters set off fireworks as the results were announced. Election officials said opposition challenger Henrique Capriles won 45 percent of the vote. Earlier in the day, Chavez said he would accept the results of the country's election, whether he wins or loses. "We'll respect the results, whatever they are," he told reporters after casting his vote in Caracas. He also said voters were turning out in massive numbers in Sunday's election. The vote was widely viewed as the toughest electoral challenge of Chavez's nearly 14-year-old presidency. Chavez was greeted at the polling center by American actor Danny Glover and Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu.

Plucky little Turkey standing up to evil Syria? It's not as simple as that
The Long View: Turkey is funnelling weapons and armed men across the border into Syria

Robert Fisk Monday 8 October 2012
How the government howled. With the help of a neighbouring state, "terrorists" were trying to destroy the government and its army, blowing up and murdering its supporters. "Terrorists" were crossing the international border, arms were being shipped over the frontier and given to rebels fighting the government, "non-lethal" aid was being sent to the opposition. I couldn't help remembering this when I crossed that same border four days ago. Not from Turkey into Syria, but from the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland. There, to the left of the Newry road on a plateau of rock and green grass, lay the broken wire-mesh anti-mortar screen which once guarded the fortress where British troops – so often attacked by the IRA from Dundalk in the Republic – guarded the border.

Rwandan civilians tortured into making false confessions, says Amnesty
Former detainees tell Amnesty they were subjected to electric shocks and beatings in military camp and safe houses

David Smith in Kigali The Guardian, Monday 8 October 2012
Scores of civilians in Rwanda have allegedly been tortured into making false confessions after being detained illegally without charge or trial, an investigation by Amnesty International has found. Former detainees claimed they were subjected to electric shocks, severe beatings and sensory deprivation while being held at a military camp and a secret network of safe houses in the capital, Kigali, according to Amnesty. The report is the latest blow to the Rwandan president Paul Kagame's battered reputation following allegations of persecuting opponents, gagging media and arming rebels in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. International donors have partially suspended aid but Britain in particular is under mounting pressure to go further.

French police dismantle network that targeted Jews
The Irish Times - Monday, October 8, 2012

RUADHÁN MAC CORMAIC, in Paris
FRENCH PRESIDENT François Hollande pledged to increase security around synagogues and enact tougher anti-terrorism laws after a series of police raids dismantled an alleged Islamist network that targeted Jews. A 33-year-old man suspected of a grenade attack on a Jewish market was shot dead by police in Strasbourg on Saturday morning and 11 others were detained in what prosecutors called “a huge anti-terrorist operation”. The police raids, which took place simultaneously in Paris, Strasbourg, Nice and Cannes, were connected to an incident in which a grenade was thrown into a kosher market in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles on September 19th. One person was wounded in that attack.

Atalanta takes wind out of sea pirates' sails
Pirates are a big danger for international shipping around the Horn of Africa. But in 2012, the number of attacks declined. One reason is heightened military presence - German soldiers are also involved.


The waters off the Horn of Africa are still considered the world's most dangerous. For years, pirates have been attacking ships from the Somali coast, kidnapping the crew and demanding ransom. According to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a project of non-governmental organization One Earth Future, last year, a total of 35 people lost their lives during attacks, rescue attempts or during months as hostages. One Earth put the costs caused by the estimated 800 to 1,500 pirates every year at almost $7 billion (5.4 billion euros). But pirate attacks have gone down in number in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean, according to the International Chamber of Shipping.

Below the line: Poverty in America
Official figures say 46 million Americans live in poverty. Beyond that, there's little about poverty that Americans can agree on.

By Jina Moore, Correspondent / October 7, 2012
Technically, Linda Criswell steals her fruit. No one at King's Daughters Day Care, where she works, would begrudge her an orange or an apple, of course. This isn't that kind of workplace. When she grabs a piece of whatever the kids are having that day, she's welcome to it. But the simple staple is also something she can't buy on her own. "I can't afford fresh fruit or low-fat meat. I can't get cauliflower or green peppers," she says. When she does buy food, "I buy things that stretch longer." She opts for whole roasted chickens that she spins into four or five meals. She can stretch a tomato, grown in her home garden, across an afternoon salad and an evening BLT sandwich. Until the first frosts come, and the plants die, that is. Then she waits until summer to eat tomatoes again.