Six In The Morning

Pakistan Army Chief Balks at U.S. Demands to Cooperate



By JANE PERLEZ

Published: May 12,

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Despite mounting pressure from the United States since the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, seems unlikely to respond to American demands to root out other militant leaders, according to people who have met with him in the last 10 days.

While the general does not want to abandon the alliance completely, he is more likely to pursue a strategy of decreasing Pakistan’s reliance on the United States, and continuing to offer just enough cooperation to keep the billions of dollars in American aid flowing, said a confidant of the general who has spoken with him recently.

Such a response is certain to test American officials, who are more mistrustful of Pakistan than ever.

Pakistan bomb attack ‘revenge for Bin Laden’



PA Friday, 13 May 2011

Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary force academy in the northwest today, and vowed further bloodshed in retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in the country.

The first major bombing in Pakistan since Bin Laden’s death on 2 May, it will reinforce the common view that his elimination will not ease violence because al-Qa’ida is not centralised and will keep inspiring groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, which are scattered globally and loosely bound by ideology.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus leaves microfinance bank

Peace prize recipient leaves pioneering Grameen Bank following legal dispute with Bangladeshi government

Fariha Karim

The Guardian, Friday 13 May 2011

The Nobel laureate who founded a pioneering microfinance institution, the Grameen Bank, has quit as its head after a long dispute with Bangladesh’s government.

The announcement by Muhammad Yunus that he is standing down as managing director is a watershed in the 28-year history of the bank, which is credited with lifting millions of the world’s poorest people out of poverty. It also ends a protracted legal wrangle with the Bangladeshi government over control of the bank.

Japan’s government approves Tepco compensation scheme

 Japan’s government has approved a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

The BBC  13 May 2011

Government assistance could help Tepco, Asia’s largest power utility, avoid bankruptcy.

But Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said the government’s plan to help Tepco was not meant as a rescue of the utility.

The Fukushima plant was left severely damaged by the 11 March earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

More than 80,000 local residents living within a 20km (12 mile) radius of the plant have been evacuated from their homes.

Agriculture and businesses have been hit and there is no timescale yet for allowing residents to return.

Damage Control Isn’t Good Enough to Save Europe

Crisis in the EU

A commentary by Ralf Neukirc  

The photo has been reprinted enough to be branded into the collective memories of Germany and France. It shows Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterand standing hand-in-hand during a 1984 commemoration ceremony at Verdun. Their gesture illustrates the astounding reconciliation that took place between their respective nations after two world wars. Today, its emotionalism is both moving and oddly foreign.

Back then, what would ultimately become the European Union was more than just a body for administering financial transfers between member countries. When people talked about “Europe,” they focused on the big issues: open borders, international understanding, war and peace. These weren’t just empty words but, instead, things that statesmen like Kohl and Mitterand felt deeply about. And since it came from the heart, people believed in what they said.

Western Sahara talks set to resume



RABAT, MOROCCO – May 13 2011

Talks have been ongoing over the disputed north-west African territory and will continue at the beginning of June, Taieb Fassi Fihri said.

“The seventh phase of informal meetings will take place in Manhasset near New York,” the minister told a parliamentary commission, without giving an exact date.

UN special envoy Christopher Ross will attend the negotiations along with representatives from Algeria and Mauritania.

Six previous rounds of talks, the last of which was held in Malta in March, have ended without any tangible progress, with Morocco and the Polisario Front accusing each other of undermining the process.