SIx In The Morning

Koreas agree to hold talks on reopening jointly run complex after months of sinking relations

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, June 6, 6:35 PM

SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea on Thursday agreed to hold talks on reopening a jointly run factory complex and possibly other issues, after months of deteriorating relations and a day before a U.S.-China summit in which the North is expected to be a key topic.

The envisioned talks could help rebuild avenues of inter-Korean cooperation that were obliterated in recent years amid hardline stances by both countries, though the key issue isolating the North from the world community — its nuclear program — is not up for debate.

Ghana arrests 124 Chinese citizens for illegal gold mining

Arrest of suspected illegal miners highlights challenges posed by China's growing presence in Africa

• Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 June 2013 09.15 BST

Ghanaian authorities have arrested 124 Chinese citizens for illegal goldmining in the resource-rich west African country, highlighting the social and environmental challenges posed by China's growing presence on the continent.

Local police arrested the suspected illegal miners in the country's capital, Accra, China's state newswire Xinhua reported on Thursday, citing Francis Palmdeti, the head of the Ghana immigration service. Many of them are likely to face deportation.

Ghana, the continent's second-largest gold producer, has forbidden foreigners from working in its small-scale mines since the 1980s. Locals have criticised Chinese miners for taking local jobs, polluting lakes and rivers, and wielding weapons such as AK-47 rifles to ward off robbers.

Erdogan faces demands for apology on return to Turkey

Riot police fire tear gas as demonstrators throw stones in heart of capital Ankara

Turkish police clashed with demonstrators overnight ahead of the return of prime minister Tayyip Erdogan to a nation rattled by a week of protest against his leadership.

Mr Erdogan returns from a visit to North Africa to face demands he apologise over a fierce police crackdown and sack those who ordered it, following six days of protests that have left two dead and more than 4,000 injured in a dozen cities.

Riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators who threw stones at them and chanted anti-Erdogan slogans in the heart of the capital Ankara last night, witnesses said.

Suspicion and Hate: Racist Attacks On Arabs Increase in Israel

By Julia Amalia Heyer

Arabs are being beaten and insulted in Israel, where the number of racially motivated attacks has risen dramatically. The unresolved conflict, fueled by nationalist politicians, is shifting from Palestinian areas into the Israeli heartland.

The horror is etched on her face and caught on camera. Revital Wolkov is sitting in the driver's seat of her white Toyota, staring over her right shoulder, through the broken rear window, directly into the lens. The hole in the window is shaped like a large butterfly.

Wolkov, 53, teaches history in Ramat HaSharon, near Tel Aviv. She was attacked and her car was damaged, merely because an Arab colleague was sitting in the passenger seat. It happened in March, but it wasn't the only attack of its kind.

In the spring, several Jewish teenage girls asked a women standing at a bus stop in Jerusalem whether she was an Arab.

Was Venezuela's release of US filmmaker Timothy Tracy an olive branch?

Timothy Tracy was expelled from Venezuela today after spending more than a month in government detention for allegedly spying on behalf of the US.

By Andrew Rosati, Correspondent

CARACAS, VENEZUELA

After more than a decade of tough talk and frigid foreign relations, the Maduro administration may have shown the first sign that Venezuela could be warming up to the United States. Timothy Tracy, an American documentary filmmaker, was released after spending more than a month in government detention for allegedly spying and planning unrest after Venezuela's April 14 presidential election.

Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres (@MRodriguezTorre) wrote on Twitter: "The American Timothy Hallet Tracy, who was caught spying in our country, has been expelled from the national territory." Mr. Tracy's lawyers said his film had nothing to do with Venezuela's national security.


South Asia

Jun 6, '13

Window shuts on Pakistani talks with Taliban
By RFE/RL 

Pakistani politicians vying for a seat in parliament lured war-weary voters with promises of peace negotiations with one of the country's most violent militant groups. But now that the elections are over, it appears the window of opportunity for talks has already closed. 

A string of events essentially buried hopes of a negotiated peace between the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government. And this, observers say, could compel the incoming government to abandon the promises they made to their constituents and settle instead for minimizing future TTP attacks. 

The first blow to negotiation efforts came with the recent death of



TTP deputy leader Wali-ur Rehman. His killing in a US drone attack on May 29 prompted the militant group to withdraw its offer to hold talks with the government through interlocutors.