President Barack Obama says a wide range of potential options in Libya are under consideration, including a military response to the fighting there.
As the fighting in Libya increasingly resembles a civil war, the U.S. administration is coming under increased pressure to take action. Over the weekend, several lawmakers, including former presidential candidates John McCain and John Kerry, argued that the U.S. and its allies should impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
President Barack Obama referred to Libya in brief remarks in the Oval Office after meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were reported to be conducting air strikes on a rebel-held eastern town and battling opposition fighters in the east and west of the country.
"And I think Prime Minister Gillard and I both share a very firm conviction that the violence that's been taking place and perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable," he said.
He said, the Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, and his loyalists will be held accountable for continuing violence.
"In the meantime, we've got NATO, as we speak, consulting in Brussels around a wide range of potential options, including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place inside of Libya," the president said.
In a briefing with reporters at the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said the main military options under consideration are establishing a no-fly zone, enforcing a U.N. arms embargo, and protecting humanitarian aid operations.
At a news conference in Brussels Monday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance has "no intention" of intervening in Libya for the time being, but is conducting "prudent planning for any eventuality."
President Obama said he had just authorized an additional $15 million to be provided to humanitarian organizations working in Libya.
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Pakistani officials say a car bomb has exploded at a gas station in the country's east, killing at least 20 people.
Officials say Tuesday's blast in the Punjab province city of Faisalabad wounded at least 100 others. The car bomb ignited gas cylinders at the station, triggering a bigger blast that damaged several government buildings nearby.
Piles of bricks from the destroyed building and scraps of metal from damaged cars littered the scene as rescued workers attended to the wounded.
No one has claimed responsibility for attack.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have carried out multiple airstrikes on targets outside a rebel-held eastern town, and have engaged in deadly ground battles with opposition fighters throughout the war-torn North African nation.
Libyan warplanes struck positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf Monday. One of the strikes wounded at least two people in a car. A day earlier, anti-Gadhafi fighters retreated to the coastal city from the nearby town of Bin Jawwad, following a heavy government counter-offensive aimed at stopping the rebel drive toward the capital, Tripoli.
Medics say the battle killed at least seven and wounded more than 50. The government advance on Ras Lanuf forced residents to flee and rebels to hide weapons in the desert.
Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa Monday denounced what he said are U.S., French and British contacts with the eastern-based opposition, saying it is "clear there is a conspiracy to divide Libya."
Also Monday, in an interview with the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Arabiya, one of Mr. Gadhafi's sons said Libya would descend into civil war if his father stepped down. Saadi Gadhafi warned the country would turn into a new Somalia, with Libya's tribes fighting each other.
Watch raw video of the events in Libya
Mr. Gadhafi's forces attacked rebels holding the western towns of Misrata and Zawiya on Sunday. A doctor in Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, says at least 18 people were killed in that fighting. A United Nations aid official in Geneva said humanitarian agencies need urgent access to Misrata to help people who are injured and dying.
The Libyan leader remains in control of Tripoli, his main power base in the country's west, as well as his hometown of Sirte, 500 kilometers east of the capital. He has vowed a fight to the death against opposition fighters who last month launched an uprising against his 42-year rule.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
The United Nations is appealing for $160 million to meet the emergency needs of an estimated 460,000 people who have fled Libya's violence or remain trapped inside the country. U.N. officials say they will revise the appeal and action plan in two weeks to reflect the changing situation.
Libya has been host to about 2.5 million migrant workers. More than 200,000 of them have fled since mid-February, mostly to Tunisia, Egypt and Niger. But many more are stranded in Libya and need help, according to the director-general of the International Organization for Migration, William Swing.
"Many more want to come out," said Swing. "It is not entirely clear why the large flow of about 1,000 per hour only a week ago, has now ebbed to only a couple of thousand a day over this past weekend. So, we know at some point that there are many, many more people who need help and a lot of these are very vulnerable."
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, says he is very concerned about the community of sub-Saharan Africans. He says hundreds of thousands of Africans are in Libya, but very few have shown up at the border.
"We believe that many of them are just afraid to move," said Guterres. "The fact that for the population in general, there is sometimes a confusion between all these innocent people and a bunch of mercenaries that were supporting the government. It has created an environment of terror in which these people are really feeling afraid to move."
Libya has agreed to allow a U.N. mission to go into the capital Tripoli to assess the humanitarian situation. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos says the United Nations will press for unhindered access to all parts of the country.
