Six In The Morning

Secret memos expose link between oil firms and invasion of Iraq



By Paul Bignell Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Plans to exploit Iraq’s oil reserves were discussed by government ministers and the world’s largest oil companies the year before Britain took a leading role in invading Iraq, government documents show.

Iraq’s burgeoning oil industry: Click HERE to view graphic (160k)

The papers, revealed here for the first time, raise new questions over Britain’s involvement in the war, which had divided Tony Blair’s cabinet and was voted through only after his claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of

Cuban party congress to outline radical economic and leadership change

Raúl Castro to give details of new party leadership and proposals that ‘guarantee the continuity of socialism in Cuba’

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 April 2011

Cubans are hoping to get further details of apparently sweeping economic changes and of a newly elected Communist party leadership – both sparsely reported in Cuban media – in a speech by Raúl Castro in Havana.

Widely expected to take over from his brother Fidel as the party’s first secretary, all eyes will be on the selection of his new No 2, which could signal a possible favoured successor.

Delegates approved about 300 economic proposals in an unanimous vote on Monday, including a measure that apparently recommends the legalisation of the buying and selling of private property.

Nigeria election: Thousand flee after riots

Thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Nigeria after riots prompted by the election of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.

The BBC  19 April 2011

In some towns residents slept in police stations for safety. The Red Cross says there have been significant numbers of casualties.

Mr Jonathan appealed for an end to the violence and imposed a 24-hour curfew.

His main rival Gen Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, told the BBC the violence was sad, unwarranted and criminal.

Some of the rioters have been alleging ballot-rigging, but the former military leader said he wanted to disassociated himself and his party from the clashes.

Nato ‘may intensify’ Libya effort



irishtimes.com – Last Updated: Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Nato may have to intensify attacks on government forces to break the military stalemate in Libya, while the United Nations pushes for a humanitarian presence to help civilians trapped in the conflict.

Both approaches, aimed at carrying out a UN Security Council mandate to protect Libyan civilians from attack by president Muammar Gadafy’s troops, will focus on the western city of Misrata, the only west Libyan city still in rebel hands.

Hundreds of people are thought to have been killed in the seven-week siege of the port city, where thousands of foreign migrant workers are stranded. A rebel spokesman said at least 31 people were killed in Misrata on Sunday and yesterday by government shellfire and snipers.

NIMBY Protests Threaten Germany’s Energy Revolution

Electrical Resistance  

By Michael Fröhlingsdorf  

The black stork, ciconia nigra, is very shy, especially during the spring. Nobody can say with certainty whether it will return to the same place, safe and sound, after wintering in Africa. For example, it is impossible to tell whether it will build its nest in a particular tree in Germany’s Münden Nature Park in the state of Lower Saxony, near the town of Laubach. Neither can it be predicted whether a female will be there, nor whether there will be offspring as during the previous year.

Forester Jörg Behling would rather not even go and check. The precise location of the stork’s nest remains his secret anyway.

Letter from wife of heroic cop who gave his life on March 11



By TAKAYUKI KIHARA Staff Writer

Among the countless thousands who lost their lives on March 11 in the Great East Japan Earthquake was a dedicated police officer in his late-30s who was working for the Iwate prefectural police department.

This officer was expecting a promotion to section chief in the department’s criminal affairs division on March 15. The Asahi Shimbun received a letter from his wife. With her permission, her heartfelt and touching message appears below:

“As time passes on, our life is gradually regaining some semblance of normalcy, although things are still unstable. Yet, sharing my story about my husband is still a bit of a challenge because part of me still does not want to accept his death.