Six In The Morning Sunday June 1

1 June 2014 Last updated at 08:49

Brussels Jewish Museum killings: Man held in Marseille

A Frenchman has been arrested in Marseille over a shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that left four people dead, officials say.

Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise.

He was reportedly carrying a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to the ones used in the May 24 attack.

Security was tightened at Jewish sites across Belgium following the killings.

Mr Nemmouche, a French national who is believed to be from the northern town of Roubaix, is also suspected of having been with Islamists militants in Syria last year.

How Antwerp turned into Europe's go-to city for cocaine

Antwerp, Belgium's genteel port city, is now revealed as a global drugs gateway and the cocaine capital of Europe

• Jamie Doward
• The Observer, Sunday 1 June 2014

A country probably has to admit to a drugs problem when even its wildlife is on cocaine. As of yesterday morning, an online petition calling on the Belgian government to protect the country's racing pigeons from being doped with performance-enchancing cocaine was 200 shy of its target of 45,000 signatures.

That nefarious pigeon fanciers have apparently been using the drug as their doping agent of choice is a reminder that a nation often pilloried for being boring is also partial to South America's most notorious export.

According to last month's Global Drug Survey, Belgians are the most enthusiastic consumers of cocaine in the world, giving the drug a rating of 5.5/10 compared with just 2.2/10 from Australians, who rated it the least highly.

Brazil's sex trade: How the country's one million prostitutes are preparing for the World Cup

The headlines say that the sex workers of Brazil are preparing for the World Cup with English lessons and credit-card facilities. But what is life really like in the country’s licensed brothels? Ewan MacKenna reports from the ‘zonas’ of Belo Horizonte, where England will play their final group match

EWAN MACKENNA 

Sunday 01 June 2014

According to the locals, it's the bar capital of the world, with more than 12,000 catering for the five million citizens of Brazil's third city. Others will recall Belo Horizonte as the scene of England's most humiliating football defeat, when a hearse driver and teacher from the US stunned the national team at the 1950 World Cup. But if the 5,000 or so English ticket holders expected here for England's final group game against Costa Rica in a few weeks' time look a little more closely, they may remember it for something else. As is the case across Brazil, peer behind the mask and another reality stares back at you.

In downtown Belo Horizonte are 23 brothels, known locally as zonas. They are hidden up narrow staircases between shops in the grim city centre, a place so grey, in parts, that you could be in the old Soviet Union except for the scorching sun above.

The Opinion-Makers: How Russia Is Winning the Propaganda War

By SPIEGEL Staff

With the help of news services like RT and Ruptly, the Kremlin is seeking to reshape the way the world thinks about Russia. And it has been highly successful: Vladimir Putin has won the propaganda war over Ukraine and the West is divided.

Ivan Rodionov sits in his office at Berlin's Postdamer Platz and seems to relish his role as the bad guy. He rails in almost accent-free German, with a quiet, but sharp voice, on the German media, which, he claims, have been walking in "lockstep" when it comes to their coverage of the Ukraine crisis. During recent appearances on two major German talk shows, Rodionov disputed allegations that Russian soldiers had infiltrated Crimea prior to the controversial referendum and its annexation by Russia. He says it's the "radical right-wing views" of the Kiev government, and not Russia, that poses the threat. "Western politicians," he says, "are either helping directly or are at least looking on."

Rodionov defends President Vladimir Putin so vehemently that one could be forgiven for confusing him with a Kremlin spokesperson. But Rodionov views himself as a journalist.

Pakistan's 'Burka Avenger' uses books, pens to right wrongs

A children's cartoon TV series, in which a female superhero dons a burka to fight injustice, has won a prestigious Peabody Award.

By Nita Bhalla, Thomson Reuters Foundation 

Pakistan's 'Burka Avenger' uses books, pens to right wrongs

A children's cartoon TV series, in which a female superhero dons a burka to fight injustice, has won a prestigious Peabody Award.

By Nita Bhalla, Thomson Reuters Foundation 

NEW DELHI

"Burka Avenger," a Pakistani children’s cartoon series about a female superhero who dons a burka to tackle a range of issues from discrimination against women to environmental protection, has won a prestigious Peabody Award, the organization has said.

The 13-episode series was launched in Pakistan in August last year and has been extremely popular both there and abroad.

Its main protagonist, a teacher called Jiya – who uses books and pens as weapons in her fight – was named as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013 by Time magazine.

"In the Pakistani children’s series Burka Avenger, a symbol of women’s subjugation becomes a super-
heroine’s mask.

Thai Forces Descend on Central Bangkok to Stifle Coup Protests

BANGKOK - Thailand's military government sent thousands of troops and police into central Bangkok on Sunday to stop any demonstrations against its seizure of power, and some shopping malls and train stations closed to avoid trouble.

Authorities were anticipating that protesters would gather at several spots in the capital including an area in the center where big malls are located. The military has banned political gatherings of five people or more.

The military took over on May 22 after the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been weakened by months of protests that had forced ministries to close for weeks on end, hurt business confidence and caused the economy to shrink.