El Brega :10 Libya rebels killed ..[ 2336 ]

10 Libya rebels killed in push for oil town

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Jul 16, 2011 12:09 Updated: Jul 16, 2011 12:09 

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BENGHAZI, Libya: A Libyan medical official says 10 rebel fighters seeking to oust ruler Muammar Qaddafi have been killed in an attack on a strategic eastern oil town.
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Mohammed Idris said Saturday that rebel forces entered the front-line town of Brega the night before and that government shelling and land mines killed 10 fighters.
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He said rebel forces captured four government soldiers. It was unclear whether any other government troops were killed and whether the fighting had advanced the rebel front line.
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Libya’s opposition received a boost Friday when more than 30 nations including the US recognized their National Transitional Council. But the civil war has fallen into a stalemate, with rebel forces unable to make significant advances, even while NATO bombs Qaddafi’s troops under a UN mandate to protect civilians.

H..Clinton praises Turkish leadership..[ 2335 ]

 

Clinton praises Turkish leadership, questions crackdown on journalists

From Elise Labott, CNN Senior State Department Producer

July 16, 2011 -- Updated 1946 GMT (0346 HKT)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stands with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while praising Turkey's rise as a regional and economic power, on Saturday urged the government to improve its record on freedom of expression and equal protection for all citizens.

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Speaking at a live talk show hosted by CNN Turk, CNN's sister network, the diplomat expressed concern about the reported jailing of about 50 journalists.

"I do not think it's necessary or in Turkey's interest to be cracking down on journalists and bloggers and the Internet, because I think Turkey is strong enough and dynamic enough" to allow debate, she said at the "Coffee Break With Hillary Clinton" show.

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"I do think this is an area that deserves attention from citizens, from lawyers, because it seems to me inconsistent with all the other advances that Turkey has made," she added.

As Turkey continues accession talks with the European Union, Clinton said, the country has an opportunity to ease restrictions on certain groups and bolster protection for minorities.

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Turkey has been gradually improving its record with the gay and lesbian community as it makes changes to conform to EU policy on human rights laws.

By late Saturday night, Clinton had arrived in Athens, Greece. Her flight west capped a whirlwind day in Turkey that included meetings with U.S. consulate employees, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Turkish political leaders.

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During her visit, she also expressed condolences for the deaths Thursday of 13 Turkish soldiers.

The government blamed the hostilities on the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a separatist movement regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and other entities.

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Clinton met with several Turkish leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In these meetings, she discussed Turkey's economy, the opportunities for women and the young and the fact trade between Turkey and the United States had increased about 50%, she said.

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The U.S. secretary called Turkey "one of the most exciting places in the world" and described its straddling of East and West as "an incredible advantage."

Clinton and Turkish government officials also discussed crises elsewhere in the region.

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The United States just recognized the main opposition group in Libya "as the legitimate governing authority" in a country that Moammar Gadhafi has long ruled with an iron fist.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu and Clinton also discussed unrest and large demonstrations in Syria.

"Stability inside Syria is important for Turkey," Clinton said at the coffee break. "But the right kind of stability -- a transition to democracy -- is what would be best for Turkey and even more importantly what would be best for the Syrian people." 

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In the past year, the relationship between Washington and Ankara has improved dramatically and, U.S. officials would argue, is in a pretty strong place. There are few major international issues where Turkey and the United States are not working closely together, such as the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, Afghanistan, counterterrorism, energy and the global economy.

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Clinton's 12-day trip continues now in Greece, followed by stops in India, Indonesia and China.

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CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report....

NATO disputes Libyan claim of coordinated push on al-Brega.[ 2334 ]

NATO disputes Libyan claim of coordinated push on al-Brega

From Ivan Watson and Raja Razek, CNN

July 15, 2011 -- Updated 1338 GMT (2138 HKT)

A Libyan rebel prepares to drive towards the Brega frontline from Ajdabiya on July 14, 2011.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO sloughed off an assertion of the Libyan government on Friday that the alliance and anti-government rebels were carrying out a coordinated air, sea and land attack on the strategic town of al-Brega.

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"NATO's mission is to prevent attacks and threats against civilians and that is what we are doing," the alliance said in a statement. "NATO has no military forces on the ground and no direct contact with opposition forces.

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"However, we do receive information from allied sources in Libya. We take this information into account to ensure that our actions are consistent with our U.N.-mandated mission to protect civilians."

In an unexpected late-night appearance before a hastily assembled group of journalists, a Libyan government spokesman on Thursday called the attack "heavy, merciless and surprising."

