Six In The Morning

UN vows to press on with Homs aid delivery

 World body’s humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, said aid workers were deliberately targeted by gun and mortar fire.

 Last updated: 09 Feb 2014 07:24

The UN’s humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has vowed to push on with relief deliveries to civilians trapped in Homs, after a Red Crescent aid convoy was attacked.

Amos’ comments come after the convoy came under mortar and gun attack on Saturday in the Syrian city, despite an agreed three-day ceasefire which began on Friday.

“I am deeply disappointed that the three-day humanitarian pause agreed between the parties to the conflict was broken today and aid workers deliberately targeted,” Amos said in a statement released late on Saturday.

“Today’s events serve as a stark reminder of the dangers that civilians and aid workers face every day across Syria,” she added.

Mexican vigilantes drive out religious drug cartel from gang-held city

 Dozens of vigilantes, who wear white T-shirts for identification, work with government forces to clear out cartel gunmen

Associated Press in Mexico

theguardian.com, Sunday 9 February 2014 01.16 GMT

Vigilantes who have driven a quasi-religious drug cartel from a series of towns in western Mexico entered a gang-held city on Saturday and were working with government forces to clear it of cartel gunmen, a leader of the movement has said.

Dozens of vigilante group members, who wore white T-shirts to identify themselves, were seen by an Associated Press journalist speeding into Apatzingan in the back of pickup trucks. The city of 100,000 in Michoacan state has been under effective control of the Knights Templar cartel for several years.

Syria conflict: An ordinary family, a terrible war

World View: With jihadis at their door, terrified Maysoun, Nizar, Karim and Bishr reached for grenades rather than face torture and inevitable death at the hands of Jabhat al-Nusra

 PATRICK COCKBURN Sunday 9 February 2014

It is a terrible story but it throws a grim light on the terrors of the Syrian war. It is told at first in a calm, precise voice by Nusair Mahla, a middle-aged government employee, until he finally has to choke back tears as he speaks of the last moments of his sister Maysoun Hala and her husband Nizar along with their two children, Karim and Bishr. He says that many other Syrians have suffered similar tragedies, but in few cases is it known so precisely what the victims themselves thought about their fate.

Nusair, a neatly dressed man in a brown suit, says the first he knew about his sister’s family being in danger was an early morning phone call. He recalls it came after 6.30am and was from neighbours who said that insurgents, whom he invariably calls “terrorists”, had entered the industrial town of Adra 12 miles north of Damascus and were taking hostages.

Troubled Times: Developing Economies Hit a BRICS Wall

Until recently, investors viewed China, Brazil and India as a sure thing. Lately, though, their economies have shown signs of weakness and money has begun flowing back to the West. Worries are mounting the BRICS dream is fading.

 By Erich Follath and Martin Hesse

It was 12 years ago that Jim O’Neill had his innovative idea. An investment banker with Goldman Sachs, he had become convinced following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that the United States and Europe were facing economic decline. He believed that developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia could profit immensely from globalization and become the new locomotives of the global economy. O’Neill wanted to advise his clients to invest their money in the promising new players. But he needed a catchy name.

It proved to be a simple task. He simply took the first letter of each country in the quartet and came up with BRIC, an acronym which sounded like the foundation for a solid investment.

CAR Muslims targets of mob violence

Human Rights Watch has called for a UN peacekeeping mission in the CAR as the country’s Muslims are dying by the thousands and more are fleeing.

 09 FEB 2014 08:24 KRISTA LARSON

The violence wracking Central African Republic imperils the future of the country’s Muslims, with thousands having been killed and many more fleeing the country.

“We are in a moment where immediate action is needed to stop the killings,” Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said, calling for a full-fledged United Nations peacekeeping mission. “Otherwise the future of the Muslim community of this country will be gone.”

Muslims make up about 15% of Central African Republic’s 4.6-million people. More than 800 000 people have fled their homes – about half of those from the capital, according to the United Nations (UN).

Iran warships: Why are they going to US coast?

 Iran warships: A destroyer and supply ship are rounding the coast of South Africa, on their way to US waters, says a naval officer. The warships left Iran a month ago.

 By William Maclean, Reuters

DUBAI

An Iranian naval officer said a number of warships had been ordered to approach U.S. maritime borders as a response to the stationing of U.S. vessels in the Gulf, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

“Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message,” the agency quoted Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad as saying.

Haddad, described as commander of the Iranian navy’s northern fleet, said the vessels had started their voyage towards the Atlantic Ocean via “waters near South Africa”, Fars reported.