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23 Oct 2011 10:52

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World: Western leaders call for investigation into Muammar Gaddafi’s death

  • It’s certainly not the way we do things. We would have liked to see Col. Gaddafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds.
  • British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond • Calling for an investigation into Muammar Gaddafi’s violent, bloody death on Thursday. The Libyan leader’s method of death — Human Rights Watch suggests it’s an execution that took place after the leader was detained — could cast a violent pall on the new government. Gaddafi’s wife Safiya, as you might guess, also wants an investigation. “I am proud of the bravery of my husband, Moammar Gadhafi, the holy warrior, and my sons who confronted the aggression of 40 countries over the past six months,” she told Syria-based Al-Rai TV. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Sep 2011 11:23

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World: Libya: Mass grave from 1996 massacre discovered

  • 1,270 bodies from 15-year-old massacre found source
  • » Memories still linger: The 1996 massacre at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli was one of the many catalysts to the civil war that effectively toppled Muammar Gaddafi. And this will be a difficult one to decipher. “We are dealing with more than 1,270 martyrs and must distinguish each one from the other for identification by comparing their DNA with family members,” said Libyan medical official Dr. Osman Abdul Jalil. “It may take years to reach the truth.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Sep 2011 10:44

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World: Six months in, and with Gaddafi rendered powerless, Libya turns a corner

  • The delay in the new government isn’t important. It’s like a sick man. He has to move slowly before he can walk at a normal speed. We need time to recover. … Look, we finally got rid of that bloody monkey. We are better than before.
  • Libyan engineer Mustafa Shaab bin Ragheb  • Discussing the current situation with the Libyan government, six months into the war. Yes, friends, today is the six-month anniversary of NATO getting involved in Libya’s civil war, which remains controversial for some but has led to the crumbling of Gaddafi’s regime. There are many issues to deal with from here — including a splintering rebel movement — but “we finally got rid of that bloody monkey” certainly seems like a good result of a lengthy civil war. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Sep 2011 11:00

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World: Libya: Muammar Gaddafi drops sexist call to arms in statement

  • We will not give up. We are not women. We will continue fighting.
  • Muammar Gaddafi • Dropping a suitably sexist statement in regards to his losing battle against the Libyan rebels, during a message aired on Al Arabiya television. We don’t even know where to start with this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Aug 2011 11:12

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World: Border between Tunisia, Libya opens up, ensuring supply chain

  • Tripoli needs lots of food. There is nothing there … we’re bringing this to them and then we’ll do more runs as needed.
  • Libyan man Lassad Trabelsi • Regarding the decision to open up the main border between Tunisia and Libya. Trabelsi was one of many people driving trucks through through the crossing in order to get supplies, which has been tough considering, you know, the deadly civil war in the country. And Tunisians are ready to help. “We’re ready to supply whatever our brothers need,” said one supplier who set up near the border. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Aug 2011 00:09

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About, World: Tips and tricks: How to follow the Twitter action in Tripoli

  • Recently, our friend Matthew Keys had a pretty good idea called Quotse. Pretty much, the whole idea is that he drops his news-gathering secrets to those who might find a use for it. The piece he wrote about YouTube searches for breaking news stories was particularly helpful. In that spirit, we’d like to drop a couple of suggestions of our own. How do you parse through Twitter during really complex cases like Tripoli, where you’re hearing things from so many directions that you may not know where to start? As you guys might have noticed last night, we had to change our techniques on the fly because Twitter changed the way its search engine works. Anyway, here are some tips we’ve built up from that experience, as well as things we’ve learned over the years:
  • Basic tools Some like TweetDeck; we don’t. You can get lost way too easily. Fortunately, there are alternatives like HootSuite, which does the same thing with less visual clutter. It’s good to be fluent with multiple Twitter apps. We also dig Echofon. Also, if you find certain users to be trustworthy, put them in a Twitter list. Here’s our Tripoli list.
  • Intermediate tricks One of our favorite tricks for following a breaking news story is to do a search for a topic with the name of a popular image service behind it. Examples: “tripoli yfrog,” “libya twitpic” or “#feb17 youtube.” The result? Sometimes you might catch things — amazing photos, for example — before anyone else. Be sure to credit the source.
  • Advanced queries Twitter supports searches which don’t seem particularly obvious. For example, you can search by latitude and longitude. Use this tool to find your location, then paste it into this setup: “geocode:(your code),15mi”. Now, put that into Twitter. Pretty awesome, right? It’s not perfect (there are false positives aplenty), but it’s a great start.
  • » The key part? Use your head. Not every piece of information is a gem. Confirm information as much as possible, don’t accept info based on one report, keep an eye on Twitter accounts that have proven trustworthy with information in the past, and keep changing your searches as stories evolve.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2011 10:20

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World: Libya: Gaddafi’s got a warrant out for his arrest. Uh-oh

The International Criminal Court issued the warrant, along with another one for his son Saif al-Islam and another for intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, over crimes against humanity. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Jun 2011 11:10

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World: Gaddafi just lost the soccer-playing contingent of his base

  • 17 Libyan soccer players side with the rebels, not Gaddafi source
  • » Harsh words for the dictator: One of the players to defect, goalie Juma Gtat, put his feelings as such: “I am telling Col Gaddafi to leave us alone and allow us to create a free Libya. In fact I wish he would leave this life altogether.” This is significant for a number of reasons — first, it comes after some notable military defections, and secondly, soccer is particularly huge in North Africa. That means that Gaddafi just lost some pretty significant allies in a public relations war.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 10:08

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World: NATO decides to keep with the Libyan airstrikes until September

  • 90 more days of continued NATO airstrikes over Libya source
  • » The goal? To protect the people of Libya: At least that’s how the NATO Secretary-General explains it. “This decision sends a clear message to the Gaddafi regime. We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya,” says Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2011 11:28

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World: Libya: Can South African president Jacob Zuma pull off a deal?

Our boy is reportedly in Libya to try to broker a power-sharing deal between Gaddafi and the rebels. Will the South African president’s presence get Gaddafi (shown) to budge? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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