"We are particularly concerned about the lack of access we have to the west of Libya," said Amos. "We have had an assessment team go into the east and into Benghazi to see what the needs there are, and we are getting reports of people who are injured and who have died and they have not been able to receive help""
Funds received through the $160 million appeal will be split among 17 U.N. and private aid agencies. The appeal is for projected needs of the next three months and covers camp management, food security, nutrition, health care, water, sanitation, protection, shelter and logistics.
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President Barack Obama on Monday approved the resumption of controversial military trials for suspected terrorists at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The decision, which ends a two-year ban on military trials of detainees at the facility, is disappointing for some legal scholars.
The White House released a new executive order for Guantanamo trials to resume, after a long review of judicial options concerning alleged terrorists.
President Obama promised better safeguards for the rights of detainees, following criticism by human rights groups and other countries for a lack of fairness.
The executive order states that the Obama administration remains committed to eventually closing the detention facility, where about 170 detainees remain in custody. It also said the U.S. system of justice remains a key part of the war against al-Qaida terrorists. In a background briefing, senior administration officials said the order strengthens U.S. security needs and American values.
Mason Clutter, an attorney for the Washington-based Constitution Project, says her organization has mixed feelings about the president's decision to resume the military trials.
"The Constitution Project is pleased that the administration remains committed to using our civilian criminal justice system," said Clutter. "However, we are disappointed that the administration is not going to be proceeding with parallel trials in the civilian justice system while they are trying cases in the military commission system."
Clutter says many of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are being charged with material support of terrorism and conspiracy, and that it is debatable whether these charges qualify as war crimes.
The chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Republican Howard McKeon, said he was disappointed that Mr. Obama had made his policy through an executive order rather than through legislation. But he welcomed the resumption of military trials at Guantanamo Bay. Another Republican, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, said he hoped Mr. Obama would abandon his promise to close the detention center.
The White House stated that some of the detainees must continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay even though they have not been formally charged because they remain at war with the United States.
One of the first trials likely to proceed under the new order would involve Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Legal scholars say that case presents challenges for the Guantanamo military commissions because it concerns an attack that took place before the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, which led to the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. They also say the trial might involve the death penalty, which has not been considered in previous Guantanamo trials.
Mason Clutter of The Constitution Project says she hopes the executive order is a start and that the Obama administration will continue to make progress on the issue.
"The way that we have proceeded to date has caused quite a bit of conflict between the United States and our allies, and I think it is in our best national security interests to work toward a system that is more consistent with the rule of law and with our constitution to better protect our relationships with our allies abroad," she said.
Legislation passed earlier this year denies the use of defense funds to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States to face trial in the U.S. civilian justice system. And there are efforts underway in Congress to ban the use of government funds for such transfers.
Prior to becoming president, Mr. Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, move detainees to the United States and shift cases to U.S. civilian federal courts. But those plans have met stiff resistance from many U.S. politicians, including from those in the president's own Democratic Party.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States is in a good position to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July, but that there will be a continued U.S. presence in the country for years to come. At a news conference in Kabul, Gates also apologized for recent civilian deaths caused by coalition forces.
Secretary Gates says coalition and Afghan troops have worked hard during the winter to expand security zones in several parts of the country, including the Taliban heartland in the south. He says Afghan President Hamid Karzai will soon announce the first areas where Afghan troops will take responsibility for security, and that will create the structure for the July troop reduction President Barack Obama promised when he approved the surge of forces to Afghanistan over a year ago.
"While no decisions on numbers have been made, in my view we will be well-positioned to begin drawing down some U.S. and coalition forces this July, even as we redeploy others to different parts of the country," he said.
U.S. officials have repeatedly said the drawdown will be gradual and based on security conditions, but Gates said U.S. troop totals, now about 150,000, will remain high well after July. He says the United States is seeking a long-term strategic partnership with Afghanistan, even after the scheduled transfer of full security authority at the end of 2014.
"The United States is open to having some presence here in terms of training and assistance, perhaps making use of facilities made available to us by the Afghan government for those purposes. We have no interest in permanent bases, but if the Afghans want us here, we are certainly prepared to contemplate that," Gates said.
Gates said negotiations on the long-term relationship will begin next week, with a visit here by an American delegation.
The secretary also apologized for civilian deaths caused by U.S. Forces in recent days. Nine Afghan boys were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the eastern province of Kunar last week. The pilots mistook the boys for insurgents. "This breaks our heart. Not only is their loss a tragedy for the families, it is a setback for our relationship with the Afghan people, whose security is our chief concern," he said.
