As Libyan warplanes continue to launch new air strikes against areas under the control of opposition rebels, international debate is growing about whether a no-fly zone should be established over the country to protect civilians.
Some influential voices in the United States and international community are calling on the United Nations and NATO to consider establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, where the warplanes of the country's leader Moammar Gadhafi continue to bomb targets held by rebel forces.
U.S. Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "I believe that the global community cannot be on the sidelines while airplanes are allowed to bomb and strafe. A no-fly zone is not a long-term proposition, assuming the outcome is what all desire, and I believe we ought to be ready to implement it as necessary."
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U.S. President Barack Obama said the world is outraged by what he called the "appalling" violence against the Libyan people and is urging Gadhafi to step down.
Obama says a no-fly zone is one of the options he is considering in order to stop the violence in Libya. He also is working with the international community to create solutions in case of a humanitarian disaster.
"There is a danger of a stalemate that, over time, could be bloody, and that is something that we are obviously considering," said the president. So what I want to make sure of is that the United States has full capacity to act, potentially rapidly."
In the 1990's the international community imposed no-fly zones over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Analysts caution that any far-reaching military action against Libya would require a mandate from the U.N. Security Council. However, they say it is likely Russia or China would use their veto power to stop such a move.
U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington and its allies are considering a no-fly zone, but any American intervention in Libya would be controversial within Libya and the broader Arab community.
Clinton said that while the U.S. is a long way from making such a decision, all possibilities are under discussion. "We are taking no option off the table, so long as the Libyan government continues to turn its guns on its own people."
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the military is working on a range of options, but emphasizes a no-fly zone in Libya would involve "a big operation in a big country."
Gates also said such a mission is complicated and would require a major air assault on Libyan military installations. "There is a lot of frankly loose talk about some of these military options and let's just call a spade a spade, a no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses."
Analysts say nations on the U.N. Security Council are not likely to approve a no-fly zone unless there is a dramatic escalation of violence by the Libyan Air Force.
Still, opponents of Gadhafi in Libya are calling on western powers to conduct airstrikes to help them topple the dictator.
Robert Wexler, a former U.S. Congressman who currently is president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East peace, said, "The inclination of many Americans, when they see a lunatic like Gadhafi engaging in violence against his own people, is to rush to help."
Wexler said while a no-fly zone sounds appealing to an international community eager to help Libyan protestors, the intervention of outside military force could actually weaken the rebels.
"The use of American engagement may actually undermine their efforts because today it is a homegrown effort. If they become allied with the United States, their effectiveness may be somewhat compromised."
Some European countries are drawing up contingency plans to prevent Gadhafi from using air power against his own people.
Arab League foreign ministers say they would consider backing a no-fly zone and will pursue talks on the best way to protect Libya's citizens and guarantee their security.
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The State Department said Friday Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has "forfeited the right" to run the country by turning his armed forces against political opponents. The United States has begun an airlift of relief supplies to third-country nationals fleeing Libya to Tunisia and Egypt.
In further tough rhetoric on the Libyan crisis, the State Department says the only appropriate subject for dialogue between the Gadhafi government and its opponents should be the terms for Mr. Gadhafi's "departure from the scene."
State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the fact the Tripoli government has turned "lethal, overwhelming force against its population" is of grave concern to the United States and that U.S. officials believe it has "delegitimized" Mr. Gadhafi "as a leader for Libya."
"There are rights and there are responsibilities," said P.J. Crowley. "Gadhafi has been a brutal dictator for four decades. And based on what he has done in turning his weapons against his people, rather than engaging them, we believe that he has forfeited his right to lead Libya."
Crowley said U.S. officials continue to monitor the situation and rule out no options including participation in an international "no-fly zone" regime over Libya, as some in Libya's armed opposition have called for.
The spokesman noted reservations about the costs and implications of a no-fly zone raised by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others, but said it could well develop into an option the United States would have to "seriously consider as things go forward."
