Gaddafi army 'not at breaking point'

Source- bbc.co.uk

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi's armed forces are not close to breaking point despite hundreds of allied air strikes, American military chiefs have said.

Adm Mike Mullen told a US Congress committee Col Gaddafi's troops still had 10 times the rebels' firepower.

At the same hearing, Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated the US would put no "boots on the ground" in Libya.

Rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces appear to have reached a stalemate in their fight for control of the country.

In recent days, rebels have been urging international forces to conduct more air strikes.

Adm Mullen told the House of Representatives armed forces committee that bad weather had stopped them from identifying targets over the past three or four days.

"[The weather] has more than anything else reduced the impact... reduced the effectiveness, and has allowed the regime forces to move back to the east," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

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Arming Libyan rebels: Should U.S. do it?

Source- edition.cnn.com

Washington (CNN) -- The United States has seen what happens when it arms rebel forces against brutal regimes -- and how it can backfire.

Libya could end up in that same category.

Here are some frequently asked questions on the situation in Libya, what the options are and the debate over arming the rebels.

What's at stake?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of which the United States is a member, is working to take down Col. Moammar Gadhafi's brutal regime, which has reportedly killed thousands of Libyans since a revolt broke out over the past month.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that Gadhafi still wants to take back the city of Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, and that the dictator "will kill as many (people) as he must to crush the rebellion."

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U.S. officials, opposition warn Libya could get bloodier

Source- edition.cnn.com

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- From the halls of Congress to the shell-pocked streets of Libyan cities, intertwined themes rang clear Thursday: Leader Moammar Gadhafi is determined to prevail, and the opposition needs more training and allied air strikes to have a chance.

"Gadhafi will "kill as many (people) as he must to crush the rebellion," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told the House Armed Services Committee.

The rebels, who were regrouping after several setbacks, pinned their hopes on more coalition air power, which will likely increase as weather improves.

"We want more to bring a speedy end to this," Col. Ahmed Omar Bani, an opposition spokesman, told CNN. "A strike is not a strike unless it kills," he said.

CIA operatives have been in Libya working with rebel leaders to try to reverse gains by loyalist forces, a U.S. intelligence source said.

The United States, insisting it is now fulfilling more of a support role in the coalition, shifted in that direction as NATO took sole command of air operations in Libya.

The ferocity of this month's fighting and Gadhafi's advantage in firepower was clearly evident in Misrata, which has seen snipers, significant casualties and destruction.

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Obama makes his case for U.S. intervention in Libya

source- edition.cnn.com

Tune into CNN TV at 8 and 9 p.m. to get expert analysis on the president's speech on "In the Arena" and "Piers Morgan Tonight" -- only on CNN. Send your personal stories, video on unrest in the Arab world.

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama made his case Monday night for intervention in Libya, addressing the nation amid tough calls for him to clarify the United States' role in the U.N.-authorized military mission.

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the president's policy in the war-torn North African nation. Among other things, they have questioned the purpose of the mission, as well as its cost, endgame, and consequences for the broader Arab world.

Obama argued a failure to act would have carried a far greater price.

The world had a "unique ability to stop" violence "on a horrific scale" by acting in a broad coalition with the support of Arab countries in Libya, he said.

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Libyan rebels target Gadhafi's birthplace

source- edition.cnn.com

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Opposition fighters continued to push west Monday, entering territory loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but were quickly beaten back, rebels told CNN, highlighting the tenuous nature of their recent gains.

As they moved into Umm el Ghindel -- near Sirte, Gadhafi's birthplace -- opposition fighters began searching homes and found that Gadhafi's forces had armed residents in the area, they said. As they were talking to residents, asking them to join the opposition, gunfire broke out. Rebels told CNN they refused to fire back and began a hasty retreat. A stream of vehicles could be seen fleeing the area.

CNN could not independently confirm details of what had transpired.

Earlier, a wounded rebel with bandages on the left side of his head and face described what happened Monday about 30 kilometers (nearly 20 miles) from Sirte, near the city's main entrance.

