Six In The Morning Sunday December 8

8 December 2013 Last updated at 07:24 GMT

Mandela death: 'Day of prayer' in South Africa

People in South Africa are taking part in a day of "prayer and reflection" for late President Nelson Mandela.

President Jacob Zuma will attend a service in a Methodist church in Johannesburg, with other multi-faith services planned throughout the day.

A national memorial service will be held on Tuesday, ahead of a state funeral on 15 December.

South Africans have been holding vigils since Mr Mandela died on Thursday at the age of 95.

President Jacob Zuma urged South Africans to go to stadiums, halls, churches, and other places of worship on Sunday to remember their former leader.

PATRICK COCKBURN

Sunday 8 December 2013

Mass murder in the Middle East is funded by our friends the Saudis

World View: Everyone knows where al-Qa'ida gets its money, but while the violence is sectarian, the West does nothing

Donors in Saudi Arabia have notoriously played a pivotal role in creating and maintaining Sunni jihadist groups over the past 30 years. But, for all the supposed determination of the United States and its allies since 9/11 to fight "the war on terror", they have showed astonishing restraint when it comes to pressuring Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies to turn off the financial tap that keeps the jihadists in business.

Compare two US pronouncements stressing the significance of these donations and basing their conclusions on the best intelligence available to the US government. The first is in the 9/11 Commission Report which found that Osama bin Laden did not fund al-Qa'ida because from 1994 he had little money of his own but relied on his ties to wealthy Saudi individuals established during the Afghan war in the 1980s. Quoting, among other sources, a CIA analytic report dated 14 November 2002, the commission concluded that "al-Qa'ida appears to have relied on a core group of financial facilitators who raised money from a variety of donors and other fund-raisers primarily in the Gulf countries and particularly in Saudi Arabia".

Purged North Korean Jang Song-thaek cut from film

December 8, 2013 - 5:25PM

North Korea's state-run television has broadcast a rerun of a propaganda documentary about its leader, Kim Jong Un, after deleting all footage showing his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who South Korean intelligence officials believe was recently dismissed from all his posts.

The erasing of Mr Jang from the documentary was the clearest sign yet that Mr Jang, who had long been considered the second most influential man in the reclusive North Korean government, has fallen from power. In the past, when North Korea purged high-ranking officials, it destroyed the publications containing their photos or reissued them with their pictures blacked out.

The North's Korean Central Television ran the hourlong propaganda film nine times between October 7 and October 28, according to the national news agency Yonhap of South Korea, which monitors the North Korean broadcasts. The documentary featured Mr Kim's military-related activities, such as his visits to barracks to the rousing welcome of soldiers. In a dozen spots, Mr Jang was seen accompanying Mr Kim.

Hospital attacked in Central African Republic

France increases troop presence to 1,600 after almost 400 people are killed in three days of violence. Last updated: 08 Dec 2013 03:12 A hospital in the capital of the Central African Republic has been attacked by armed gunmen, according to Al Jazeera sources. At least ten people were killed when Seleka rebels arrived late on Friday night at Bangui's Amitie hospital, where many of those wounded from days of violence were being treated. The gunmen reportedly pulled injured victims from the hospital, and shot them dead. The hospital has since been abandoned, Al Jazeera has been told. On Saturday, the country's interim authorities ordered all forces except foreign peacekeepers and the presidential guard off the streets of Bangui. Chile's Pinochet-era dictatorship: Were soldiers victims, too? Former conscripts are campaigning for compensation from the Chilean state for alleged abuse, unpaid pensions, and salaries for mandatory military service. By Kyle G. Brown, Contributor SANTIAGO, CHILE In a modest hilltop home off of a long, winding road that leads out of Santiago into the Andean mountains, Anastasio Palma and Carlos Ortega talk boisterously about life in the Armed Forces. But this isn’t your typical soldier reunion, filled with tales of camaraderie or youthful shenanigans. Mr. Palma and Mr. Ortega were conscripted soldiers during theAugusto Pinochet dictatorship, and are part of a growing movement of former conscripts demanding reparations from the Chilean government for alleged human rights violations. “Me and my brothers, we get together and we suffer. We don’t remember good times, but the bad times,” says Palma, who was conscripted in 1978 at the age of 17, and posted near Chile’s border with Argentina and Bolivia. Iran's president calls for consensus, but divisions run deep On a traditional day of protest, President Hassan Rouhani addresses a crowd that embodies the challenges of political reform and improved relations with the West. By Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell In a speech marking Student Day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday sought "consensus" for his ambitious goals of political reform, economic growth and improved relations with the outside world. But as he spoke to a gathering at Shahid Beheshti University, the lack of consensus within this divided nation was evident in slogans shouted from the crowd. "Release political prisoners!" was one cry that periodically erupted from the audience, along with the familiar refrain, "Death to the U.S.A.!" For the Rouhani administration, which has been in office slightly more than four months, the chants dramatized significant challenges from opposite ends of the political spectrum.