Earlier Friday at a press event with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rene Castro, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the immediate U.S. focus is on the welfare of Libyans and the thousands of third-country nationals - guest workers and others - who are fleeing the violence.
"There is a lot of confusion on the ground that is often difficult for us to sort through, to get to what the actual facts are," said Clinton. "But the United States remains deeply concerned about the welfare of the Libyan people. Both the Libyans and those who are fleeing Libya are the subject of our outreach, and where ever possible we will be directly providing assistance."
Clinton said the United States is chartering airliners to transport people stranded near Libya's eastern and western borders back to their home countries, and that two U.S. Air Force C-130 transport planes had flown to Tunisia, laden with relief supplies.
Spokesman Crowley said the two planes would be pressed into service Saturday carrying Egyptian nationals from Tunisia back to their home country.
U.S. officials estimate that as many as 1.5 million third-country nationals were working in Libya when the violence broke out. They said about 200,000 had fled the country - with about half of them still waiting for assistance in border areas.
Crowley said the flow of those arriving in Egypt and Tunisia has slowed in recent days, perhaps because pro-Gadhafi forces are impeding their departure.
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Hundreds of protesters upset at human rights violations under the previous Egyptian government tried to storm a building of the internal security service Friday in Alexandria, even as demonstrators in Cairo welcomed Egypt's new prime minister.
In Cairo's Tahrir [Liberation] Square, Essam Sharaf, told the crowds that he is working to meet the people's demands.
Sharaf, a U.S.-educated civil engineer, was appointed Thursday to the caretaker post. He gave a short speech in the square, where large crowds have been gathering each Friday to call for political and economic reform. He said he wants to see that Egypt becomes a country where the security forces work for the good of the citizens.
Sharaf closed by repeating the protesters' slogan, "Raise your head up, you are Egyptian."
Meanwhile, Egyptian military officials announced that a referendum on amendments to the country's constitution is scheduled for March 19.
Eighteen days of political protests led to President Hosni Mubarak's resignation last month. Since then, activists have gathered on Fridays to press for progress on reforms.
On Thursday, the military - which has assumed temporary control of the government - appointed Sharaf as prime minister, just hours after his predecessor, Ahmed Shafiq, stepped down. A statement from the military said Sharaf has been asked to form a caretaker government.
The former prime minister's resignation was a key demand of anti-government protesters.
The new prime minister, Sharaf, served in Mubarak's cabinet for 18 months in 2004 and 2005, and he is viewed as one of the few officials with significant government experience but untainted by ties to the ousted regime.
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Mourners packed a church in Pakistan's capital Friday to pay tribute to the minister for minorities who was assassinated for challenging Pakistan's blasphemy law.
Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of the federal Cabinet, was gunned down Wednesday near his home in Islamabad. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying they killed the minister because he opposed legislation that imposes the death penalty for insulting Islam.
During Bhatti's funeral mass, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed to "bring the culprits to justice." Demonstrators outside the Islamabad church also demanded punishment for the minister's killers.
Bhatti's body was taken to his ancestral village of Khushpur for burial. There, thousands crowded the streets, demanding justice.
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Bhatti is the second high profile official to be killed recently for supporting reforms to the blasphemy law. Punjab province's governor, Salman Taseer, was shot dead in January by one of his bodyguards, who cited the politician's opposition to the controversial legislation as justification for the killing. Bhatti and Taseer's assassinations have drawn international condemnation.
Christians are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Pakistan, making up about 5 percent of the population.
President Asif Ali Zardari did not attend the mass or the burial.
Security was tightened in both Islamabad and Khushpur.
Meanwhile, some Pakistani lawmakers called for Interior Minister Rehman Malik's resignation on Friday, saying the government failed to protect Bhatti.
Bhatti did not have his security detail with him when he was attacked Wednesday.
Interior Minister Malik said he is willing to step down if investigators determine there was a lapse in security.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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International efforts are underway to help thousands of foreigners evacuate from Libya, while opposition rebels have held their ground in a key eastern oil town.
