Six In The Morning

On Sunday

'A concentration camp for little boys': Dark secrets unearthed in KKK county
Excavators discover 50 bodies buried in the grounds of a boys' borstal, which was only shut in 2010

DAVID USBORNE FLORIDA SUNDAY 03 MARCH 2013
For years, almost no one at the Dozier School even knew about the burial ground in a clearing in the woods on the edge of campus. It was forbidden territory. The soil here, churned in places by tiny ants, holds more than the remains of little boys. Only now is it starting to give up its dark secrets: horror stories of state-sanctioned barbarism, including flogging, sexual assault and, possibly, murder. That the Arthur G Dozier School – a borstal for delinquent boys founded in 1900 – was not a gentle place was well-established. Boys as young as six were chained to walls, lashings with a leather strap were frequent and, in the early decades, children endured enforced labour, making bricks and working printing presses. When it was closed in 2011, it had already been the subject of separate federal and state investigations.

Chadian army chief claims troops killed al-Qaida terrorist behind Algeria plant attack


By Associated Press, Sunday, March 3, 5:43 AM
N’DJAMENA, Chad — Chad’s military chief announced late Saturday that his troops deployed in northern Mali had killed Moktar Belmoktar, the terrorist who orchestrated the attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria that left 36 foreigners dead. The French military, which is leading the offensive against al-Qaida-linked rebels in Mali, said they could not immediately confirm the information. Local officials in Kidal, the northern town that is being used as the base for the military operation, cast doubt on the assertion, saying Chadian officials are attempting to score a PR victory to make up for the significant losses they have suffered in recent days.

Three sisters raped and murdered: the tragedy that engulfed an Indian village
As the nation still struggles to come to terms with the attack on a Delhi student, another disturbing sex abuse case has shaken a rural community. It has raised awkward questions about police efficiency, disputed evidence and local gossip

Gethin Chamberlain in Murmadi, India The Observer, Sunday 3 March 2013
Priya was the vivacious one, a bright five- year-old who loved music and wanted to be a teacher. Prachi was quiet, nine years old and painfully shy; Tanuja more headstrong, an independent 11-year-old. The three sisters were Madhuri Borkar's only children. On 14 February they left home for schools in the village of Murmadi as usual. When they failed to return on time the family went to the police to report the girls missing. "Go away," the police told them. "Come back tomorrow if they don't turn up." No one knows if the girls were still alive at that point. But it was two more days before a farmer found their bodies floating in the dark water at the bottom of a deep well in a corner of a paddyfield one mile from their home.

Kenya's neighbors apprehensive as polls near


ELECTIONS
Kenya's neighbors have been taking precautions ahead of the March 4 elections. Should there be a repeat of the violence seen five years ago, imports of Kenyan goods could be disrupted. The opinion of the oldest members of a community should be treated with respect. That maxim still holds true in East Africa. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is not only the chairman of the East African Community, he is also the longest serving head of state in the alliance which groups Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi and his utterances carry weight.

Hamas leader plays to win
Khalid Mishal has abandoned his bunker but not his hardline anti-Israel rhetoric

March 3, 2013 Paul McGeough Chief foreign correspondent
The Doha skyline is like a woman's dressing table - a clutter of gaudy edifices like so many perfume bottles. For a while Hamas chief Khalid Mishal and his team operated from a floor perched high in one of the ''bottles'' but when he agrees to talk, on a mild evening early last month, his new office is revealed as a villa out in the suburbs. Visitors to the marbled villa that has become the leadership office-in-exile for the Palestinian resistance movement are relieved of all bags and baggage at the door. Some time later, the bags are returned - minus mobile phones.

Analysis: Castro brothers' successor may inherit a very different Cuba


By Carlos Rajo, Telemundo
Raul Castro’s recent announcement that he will leave power in 2018, and his appointment of 52-year-old Miguel Diez-Canel as first vice president and his de facto successor, are signs of the glacial pace of political change in Cuba. Certainly, these announcements won’t satisfy those who for decades have been waiting for the Castro brothers’ exit. Nevertheless, the move marks the beginning of the passing of the torch of power to a new generation.