SIx In The Morning Monday January 5

5 January 2015 Last updated at 07:49

Syrians entering Lebanon face new restrictions

New restrictions on Syrians entering Lebanon come into force on Monday, further tightening the flow of asylum seekers trying to escape the war.

Previously, travel between the two countries was largely unrestricted, but now Syrians will have to obtain a visa.
It is the latest in a series of steps to stop the influx of refugees. Lebanon already hosts more than a million.

It is unclear what the rule will mean for the many Syrians already in the country and not registered as refugees.

Before now, Syrians could stay in Lebanon for up to six months automatically. Under the new measure, Syrians wanting to enter Lebanon will have to fulfil certain criteria in order to be granted a visa at the border.

Boko Haram seizes key military base on Nigeria border

Fleeing civilians say hundreds of insurgents overpower multinational military base in Baga, and report many deaths

• Agencies in Bauchi and Maiduguri
• The Guardian, Monday 5 January 2015 08.47 GMT

Fleeing civilians say Boko Haram extremists have overpowered a multinational military force and seized their key base on Nigeria’s border with Chad.

Nigerians who escaped by canoe from Baga town to Chad say many soldiers and civilians were killed while others drowned trying to escape hundreds of insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

They say the troops from Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger fought valiantly on Saturday until they ran out of ammunition and fled, some removing their uniforms.

 

When will Palestinians learn? Turning to international law isn't the answer — just ask America and Israel 

If Palestine's request is 'entirely counterproductive', what does that make Israel's slaughtering of civilians last summer?

Robert Fisk

Throw an old dog a bone and sure enough, he’ll go chasing after it. So it is with “Palestine’s” request to join the International Criminal Court. An obvious attempt by Mahmoud Abbas to try Israel for war crimes in Gaza this year, we are told.

Or maybe a “two-edged sword” – yawns are permitted for such clichés – which could also put Hamas “in the dock”. Israel was outraged. The US was “strongly opposed” to such a dastardly request by the elderly potentate who thinks he rules a state which doesn’t even exist.

But hold on a moment. That isn’t the story, is it? Surely the real narrative is totally different. The BBC didn’t get this. Nor CNN. Nor even Al Jazeera. But surely the most significant event of all is that the descendants of the PLO – excoriated only a quarter of a century ago as the most dangerous “terrorist” organisation in the world, its mendacious leader Yasser Arafat branded “our Bin Laden” by Israel’s mendacious leader Ariel Sharon – actually wants TO ABIDE BY INTERNATIONAL LAW!

Euro plummets to nine-year low

The euro has lost further ground against the greenback, reaching levels not seen since 2006. Analysts contributed the continuing freefall to the uncertain situation in Greece and ECB comments on monetary policy. 

It fell to as low as $1.186, reaching a level last seen in March 2006 and hovering below the psychologically important threshold of $1.20. Some pundits had maintained earlier the euro and the greenback could even reach parity later in the year.
The continued slide of the euro came in the wake of comments made by ECB President Mario Draghi last Friday. In an interview with the German business daily Handelsblatt he had said the risk of the central bank not fulfilling its mandate of preserving price stability was higher now than half a year ago.
Search for the cure-all
Draghi thus hinted at the ECB's resolve to resort to more unconventional measures in its monetary policy.

Fukushima rice passes radiation tests for first time since disaster

January 5, 2015 - 4:44PM

Mari Saito

Tokyo: Fukushima rice has passed Japan's radiation checks for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster that prompted international alarm over the region's produce, a prefectural official says.

Fukushima official Tsuneaki Oonami said about 360,000 tonnes of rice, nearly all of last year's harvest, had been checked and none had tested above the 100 becquerels per kilogram limit set by the government.

"The fact that the amount of rice that does not pass our checks has been steadily reduced in the last three years indicates that we're taking the right steps," said Mr Oonami, who heads the department that oversees Fukushima rice farming.

China targets Shanghai stampede critics

Patti Waldmeir

The Shanghai government took measures at the weekend to prevent public criticism of its role in the New Year's Eve stampede that left 36 people dead, including banning interviews with relatives of victims and allowing only photos cleared by censors into city papers.

The cause of the stampede on the city's historic waterfront known as the "Bund" - which claimed the lives of mostly young people, including a 12 year old boy - remains unclear.

But online discussion of the event, including criticism of local police for failing to staff the event adequately, has been shut down with critical posts deleted. According to the South China Morning Post, dozens of those who posted online criticisms have been interrogated by police.