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• NATO disputes Libyan claim of coordinated push on al-Brega
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Italy : austerity package..[ 2333 ]

Italian Senate passes austerity package

Comments (15)

 

The measures aim to balance the budget by 2014

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 BBC.,,14 July 2011 Last updated at 14:13 GMT

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The Italian Senate has passed a tough austerity budget, including cuts of 48bn euros ($67bn; £42bn) over three years.

The lower house must also adopt the measures in a vote on Friday. Correspondents say that is likely.
Italy has one of the largest debt mountains in the eurozone and wants to avoid any need for a bail-out.
Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has said Italy is on the front line of the eurozone's economic difficulties.
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Italy raised 2.97bn euros ($4.2bn; £2.6bn) through a sale of 15-year government bonds on Thursday, but had to offer a 5.9% rate of return - an all-time high for such bonds.
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'Monster' threat
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BBC Europe editor Gavin Hewitt, in Rome, says both the government and the opposition know that Italy is under fierce scrutiny by the markets due to its large debts.
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Italy to ensure "decisive implementation" of spending cuts.
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In a report, the IMF said Italy must make efforts to reduce public debt, maintain the stability of its financial sector and introduce structural reforms to boost growth.
The package was put to parliament ahead of schedule, amid concerns that Italy may be the next country to be hit by the eurozone's debt crisis.
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Opposition parties voted against the package but agreed not to delay it, so as not to prolong uncertainty in the markets.
It passed by 161 votes to 135 in the Senate on Thursday.
Italy's Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti hopes his package will cut the deficit to zero by 2014 from this year's 3.9% of gross domestic product.
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He said in parliament that, without the budget, ''the monster debt from our past will swallow up our future''.

Αl Qaeda's defeat "within reach"...[ 2332 ]

Leon Panetta says al Qaeda's defeat "within reach"

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Panetta: Defeating al Qaeda "within reach"

By Phil Stewart

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KABUL | Sat Jul 9, 2011 5:56pm EDT
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(Reuters) - New U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, saying he believed the strategic defeat of al Qaeda was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 remaining leaders of the core group and its affiliates.

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Panetta, on his first trip since taking over the Pentagon on July 1, told reporters before arriving in Kabul that now was the time -- in the wake of the May killing of Osama bin Laden -- to intensify efforts to target al Qaeda's leadership.

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"We're within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda and I'm hoping to be able to focus on that, working obviously with my prior agency as well," said Panetta, who ran the CIA until the end of June.

"Now is the moment following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them. Because I do believe that if we continue this effort that we can really cripple al Qaeda as a threat to (the United States)."

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Panetta declined to offer all the names of al Qaeda leadership the United States was looking at. But he singled out two men: Anwar al-Awlaki, an American imam who has become a senior leader of al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, and Ayman al-Zawahri, who replaced bin Laden as the head of al Qaeda.

Panetta said he believed Zawahri was living in Pakistan's tribal areas, and "he's one of those we would like to see the Pakistanis target."

"I would say somewhere around 10-20 key leaders that between Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, AQIM (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) in North Africa. Those are, if we can go after them, I think we really can strategically defeat al Qaeda," he said.

Panetta added that the U.S. military and the CIA were engaged in a number of operations focusing on militants in Yemen. He did not give specifics.

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BETTER TIES WITH KARZAI?

Panetta's first trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary comes at a time of growing impatience in the United States with the nearly decade-old war, even as President Barack Obama pushes ahead with plans for a faster-than-expected drawdown.

Critics say the U.S. war strategy is undermined partly by Pakistan's failure to go after militants -- including those staging cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

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Panetta acknowledged Pakistani cooperation in going after some militants but added "we've got to continue to push (the Pakistanis) to do that."

"That's the key," Panetta said.

Critics also point to the strained relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been accused of failing to address rampant corruption.

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Although Panetta has met Karzai several times before as CIA director, he expressed hope that Obama's decision to move top officials including himself into new roles linked to Afghanistan would help improve ties.

"Hopefully it can be the beginning of a much better relationship than what we've had (with Karzai) over the past few years," Panetta said.

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Obama's withdrawal plans call for the first 10,000 of the nearly 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to leave the country by the end of this year. Another 23,000 will pull out by the end of next summer, with the goal of gradually handing over lead security responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

Panetta said the biggest challenge remained training Afghan forces in the months and years ahead.

"We've made good progress on that, but I think there's a lot more work to do of being able to transition responsibility to them," he said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech)
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