Six In The Morning

Egypt’s ‘terrorist’ labelling of Hamas prompts protests

      Palestinians across Gaza denounce ruling and reject Egypt’s accusations that the group is aiding armed forces in Sinai.

01 Mar 2015 04:58 GMT

Protests have broken out in the Gaza Strip against an Egyptian court’s decision to declare Hamas a “terrorist” organisation, just weeks after the Palestinian group’s armed wing was given the same designation.

A judicial source told AFP news agency that the court issued the verdict on Saturday, a ruling seen as in keeping with a systematic crackdown on Islamist groups by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Palestinians throughout refugee camps and cities in Gaza held demonstrations in protest at the decision.

 Revealed: How torture was used to foil al-Qaeda plot to bomb two airliners 17 minutes before explosion

 Exclusive: Information from terror suspects about 2010 plot was used in a ‘Jack Bauer real-time operation’

Jamie Merrill  , James Hanning , Mark Leftly , Nick Clark Sunday 01 March 2015

The former head of MI6 has said torturing suspected terrorists produces “useful information”, as The Independent on Sunday reveals that “real-time” intelligence understood to have been obtained by torture in Saudi Arabia helped to thwart a terrorist bombing on British soil.

In his first interview since stepping down from Secret Intelligence Service in January, Sir John Sawers told the BBC yesterday that torture “does produce intelligence” and security services “set aside the use of torture… because it is against the values” of British society, not because it doesn’t work in the short term. Sir John defended the security services against accusations they had played a role in the radicalising of British Muslims, including Mohammed Emwazi, who it is claimed is the extremist responsible for the murder of hostages in Syria.

  Aleppo truce nowhere in sight in Syria

  N envoy Staffan de Mistura is in Damascus to finalize a deal for a truce in Aleppo. Meanwhile, al Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front and Western-backed rebel group Hazm Movement are fighting it out near the war-ravaged city.

DW-DE

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighting centered around the town of Atarib, around 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Aleppo.

The Observatory said that Nusra Front fighters overran several Hazm bases and that at least 29 Hazm fighters and six Nusra Front militants were killed in the battle.

There has been friction between the two groups at least since November, when the Nusra Front managed to expel a mainstream rebel group from the northern province of Idlib.

The Nusra Front often cooperates with moderate rebel groups, but has turned hard-line and become the target of US airstrikes. The Hazm Movement, on the other hand, has received support from Washington in the past.

 Reunions and ransoms: a day online in Myanmar’s Rohingya camps

March 1, 2015 – 2:54PM

 Andrew R. C. Marshall

Thae Chaung: In this teeming camp for displaced Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, it’s easy to overlook the internet huts.

The raw emotion they generate is much harder to ignore.

The huts have bamboo walls, thatched roofs and, most importantly, dusty laptop computers that allow Rohingya to re-establish contact with relatives who have left on boats for Thailand and Malaysia. The internet connection comes via cellphones jammed into the cobweb-strewn rafters.

Smoke from the camp’s cooking fires seeps in through the flimsy walls. Sound drifts out just as easily, obliging callers to share their personal dramas with everyone nearby.

US, Cuba relationship clears hurdles

   After diplomatic discussions this week in Washington, both US and Cuban leaders spoke positively about fulfilling the promise made by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro to restore embassies in each other’s capitals.

    By Bradley Klapper, Associated Press

Washington – The United States and Cuba claimed progress Friday toward ending a half-century diplomatic freeze, suggesting they could clear some of the biggest obstacles to their new relationship within weeks.

After Friday’s talks in Washington, the second round of U.S.-Cuban discussions in the last month, diplomats of both countries spoke positively about fulfilling the promise made by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro in December to restore embassies in each other’s capitals.

The U.S. even held out hope of clinching a deal in time for April’s summit of North and South American leaders, which Obama and Castro are expected to attend, however unlikely that appeared.

Japan’s Master Plan to Defeat China in a War



     Kyle Mizokami February 28, 2015

In recent years, significant attention has been paid to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). China’s defense budget, which has increased ten fold in the last twenty five years, has funded the construction of a modern, ocean-going navy. This includes the recently fielded aircraft carrier, Liaoning, as well as fleets of destroyers, frigates, corvettes, replenishment ships, and amphibious assault ships.

The PLAN is indeed an impressive force, but local geography will create challenges during wartime. Japan controls a string of islands that form the Miyako Strait, which Chinese naval forces must transit to enter the western Pacific. Properly fortified, the Japanese-held Ryukyu Islands could conceivably block passage of the Strait altogether.