Six In The Morning

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:24 GMT

Egypt crisis: Protesters maintain Mursi decree defiance

Egyptian protesters have vowed continued defiance against a decree granting President Mohammed Mursi wide-ranging new powers.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across the country on Tuesday, in one of the largest protests since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mursi has said the decree will be limited in scope, but has refused continuing demands to overturn it.

His opponents have called for another mass rally on Friday.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which Mr Mursi belonged to until he assumed the presidency, postponed a rally on Tuesday saying it wanted to avoid "public tension".

The Irish Times - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 

A new day begins for all Greeks, says PM after euro zone approves debt deal

DAMIAN Mac CON ULADH in Athens

There were few Greeks awake at 3am yesterday to hear their prime minister tell them that the Eurogroup’s agreement to pay out a long-awaited bailout instalment was the result of a fight by the entire country.

“Tomorrow a new day begins for all Greeks,” Antonis Samaras told reporters at 3am, shortly after euro zone politicians agreed to release a massive €43.7 billion tranche in bailout loans, in four instalments starting from the middle of next month.

The deal, Greece’s finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, said from Brussels, would keep Greece in the euro, contribute to debt reduction and offer it “a significant opportunity to exit the vicious cycle of recession and over-indebtedness”.

ARMED CONFLICT

M23 rebels to stay in Goma until demands are met

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced they would withdraw from the eastern city of Goma only if President Joseph Kabila agreed to their demands. Congo's government quickly dismissed this as a “farce.”

"The withdrawal, yes. If Kabila agrees to our demands then we'll go quickly," Jean-Marie Runiga, political chief of M23, told reporters Tuesday in a hotel in Goma, flanked by senior M23 officials in civilian clothes and rebels in military fatigues.

Lambert Mende, Congo's government spokesman, quickly dismissed M23's demands. "It's a farce, that's the word. There's been a document adopted by the region. If each day they're going to come back with new demands it becomes ridiculous. We're no longer in the realm of seriousness," Mende told Reuters from Kinshasa.

Middle East

New balance of terror in the Middle East

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi 

 In the week-long war between Israel and the Palestinians, slowly but surely signs have emerged of a new "balance of terror" reflecting Hamas's enhanced ability to strike back at Israel via the Iran-made long range Fajr-5 rocket. 

Compared with the previous war in 2009, when Hamas relied on the shorter range and more inaccurate rockets that rattled southern Israel before a ceasefire went into effect, this time we are witnessing a "more disciplined" and sophisticated Hamas missile brigade that reportedly has some 15,000 military personnel operating through a network of tunnels. 

It comes as little surprise then that Hamas has set its own conditions for a truce despite the deadly waves of Israeli air

Kim Jong-un Seems to Get a New Title: Heartthrob

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — How do you say satire in Mandarin?

Not known for its sense of humor, the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece apparently fell for a parody by The Onion, the satirical newspaper and Web site, when it reported Tuesday in some online editions of People’s Daily that Kim Jong-un, the young, chubby North Korean ruler, had been named the “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.”

Or did it?

The brief article, accompanied by a 55-photograph slide show, quoted from The Onion as evidence: “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true. Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper’s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle and, of course, that famous smile.”

Mexico moves to demote federal police force

Mexican President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto's plan to downsize and transfer control of the federal police raises questions about his security policies.

By Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times

MEXICO CITY — Through most of the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the federal police agency has held a starring role, built to seven times its previous size and favored by American advisors and dollars despite persistent troubles and scandals.

But President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, who is meeting Tuesday with President Obama, has already demonstrated that one of his immediate actions will be to demote the police force, raising questions about his security policies at a time of heightened deadly violence across the country.

Peña Nieto takes office Saturday. Even before the inauguration, his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is pushing through the legislature a restructuring of the government that would eliminate the Public Security Ministry, home to the federal police. Control over the police would be transferred to the Interior Ministry.