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03 Mar 2011 13:14

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World: Strain on border crossing out of Libya eases with extra support

  • YES airlifts are assisting Libyan refugee border crossings source
  • » Just get me outta here: Much to the relief of aid agencies and arbiters, the enormous surge of people fleeing Libya by way of the Tunisian border, estimated in recent days at around 150,000, is now getting support from aerial transport, easing the burden on the escape route. Aircraft have been activated from Britain, Egypt, and France, among others. This relieves much concern about a pressurized, very volatile situation the last few days due to the intense crowding being endured by these refugees.

03 Mar 2011 10:45

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World: United Nations: Libyan refugees leaving country en masse

  • 180k number of people who have fled Libya, the United Nations says
  • 95k of those refugees have crossed into Tunisia from Western Libya
  • 83k of those refugees headed into Egypt from Eastern Libya source

03 Mar 2011 10:34

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World: Libya’s negotiator? Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez wants to mediate

Hugo Chavez and Muammar Gaddafi go way back, which is why Hugo wants to help moderate the peace process in Libya. But details of Chavez’s plan are lacking. source

03 Mar 2011 10:06

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World: Dutch helicopter crew captured by Libyan (well, Gaddafi’s) forces

  • cause Three Flying Dutchmen (sorry), attempting to rescue Europeans stuck in the country, were captured by Libyan forces last Sunday – the first sign of Libyan forces going after Westerners.
  • reaction The Dutch government has actually kept this story under wraps; it didn’t break until a newspaper discovered it. There’s a fear the Libyan government might use the pilots as propaganda tools. source

02 Mar 2011 16:01

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World: Libyan rebels continue to wage fervent struggle against tall odds

  • It doesn’t matter that I don’t have a gun, because some of my friends do. I will just stand here with my people and die with my people.
  • Mohamed Abdrurrazeg, a Libyan rebel • On the desperate struggle between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces taking place in Ajdabiya and Benghazi, and to varying extents, across the nation. Rebel leadership is reported as hoping for international military intervention against the brutal regime. Whether that desire will be met remains to be seen, but this much seems certain – the international community has rendered Gaddafi basically impotent as a functioning ruler through the condemnations that have been issued. If his forces begin to decisively put down the rebels, could the risk of his continued presence will spur military action? source

02 Mar 2011 10:43

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World: David Cameron steps up British efforts to help out in Libya

  • last week The British government faced criticism over the speed in which it got its own people out of a very volatile situation in Libya. Rescue planes only came to oil fields days after the crisis started.
  • this week As a sign in contrasts, David Cameron is now planning on evacuating 6,000 Egyptians from the border of Libya and Tunisia. The decision caught British officials off guard with its speed. source

02 Mar 2011 10:16

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World: Gaddafi: I’m not actually in any sort of political office

  • Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve … [I hold] no position from which to step down.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Explaining that he can’t step down from office because he’s not currently in any political position. Let your brain chew on that one for a second while we invent an office for him to step down from. How about “Chief Asshole”? Works for us. How about you guys? source
 

01 Mar 2011 16:29

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World: Abroad, military possibilities loom over Gaddafi’s chaos

  • Will international forces tighten on Gaddafi? Here’s a simple, neat little video by Al Jazeera on international military response to Libya. source

01 Mar 2011 13:20

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World: U.N. worried about conditions for mass of Libyan refugees

  • 150,000 people have fled from Libya source
  • » The concern: Too many people evacuating too fast, causing difficult food, water and health conditions for refugees. The agency said that it was “becoming critically important that onwards transport becomes quickly available to avoid a humanitarian crisis.”

01 Mar 2011 10:04

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U.S.: Libya: Gaddafi’s forces unable to overtake opposition stronghold

  • plan In an attempt to regain ground lost during the recent protests, Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attempted to overtake the opposition-held Zawiyah, which is 30 miles from Tripoli.
  • failure Gaddafi’s forces were unable to do so, however – but the other side didn’t really gain any ground, either. The forces attacked from six directions, but didn’t succeed with any of them, really. source