Six In The Morning

 Majestic views, ancient culture, money fight

Spectacular Skywalk is center of a legal battle between developer and tribe

By MARC LACEY

GRAND CANYON WEST, Ariz. – Think of a Caribbean glass-bottomed boat hung out over the edge of the Grand Canyon and you have the idea behind the Skywalk, a modern, vertigo-inducing moneymaker that is drawing hundreds of thousands of people annually onto the Hualapai Indians’ reservation to stare down beneath their feet at the distant canyon floor.

That the views are spectacular, no one would dispute. But a fierce legal battle has erupted over whether these are million-dollar views or whether they are considerably more valuable than that.

Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh agrees to step down

Deal to hand power to deputy within 30 days accepted by opposition parties, but with reservations

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011  

Yemen’s embattled president has agreed to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

A coalition of seven opposition parties said they also accepted the deal but with reservations. Even if the differences are overcome, those parties do not speak for all of the protesters seeking President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s removal, and signs were already emerging that a deal on those terms would not end protests.

Gaddafi clings to Tripoli – but for how long?

A special report from inside the embattled Libyan capital

By Karin Laub and Maggie Michael, AP Sunday, 24 April 2011

Muammar Gaddafi’s opponents unfurl a rebel flag from a motorway overpass in the dark and speed away. On the outskirts of the capital, masked protesters denounce the Libyan leader, then quickly disband. The pop of gunfire is heard almost every evening, some of it, according to dissidents, from sneak attacks on army checkpoints.

Furtive resistance is the best those seeking Gaddafi’s removal can muster, under the heavy weight of fear in the most important stronghold of his rule. But the fact that such small-scale actions are taking place at all is a sign that activists are still trying to bring the rebellion to the capital, even after Gaddafi’s forces gunned down demonstrators two months ago.

Privacy bill draft is tough on leaks



Apr 24, 2011 – Namrata Biji Ahuja | Age Correspondent | New Delhi  

Leaks such as the Radia tapes could soon be punishable by law with the government firming up the draft Right to Privacy Bill, 2011, to check misuse of interception of communications and protect “personal information” of citizens.

The bill, for the first time, defines “right to privacy” and includes in it “confidentiality of communication, family life, bank and health records, protection of honour and good name and protection from use of photographs, fingerprints, DNA samples and other samples taken at police stations and other places”.

New fighting claims more lives

CAMBODIA SAYS THAI SIDE DROPPED CHEMICAL WEAPONS; KASIT CALLS FOR TALKS  

Published: 24/04/2011 at 12:00 AM  

On Saturday, Phnom Penh accused Thailand of using chemical weapons against Cambodian troops in the fighting, which has forced the suspension of border trade and triggered the evacuation of thousands of residents. Firing by both sides had ceased by noon, but Cambodia’s defence ministry said at nightfall that the situation was “still tense”.

The ministry earlier charged that Thailand had fired 75mm and 105mm shells “loaded with poisonous gas” into Cambodian territory, but did not elaborate.

A Cambodian field commander said separately that Thailand used both cluster shells _ anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries _ and artillery shells that gave off a debilitating gas.

Vienna to honour Austria’s Nazi army deserters

The Austrian capital Vienna has announced plans to erect a memorial in honour of soldiers who deserted from Adolf Hitler’s army, the Wehrmacht

The BBC

The city council has yet to decide the exact location, but campaigners want it to be put in Heldenplatz (Heroes Square) alongside war memorials.

The square is also where Hitler, born in Austria, addressed crowds in 1938 when Austria was annexed to Germany.

The BBC’s Bethany Bell says Austria is gradually confronting its Nazi past.

Two years ago Austria’s parliament agreed to rehabilitate soldiers criminalised by the Nazis for deserting from the Wehrmacht.