During a White House event Thursday U.S. President Barack Obama said the violence in Libya must end. He said Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has lost his legitimacy to lead and must leave.
He also pledged U.S. support for those fleeing the violence in Libya. Meanwhile, Libyan rebels maintained control in the town of Brega, about 800 kilometers east of the capital, Tripoli. The town is the site of a key oil installation and the rebels held their position despite government airstrikes.
The popular uprising against Gaddafi's 41-year rule has knocked out nearly 50 percent of Libya's 1.6 million barrels of oil output per day. The government says its refineries are operating normally.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Chinese authorities appear to be nervous about the spread of protests that have toppled and threatened Middle Eastern and North African rulers in recent weeks.
The government has threatened to revoke visas and expel foreign journalists who report from certain busy areas of the country without prior approval.
Last Sunday, about 16 foreign journalists were detained and harassed by security forces in the Beijing shopping district of Wangfujing. The journalists were there to document a small gathering of people who responded to Internet calls for public gatherings to support the "Jasmine Revolution" in the Middle East and to call for reform in China. One American journalist was beaten so badly he was hospitalized.
Press freedom
Freedom of expression in China is already severely curtailed. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and many foreign broadcasters, like the Voice of America, are blocked, as are many foreign news Web sites.
Spreading protests
But since the protests in the Middle East and North Africa shook long-entrenched governments there, China has stepped up efforts to prevent similar protests.
Gilles Lordet, research coordinator for Asia at Reporters without Borders in Paris, says China has increased its control over the media and government critics since human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October.
"It shows the nervousity [nervousness] of the government about demonstrations, about the possibility of that the demonstrations in the Middle East can have an impact on [a] network of human rights defenders, journalists and defenders of freedom of expression in China," Lordet said. "We see that it is a policy that's more and more strict since the attribution of the Nobel Prize to Liu Xiaobo in October. The situation of the Middle East increased the nervosity of the government on this subject."
Track record
China's communist party has ruled the country since 1949. The last mass anti-government protest in Beijing ended in bloodshed in 1989, when government forces fired at hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square. In 2008, unrest in Tibet was put down by the military, and in 2009, the government again suppressed riots in the Xinjiang autonomous region.
The organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders warned Thursday of a "new wave of frenzied repression in China. The group says many activists across China have been arrested or placed under house arrest for endangering state security and subversion related to calls for a Jasmine Revolution.
"I think we are seeing one of the harshest crackdowns in the last, probably, five years because if you look at how many people are under soft detention, there's over a hundred," said Wang Songlian, a research coordinator for the group. "That number is more or less the same as the period during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. But I think the difference here is that how quickly the government mobilized the police to put these activists under soft detention."
Social harmony
The government under President Hu Jintao has stressed the importance of social harmony. It has spent heavily on advanced surveillance systems, Internet censorship and other ways to snuff out social unrest or dissent before they spread. Some political analysts say this makes it impossible to easily launch a challenge against the government.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday the Chinese government has nothing to fear and any attempt to destabilize the country cannot succeed.
Some overseas Chinese Web sites have called for protests again this Sunday. However, it is unclear whether citizens in China can still see these messages.
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Economic sanctions against Ivory Coast are hurting business in the world's top cocoa producer.
Thousands of civil servants line up along Abidjan's Rue des Banques, waiting to be paid their February salaries. When foreign banks closed last month because of regional sanctions against incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, his government faced its biggest economic challenge yet: finding the cash to pay its workers, especially its soldiers.
Gbagbo's government quickly took charge of those banks and reopened them this week, just in time to pay civil servants 80 percent of their normal salaries.
"That will be a great success. I am sure they will be able to do it," said English teacher Ibrahim Kalo. He says the regional central bank move to cut off the Gbagbo government was a challenge to all Ivorians - a challenge that has been met.
"I think this was an operation to diabolize [demonize] the government of Cote d'Ivoire," Kalo added. "But I think they can pay us. That is why we are standing now in the queue. You can see from all the banks here long lines of people waiting for money, and they will be paid. You can be sure of that. There is no trouble."
