Tripoli: a city in the shadow of death
Gunfire in the suburbs – and fear, hunger and rumour in the capital Thousands race for last tickets out of a city sinking into anarchy
Robert Fisk, with the first dispatch from Libya’s war-torn capital, reports
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Up to 15,000 men, women and children besieged Tripoli’s international airport last night, shouting and screaming for seats on the few airliners still prepared to fly to Muammar Gaddafi’s rump state, paying Libyan police bribe after bribe to reach the ticket desks in a rain-soaked mob of hungry, desperate families. Many were trampled as Libyan security men savagely beat those who pushed their way to the front.
Among them were Gaddafi’s fellow Arabs, thousands of them Egyptians, some of whom had been living at the airport for two days without food or sanitation. The place stank of faeces and urine and fear. Yet a 45-minute visit into the city for a new airline ticket to another destination is the only chance to see Gaddafi’s capital if you are a “dog” of the international press.
Assange to be extradited to Sweden
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, a judge has ruled.
Loving Thy Dictatorial Neighbor
China is blocking the release of a report by a UN expert panel on the revelations of a new and highly sophisticated uranium enrichment plant in North Korea, according to Security Council diplomats.
China blocks report on North Korea’s new nuclear facility, UN diplomats say
Many council members pushed for the publication of the report, arguing that all 192 UN member states should have access to its findings, according diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity.
The report which found that Pyongyang is ignoring UN sanctions and continuing its nuclear enrichment program contains recommendations on how to improve Pyongyang’s compliance with sanctions imposed after illegal nuclear and missile tests in 2006 and 2009.
Yes, I’m A Lying Doctor
University strips German minister of his doctorate
THE GERMAN defence minister rejected opposition claims he was a “liar and a cheat” but has admitted writing an “obviously problematic” doctoral thesis.
But yesterday the minister’s alma mater, the University of Bayreuth, stripped him of his doctor title, five years after awarding it summa cum laude – the highest grade.
A week after the first claims were raised, the Bundestag debated yesterday the ballooning number of unreferenced sources in Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s 2006 thesis on US-EU constitutional history.
It Doesn’t Matter What You Think
Fresh gun battles erupt in Côte d’Ivoire
“There’s firing everywhere. I’m hearing heavy weapons booming all over the place,” said one resident of the Abidjan suburb of Abobo, where up to 15 Gbagbo loyalists were killed in an ambush on Tuesday.The clashes between Gbagbo’s forces and backers of Alassane Ouattara, following a disputed election in November, threaten to reignite a conflict in the world’s biggest cocoa producer and dash hopes of reuniting a country split by a 2002 to 2003 war.
India overlooks abuse of domestic workers in new sexual harassment bill
India’s first bill to protect women against sexual harassment has been slammed for excluding a provision for domestic workers who make up the bulk of women workers.
By Betwa Sharma, Contributor
New Delhi
As more and more women enter the workforce, India is en route to passing its first law to protect them against rampant sexual harassment in the workplace.
If passed, the law would require companies and institutions – both public and private – to establish female-led internal committees to follow up on sexual harassment complaints.
But the bill has been slammed for excluding domestic workers, estimated to be up to 90 million strong and 70 percent women. Without including homes that employ housekeepers, cooks, and nannies, critics say the new law will be nearly useless. The ensuing legal debate is also highlighting the emergence of a civil society alarmed by the mistreatment of domestic workers as India attempts to safeguard women’s rights and beef up workplace standards.
Hope fades for NZ quake survivors; death toll climbs to 98
Another 200 missing; damage estimates rise to $12 billion
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – International rescuers intensified their search for earthquake survivors in New Zealand Thursday, despite fading hopes of finding any more people alive and fears that a damaged 26-story tower could collapse nearby at any time.
Police say the death toll from the New Zealand earthquake has risen to 98.
Superintendent Dave Cliff told reporters Thursday that police had been notified that 98 people were dead and that 226 people were missing.
Prime Minister John Key said earlier that police held grave fears that around 200 people listed as missing may not have survived Tuesday’s quake.
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