Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Six In The Morning Thursday November 5

5 November 2014 Last updated at 07:52

US mid-terms: Republicans win control of the Senate

The Republicans have won control of the Senate in the US mid-term elections, increasing their power in the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency.
The party won in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.
And it is expected to post more gains as votes are counted in other states.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, poised to lead the chamber, said the result was a vote against "a government that people can no longer trust".
In the mid-terms, so-called because they fell half way into Mr Obama's second four-year term in office, about one-third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, 36 of 50 state governors, and countless state and local offices were up for election.
Throughout the campaign, Republicans focused on voter dissatisfaction with Mr Obama, a Democrat, describing the vote as a referendum on his presidency.





Israel accused of war crimes during Gaza conflict


Amnesty International says Israel displayed ‘callous indifference’ in attacks on family homes during military campaign in Gaza

  • The Guardian

Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes during its campaign in Gaza.
A report released by the group on Wednesday says Israel displayed “callous indifference” launching attacks on family homes in the densely populated coastal strip and in some cases its conduct amounted to war crimes. It adds that war crimes were also committed by Palestinian militants.
The 50-day war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 72 people on the Israeli side, all but six of whom were soldiers.
Israel’s Gaza operation came after increased rocket attacks by Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers. Israel also arrested scores of Hamas activists in the West Bank, following the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers.

Christian couple beaten to death in Pakistan for 'blasphemy'

Authorities in Pakistan say a Christian couple has been beaten to death for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Koran. Their bodies were subsequently burned in a brick kiln
Local police officer Mohammed Pervez said Tuesday's attack took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan in the eastern Punjab province, some 60 kilometers southwest of Lahore. He said that authorities were trying to arrest those involved.
The only information given about the two victims was that they were married and named Shama and Shehzad.
"A mob attacked a Christian couple after accusing them of desecration of the holy Koran and later burnt their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked," local police official Bin Yameen told the AFP news agency.
"Yesterday [Monday] an incident of desecration of the holy Koran took place in the area and today the mob first beat the couple and later set their bodies on fire at a brick kiln," he added.

Germany's New Right: The Unholy Alliance of Neo-Nazis and Football Hooligans

By SPIEGEL Staff


The riots in Cologne at the end of October show there is a new danger on Germany's extremist right. Neo-Nazis and football hooligans have teamed up to go after Islamist Salafists. Many are wondering why officials didn't recognize the development sooner.

Hours after their coup, the rabble rousers were still reveling in their unexpected success. One hooligan going by the nom de guerre "Bo Ne," happily posted: "We made it into the news around the entire world. Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain, France -- first goal achieved!"
It was a view shared by almost everyone in the four closed forums belonging to the group called Hooligans gegen Salafisten (Hooligans against Salafists). With more than 3,000 members, the network is a loose association of neo-Nazis, nationalists and football rowdies -- and their posts made it clear that they didn't think they were being monitored. One regretted not having brought an axe to the demonstration to "destroy all of Islam." Bo Ne and others, however, were totally satisfied. Germany, he wrote, has now seen "what it means to deceive a people for 70 years."

Thousands in Sierra Leone break Ebola quarantine to find food

'The quarantine of Kenema, the third largest town in Sierra Leone, is having a devastating impact on trade,' officials said in a statement. 'Food is becoming scarce, which has led to prices increasing beyond the reach of ordinary people.'

By , Associated Press


Thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them, aid agencies said.
Large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off to prevent the spread of Ebola, and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes.
The government, with help from the U.N.'s World Food Program, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people. But there are many "nooks and crannies" in the country that are being missed, Jeanne Kamara,Christian Aid's Sierra Leone representative, said Tuesday.

Report: Children say ISIS captured, beat them on way home from exams

By Greg Botelho, CNN
They'd just finished their middle school exams and were heading home to Kobani, Syria.
But rather than relief and celebration, scores of Syrian Kurdish children say they endured torture and humiliation -- at the hands of ISIS.
Human Rights Watch, an international advocacy organization,reported the allegations Tuesday based on interviews with four boys who said they were held by the Islamist extremist group for months.
While CNN could not independently verify the claims, there certainly is precedent. International authorities, witnesses and people in the middle of yearslong strife in Syria and Iraq have accused ISIS of many misdeeds and war crimes in the past, including enslaving young women and children.






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