Winceslas Appia, general manager of Abidjan's Bank for Agricultural Financing says there is enough cash to take care of everyone. So people should remain calm, he said. Appia said the banks have put in place measures to reinforce their staff so everyone will be served.
Withdrawals limited
Personal withdrawals are limited to about $425 a day. Gbagbo's Minister of Economy and Finance, Desire Dallo says those limits are meant to help the banking system stay solvent.
Dallo is asking people not to withdraw all their money because the banking system works only if there is a balance between deposits and loans. Dallo said it is obvious that people are afraid that banks will close again. But he said these are now state-run banks that will not fail, so account holders should not panic and withdraw all their money because that will not help.
Why sanctions?
Economic sanctions are meant to drive Gbagbo from power after he claimed re-election in last November's disputed presidential runoff. The constitutional council annulled nearly 10 percent of the ballots as fraudulent. Ivory Coast's electoral commission and the United Nations certified results that say former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara won that vote.
Ouattara's call for a ban on cocoa exports has brought most of that industry to a halt, denying the Gbagbo government an important source of tax revenue. Sanctions have led to a shortage of cooking gas and the collapse of money transfers and credit cards, making Ivory Coast a cash-only economy.
Economic impact
Senegalese businessman Mouctar Bah sells mobile phones in Abidjan's Treichville neighborhood.
Bah says Seneglese merchants were in Ivory Coast when it was good. Now nothing is working. There is not Western Union or banks to transfer money. Businessmen are not politicians, Bah says, so when things are not working, it is time to leave.
At a Total Petrol station on Boulevard du General DeGaulle, motorists are no longer allowed to buy fuel in jerry cans. It is part of a government campaign to prevent hoarding as Abidjan's refinery is reducing production because it is having trouble buying crude.
Effective?
Ouattara supporters say sanctions against Gbagbo are working, though more slowly than they hoped.
"We will see that the effects will be quite remarkable," said Jean-Marie Kacou Gervais, Ouattara's foreign minister. "We can't see it by now, but it's on. And I am sure he will not be able to stand the heat when the time comes."
Even those who do not recognize Gbagbo's authority agree that his is the de facto government in Ivory Coast so long as it pays its soldiers.
"He has the army and he also has got the finance to pay," said Hamadoun Toure, the United Nations mission spokesman. "As long as he has the two powers, he will be in control of the situation."
Pro-Gbagbo parliamentarian Bamba Massany says Ivorians will not be cowed by the international community.
Massany said sanctions against the Gbagbo government are inhuman and nonsensical. Now is the time for people to help the government, as Massany said it is working to strengthen Ivory Coast's economic foundations.
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Friday was Day 8 for the Space Shuttle Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. In its last flight, Discovery is proving that even though it is NASA's oldest and longest-serving shuttle, it remains an impressive workhorse.
On its last mission into space, Discovery ferried equipment to the Space Station. While given a long list of chores to complete on his spacewalk, shuttle astronaut Alvin Drew says he was stunned by the view.
"It looked like it was South America or the Amazon basin somewhere. It was just beautiful, the clouds, the river valleys, all the greenery: and I had to remind myself that I had work to do and I couldn't just take in the scenery."
The 2,900 kilograms of supplies hauled to orbit in Discovery's cargo bay included a storage module the size of a bus, where astronauts can stash hardware and spare parts and do science experiments.
The shuttle also carried a humanoid, two-armed robot. Astronaut Katherine Coleman is anxious to get Robonaut 2 out of the box to see how it performs in zero gravity.
"We want to learn those lessons here on the inside of the Space Station before we send them to the outside of the Space Station or to other planets which we need to be able to do in terms of exploring both a human presence and a robotics presence," said Coleman. "It will take both of those to get further out into the universe. And Robonaut is a good first step."
On Thursday the shuttle crew learned that their mission would be extended by two days, welcome news to Space Station Commander Scott Kelly. He said ISS is preparing to jettison a Japanese cargo craft and needs the help.
