Six In The Morning

Steeper Afghanistan pullout is raised as option

Some officials say move is justified by rising cost of war, death of bin Laden

By David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker

President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new “strategic considerations.”

These new considerations, along with a desire to find new ways to press the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to get more of his forces to take the lead, are combining to create a counterweight to an approach favored by the departing secretary of defense, Robert M. Gates, and top military commanders in the field. They want gradual cuts that would keep American forces at a much higher combat strength well into next year, senior administration officials said.

Muslim women’s group launches ‘jihad against violence’

Inspire’s campaign aims to combat all forms of violence but with an emphasis on crimes justified in the name of Islam

Haroon Siddique

The Guardian, Monday 6 June 2011  

A British Muslim women’s group has launched a “jihad against violence”, in a bid to reclaim the term jihad from extremists.

The campaign, launched by Inspire at City Hall in central London on Sunday, aims to combat all forms of violence but with an emphasis on crimes, including terrorism, domestic abuse and female genital mutilation, that some perpetrators attempt to justify in the name of Islam.

Although jihad means a struggle in the way of God, it has been hijacked by extremists, who have attempted to use it to justify holy war, the group says.

Blockbusters of cinema’s arthouse

A Chicago property developer amassed the world’s biggest movie poster collection. And now it’s up for sale. Rob Hastings hears why

Monday, 6 June 2011

Looking over some of the 11,000 treasured pieces of paper that have consumed his life for 34 years, Dwight Cleveland readily admits that he is out of the ordinary. “I do believe that there is a genetic aberration among people who are collectors, and I definitely have that,” he says with a laugh.

Since he took up his hobby as a 17-year-old high school student, the now 52-year-old Chicago real estate developer has amassed an unrivalled assortment of posters worth $3.5m (£2.1m). Now, however, he has decided enough is enough; by the end of the month he hopes to have a buyer for the largest privately owned mass of film ads in the world.

German bean sprouts identified as E.coli source

The Irish Times – Monday, June 6, 2011

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin

GERMAN OFFICIALS said yesterday that domestic-grown bean sprouts are a likely source of a deadly E.coli epidemic that has claimed 21 lives.

The breakthrough followed a weekend of growing tensions as hospitals, struggling to cope with the deadly bacterial epidemic, accused health authorities of reacting too slowly to the crisis.

Yesterday the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said that German authorities had informed them that the sprouts were locally grown and had not been exported.

The shooting of Hamza, the shaming of the Assads

 Images of a 13-year-old boy, brutally tortured and killed, have galvanised the protesters.

June 6, 2011 – 1:29PM  

Ibrahim al-Khatib knew that his country was enduring dark days. But he only realised quite how appalling things were when his 13-year-old nephew returned to the family home in a body bag, horrifically mutilated.

“God help Syria,” he said, his voice a frightened whisper. “This is the only way peace will come and the country can start again.”

The death of his nephew Hamza al-Khatib at the hands of the Syrian security forces has had a huge impact on a country already wracked by months of violent anti-government protests

‘Only a matter of time’ before Gaddafi falls



IMED LAMLOUM TRIPOLI, LIBYA – Jun 06 2011

Five powerful blasts rocked Tripoli late on Sunday after three waves of explosions during the day, as warplanes overflew the city which has been the target of intense Nato raids for the past two weeks.

In a statement, the military alliance said it conducted “intensive and sustained strikes against pro-Gaddafi facilities in Tripoli throughout the day and night”, including command and control centres.

“We will continue to erode [the Gaddafi regime’s] foundations until the violence against the Libyan population ends,” it quoted Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, commander in chief of the Nato mission, as saying.