Africa

I was working in Libya as a technician at the ship-shore radio station, Tripoli, when Muammar Gaddafi led the bloodless coup in 1969. I was on the overnight shift when the new regime, headed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic – thus launching Mr Gaddafi onto the grand stage.

At least 4 people were killed in clashes with Libyan security forces, opposition websites said, as the country faced a nationwide “Day of Anger” called by cyber-activists.
The websites monitored in Cyprus and a Libyan rights group based in London said the clashes with demonstrators opposed to the regime of Libya’s leader Kadhafi took place in the eastern town of Al-Baida.

Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police in the Algerian city of Annaba, as the opposition announced another major anti-government rally next weekend.
The next anti-government rally will be held February 19, said Mustepha Bouchahi of National Coordination for Change and Democracy, an umbrella group of opposition parties, civil society movements and unofficial unions.

In Uganda, funeral services are being held today for a prominent LGBT rights activist beaten to death this week. David Kato was killed after an unknown assailant attacked him in his home. Kato was a leading opponent of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which calls for the death penalty or life imprisonment for some homosexual acts.

The protests that took place today in Yemen and Egypt have drawn inspiration from the uprising in Tunisia that forced the ouster of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The interim Tunisian government is expected to announce the dismissal today of all leftover cabinet members with ties to former President Ben Ali.

Tunisia is in its way now that the dictator has been driven out and the country is looking to a new future.
But Tunisians are skeptical regarding a new regime, focusing on the fact that key posts in the new national unity government remain in the hands of the old government party, the RCD.
The opposition parties will need to play an important role in the new Tunisia.

Thousands of people have taken themselves to the streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis today in order to demand the resignation President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Nationwide protests have erupted over the past month against unemployment, police brutality and government repression under Ben Ali’s twenty three years rule.

The Convergence of Cultures calls for urgent action to help refugees in Libya where reports of violence have been received with authorities failing to assist the injured and making deportations to countries in humanitarian crisis. Many of the victims are men, women and children rejected by European authorities, in violation of the Geneva Convention.

The proposal to legalize whale killing went down in flames in recent Morocco meeting.
In a few short weeks, the biggest whale-saving petition in history, signed by an extraordinary number of 1.2 million of worldwide people, will be delivered directly to the key delegates at the International Whaling Commission meeting.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of people streamed through Kinshasa on Saturday for the funeral of Floribert Chebeya, one of Congo’s top human rights activists. Chebeya was found dead in his car two weeks ago after being summoned to meet the chief of the national police. Supporters of Chebeya have called for an independent probe into his death.