"It gives us two extra days of six people, which is a lot of crew time to get all that stuff or some of it done, before they leave and then it just helps maximize our time post undocking for things like science and other activities we have to perform on board the Space Station on a daily basis," said Kelly.
While the astronauts continue to unpack and outfit the storage module, the significance of this being Discovery's last mission has not been lost on its crew or Capt. Steve Lindsey. "It's been 39 missions, nearly one year on orbit and, I think about all the things that vehicle has done and it's really inspiring to me and kind of bitter sweet, and quite frankly sad, knowing that when we land that will be it for this vehicle."
In a telephone call to the International Space Station Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama echoed those sentiments and commended the space travelers for their work.
"You are setting such a great example with your dedication, your courage, your commitment to exploration. These are traits that built America and you guys personify them."
Landing is scheduled for next Wednesday. NASA plans two more missions, one for each of the remaining two orbiters before the shuttle program ends later this year.
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Protests in Bahrain between Sunni and majority Shi'ite Muslims have erupted into sectarian violence for the first time since anti-government demonstrations started some two weeks ago.
Residents of Hamad town said Friday that police intervened to disperse young Sunnis and Shi'ites who clashed late Thursday.
Media reports say several people were injured in the violence. It is unclear what caused the incident.
Anti-government protesters gathered throughout the small Gulf island nation for the past two weeks, demanding the resignation of the government.
Unlike those held elsewhere in the Arab world, the protests in Bahrain are largely built around the competition for power between the Sunni minority and the Shi'ite majority, who complain of discrimination and lack of opportunity. Protesters say they want the Sunni monarchy to transfer powers to an elected government that is representative of the Gulf state's majority Shi'ites.
A government crackdown on opposition protests that began February 14 killed seven demonstrators before the island state's rulers agreed, under pressure from their Western allies, to allow peaceful demonstrations to continue.
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Tunisia's new Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi has called the country's previous administration " a gang of saboteurs" and promised to name new government by Sunday.
Essebsi spoke to reporters Friday in Tunis. He said he and his co-workers are working with "a popular revolution that does not have a framework." He said those who would like to leave the country may do so, but people who would like to stay and work are welcome.
Thursday, Tunisia's interim president, Fouad Mebazza, said the country will vote July 24 to elect a council that will rewrite the constitution and chart the country's transition following the ouster of leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
In a televised address late Thursday, President Mebazaa said the current constitution "does not meet the aspirations of the people after the revolution" and that the country is entering "a new political system that definitively breaks with the former regime."
He also said a group made up of national figures and political representatives will write a new electoral code by the end of March to handle the council vote. The Reuters news agency reported that once elected, the constituent council could either appoint a new government or ask the current executive to carry on until presidential or parliamentary elections are held.
Protesters have kept up pressure since Ben Ali's fall, demanding a timetable for constitutional reform and elections, as well as a government free of former regime members. Violence on February 26 led to the deaths of at least five people in the capital, Tunis.
Six high-profile members of the caretaker government, including former prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, have stepped down since Sunday as demonstrators vent their anger at the slow pace of change since Ben Ali's departure.
The Tunisian protests touched off anti-government demonstrations in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Iran and Iraq.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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Refugees are pouring across the Kenyan border as fighting between the Somali government and rebel group al-Shabab rages across the war torn country.
The Somali government's recent push to eliminate al-Qaida linked insurgents is spilling into Kenya, as fighting continues along the border.
On February 24, the Transitional Federal Government launched a countrywide offensive to oust Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab from its strongholds across southern and central Somalia. The group controls much of the region including large parts of the capital, Mogadishu. The offensive was launched with help from the joint United Nations - African Union force AMISOM, as well as support from the Ethiopian Military.
At the end of February, fighting spilled into the Kenyan town of Mandera, near the border with Ethiopia and Somalia. While the majority of the fighting has taken place on the Somali side, civilian deaths have been reported as stray bullets hit innocent bystanders.
