Friday, January 17, 2014

Six In The Morning Friday January 17

17 January 2014 Last updated at 08:18 GMT

Syria conflict: Opposition considers talks attendance

Syria's main political opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, is meeting in Istanbul to decide whether to go to next week's peace talks.
The coalition is under pressure from the US and its allies to participate in the Geneva II conference, though many of its members have already pulled out.
Some are reluctant to go unless President Bashar al-Assad is excluded from any transitional government.
Damascus says there should be no pre-conditions for the talks.
The three-year conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives.
An estimated two million people have fled the country and some 6.5 million have been internally displaced.





Hiroo Onoda, Japanese soldier who took three decades to surrender, dies


Second world war intelligence officer stayed stubbornly holed up in Philippine jungle until he was coaxed out in 1974

The last Japanese soldier to come out of hiding and surrender, almost 30 years after the end of the second world war, has died.
Hiroo Onoda, an army intelligence officer, caused a sensation when he was persuaded to come out of hiding in the Philippine jungle in 1974.
The native of Wakayama prefecture in western Japan died of heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on Thursday, his family said. He was 91.
Onoda’s three decades spent in the jungle – initially with three comrades and finally alone – came to be seen as an example of the extraordinary lengths to which some Japanese soldiers would go to demonstrate their loyalty to the then emperor, in whose name they fought.

South Korea snub North's offer to cancel military drills



South Korea rejected North Korea's offer to take a series of steps to ease tension that included cancelling Seoul's regular military drills with Washington, saying Friday that Pyongyang must take nuclear disarmament steps first.
The North's powerful National Defence Commission yesterday proposed the rivals halt military actions and mutual vilification to build better relations. The North, however, strongly hinted it would maintain its nuclear weapons program and urged South Korea to cancel its upcoming springtime drills with the United States.
The North's overture is a sharp departure from its repeated threats of nuclear strikes against Seoul and Washington that raised tensions a year ago. Analysts say Kim Jong Un's government hopes that improved ties with South Korea could help attract foreign investment to boost the communist nation's lagging economy.

Report documents ethnic killings as Uganda joins South Sudan fight

Ethnic killing of civilians by both government forces and rebels is "widespread" in South Sudan, according to a human rights group. The news comes after confirmation Uganda has troops fighting in the conflict.

The United Nations believes around 10,000 people have been killed in fighting between troops loyal to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and a loose coalition of rebel factions largely headed by former vice president Riek Machar.
The two are members of rival tribes, and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization believes many of the dead are innocent civilians victims of ethnic killings.
An HRW report released on Thursday included information gleaned from interviews with more than 200 victims and witnesses to abuses in the capital of Juba and the town of Bor, where fighting has been fierce.
"Appalling crimes have been committed against civilians for no other reason than their ethnicity," Daniel Bekele, Africa director at HRW, said in a statement.

The Mafia's Deadly Garbage: Italy's Growing Toxic Waste Scandal

By Walter Mayr

For decades, the Mafia has been dumping toxic waste illegally in the region north of Naples. Recently declassified testimony shows that leading politicians have known about the problem for years, yet done nothing about it -- even as the death toll climbs.

Carmine Schiavone has been baptized twice. The first time was as a newborn, by the priest. The second was by the godfather himself, Luciano Liggio, a leading figure in the Sicilian Mafia.
"The second baptism went like this," says Schiavone. "An icon was placed in my hand and a drop of blood was dribbled onto it. Then, the icon was burned and the following was recited: 'You shall burn like this saint if you betray the brothers or the allies of the Cosa Nostra.'"

What's behind the standoff between vigilantes and Mexican police in Michoacán?

Local religious leaders shed light on the tough-to-untangle face-off in Michoacán, Mexico.

By Correspondent 

When you want the truth in Mexico, talk to a priest. 

So says The Christian Science Monitor's Mexico City correspondent, who is currently traveling through the western state of Michoacán to report on a violent standoff between the federal government and armed vigilantes. The conflict has upended the local rule of law, shut down major transportation routes, and disrupted businesses from avocado farms to Pepsi truckers to Oxxo supermarkets. 
But the truth is hard to find in Mexico because of the confusing nature of this deadly clash. In theory, the government should be united with the vigilantes against a common enemy: the violent drug cartel known as Knights of Templar that has ruled Michoacán through intimidation and fear.




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