He said he and a group of fellow opposition fighters came across a group of Gadhafi forces who raised a white flag -- a suggestion that they would not shoot. But as the opposition approached the group, Gadhafi forces fired on them indiscriminately, killing some of the opposition members and wounding others, the rebel told CNN's Arwa Damon. Vehicles were destroyed as well, he said.

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Libya: Nato assumes control of military operation

Nato's Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has said it has decided to take on the whole military operation in Libya "with immediate effect".

The alliance will enforce "all aspects" of the UN resolution authorising action to protect civilians. "Nothing more, nothing less," Mr Rasmussen added.

Libyan rebels have been advancing westwards, capturing towns abandoned by Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Explosions were also heard in Sirte and the capital, Tripoli, on Sunday night.

It is not clear what the causes of the blasts were, though state TV said the cities were being bombed by "Crusader and colonialist" forces. A government spokesman also said the town of Sabha had been targeted. 

Sirte, the Libyan leader's stronghold, is only 100km (60 miles) west of the town of Nufaila, which rebel forces said they had reached. Foreign journalists said the city was swarming with soldiers on patrol.

The rebels earlier retook the eastern coastal towns of Ras Lanuf, Brega, Uqayla and Bin Jawad. Read Full Story

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Resiliency of youth takes stage in Japan

Tokyo (CNN) -- People in northern Japan, on the long road to recovery after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami, are experiencing moments that bring smiles, tears and fears.

They're coping with the growing death toll, which stood at 10,489 Sunday morning, according to the National Police Agency. About 16,621 are missing and 2,777 were reported injured.

Amid the death and debris, a graduation ceremony at one school reminded people of the resiliency of youth.

As women dabbed their eyes, a row of tiny kindergartners took to the stage of a elementary school serving as a refugee center in Natori to sing their school song.

"We are going to protect it. That is our Yuriage kindergarten," they sang Saturday during the ceremony, broadcast by Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi.

Below them, 260 people, sitting with their bedding in the Tatekoshi Elementary School gymnasium, applauded.

"I was encouraged by their singing," said an elderly man.

The children were at a kindergarten about 10 miles away in Yuriage, right on the Pacific coast, when the deadly waves came ashore.

The school is closed for good after 55 years.

"Everyone's smile makes me happy," one young graduate told TV Asahi. "I'm looking forward to be a fresh first grader." Read Full Story

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Rebels claim another key oil city in Libya

Ras Lanuf, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan rebels continued their westward advance Sunday, taking operational control of two key cities, Ras Lanuf and Brega, CNN observed.

Rebel forces told CNN that forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pulled back from Ras Lanuf. A CNN crew in the city witnessed damaged vehicles on the outskirts of the town, though the town appeared to have avoided major destruction.

There were some homes that appeared burned, and others had gaping holes. The damage looked to be from fighting when Gadhafi's forces had originally pushed the rebels out. There were no clashes reported Sunday, rebels said.

Rebels also appeared to have taken control of the key oil town of Brega on Sunday, a CNN team on the scene observed.

Some opposition fighters focused on securing Brega's entrance while others traveled in trucks heading west, encountering little resistance along the way. The gains signify that the rebel forces have reclaimed all the territory they lost to Gadhafi's forces at the start of the war. The opposition comeback was paved in part by coalition airstrikes designed to stop the killings of civilians, and that have hit Gadhafi's forces.

In Tripoli on Sunday, CNN's Nic Robertson reported he heard six loud explosions and saw heavy anti-aircraft tracer fire.

While the opposition rolled westward, the city of Misrata -- located between the rebels' current position and Tripoli -- remained under siege by government forces for the 11th consecutive day, an eyewitness told CNN. Read Full Story

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Libyan leader 'arming volunteers'

By John Simpson

The BBC's John Simpson reports from Tripoli on claims of civilian casualties in Libya

Continue reading the main story

Libya Crisis

Vice Admiral William Gortney said Col Gaddafi had "virtually no air defence" and a "diminishing ability to command and sustain his forces on the ground".

