Six In The Morning

5 December 2012 Last updated at 08:08 GMT

Philippine death toll from Typhoon Bopha rises

The death toll from a powerful storm battering the southern Philippines has risen to about 200, as rescue teams headed for affected areas.

At least 156 people are known to have died in Compostela Valley province alone when Typhoon Bopha struck Mindanao, local officials told the BBC.

Rescuers have reached most areas, but have had difficulty getting to some isolated communities.

Many were evacuated ahead of the storm, now over the western island of Palawan.

The typhoon is expected to move out into the South China Sea on Thursday.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel stays settlement course despite allies' appeals

Israel has stuck to its plans to widen its settlement activities in the aftermath of the UN's partial recognition of a Palestinian state. Back in New York, the General Assembly urged Israel to let in nuclear inspectors.

Six European governments and Australia summoned their Israeli envoys on Monday and Tuesday to express disappointment with plans to build settlements in an area of East Jerusalem, called E1, which could effectively divide the West Bank in two.

"Are new homes in our capital Jerusalem really more dangerous to the peace process than the Palestinian Authority's refusal to talk peace and to recognize Israel?" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, asked on the Twitter site.

The United States, Israel's staunchest ally, also opposed the move, with White House spokesman Jay Carney saying that Washington had made its position clear.

Islamist vs. SecularistsThe Post-Revolution Struggle for the Arab Soul

By Daniel Steinvorth

The rise of political Islam following the Arab Spring has many worried that the democratic achievements of the revolution could be lost. In Egypt and Tunisia alike, citizens are once again taking to the streets. But this time they are opposing Islamism. Does secularism still stand a chance?

Egypt's strongman was sitting in the first row of the mosque. "Anyone who criticizes the president is worse than the heretics who attacked the Prophet in Mecca," the imam preached in his sermon. Then he handed the microphone to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, saying that he should address the faithful himself. But he never got a chance.

"Down with Morsi! Down with the Muslim Brotherhood!" chanted hundreds of men who were now pushing their way to the front. "Enough is enough!" they shouted. "No to tyranny!" For them, it was intolerable to hear the president being compared with the Prophet Muhammad. Morsi, surrounded by bodyguards, had to leave the mosque on Friday. It was both a scandal and a first for Egypt.

The Irish Times - Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Old east-west divisions endure since 1975 accords

DANIEL McLAUGHLIN

Tomorrow Ireland hosts the 19th ministerial council meeting of the OSCE, a body set up to be a bridge across the divided world during the cold war

One could argue that the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, whose most important annual summit starts in Dublin tomorrow, is in urgent need of a new name.

A cursory glance at the 57-nation group reveals that it does much more than promote security in the traditional sense, is not always a model of international co-operation, and stretches far beyond Europe to encompass the US, Canada, the former Soviet Union and now Mongolia.

The OSCE was created as a bridge across the great geopolitical rift that divided the world – and, most starkly, Europe – during the cold war, inspired by the belief that nations are less likely to lob nuclear warheads at each other if they regularly meet around a table to discuss their differences.

Ghana's opposition leader takes second shot at top job

Politician Nana Akufo-Addo is again running for president of Ghana - a job that narrowly eluded him four years ago.

Akufo-Addo spent years campaigning against military regimes that once led Ghana and now, with democracy firmly in place, he is hoping to emerge victorious in this week's elections.

His rimless spectacles and full, round face are well known in this West African nation, with "Nana", as he is commonly known, having previously been attorney general, foreign minister and presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) he still leads.

In the 2008 polls, he fell just short of a first round win, taking 49.1% of the vote, then lost in the second round by some 40 000 votes to former president John Atta Mills, who died in July.

Greater China

SPEAKING FREELY
China to rule the seas - unmanned

By Elizabeth Van Wie Davis and Margaret Albert 

In the cold blue waters between China and Japan, a Chinese fishing craft collided with two Japanese coast guard patrol boats near the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Senkaku Islands in Japan. Following the collision on September 7, 2010, coastguards boarded the trawler and arrested the Chinese crew and captain. Following the incident, anti-Japanese protests were held in many Chinese cities, Chinese tour groups visiting Japan were recalled, and a decision was made to suspend the export of rare earths to Japan. [1] 

The strength of reaction in this seemingly small-scale maritime accident is a symptom of a deeply rooted conflict. The islands

  

occupy a sensitive position in China-Japan relations - they were first seized by Japan in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-5, with the annexation of Taiwan and Korea, followed by the invasion of China by Japan in the 1930s. [2]