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Stormtrooper

At Least Five Shot Dead in the Libyan Capital as Gaddafi's Troops Open Fire on Demonstrators


The Daily Mail, UK
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:27 UTC
  • Obama refuses to rule out military intervention after late-night call to Cameron and Sarkozy
  • Prospect of setting up no-fly zone to prevent Gaddafi bombing protesters
  • Gaddafi packs Tripoli with troops as he prepares 'last stand'
  • Cameron tells him: 'The world is watching, you will be held to account'
  • Up to 500 Britons still trapped in the country
  • Second Navy warship sent to pick up evacuees
  • Switzerland will 'freeze dictator's possible personal assets'

At least five people were believed to have been killed in Libya when forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi opened fire on protesters.

One resident in the Janzour district of Tripoli said the shootings happened as demonstrators shouted anti-Gaddafi slogans in the Fashloum district, in the east of Tripoli.

Thousands of Libyans were called to a mass demonstration in Colonel Gaddafi's stronghold - in defiance of shoot-on-sight directives issued to the military.

The outpouring of anger in Green Square after Friday prayers was seen as particularly significant as areas loyal to the Libyan leader dwindle.
Image
© unknown
Defiance: Protesters have defied a 'shoot-on-sight' warning issued by Gaddafi to demonstrate against the hated tyrant
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Megaphone

Tens of Thousands March on Wisconsin Capitol


Raw Story
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:23 UTC
Wisconsin protest
© Reuters
Tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on Wisconsin's state Capitol on Saturday to protest Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plan to curb public sector union power in order to balance the budget.

Waving hundreds of American flags and singing the national anthem, the demonstrators were peaceful and the swelling crowds upbeat despite a setback earlier in the week when the state Assembly approved the measure over Democratic objections.

What began two weeks ago as a Republican measure in one small U.S. state has turned into what could be the biggest challenge to union power since then President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers nearly 30 years ago.

If Republicans prevail in Wisconsin, a number of other states governed by conservative majorities could follow. Already, other legislatures including Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Idaho, Tennessee, and Kansas are working on union curbs.
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No Entry

EU rejects Italy's call for help with likely waves of migrants from north Africa


EurActiv.com
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:59 UTC
Image
© Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
Egyptians who used to work in Libya and who are fleeing unrest wait at the Tunisia-Libyan border
Italy faced criticism in the European Union on Thursday (24 February) for raising the alarm about a potential wave of refugees from Libya, with several governments saying Rome's calls for help in dealing with migrants were exaggerated.

EU justice ministers were meeting in Brussels yesterday to weigh contingency plans if escalating violence in Libya triggers massive outflows of people.

But international experts say out of at least 30,000, mainly Tunisians and Egyptians, who have fled turmoil so far, none were headed for Europe.

"For the moment, we had not seen any people coming to Europe from Libya," said Cecilia Malmström, the EU commissioner responsible for home affairs.

"What we see is that people from Libya have started to go to Tunisia and to Egypt, and it is of course important that we can assist Tunisia and Egypt to address this humanitarian situation and to help people who come there," she added.
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Stormtrooper

Egypt protesters dispersed by force


Al Jazeera
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:02 UTC
Image
© Reuters
The army, which showed restraint during the revolution, has been accused of going soft on Mubarak loyalists

Army uses batons to break up demonstrations in capital Cairo demanding purging of Mubarak loyalists from government.

The Egyptian army has used force to disperse activists gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak loyalists from the interim cabinet.

Egyptian soldiers fired in the air and used batons in the early hours of Saturday to disperse the crowd, the Reuters news agency reported.

Demonstrators had also gathered in front of the parliament building in Cairo, where police beat protesters and used tasers to suppress the crowds, an Al Jazeera producer in the capital reported.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the ruling military council, later apologised for the military's response and said the situation "wasn't intentional".
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Bizarro Earth

Italy fears up to 1.5 million North African migrants as revolution takes terrifying turn in Libya

Nick Squires
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:55 UTC
Image
© REUTERS
A Tunisian woman crosses into Tunisia at the Ras Jdir border crossing, after fleeing unrest in Libya
Up to 1.5 million refugees from North Africa could try to flee across the Mediterranean, Italy warned on Thursday as the government begged for help from the EU in dealing with the potential exodus.

