Six In The Morning

25 July 2013 Last updated at 09:15 GMT

Spain train crash: Galicia derailment kills 78

At least 78 people have been killed in the passenger train derailment in north-western Spain, officials say.

More than 140 were hurt, 20 seriously, after all eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train came off the tracks near Santiago de Compostela.

Media reports say the train may have been travelling at more than twice the speed limit around a curve.

It is the worst train crash in Spain in 40 years. Seven days of mourning have been declared in the Galicia region.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, has arrived at the scene of the accident.

Rapid Arctic thawing could be economic timebomb, scientists say

Methane released by a thinning permafrost may trigger catastrophic climate change and cost the world $60tn

• John Vidal
• The Guardian, Thursday 25 July 2013

Rapid thawing of the Arctic could trigger a catastrophic "economic timebomb" which would cost trillions of dollars and undermine the global financial system, say a group of economists and polar scientists.

Governments and industry have expected the widespread warming of the Arctic region in the past 20 years to be an economic boon, allowing the exploitation of new gas and oilfields and enabling shipping to travel faster between Europe and Asia. But the release of a single giant "pulse" of methane from thawing Arctic permafrost beneath the East Siberian sea "could come with a $60tn [£39tn] global price tag", according to the researchers who have for the first time quantified the effects on theglobal economy.

ROBERT FISK

Wednesday 24 July 2013

The Egyptian army wants to destroy the Muslim Brotherhood – but in many ways they are already history

Many see the Brotherhood’s defeat as the beginning of the end of the Islamist ideology

When a general asks the people to go on the streets to show their support for the army in its battle against “violence”, it could be a very dodgy day. Tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters remain camped across Cairo and other Egyptian cities – “terrorists” is the tired but dangerous code word that General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi used about them yesterday – and at first reading his appeal looked like a call to the Brotherhood’s opponents to destroy what have in effect become “no-go areas” in Nasr City and Giza. The Egyptian press, ever ready to echo the general’s words, now uses “terrorism” with ever increasing promiscuity and el-Sisi’s demand for mass demonstrations in Egypt tomorrow raises some very disturbing questions.

Having been fingered for the massacre of Brotherhood members earlier this month, the army are in no mood for a repeat performance.

Fallen political star Bo Xilai charged with bribery, corruption in China

July 25, 2013 - 12:55PM

Philip Wen

China correspondent for Fairfax Media

Fallen political star Bo Xilai has been formally charged with bribery, corruption and abuse of power, more than a year after he was stood down as Chongqing's party chief over the scandal stemming from the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

Official news agency Xinhua said prosecutors in the eastern city of Jinan in Shandong province had indicted Mr Bo on Thursday, confirming mounting speculation that his trial was drawing near.

Mr Bo's upcoming trial is widely expected to be no more than a show trial 

That speculation arose from an internal document circulating in Chongqing, which outlined charges of Mr Bo receiving millions of yuans of bribes via his wife, Gu Kailai.

Basta 'La Casta': No End in Sight to Italy's Economic Decline

By Hans-Jürgen Schlamp

The Italian economy may be the third largest in the euro zone, but it is also plagued by inefficiency and continues to shrink. The country's political leadership has proven unable to implement badly needed reforms and the future looks grim.

The euphoria was evident. "We've done it!" Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta tweeted earlier this month after the European Commission had provided his country with new financial leeway.

Letta had managed to convince Brussels that Italy would remain below the European Union's budget deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product, if only by a hair, at a forecast 2.9 percent. The premier insisted that his country finally had the latitude to stimulate growth and promote new jobs, and that his administration had achieved "perhaps the most important result" of all time. That was at the beginning of July. Since then, politicians and lobbyists have been energetically arguing over how to take advantage of the new opportunity.

Grassroots media on the rise amid Brazil protests and Pope Francis visit

Brazil's Mídia Ninja is a citizen media group that's been covering widespread protests through live streaming and other social media tools.

By Rachel Glickhouse, Guest blogger 

One of the most interesting elements of Brazil's protests, which continue to simmer across the country in smaller numbers, is the use of new media to plan, broadcast, and report on the demonstrations. Mídia Ninja is perhaps the best known group to emerge, and has used social media and webcasting as tools to cover the protests.

Given its role, Mídia Ninja could have simply been evidence of a rise in citizen journalism, but it has also gained a role as a protagonist in the protests. On July 22, during a Rio protest on day one of the Pope's visit to Brazil, two Mídia Ninjareporters were arrested (and subsequently released) after police claimed they were trying to "incite violence" by broadcasting the event. A total of seven people were arrested, and one of the protesters was initially denied bail.