Mandera is largely quiet now, but Kenya Red Cross Director Abbas Gullet said Friday the situation has not yet returned to normal.
"At least on the Kenyan side of the border there is relative calm and peace although people are tense because of the ongoing fighting on the other side that continues every evening and every night and early mornings," said Gullet.
Kenya has denied reports of Somali soldiers using Kenyan territory to launch attacks on insurgent forces and all reports indicate the fighting has moved back into Somalia. But as fighting continues, Kenya is bracing to receive the brunt of Somali civilians fleeing the violence.
Over the past week, Mandera has seen a massive influx of Somali refugees, largely from Bula Hawa, just across the Somali border. While not all the refugees have been accounted for, Gullet estimates as many as 20,000 have fled.
"Kenya Red Cross has been granted permission by the government to set up a refugee camp," he said. "Until last night we had registered about 11,170 individuals. There is more being registered today."
The Red Cross is currently providing those in need with basic shelter, food and health services. The group plans to launch an appeal next week for assistance to provide more permanent accommodation for the displaced.
Kenya has a long history of receiving Somali refugees due to the Horn of African nation's prolonged instability. It has been 20 years since Somalia had a functioning government. Dadaab, in northeastern Kenya, currently hosts three refugee camps housing an estimated 300,000 Somali refugees.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged the unconditional release of U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross, who went on trial Friday in Cuba on subversion and spy charges. The 61-year-old American, held in Cuba since late 2009, could face 20 years imprisonment if convicted.
Clinton made her public appeal only hours before the long-awaited trial proceedings against Gross began in a Havana courtroom.
Gross faces charges of committing acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the Cuban state in connection with his activities in Cuba as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Cuba says Gross distributed satellite communications gear for Internet access under a U.S. program, begun under the Bush administration, that Cuba considers subversive and illegal.
U.S. officials say Gross was providing computers and cell phones to Cuba's small Jewish community to help it communicate with the outside world, and that his activities were not a crime.
At a press event with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rene Castro, Clinton expressed hope the trial leads to Gross's early release and return home.
"We also, as you know, are deeply concerned about our American citizen, Alan Gross. He's been unjustly jailed for far too long. We call on the government of Cuba to release him, and unconditionally allow him to leave Cuba and return to his family, to bring an end to their long ordeal. It is a matter of great personal pain to his family and concern to the United States government, so we're going to hope that he will be also reunited soon."
Foreign reporters were barred from the opening trial session, but Gross's wife and consular officials from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana reportedly were allowed in.
The two countries have not had formal diplomatic relations since 1961, but have interested sections in their respective capitals, and have held talks in recent months on such issues as immigration and postal links.
Clinton and her Costa Rican counterpart discussed regional issues, including efforts to combat drug trafficking, and a bitter dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the course of a river that forms part of their border.
Costa Rica claims Nicaraguan forces crossed into its territory last year during dredging operations in the San Juan river, while Nicaragua accuses its neighbor of "inventing" a border conflict.
The International Court of Justice is expected to make a ruling on the dispute soon, and Clinton said the United States wants to see a peaceful resolution "in accordance with long-established agreements."
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China will spend $91.5 billion on the People's Liberation Army, navy and air forces next year, marking a return to double-digit spending. Last year the defense budget rose 7.5 percent.
The increase is likely to increase alarm in Taiwan, Japan, India and other parts of Asia.
Announcing the military budget ahead of the annual National People's Congress, parliamentary spokesman Li Zhaoxing sought to such allay fears.
Li said China is devoted to peaceful development and that Beijing's military policy is defensive by nature.
He said China has a long coastline and various borders to secure - but given its geographical size and vast population of 1.34 billion, the military spending is low compared with other modern nations.
Li added that the increase will not pose a threat to any other country.
The budget was presented one day before the National People's Congress opens in Beijing.
The rise accounts for just 6 percent of China's national budget. The military budget is one-fifth of the United States', which last month requested $553 billion for 2012 - up 4.2 percent from 2011.
But China's military build-up has many governments rattled, including the U.S.