Gates said more than 80 percent of the civilian casualties in the Afghan war are caused by insurgents. U.S. officials frequently note that the insurgents target civilians, while deaths caused by coalition forces are accidents that they work hard to avoid.
President Karzai accepted Gates' apology but repeated his insistence that coalition forces bring civilian casualty figures to zero.
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Rebels fighting Ivory Coast's incumbent president say they have captured another key town on one of the main roads to Liberia. The fighting comes as African Union heads of state try to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Ivory Coast's rival presidents.
Rebels opposed to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo say they have captured the town of Toulepleu, which is less than 10 kilometers from the Liberian border. Gbagbo government troops say they are responding with heavy weapons in a campaign to stop the rebels from moving farther south through what was previously a buffer zone between the forces.
The breakdown of a six-year-old ceasefire follows increasing violence in the political capital, Abidjan, where Gbagbo militants are setting up checkpoints to block the movement of U.N. peacekeepers. Gbagbo supporters say those peacekeepers are helping rebels who back the U.N.-certified winner of November's presidential election, former prime minister Alassane Ouattara.
Patrice Adou, a member of the Gbagbo party's "Young Patriots," says Gbagbo supporters do not want to see the United Nations anymore because those peacekeepers are attacking, rather than helping Ivorians. So people are setting up roadblocks to stop them.
The U.N. mission in Ivory Coast says it is protecting the free movement of civilians and warns that Gbagbo militants who attack peacekeepers could be guilty of war crimes.
African Union heads of state are inviting both Gbagbo and Ouattara to talks in Ethiopia Thursday. Ouattara says he will go. Gbagbo has not yet responded.
The presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, South Africa, and Tanzania have until the end of March to try and resolve the stalemate.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group says the African Union needs to take a tougher stand against Gbagbo, whose claim to the presidency is based on a constitutional council of his allies annulling as fraudulent nearly ten percent of all ballots cast.
"We've asked the African Union Peace and Security Council to adopt individual sanctions targeting individuals associated with Gbagbo's illegitimate regime and to fully support the initial ECOWAS decision in its communique last year," said Comfort Ero, Africa program director of the International Crisis Group.
ECOWAS is the West African regional alliance that recognizes Ouattara as the duly- elected leader and is threatening to use military force to remove Gbagbo.
"We have also asked that ECOWAS revisit its earlier decision on sending a military mission to help create a safe environment to put an immediate stop to the conflict and the idea of blocking maritime access to Abidjan and the port of San Pedro as well," said Ero.
Regional and international sanctions against Gbagbo's government are dragging down the economy. There is a shortage of cooking gas and no exports of cocoa from the world's biggest grower. Gbagbo has managed to pay most of his soldiers and civil servants for February despite being cut off from the regional central bank.
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Pakistan's president said on Monday the United States and his country cannot afford a downturn in their strategic relationship.
Asif Ali Zardari told the new U.S. special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Marc Grossman, that both Pakistan and the United States should not be swayed by "misperceptions" and "isolated incidents" that may be used by some to increase tensions and mistrust.
Mr. Zardari issued the statement Monday after meeting with Grossman in Islamabad. He said Pakistan and the U.S. should remain focused on long-term strategic ties.
The talks come during a time of strained relations between both nations following the arrest of an American CIA contractor who is accused of killing two Pakistanis.
U.S. officials say Raymond Davis has diplomatic immunity and acted in self-defense during an attempted robbery in Lahore in January. Pakistan has resisted releasing him, saying the matter will be decided by the courts.
Grossman is on his first official visit to Pakistan as U.S. envoy since replacing Richard Holbrooke, who died suddenly late last year.
Also Monday, a Pakistani court set bail for an American worker jailed for overstaying his visa.
Aaron Mark DeHaven was arrested last month in Peshawar. DeHaven will have to remain in the area after posting the $23,500 bail and still faces court hearings.
Authorities say DeHaven had been working for a security and logistics company called Catalyst that is staffed by former U.S. military personnel and has contracts with the U.S. government.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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The International aid group Oxfam is warning the crisis in Ivory Coast is creating another "forgotten emergency" in Africa as thousands of Ivorian refugees flee into neighboring Liberia.
Tariq Riebl spoke to Voice of America from Liberia's capital Monrovia. He says the number of Ivorian refugees in Liberia has increased dramatically in recent weeks.
"Most of the Ivorian refugees are still located right in the border regions," he said. "They have been hosted by Liberian villages, which have been very receptive, however lack public health and shelter facilities."
He says as the world's attention is focused on political upheaval in North Africa the escalating emergency in Ivory Coast risks being forgotten.
