Six In The Morning

Giving female veterans a chance to share their pain

At a weekend retreat in Oceanside, participants find that, by learning how other women have had experiences like theirs, they can feel less alone.

By Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writer

April 10, 2011

The war veterans gathered amid the tranquil gardens and arched walkways of the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. In a circle, they sat together, more than 50 women in all.

Some laughed and chatted as they settled in chairs or propped themselves up on the floor of an adobe-walled hall. Others glanced around, uncertain what to expect from a weekend retreat.

Several commented that it was the first time they had been in a room with so many women.

Gbagbo stages bloody fightback in Ivory Coast

Violence continues as former president refuses to concede defeat

By Daniel Howden in Abidjan Sunday, 10 April 2011

What began as the week when Laurent Gbagbo would finally concede defeat ended with the Ivory Coast strongman defying the world from his bunker in Abidjan. After watching his area of control shrink to only a few pockets of the lagoon city, his forces pushed back dramatically overnight on Friday with an assault on the French ambassador’s residence.

AFP reported yesterday that Abidjan’s Golf Hotel, headquarters of the internationally recognised President-elect, Alassane Ouattara, had come under attack. The UN evacuated 17 British citizens from the high commissioner’s residence, which is close to the Gbagbo compound.

Tate Modern protest calls for release of missing Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei

Pictures of sunflower seeds bearing names of 50 of the detained or ‘disappeared’ laid on grass outside gallery

Vanessa Thorpe and Tania Branigan in Beijing

The Observer, Sunday 10 April 2011<

Pictures of sunflower seeds bearing the names of 50 Chinese dissidents and artists who are being held by their country’s government or who have “disappeared” have been laid across the grass outside the Tate Modern gallery in London.

The protest, organised by Chinese artists and British supporters, has been prompted by the detention of Ai Weiwei, the artist and designer whose installation of millions of ceramic sunflower seeds currently fills the floor of the gallery’s Turbine Hall.

Iceland rejects Icesave repayment deal

Icelanders have rejected the latest plan to repay the UK and Netherlands some 4bn euros lost when the country’s banking system collapsed in 2008

The BBC  10 April 2011

Partial referendum results show 58% voting no, and 42% supporting the plan.

“The worst option was chosen. The vote has split the nation in two,” Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said on state TV.

It is the second time a referendum has rejected a repayment deal, and the case will now go to an international court.

Landsbanki ran savings accounts in the UK and Netherlands under the name Icesave and investors there lost 4bn euros (£3.5bn; $5.8bn).

Cairo protesters defy military

 

April 10, 2011 – 11:39AM  

More than 1000 protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square vowed on Saturday to stay overnight in defiance of the military after a protester was killed the night before when soldiers dispersed a similar sit-in.

At least one person was killed earlier in the morning when troops and police stormed the iconic square to break up an overnight protest demanding the trial of former regime officials.

The health ministry said one person died, a figure later echoed by the army, and 71 people were hurt – some from bullet wounds and others suffering breathing difficulties or having been struck during clashes.

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Medics said two people were killed and 18 people wounded

Aftershocks expose risks of emergency power at nuclear facilities



2011/04/10

The massive aftershock Thursday compromised power supply systems and emergency generators at nuclear power facilities in northeastern Japan, sparking concern that plant operators are still unprepared to avert another crisis.

As the nation races to deal with the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, experts foresee a series of aftershocks, including at least one major seismic event.