The PLA recently revealed its first stealth jet fighter.
The navy is fast expanding into distant waters and work on aircraft carriers and sophisticated weaponry have caused many defense analysts to say the balance of power in the Pacific is leaning China's way.
This week, the Japanese, Philippine and Vietnamese governments complained that Chinese military planes and naval vessels came close to violating their sovereign airspace and territorial waters.
Professor James Nolt is the campus dean of the New York Institute of Technology at Nanjing University, and an expert on security issues.
He says much of the budget increase will go toward rising costs as China updates its military equipment to international standards.
He also says some of the money will be spent on higher wages for personnel with higher skills.
"These two things are not often taken into account when people look at the Chinese military budget, and the raise in personal costs, and the great expense of replacing over-aged and worn out weapons and equipment," Nolt said. "In my view it does not represent a significant change in capability. It represents an increase in costs in order to maintain existing capabilities, relative to other countries."
Many regional security experts think China's real military budget is far higher, with extra spending buried in other departments or hidden from public gaze.
China's neighbors are upgrading their forces in response to its buildup.
India increased annual defense spending by about 12 percent this week and is shopping for advanced aircraft and submarines.
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An independent investigation has been launched in Britain into a top university's links with Libya after the university's director resigned over the controversy.
Britain's London School of Economics had been put under the spotlight because of its ties to Gadhafi and his family.
Under investigation
The university accepted a research grant worth more than $2 million from a foundation run by Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi.
On Thursday, the university's director resigned, the first high-profile Briton to lose his job in connection with British business links with Libya. Sir Howard Davies told the BBC that he had to take responsibility for the damage done to the university's reputation.
"I think the school will recover, it's a fine institution, which I have become very fond of," said Davies. "But I think it will recover more quickly if I accept responsibility for two errors of judgment."
Those two errors, he said, were advising the London School of Economics to accept the Ghadafi donation and to act himself as an unpaid economic envoy to Libya.
But he said the university's academic independence has not been infringed.
Rodney Wilson, an international relations expert at Britain's Durham University, says accepting such a grant was a precarious undertaking.
"Quite a lot of this was basically to support research and conferences and workshops, which are supposed to be independent and unbiased," said Wilson. "Well, obviously if you're getting funding from Libya, that kind of undermines the academic integrity of such gatherings and research."
Alleged plagiarism
Now an investigation is to be launched into whether the London School of Economics' academic independence was breached.
Also investigated will be the doctoral degree of Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi. There have been reports that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who had been a student at the London School of Economics, plagiarized his 2008 thesis.
Wilson says Saif al-Islam Gadhafi has for a long time played a key, though unofficial, role in financial relations between Libya and Britain.
"He was at the London School of Economics, he has always been a fairly frequent visitor to London," Wilson said. "And although he doesn't directly control the Libyan sovereign wealth fund, nevertheless obviously getting him on side was very important to any investments and deals that they have been involved in."
Past accusations
Libyan leader Gadhafi, once called the "mad dog of the Middle East" by a U.S. president [the late Ronald Reagan], was tied to terror attacks in Europe and accused of supplying the Irish Republican Army with weapons.
But in 2003 Gadhafi renounced terror, and Britain has worked hard to build business links with his country, the world's 12th largest oil exporter.
In 2007, the British oil giant BP signed a deal with Libya worth at least $900 million.
"It was believed that by basically pursuing better relations with Gadhafi and his regime that this might wean them away from this sort of activity, and the evidence is that it has," Wilson explained.
Ghadafi spoke at the London School of Economics as recently as last December. The university has produced 16 Nobel Prize winners.
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Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in cities and towns across the country on Friday, calling for better public services and demanding the government clean up corruption.
News reports say Iraqi security forces used batons to disperse protesters who rallied in the southern city of Basra.
Meanwhile, a government ban on vehicles in Baghdad and other cities, announced late Thursday, meant some protesters were forced to walk many kilometers to reach the demonstrations.
This is the second Friday Iraqis have protested, joining a wave of anti-government protests across the Middle East and North Africa.