Coalition forces launched strikes against Libyan tanks around the eastern town of Ajdabiya, he said.

Rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces are in a stand-off near the town, witnesses say.

Meanwhile, Qatar became the first Arab state to contribute to the air mission over Libya. Read Full Story

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Conditions at Japan Nuke Plant Take Turn for the Worse, Sparking New Fears of Meltdown

By FoxNews.com

Despite some signs of hope in the past week at Japan's troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, conditions have taken an increasingly alarming turn, with a possible breach at one of the reactors and highly radioactive water found leaking from that and two other reactors.

A nuclear crisis that not long ago was described as serious but stable has now raised concerns of a greater meltdown, with the danger underscored Friday with two plant employees hospitalized after wading into water 10,000 times more radioactive than normal.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. told Kyodo News that it has begun injecting freshwater into the Unit 1 and 3 reactors at the plant, despite radioactive water leaking from Unit 1, 2 and 3. Read Full Story

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Political Debate Intensifies Over U.S. Role in Mideast as Unrest Spreads

By FoxNews.com

As unrest spreads in the Middle East, so does the debate in Washington over how far the United States should go in seeking to shape the outcome.

President Obama's decision to order missile strikes in support of an internationally maintained no-fly zone in Libya has caused a host of political headaches for him on Capitol Hill, in the form of lawmakers demanding he come crawling to Congress for permission after the fact.

But the president's attention already is being diverted by intensified uprisings against leaders friend and foe -- deadly clashes in Syria, a possible changing of the guard in Yemen and continued tensions in Jordan and Bahrain. As with Libya, these conflicts have the administration being pulled in different directions. Read Full Story

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Dozens of Syrians reported killed in Daraa

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- Violent protests erupted Friday in Syria, with dozens of people people killed in and around the restive city of Daraa and a boy slain in the coastal town of Latakia, reports said.

"The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among the dead were 15 people who tried to march to Daraa, sources said, and nine others who died when security forces fired on demonstrators in Daraa's main square, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist.

There were many casualties in Daraa, said Abdullah, who asked that his full name not be reported due to security concerns. He said he saw Friday's events in the city, where deadly clashes have taken place in recent days between security forces and protesters. Read Full Story

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Poll: Nearly 4 in 10 Americans Say Natural Disasters Sign from God

Source - foxnews.com

When Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara called the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan tembatsu -- or "divine judgment" -- he expressed a kind of theological cause and effect shared by nearly 40 percent of Americans.
Ishihara later apologized for his remarks. But a recent poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Survey shows some support for his original sentiment: 16 percent of Americans agree that natural disasters are a sign from God, while 22 percent mostly agree.

A slight majority -- 51 percent -- disagreed natural disasters are a sign from the Almighty. Yet a slightly larger majority, 56 percent, said they believe God is in control of everything that happens in the world.

In a way, the poll examined the age-old philosophical dilemma: "If God is good, why is there so much disaster, tragedy and pain in the world?"

"On the one hand, people are confirming straightforward theological affirmations of a personal God that's in control. But many won't draw a straight line between what's happening on the ground and that God," said Dr. Robert P. Jones, chief executive officer of PRRI. In a way, the poll examined the age-old philosophical dilemma: "If God is good, why is there so much disaster, tragedy and pain in the world ?" 

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Study Finds Religion May Be Heading for Extinction in Parts of World

Source - foxnews.com

Parts of the world are literally losing their religion, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by the American Physical Society, finds that religion is dying out in nine countries.

The findings unveiled at an APS meeting in Dallas show that religion may become extinct in Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The study, conducted by Richard Wiener of the University of Arizona, and Daniel Abrams and Haley Yaple of Northwestern University, took data stretching back 100 years for those nine countries.

"In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion; in the Netherlands the number was 40 percent, and the highest number was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60 percent."

The study also found that "Americans without affiliation comprise the only religious group growing in all 50 states."

"In 2008 those claiming no religion rose to 15 percent nationwide, with a maximum in Vermont at 34 percent," the study says.

