Six In The Morning Monday February 17

17 February 2014 Last updated at 06:07

UN 'wants North Korean regime crimes punished'

A year-long UN inquiry into rights abuses in North Korea is due to be published, and is expected to urge punishment for systematic violations by the state.

A panel of experts mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council said North Koreans had suffered "unspeakable atrocities".

The panel heard evidence of torture, enslavement, sexual violence, severe political repression and other crimes.

It is expected to recommend an inquiry by an international court or tribunal.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the report is expected to be one of the most detailed and devastating ever published by the United Nations.

Access to Stasi files keeps the past in the present

When Germany opened the book on its divisive past, it revealed universal lessons for all, including Northern Ireland

Derek Scally

 Stack up the files left behind by East Germany’s feared secret police – the Stasi – and you could fill the road from Newry to Dublin. A quarter of a century after EastGermany ceased to exist, the 111km paper trail of its so-called “sword and shield” still exerts an appalling fascination.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, and before unification, Germany faced a choice with far-reaching consequences: should it open or seal the Stasi archives? Politicians in both Germanys, including then West German interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble, called for the files to be sealed to prevent their contents contaminating unification. After an emotional debate, the first and last democratically elected East German parliament, the Volkskammer, voted in April 1990 to preserve the files with access for all.

Today this decision is seen as a historical gold standard. Just as Northern Irelandpoliticians are invited to speak around the world on powersharing, Stasi experts and archivists remain in demand to explain how they came to terms with their poisonous past.

Trapped South African miners refuse to leave pit

The operation to rescue illegal gold miners trapped in an abandoned mine in South Africa has been halted overnight.

So far 11 miners have been rescued from the shaft near Johannesburg.

Other trapped miners refused to leave after discovering they faced arrest at the surface. It is unclear how many remain underground, with reports suggesting they could number 200.

A full rescue operation will not restart unless the miners request it, said an emergency services official.

Werner Vermaak of ER24 told the BBC the mine site would be guarded overnight by a private security company, who can call for help if the miners change their mind. They could also prevent unauthorised rescue attempts.

CNN Exclusive: Syrian town left scarred by opposition group ISIS' brutal rule

By Arwa Damon and Raja Razek, CNN

February 17, 2014 -- Updated 0705 GMT (1505 HKT)

Addana, Syria (CNN) -- From the moment we cross the Turkish border into Syria, evidence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's draconian and brutal rule lingers.

More than a month after the group was driven from the town of Addana, residents here drive through the streets, pointing out where ISIS fighters carried out executions and left bodies to rot for all to see.

"That's where they had one of their checkpoints," says rebel fighter Abu Sa'ed, pointing to a small concrete building on the side of the road as we speed past.

ISIS arrived in Addana about a year ago, initially welcomed in the conservative town by Islamist fighters. But within a few months, ISIS had entrenched itself and begun exerting its harsh order through what one fighter calls "terrorism and punishment."

Rice farmers besiege Thai PM's office as protesters surround government HQ

 By Amy Sawitta Lefevre

Hundreds of unpaid Thai rice farmers swarmed around the temporary office of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday, threatening to storm the building if the beleaguered premier did not come out and speak to them.

The escalation of the protest by farmers, who have not been paid for crops sold to the government under a state rice-buying scheme that helped sweep Yingluck's Puea Thai Party to power, came as thousands of demonstrators seeking to unseat the prime minister surrounded the government's headquarters.

Live television pictures showed farmers climbing over barbed wire fences and barriers at the Defence Ministry compound in north Bangkok where Yingluck has set up temporary offices. They pushed back a line of riot police, who retreated from confrontation, but did not enter the building.

Venezuelan Protests Continue into Fourth Day

Venezuelan police fired tear gas and turned water cannons on stone-throwing protesters on Saturday to stop them blocking a Caracas highway in a fourth day of sporadic unrest against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

The latest trouble flared as night fell, after thousands of Maduro supporters had earlier flooded the center of the capital to call for peace and make a show of political strength after this week's deadly violence during street protests.

Three people were shot dead on Wednesday in the worst violence since Maduro's disputed election last year.

The 51-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez has faced two weeks of mainly small protests led by students and hardline opposition leaders complaining about Venezuela's rampant crime, shortages of basic products, and alleged repression of political rivals.