Six In The Morning Wednesday June 11

11 June 2014 Last updated at 08:21

Iraq crisis: Islamists force 500,000 to flee Mosul

As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee the Iraqi city of Mosul after Islamist militants effectively took control of it, theInternational Organization for Migration says.

Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIS group overran the city and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh.

ISIS has now reportedly taken Baiji, home to Iraq's largest oil refinery.

PM Nouri Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.

The US said the development showed ISIS was a threat to the entire region.

ISIS - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - is an offshoot of al-Qaeda which now controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a militant enclave straddling the border.

British oil company SOCO agrees to cease operations in Congo’s Virunga National Park

CAHAL MILMO   Wednesday 11 June 2014

A British oil company has agreed to end its controversial operations in Africa’s oldest national park following a campaign by environmentalists who warned of “devastating consequences” if drilling in the area proceeded.

SOCO International Plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and last year had revenues of £360m, said it had reached an agreement with the conservation group WWF to end exploratory work in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park, classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 and the last refuge for the country’s mountain gorillas.

The oil and gas company was awarded permission to explore for oil in an area known as Block V, overlapping the Virunga park, by the DRC government in 2010, and had recently begun seismic and environmental surveys. It has repeatedly underlined that its work was taking place far from gorilla areas or rainforest.

Sunni militants move on largest oil refinery in Iraq

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant advances into Baiji, burns court and police station

Militants from al-Qaeda splinter group ISIL who seized Iraq’s second biggest city ofMosul yesterday have advanced into the oil refinery town of Baiji, setting the court house and police station on fire, security sources said today.

They said about 250 guards at the refinery had agreed to withdraw to another town after the militants sent a delegation of local tribal chiefs to persuade them to pull out.

Baiji resident Jasim al-Qaisi said the militants also warned local police and soldiers not to challenge them.

Chile rejects divisive dam project in Patagonia

Most Chileans opposed HidroAysen, an $8 billion plan that would have built five dams on two of the world's wildest rivers, boosting the country's energy output.

By Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press

SANTIAGO, CHILE — Chile's government rejected an $8 billion proposal to dam Patagonian rivers to meet the country's growing energy demands, handing a victory to environmentalists who praised Tuesday's ruling as a landmark moment.

A ministerial commission rejected the HidroAysen plan, which would have tamed two of the world's wildest rivers and built more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of power lines to supply energy to central Chile.

After a three-hour meeting, Chile's ministers of agriculture, energy, mining, economy, and health voted unanimously to reject the project. The committee "decided to side with complaints presented by the community," Environment Minister Pablo Badenier told reporters. "As of now, the hydroelectric project has been rejected."

Vietnam Says China Sends Six Warships to Rig in Disputed Waters

By Bloomberg News  Jun 11, 2014 2:44

Vietnam said China again shifted an oil rig it has placed in disputed waters, with six warships guarding the structure as the two communist countries continue their South China Sea stand-off.

The rig was moved for a third time and remains off Vietnam’s coast in an area claimed by both countries, the official Vietnam News reported, citing information from the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department. There are now six Chinese warships, 38 coast guard vessels, 13 cargo ships and 19 tugboats protecting it, the paper said.

The tit-for-tat accusations between China and Vietnam about the positioning of the oil rig and of collisions between their vessels in the area comes at a time of heightened territorial tensions across the South China Sea. China, which claims a large part of the waters under a 1940s-era map, has stepped up its assertions to both the Paracel Islands off Vietnam’s coast and the more southerly Spratly Islands.

Thai army delegation visits China amid Western reproach of coup

BY AMY SAWITTA LEFEVRE

BANGKOK Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:26am EDT

(Reuters) - A delegation of Thai military commanders travelled to China on Wednesday for talks on regional security and joint training amid Western reproach of the army's seizure of power in a coup last month.

General Surasak Kanjanarat, Thailand's de facto defence minister, said the meeting was aimed at mapping out "future plans of action" with the Chinese army, one of its oldest regional allies. He did not elaborate on the plans.

The bid by Thailand's military rulers to strengthen ties with China comes after Western powers, including old ally the United States, criticised the May 22 coup and called for a speedy return to democracy.