Six In The Morning Tuesday June 2

Chinese cruise ship sinks in Yangtze river with more than 400 missing – live updates

• ‘Trapped passengers’ reportedly heard calling for help
• Five bodies recovered by rescuers
• Up to 18 survivors
• Captain and chief engineer detained by police
• 458 were on board, most tourists aged 50 to 80

Claire Phipps and Matthew Weaver

Tuesday 2 June 2015 09.55 BST

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has been photographed at the scene meeting rescue workers. His quick reaction to the sinking of the ship contrasts with previous disasters in China, notably the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, when the authorities were criticised for their slow response.

What we know so far

Information from China’s state-run media has been conflicting so far, but here is what we can ascertain about the sinking so far:

• More than 400 people on board the Eastern Star (or Dongfangzhixing) vessel remain missing.
• Five bodies have been recovered from the stricken ferry, which was carrying 458 people when it went down at around 9.30pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province.
• Rescue teams have reportedly heard trapped passengers shouting from within the upturned ship.

Russian 'aggression' sees Poland rearm its military as minister warns: 'We must be ready'

The Nato member is bracing for the worst as Ukraine crisis goes on

ADAM WITHNALL 

 

 

Tuesday 02 June 2015

Poland says it is bolstering its armed forces in the face of perceived Russian aggression, and says that is “has to be ready” for what it calls its greatest threat since the Cold War.

The Nato member, which borders the Russian military enclave Kaliningrad to the north and the authoritarian pro-Russian state Belarus to the east, has increased its defence spending by 18 per cent.

Speaking to Sky News in Warsaw, Poland’s defence minister Tomasz Siemoniak said his country must be prepared for Russia to look to expand in eastern Europe beyond its annexation of Crimea.

He said: “We can see that Russia is going in the direction of restoring the influence it had at the time of the Soviet Union.

Radical teachers vow to block Mexican midterm elections

The radical teachers movement has built a reputation for long strikes and takeovers of public spaces, including an uprising in 2006 that sought the ouster of a state governor.

By Mark Stevenson, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Members of a radical Mexican teachers union broke into or blockaded electoral offices in the southern state of Oaxaca on Monday amid threats to block this weekend's midterm elections.

National Electoral Institute head Lorenzo Cordoba said that teachers destroyed furnishings at two of the offices and that the union's actions could force authorities to move polling places to alternate locations for Sunday's voting.

Teachers blockaded several other offices, causing the electoral institute to suspend work in parts of Oaxaca. Teachers burned about 13,500 ballots that had already been cancelled, and an unidentified group in the town of Juchitan stole almost 10,000 ballots that electoral officials said are numbered and can be cancelled so they won't be used.

The Philippines to the United States: We Want You Back

Amid the escalating tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines is growing increasingly desperate for more U.S. military support.

BY SIDDHARTHA MAHANTA

  M  ANILA — At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 30, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter stressed that the United States will continue to rebuff Chinese efforts to assert sovereignty in the South China Sea, largely by boosting military support to regional allies. Carter announced a proposal called the Southeast Asia Maritime Security Initiative, which would authorize up to $425 million for maritime capacity-building efforts in Southeast Asia.

But for the Philippines, historically Washington’s strongest ally in the region, that might be too little, too late. Increasingly, officials in the Philippines view themselves as a pawn in a larger game between the United States and China, and are wondering how to secure their own interests in the contested Scarborough Shoal and across the South China Sea.

Effort to Switch Colombian Farmers From Coca Falls Short of Hopes

By WILLIAM NEUMANJUNE 2, 2015

VISTA HERMOSA, Colombia — White Brahman cattle munched grass under a mango tree as Bernardo Velasco stretched out his right hand, pointing to a section of green pasture on his farm.

“This all used to be coca,” he said, referring to the plant used to make cocaine, which he and other farmers here once grew in abundance.

Today Mr. Velasco, 50, and most of his neighbors have traded in their coca for other crops, growing cacao (for making chocolate), corn and plantains in an ambitious plan to stabilize parts of Colombia long controlled by rebel fighters, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.

Abe says SDF could provide logistic aid to foreign forces in Middle East, Indian Ocean under new laws

BY MIZUHO AOKI

STAFF WRITER

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday the Self-Defense Forces could provide logistic aid to foreign militaries in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean, detailing for the first time specific regions where Japanese troops could offer logistical support under contentious security legislation.

During debate on the bills in the Lower House, Abe said that if a situation is believed to have a potentially serious impact on Japan’s peace and security, the SDF could conduct refueling missions and provide ammunition to foreign forces engaged in combat far from Japan.

“If serious military tensions or an armed conflict occur in the Middle East or the Indian Ocean that could greatly impact Japanese ships carrying goods to Japan, and if the United States or other countries were dealing with such situations,” the SDF could provide logistical support to foreign troops, Abe said in response to a question from an opposition party member.