The study concludes that religion in these societies might one day disappear. 

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Obama Rules Out Land Invasion to Oust Qaddafi as New Explosions Reported in Tripoli

By FoxNews.com

President Obama categorically ruled out on Wednesday a land invasion to oust Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi as new explosions were reportedly heard in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, according to Reuters.

Obama also said the United States will be pulling back this week from its dominant role in the international campaign aimed at preventing Qaddafi from attacking civilians. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. could turn over control of the operation as soon as Saturday.

Obama was asked in an interview with the Spanish-language network Univision if a land invasion would be out of the question in the event air strikes were to fail to dislodge Gadhafi from power. Obama replied that it was "absolutely" out of the question. Read Full Story

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Deadly bombing targets Jerusalem bus stop

By bbc.co.uk

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the BBC Israeli police are looking for one suspect

Continue reading the main story

Israel and the Palestinians

The bomb had been left in a bag by the side of the road near the central bus station, police said.

Jerusalem suffered a spate of bus bombings between 2000 and 2004 but attacks had stopped in recent years.

Israel's prime minister said the country would act aggressively to restore security.

"Israel will act aggressively, responsibly and wisely to preserve the quiet and security that prevailed here over the past two years," Benjamin Netanyahu said.

He said the attackers sought to test the country's will and determination and said the Israeli people had "an iron will" to defend their country. Read Full Story

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Libya air force 'unable to fight'

By bbc.co.uk

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force", the commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said.

Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allies could now operate "with near impunity" over the skies of Libya.

He said they were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces.

Latest reports say government tanks are shelling the hospital in the rebel-held western city of Misrata.

Witnesses had earlier said the tanks encircling the city had pulled back from their positions under air assault from international forces. Read Full Story

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15 killed in clashes between protesters, security forces in Syria

By the CNN Wire Staff, edition.cnn.com

(CNN) -- Escalating violence between Syrian security forces and anti-government protesters claimed 15 people Wednesday in the city of Daraa, witnesses and rights activists said. Syrian state television reported the government fired the governor of Daraa province, a flash-point of anti-government protests.

There was no breakdown on the casualties. According to activists and witnesses, seven people died shortly after dawn prayers near al Omari mosque when security personnel tried to storm the area where protesters took positions to demand government reforms, an opposition spokesman said.

Later, about 3,000 protesters from neighboring towns gathered outside Daraa and clashed with an army unit known for its loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad, activists and witnesses said. The army unit is headed by a family member, Maher al-Assad, said the opposition spokesman. Read Full Story

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Libya crisis: Defiant Gaddafi pledges victory

By bbc.co.uk

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has appeared at a site in Tripoli that was recently attacked by a US-led coalition and told his followers: "We will be victorious in the end."

He said at the Bab al-Aziziya compound, hit by air strikes on Sunday, that "all Islamic armies" should join him.

His forces are engaged in fierce fighting with rebels.

The coalition is enforcing a UN Security Council resolution to protect civilians and set up a no-fly zone.

Major partners in the alliance have been thrashing out a new command structure that will tone down US leadership. Read Full Story

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U.S., France Reach Compromise on Coalition Structure

By FoxNews.com

The U.S. and France have effectively reached an agreement in their dispute over who will assume command of the U.N.-backed military campaign in Libya against Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi: A senior State Department official confirmed to Fox News that a NATO-backed entity will take the reins.

President Obama had promised a swift transfer of command, with NATO coordination, once the allies (principally the U.S.) had succeeded in degrading Libyan air assets to the point at which they could establish a no-fly zone over the country.

That point has effectively been reached, but France had been insisting that the entity that assumes command of the no-fly zone and other multilateral missions in the Libyan conflict should exist independently of NATO.

The official told Fox News the agreed-upon arrangement will be "something of a hybrid," with NATO's unique command-and-control capabilities fully harnessed to the tasks at hand, but "using that in a broader coalition that doesn't have a big, fat NATO flag on it, for obvious reasons." Read Full Story

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