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21 Feb 2011 09:59

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World: What happens to Libya’s expatriates during a crisis like this?

  • issue For years, many Libyans have attempted to leave the country – illegally, mind you – on refugee boats that travel through the Mediterranean. The refugees have mostly headed to Italy.
  • tactic Before the current crisis, Libya and Italy had a deal where the two countries would intercept them and send them back to Libya to detention centers – which is, um, a human rights violation.
  • problem People are leaving in larger numbers now – 5,000 in the past week – and Libya has threatened to stop cooperating. So now, the EU is trying to figure out a way to take in the expatriates. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2011 09:45

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World: Trouble in Tripoli: A volatile situation quickly deteriorates

  • 61+ people reported killed in the protests in Tripoli just overnight
  • 233+ people had died across the country before last night source
  • » Neither side backing down an inch: With reports suggesting that the country’s parliament building in Tripoli has been burned to the ground, there is certainly no messing around when it comes to these protests. They’re not lot Egypt’s. They’re bloody, they’re violent and both sides are using force to show themselves. One protester, talking to Al Jazeera, set the scene as such: “We are in Tripoli, there are chants [directed at Gaddafi]: ‘Where are you? Where are you? Come out if you’re a man.'” A very bring-it-on type of environment, to say the least.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Feb 2011 18:44

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World: Saif Gaddafi: Libya will be divided like North and South Korea

  • The country will be divided like North and South Korea, we will see each other through a fence. You will wait in line for months for a visa.
  • Saif Al Islam Gaddafi • Offering a pretty dark assessment of what will happen in his country if revolution continues. Again, WTF? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Feb 2011 18:32

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World: Gaddafi’s kid warns of bloody civil war in post-Gaddafi Libya

  • A tragically messed-up moment: Gaddafi’s kid, Saif El Islam Gaddafi, is making some pretty wild claims about what’s going to happen in the country: “Libya is not like Egypt, it is tribes and clans, it is not a society with parties. Everyone knows their duties and this may cause civil wars. Libya is not Tunisia and Egypt. Libya has oil – that has united the whole of Libya.” Saif also says that the death toll is 14! Just 14! Are you kidding? Not even the most conservative estimate is ten times that. Unfortunately, few journalists are on the ground to refute these claims. (above tweet from Al Jazeera English’s Ayman Mohyeldin) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Feb 2011 16:32

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World: Update on Libya: What’s currently happening in the country?

  • There’s a lot going on here, and there is much to parse. There isn’t a clear picture of the death toll in the country, with Human Rights Watch saying that at least 173 people have died in the violence, while other tallies have been much higher. Word is even spreading that some of the protests have shown up outside of Gaddafi’s stronghold of Tripoli. But none of it is as bad as it’s been in Benghazi. “It’s like a guerrilla war,” one female resident of Benghazi said of the violence. “There is a battle going on, and sometimes one part is controlled by the protesters, and sometimes other parts are. There are corpses in the street.” More items of interest:
  • one Reuters is reporting – but cannot independently confirm due to the limits on free speech in the country – that Libya’s hold on Benghazi has weakened to the point where protesters mostly control the streets.
  • two The Arab League’s permanent Libyan representative, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, has resigned in protest of the actions taking place in his home country.  “I am joining the ranks of the revolution,” Honi said.
  • three The BBC’s Jon Williams talks about the hard road for journalists covering Libya this weekend: “When we’re not on the ground, we have to work twice as hard to make sure that we’re telling all sides of the story.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Feb 2011 16:32

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World: Libyan violence: The painful scenes journalists can’t directly report

  • Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here. They are crying, and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us.
  • A Libyan medical official • Describing the scene at a poorly-equipped hospital in the country. The official reported fifteen dead. As painful as this quote is, this one is nearly as gut-wrenching: “The blood of our martyrs is still leaking from coffins over the shoulders of the mourners,” said a protester in Benghazi, the epicenter of the current crisis, in the wake of an attack on protesters who were mourning during a funeral. Libya is a hard country to get accurate information from, because journalists are not allowed to freely work in the country. In other words, much of this information is coming from phone calls and informants and can’t be independently confirmed. Libyan protesters are facing a very tough road; stand with them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Feb 2011 15:03

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Tech: Libya’s unrest won’t affect Bit.ly’s domains at all, guys

  • NO Libya’s unrest won’t affect Bit.ly’s URL-shortening source
  • » When clever names go bad: As we have noted in the past, Bit.ly’s name is tied very closely to Libya. However, as the Interwebs have gone down of late in the country, many are wondering if this means anything bad for the URL shortener market, which also counts owl.ly and ht.ly as potential victims, among others. We’ll let Bit.ly’s CEO, John Borthwick, take it from here: “For .ly domains to be unresolvable the five .ly root servers that are authoritative *all* have to be offline, or responding with empty responses. Of the five root nameservers for the .ly TLD: two are based in Oregon, one is in the Netherlands and two are in Libya.” And plus, they have backup plans in place, like j.mp or bitly.com. So no, nothing to worry about.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Feb 2011 14:49

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World: A tale of two conflicts: Bahrain, Libya seem headed in different ways

  • Bahrain In a major symbolic victory for protesters, the military has pulled out of Pearl Square in Manama, allowing the protesters to re-enter amidst much international anger over the violence against the peaceful protests.
  • Libya As fresh violence continues to break, at least 84 have died at the hands of the Libyan military, according to Human Rights Watch. “We’ve never heard of anything like this before. It’s horrible,” one eyewitness said to Al Jazeera. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Feb 2011 12:55

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World: Things get even worse – and deadly – for protesters in Bahrain

The AP is reporting that at least 50 people have been injured in attacks on protesters in Bahrain. “People started running in all directions and bullets were flying,” one person said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Feb 2011 11:18

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World: Muammar Gaddafi loyalists: We’ll snuff out any fresh protests

  • The response of the people and the Revolutionary Forces to any adventure by these small groups will be sharp and violent.
  • A message from the Libyan Revolutionary Committees • Suggesting that the Gaddafi loyalists will attack protesters who dare show their face in the country. This message was released after a particularly deadly day in the country – when 24 protesters were reportedly killed, according to Human Rights Watch. Ugh. We hate humanity sometimes and wish it’d take a good look at itself in the mirror. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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