Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s forces and rebels are fighting for control of the oil town of Brega as the battle for eastern Libya edged closer to Benghazi, the so-called “rebel capital” in the east.
Author: WHES
Libyan forces rout rebels as West’s effort for no-flight zone stalls
AJDABIYA, Libya — Behind tanks, heavy artillery and airstrikes, forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi routed a ragtag army of insurgents and would-be revolutionaries who were holding the last defensive line before the rebel capital of Benghazi on Tuesday.
Hungry families sleep on the sidewalk, waiting for food in Hayward California
(Hayward CA, August 15, 2009) Families receive food at a food distribution organized every month by Hope for the Heart in Hayward. Many people begin lining up for food the day before, and sleep overnight on the sidewalk in order to make sure they get their food before it runs out. Many families are immigrants from Mexico, and don’t have enough money to buy food or pay rent. Food for the program comes from the Alameda County Community Food Bank, and the people distributing the food are all volunteers, organized by local churches. During the food distribution, children of food recipients listen to music, and watch a religious service while their families are waiting..
David Bacon is an award-winning photojournalist, labor organizer, and immigrant-rights activist. His web site is http://dbacon.igc.org/ . His most recent book is Illegal People — How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants.
As other authoritarian leaders fall, North Korea pushes ahead with succession plan
TOKYO — Last Sunday, a crowd of young North Koreans marched through a square in their capital city. They brandished red flags and called for a higher standard of living. But they also carried placards glorifying leader Kim Jong Il, and only a day earlier, they had attended an ideology seminar at which they pledged their loyalty to the current social
Surge in drug violence puts prosperity at risk in Monterrey, Mexico’s richest city
When American baseball executives were looking for a place to move the struggling Montreal Expos franchise five years ago, Mexican investors brought them here, to this booming metropolis two hours south of the Texas border.
Somalia: As a result of conflict and drought, 1 out of 3 Somalians needs humanitarian asssistance as prices of food and water soar
One in three people in Somalia needs humanitarian assistance as a severe water crisis, linked to the La Niña weather phenomenon, takes hold across much of the country after failed seasonal Deyr rains and amid continuing armed conflict. Prices of cereals and water in many areas have soared.
Egyptians desperate for democracy, but wary of US assistance in part because most past US aid has gone to the military and been interpreted by Egyptians as support for a regime that oppressed them
CAIRO – For years, the United States tried to offer democracy-building help here but was thwarted by an Egyptian government that was committed to the opposite.
Headquarters of Egypt’s widely feared security agency overrun in Cairo
CAIRO – Hundreds of protesters stormed the headquarters of Egypt’s widely feared State Security Investigations agency in Cairo on Saturday and began sifting through thousands of potentially inflammatory documents, marking another step toward dismantling the administration of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s sole Christian minister, is assassinated in Islamabad –the second liberal minister killed this year who spoke out against anti-blasphemy laws
Shahbaz Bhatti, the sole Christian cabinet member in majority-Muslim Pakistan, was shot multiple times by gunmen who surrounded his car as he left for work from his mother’s house, near his home in a residential neighborhood. The attackers fled, but fliers scattered at the scene bore the names of the militant Islamist groups Punjabi Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Vietnam struggles to cope with rising prices
Vietnam’s inflation rate is among Southeast Asia’s highest and its population is struggling to keep up with sharp increases in food, fuel and electricity prices.