Roberto Maroni, Italy's interior minister, said the worst case scenario could see 1.5 million migrants trying to escape countries like Libya, Tunisia and Egypt - a prediction that dwarfed concerns expressed by Rome earlier this week that 300,000 might seek to enter Europe.

"We cannot be left alone," Mr Maroni, Italy's interior minister, told his EU counterparts at a meeting in Brussels which was convened to address the looming crisis.

He said the arrival of so many refugees would represent "an invasion" which would bring Italy "to its knees".

"I ask Europe to settle all the necessary measures to deal with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis," in Libya.

Italy, Greece and Malta fear that if the Gaddafi regime falls, the floodgates will be opened to the estimated 1.5 million sub-Saharan Africans who live and work in Libya.
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Heart - Black

1000s die in Libya, reports of poison gas


Press TV
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:10 UTC
gaddafi

Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN says thousands of people have been killed during protests, as unconfirmed reports have come in claiming the regime has used poison gas on demonstrators.

Ibrahim Dabbashi, who has turned against the Gaddafi regime, said the death toll is expected to rise as Muammar Gaddafi continues his bloody crackdown against the opposition.

"There are already thousands of people who have been killed, we expect more. They are gathering all the bodies and they are taking them to the desert or somewhere. No one knows where are the bodies of the victims," AFP quoted Dabbashi as saying.
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Arrow Down

Record plunge in disposable income


Associated Press
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:12 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Families' disposable income dived by a record £9 a week during January as inflation continued to outstrip wage growth, research has indicated.

The average family had £174 a week left to spend after meeting all of their essential outgoings, down from £183 a week in January last year, according to supermarket group Asda.

It was the 13th consecutive month during which people suffered a year-on-year fall in their disposable income, while it was also the biggest drop recorded since Asda first began collecting the data in January 2007.

The group said the continued decline in spending power seen during 2010 and into 2011 was caused by the price of essential goods and services rising faster than net incomes.

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose to 4% in January, but average incomes rose by just 2.4% during the previous 12 months.
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Arrow Down

Public sector workers could see their 'gold-plated' pensions halved

Gerri Peev
Daily Mail.co.uk
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:16 UTC
Image
© Reuters
Proposals: Chancellor George Osborne will publish plans that could see public sector workers transferred to less generous pensions
Public sector workers could see their 'gold-plated' pensions slashed to make it easier to transfer services to private firms and charities.

Payments due to hundreds of thousands of nurses, doctors and bin collectors could be cut to less than half under proposals being considered by the Treasury.

The Government wants providers other than the State to take over the running of some services as part of David Cameron's 'Big Society' plan.

But ministers fear the generous final salary schemes paid out to public sector workers would deter all but the biggest firms from doing so.

Last night unions said the proposal was 'extremely provocative' and could lead to a fresh round of strikes if enacted.

Public sector workers have their pensions protected, even if another provider takes over the service, under 'fair deal' rules agreed by Labour in the late 1990s.
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Arrow Down

Crisis of Middle class who can't afford to retire

Jo Willey
Express.co.uk
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:21 UTC
Middle Class Britons are facing retirement in poverty, with millions expected to see their income fall by more than half.

An alarming study has found that their low savings will leave them exposed to an "acute squeeze" on their standard of living - with many families now retiring seeing take-home income drop by 57 per cent to an average of just £13,713.

The stark report also predicts that five million lower-middle class households will have to survive on little more than the state pension, even though they may have been saving for decades.

Roughly a third of those will be left with even less, having to survive each year on just £11,000.

It could force millions to stay on at work till their late 60s or even 70s following a change in the law this autumn which is expected to end compulsory retirement at 65.

Competition for jobs will also be fierce, at a time when youth unemployment is soaring.
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Control Panel

Dirty air triggers more heart attacks than cocaine

Kate Kelland
Reuters
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 06:19 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.

Sex, anger, marijuana use and chest or respiratory infections and can also trigger heart attacks to different extents, the researchers said, but air pollution, particularly in heavy traffic, is the major culprit.

The findings, published in The Lancet journal, suggest population-wide factors like polluted air should be taken more seriously when looking at heart risks, and should be put into context beside higher but relatively rarer risks like drug use.

Tim Nawrot of Hasselt University in Belgium, who led the study, said he hoped his findings would also encourage doctors to think more often about population level risks.

"Physicians are always looking at individual patients -- and low risk factors might not look important at an individual level, but if they are prevalent in the population then they have a greater public health relevance," he said in a telephone interview.
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