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Libya: Protesters, security clash in capital
Associated Press
CAIRO — Protesters and security forces battled in the center of Tripoli as anti-government unrest spread to the Libyan capital and Moammar Gadhafi‘s son went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army’s backing and would “fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.”
Even as Seif al-Islam Gadhafi spoke Sunday night, clashes were raging in and around Tripoli’s central Green Square, lasting until dawn Monday, witnesses said. They reported snipers opening fire on crowds trying to seize the square, and Gadhafi supporters speeding through in vehicles, shooting and running over protesters. Early Monday, protesters took over the office of two of the multiple state-run satellite news channels, witnesses said.
The protests and violence were the heaviest yet in Read more…
N.Korean Regime Worried About Arab Uprisings
The North Korean authorities are apparently on full alert as news trickles in about pro-democracy protests in the Middle East despite an official blackout. According to a source, security agents have banned all gatherings, especially of university students, as news spreads about the public revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world.
The source added that partitions have been removed in restaurants across the country, and security agents break up even small gatherings in open-air markets.
“This is the first time I saw even partitions removed from restaurants in North Korea,” a recent defector said. Students in Pyongyang have begun Read more…
Rising world food prices may soon hit Africa hard, but could be a future boon
Damaged rice is seen in a paddy field destroyed by flood- waters near a village in Manmunai West in Batticaloa district, about 199 miles east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 26. The floods inundated rice paddies, and according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, at least 15.5 percent of the main annual rice harvest could be lost.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Reuters
Johannesburg, South Africa
Global food prices reached a historic high last month, a fact that may cause even the most comfortable of Americans to cinch in their belts and cut back on spending.
But what about the world’s poor?
“Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world,” World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick said Tuesday as he announced the bank’s findings that about 44 million people in developing countries have been pushed into poverty since Read more…
Iranian warships’ passage through Suez put back two days
Iran’s Fars news agency has identified the 1,500-tone Alvand as one of the warships heading to the Suez Canal
The passage of two Iranian naval ships through the Suez Canal has been put back to Wednesday, a canal official said on Sunday as Israel expressed its grave concern about the Mediterranean-bound vessels.
“The shipping agent handling the two Iranian warships has told the canal administration to push back their passage by two days,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay, but confirmed that the new day of passage through the waterway that links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea would be Wednesday.
Reportedly bound for Syria on a journey that would Read more…
Army wants rapid-fire rubber bullets for crowd control
THE US army is planning to field “rubber bullets” for machine guns. Military officials claim the ammunition will allow them to more effectively quell violent protests without loss of life, but human rights campaigners are alarmed by the new weapon.
The final design for the XM1044 round has not been selected, according to an order placed on the Federal Business Opportunities website last month, but the army’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate has been working on a ring aerofoil projectile for some years. The round is a hollow plastic cylinder 40 millimetres across, looking something like a short toilet-paper roll. In flight its shape generates lift, giving it a longer range.
The Middle East and Then the World
Tony Cartalucci
Activist Post
February 19, 2011
Beginning in North Africa, now unfolding in the Middle East and Iran, and soon to spread to Eastern Europe and Asia, the globalist fueled color revolutions are attempting to profoundly transform entire regions of the planet in one sweeping move. It is an ambitious gambit, perhaps even one born of desperation, with the globalists’ depravity and betrayal on full display to the world with no opportunity to turn back now.
To understand the globalists’ reasoning behind such a bold move, it helps to understand their ultimate end game and the obstacles standing between them and their achieving it.
The End Game
The end game of course is a world spanning system of global governance. This is a system controlled by Anglo-American financiers and their network of global institutions ensuring the world’s Read more…
China cracks down on call for ‘Jasmine Revolution’
The Associated Press
Saturday, February 19, 2011; 10:05 AM
BEIJING — Chinese authorities cracked down on activists as a call circulated for people to gather in more than a dozen cities Sunday for a “Jasmine Revolution.”
The source of the call was not known, but authorities moved to halt its spread online. Searches for the word “jasmine” were blocked Saturday on China’s largest Twitter-like microblog, and the website where the request first appeared said it was hit by an attack.
Activists seemed not to know what to make of the call to protest, even as they passed it on. They said they were unaware of any known group being involved in the request for citizens to gather in 13 cities and shout “We want food, we want work, we want Read more…
Libya Crackdown on Protests Kills 24: Rights Group
CAIRO – Libyan security forces killed at least 24 people in a violent crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations during a “Day of Anger” against strongman Moamer Kadhafi, Human Rights Watch said Friday.
The New York-based rights group, citing witnesses, said 24 protesters were killed and scores injured during Thursday’s assaults on protests in two Libyan cities. The New York-based rights group, citing witnesses, said 24 protesters were killed and scores injured during Thursday’s assaults on protests in two Libyan cities.
“The authorities should cease the use of lethal force unless absolutely necessary to protect lives and open an independent investigation into the lethal shootings,” HRW said in a statement.
The regime of Kadhafi, who has been in power since 1969, vied to counter the swelling opposition movement with its own pro-government rallies in the capital Tripoli and other cities.
But the unrest has deepened as the opposition mobilises via Facebook and mobile phone messages, emulating protest movements across North Africa and the Middle East that have already brought down the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.
Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity, citing witnesses, meanwhile said rooftop snipers in Read more…
Libya, Jordan And Yemen Hit By Renewed Unrest
Renewed civil unrest inspired by the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt is being reported in three other Middle Eastern countries – Libya, Yemen and Jordan.
Libyan authorities have deployed troops in the second city of Benghazi following night time rallies over the killings of more than 20 protesters.
A major demonstration is taking place in the northern city of Tobruk and in Tripoli three people have reportedly been killed in an attempted jail break, according to security officials.
Libya has issued no casualty or injury figures after two days of protests.
But Human Rights Watch, quoting sources in the country, said at least 24 people have been killed by Libyan security forces who are using live fire.
Libya exerts strict controls on media and communications, making independent verification of claims about the unrest difficult to obtain.
Foreign journalists have been forbidden from entering the country by Colonel Gaddafi who appears to be trying to shut the country off to the outside world.
Libya’s state news agency, JANA, has made no mention of any violence. However, it has reported that “popular rallies” have taken place in “various Libyan cities to express support for the leader”.
Gaddafi’s rule of over 40 years makes him the longest-serving leader of the Arab world and of Read more…
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