Six In The Morning

Magnitude 8.9 earthquake rocks Japan

The quake strikes off the northeast coast of Japan, and a tsunami follows, sweeping away cars, boats and even buildings. People in Tokyo tell of ‘shaking and rocking.’

By Barbara Demick, David Pierson and Kenji Hall, Los Angeles Times

March 11, 2011, 12:23 a.m.

Reporting from Beijing and Tokyo An 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, shaking office buildings in Tokyo and setting off a devastating tsunami that swept away cars and boats.

The quake – the world’s fifth largest since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey – struck at 2.46 p.m. local time.

There were reports of injuries in Tokyo as officials tried to assess damage, injuries and deaths from the quake and tsunami, but there were no immediate details.

Dalai Lama steps back to push Tibetans forward

Spiritual leader’s speech intended to spark drive for democracy

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent Friday, 11 March 2011

The Dalai Lama has announced his intention to give up his political duties in what appears to be a desire to force the community of exiled Tibetan Buddhists to become more democratic in the face of growing challenges from China.

In a long-anticipated announcement, the spiritual and political leader said he would propose changes to the government-in-exile’s constitution as early as next week to devolve his political roles to that of an elected leader. He believes the move will boost the fortunes of a new generation of Tibetan leaders in pressing their demands for autonomy from China.

Libya: Gaddafi forces enter Ras Lanuf

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have entered the Libyan oil port of Ras Lanuf and are fighting for control of the town, rebels have said.

8:58AM GMT 11 Mar 2011

Rebel fighter Ibrahim al-Alwani said he and comrades still in Ras Lanuf had seen government troops in the town centre.

“I saw maybe 150 men and three tanks,” he said. “I can hear clashes.”

Mohammed al-Mughrabi, who described himself as a spokesman for the rebels but declined to give his exact location, said by phone government troops had landed by boat near the Fadeel hotel in Ras Lanuf, where clashes were in progress.

“Four boats carrying 40 to 50 men each landed there. We are fighting them right now,” he said.

Berlusconi unveils controversial judicial reform

The Irish Times – Friday, March 11, 2011

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

BRANDISHING A cartoon which showed the scales of justice looking distinctly lopsided, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday presented a comprehensive and controversial judicial reform package intended, he claims, to put those scales back on an even keel.

Presenting the package, the prime minister controversially suggested that had these reforms been introduced 20 years ago, they would have prevented “the invasion of the judiciary into politics”, an invasion which has brought down governments (in 1994) and which “in 1993 wiped out an entire ruling class”

Hitler Biography Debunks Mythology of Wartime Service

A Hero in His Own Mind

By Georg Bönisch  

The blood streaming out of his right temple had formed a large pool on the floor. Adolf Hitler, the dictator and the greatest mass murderer of all time, had taken his own life with a bullet from his pistol in the catacombs of his bunker in Berlin. It was a well thought-out death.

In death, Hitler looked more like a man who had stepped out of the past. He wore a simple, field-gray military coat bearing only two medals — the wound badge and the Iron Cross First Class — both of which were from World War I. Throughout his life, Hitler was proud of these medals because they had been “soiled with the dirt of France and the mud of Flanders.”

‘Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East

 

By MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPER

Published: March 10, 2011

WASHINGTON – In the Middle East crisis, as on other issues, there are two Barack Obamas: the transformative historical figure and the pragmatic American president. Three months after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself aflame and ignited a political firestorm across the Arab world, the president is trumping the trailblazer.

With the spread of antigovernment protests from North Africa to the strategic, oil-rich Persian Gulf, President Obama has adopted a policy of restraint. He has concluded that his administration must shape its response country by country, aides say, recognizing a stark reality that American national security interests weigh as heavily as idealistic impulses. That explains why Mr. Obama has dialed down the vocal support he gave demonstrators in Cairo to a more modulated call for peaceful protest and respect for universal rights elsewhere.