Chanting demonstrators massed in other cities, including Mosul and Nasiriya.
Last Friday, clashes between security forces and protesters caused some 14 deaths across the nation.
In response to the unrest, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki cut his own pay and increased funding for food programs for the needy. On Sunday, he gave his cabinet 100 days to improve or be fired.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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As conflict continues in Libya, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi has blamed the turmoil on Al- Qaida, on foreign interference, even on drug use. He has also denied that there is any turmoil in his country. The Libyan leader's behavior is not unlike that of other powerful leaders, but in this case it could have tragic results for ordinary Libyans.
In his recent speeches, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said:
"I dare you to find that peaceful protesters were killed. In America, France, and everywhere, if people attacked military stores and tried to steal weapons, they will shoot them...."
"They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe...."
"We are ready to hand out weapons to a million, or two million or three million, and another Vietnam will begin. It doesn't matter to us. We no longer care about anything...."
But does the Libyan leader really believe these statements? Is he delusional or are they a shrewd attempt to control his country?
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Daniel Chirot, a professor of International Studies at the University of Washington, is the author of Modern Tyrants: The Power and Prevalence of Evil in Our Age. Chirot says Colonel Gadhafi is acting much the way that powerful people have acted throughout history.
Listen to the interview with Daniel Chirot on Gadhafi's mentality:
"People who have that much power for a long time, when they fail, they often blame everything on their people, and say 'well, my people failed me and so they don't deserve to live.' That was Hitler's attitude," he noted.
Shrewd or out of touch?
Ali Ahmida, a Libyan-American professor of political science at the University of New England, says Colonel Gadhafi has been very shrewd in manipulating symbols and cultivating through his speeches, clothes and style of life a way to ensure he remains popular in the country.
But Ahmidah says lately, it appears the Libyan leader has lost touch with reality.
"I really am concerned about [Gadhafi's] ability to grasp what has happened in Libya and what has happened in the region so far in the last couple of months. And the speeches he has given so far indicate that he is in denial almost delusional when it comes to understanding how grave the situation is and the fact that a large number of Libyans really are demanding change of his regime," said Ahmida.
David Mack, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates who served in Libya when Colonel Gadhafi came to power in 1969, says those around Gadhafi need to act if they want to avoid more bloodshed.
"I hope frankly, that people who are close to Gadhafi will take some actions to rid themselves of his leadership because I don't think it's at all good for their long term interests," he said.
Delusional
Ali Ahmida says Colonel Gadhafi's mindset and his speeches have almost painted him into a corner and he cannot leave like Tunisian president Ben Ali or Egypt's Hosni Mubarak did recently.
"Even the last three of four speeches he has given recently indicates that he still thinks that he is the leader, he is popular, and he has a lot of wide support in Libya," said the professor.
David Mack agrees, saying that Gadhafi is not like presidents Ben Ali, Mubarak or even like former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Mack says Gadhafi will have to be removed from power – he will not go voluntarily.
"Even with Saddam Hussein we could envisage places where Saddam Hussein could go into safe refuge," Mack said. "I'm not sure that that's true with Gadhafi. I really don't see a possibility of him finding safety outside of Libya, so I don't think he's going to be leaving."
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Daniel Chirot says he does not think Gadhafi will accept living in exile. He says his greatest fear is that the Libyan leader means what he says and will fight to "the last bullet."
"I also believe - and it's quite clear from his speeches and his actions – that he wants to have revenge on the Libyan people for overthrowing him," said Chirot.
"So he'll kill as many as he can and hang on as long as he can. And then at the last minute whether he manages to hop on to an airplane and fly somewhere else or gets killed, I couldn't say. But he is certainly willing to kill as many people as he possibly can," he added.
As of this report, rebels hold the eastern part of Libya while those loyal to Gadhafi hold the area around Tripoli in the western region. Fighting continues and the world powers are debating what to do next. But a peaceful end to Moammar Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule is something few seem ready to predict.
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