Six In The Morning

U.S. and Japan unveil plan for returning Okinawa land

By Emily Alpert

The U.S. and Japan unveiled plans Friday for gradually returning some land on Okinawa now used by the American military, but still intend to relocate a U.S. Marine base elsewhere on the island, an idea fervently opposed by Okinawans.

The island hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, fueling longtime protests among residents who lament worsened noise, pollution and crime. Two sailors were imprisoned last month for allegedly raping an Okinawa woman, the latest incident to aggravate tensions on the island. Rallies have also erupted against the use of Osprey aircraft deemed dangerous by locals.

The U.S. and Japan agreed last year to shift thousands of Marines away from Okinawa and want to relocate one especially controversial base to a less-crowded area of the island, but residents insist it should be moved from Okinawa entirely.

EUROZONE CRISIS

Italians lose patience with political deadlock

In midst of an economic crisis, Italy is still without a new government. One month after elections, many Italians believe their political elite are lacking any sense of responsibility.

Instead of wanting to fix the country's problems Antonio Crispi is convinced that all politicians care about is power. The Naples barman has voted for the center-left Democratic Party (PD) which came out as winner but has yet to find a coalition partner to form a government.

"Berlusconi is unacceptable, but if he were to take a step back and allow a fresh face to take over ..." Crispi says, not quite finishing that sentence.

Non-Embryonic Stem Cells: The Dawning of a New Era of Hope

By Philip Bethge

Ethical worries have slowed medical research into applications for stem cells. But scientists like Robert Lanza have developed less controversial ways to derive stem cells from normal body cells rather than embryos and are already launching the first clinical trials.

Stem cell researcher Robert Lanza hopes to save thousands of lives -- and for a long time this caused him to fear for his own.

"They bused these crazy people up from Kansas, and then they picnicked right outside our front door," he says as he gazes out of his window at the gray winter landscape of Marlborough, Massachusetts. "The public thought we had these little buggy-eyed embryos here and were ripping apart their limbs to get these cells."

The physician always feared "somebody hiding in the bushes," waiting to attack him. At the time, a doctor was threatened at a nearby fertility clinic, and a pipe bomb exploded at a bio lab in Boston.

Tanzania government kicking Maasai off land: groups

Sapa-AP | 06 April, 2013 10:22

Tanzania's government is preparing to kick Masai tribesmen off cattle-grazing land near the country's most famous wildlife park and will instead allow a hunting company from the United Arab Emirates to take control of it, groups and community members trying to raise awareness on the issue said Friday. 

The reclassification of the land will create a "wildlife corridor" that will prevent the Maasai from accessing lands they've long used, thus destroying their traditional nomadic cattle-herding lifestyle, said Sarah Gilbertz of Survival International, a London-based group that works for the rights of tribal people worldwide.

Tanzania's Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism announced last week that it would not allow Maasai on a 1 500-square-kilometer section of the Loliondo Game Controlled Area "in order to resolve existing conflicts" and "save the ecology" of the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Loliondo game reserves.

But the groups say that's just an excuse to benefit a hunting company.

   Southeast Asia

Politics of corruption in Myanmar
By Larry Jagan 

YANGON - Signs of corruption are mounting in Myanmar, a crisis of confidence that threatens to derail President Thein Sein's ambitious reform program. Whether Thein Sein is willing to push through top-level prosecutions, including at the tainted telecommunications ministry, could make or break the country's transition from military to democratic rule. 

Underscoring decades of unaccountable military rule, Myanmar has consistently ranked near the top of Transparency International's global corruption rankings. Now, with financial reforms and economic liberalization measures promising to lure big new foreign investments and boost asset prices across the



economy, officials are increasingly leveraging their positions for personal gain, according to government insiders situated at the president's office. 

Portugal's unemployed heading to Mozambique 'paradise'

By Alexis AkwagyiramBBC News

In 1975, just after Mozambique had won its independence from Portugal after a bitter struggle, a quarter of a million Portuguese settlers fled the country. Fearful for their lives, but also without prospect of a livelihood, the mother country was a safer bet.

Now, nearly 40 years later, the flow is reversing.

With Portugal staggering economically, many now see the country's former colony as holding out more prospects than home.

Businessman Paulo Dias tells a story that is increasingly common.

He moved to Mozambique in 2010 after the financial crisis in Portugal convinced him that his future lay elsewhere.