A disputed presidential election in Ivory Coast last November sparked violence and unrest. The incumbent leader, Laurent Gbagbo, is refusing to step down even though his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, is widely considered the winner.
Oxfam says refugees have been fleeing to Liberia since November, but until last month the exodus was slow paced, around 100 people a day.
But Riebl says in the past two weeks about 30,000 people have fled Ivory Coast. He says the total number of Ivorian refugees in Liberia is around 70,000. Most, he says, are close to the border and it is too many people for the Liberians who are trying to help.
"The Liberian host community has been very receptive so far, and has been very warm in their welcome," he said. "However as the numbers have been increasing, and recently increasing rapidly, they are completely overwhelmed and unable to cope with the influx."
The head of U.S. based charity Child Fund International has told VOA the number of refugees could threaten the Liberia's stability. Anne Goddard said Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is also worried.
Civil war ended in Liberia less than a decade ago and the country is still working toward rebuilding its shattered infrastructure.
Riebl says a lot needs to be done to make sure the refugees that have fled to Liberia are housed and have access to water and health services.
"We need to rapidly increase the set-up of camps and put up more permanent shelters further inland to be able to move people away from the border where they can have proper service delivery and also where they can be better protected from the combat that is occurring just across the border on the other side from where they are currently," said Riebl.
Anti-Gbagbo forces say they have taken control of Toulepleu, a town near Ivory Coast's western border with Liberia, where fighting broke out on Sunday. Gbagbo's allied forces have not confirmed the seizure.
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Tunisia's interim president has announced elections for July. But nearly two months after protesters ousted longtime strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the future of the North African country is anything but certain. Many are watching Tunisia's political transition closely, hoping it might serve as a prototype for democracy in the Arab world.
It has become a familiar sound in Tunisia, protesters calling for the ouster of all government members tied to the former regime of ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
So has young men clashing with security forces in downtown Tunis.
On Friday, the demonstrators folded up their tents in the capital, where they had been camping out in front of government headquarters. Many of their demands have been met. Several ministers have resigned in the latest government reshuffle, including interim Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, a holdover of the Ben Ali government.
And Tunisia's interim president Fouad Mebazaa has announced a July vote for a council that will rewrite the constitution, paving the way for general elections.
Speaking on state television, Mebazaa said Tunisia had entered a new phase toward establishing a system that breaks from the old regime.
But ask Tunisians what kind of system that should be, in the short or the long term, and you will get many different answers.
Twenty-six-year-old student Ibtissem Sabry wants the army in control until democratic elections take place. "I am sure that the country will be safe, very safe, in the hands of the military system," Sabry said.
Another student activist who gave only her first name Yiefa, has other ideas.
Yiefa wants Tunisia to elect a communist government.
Meanwhile, instability continues. And many Tunisians, like rights activist Khadija Cherif, are worried.
Cherif fears that holdovers from the old regime are intent on sowing panic and chaos. Former Prime Minister Ghannouchi has also warned of a counter-revolutionary "conspiracy" and announced the arrest of dozens of suspects.
Tunisia's economy continues to struggle with strikes and high unemployment, which helped fuel the popular revolt. There are also questions about whether former President Ben Ali and his extended family pocketed billions of dollars of state funds.
And the country has been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of people fleeing the unrest in neighboring Libya. Last week, the Paris-based international bond rating firm Fitch Ratings again downrated the country's long-term debt rating, reflecting fears of ongoing instability.
Eric Goldstein is deputy director of North African and Middle East programs for Human Rights Watch. "Even if they can make the current transitional government [leave], it does not meant they are going to provide jobs for all the people who are unemployed," said Goldstein. "It does not mean the cities of the interior are going to have thriving economies. These things take a long time."
But these are also exciting times. Tunisians are taking their future into their hands. In the southern town of Zarzis, residents have ousted their local government and are running matters.
Berlin-based Tunisian journalists Zuhir Latif came back to his country in January for the first time in 17 years.
"This young generation, we see it in the streets, still continue to defend their rights on many issues," Latif said. "They know the big sacrifice they did. They are determined. They will not come back again to see the same situation (as) before Ben Ali."
Tunisia's protests have inspired the uprisings now washing across the Arab world. Farez Mabrouk, head of the newly opened Arab Policy Institute in Tunis, says how this country emerges from its so-called "Jasmine Revolution" will be critical.
"I think Tunisia can be a laboratory for democracy in the Arab world ... the success of the Tunisian case is very important for the whole Arab world," said Mabrouk.
Mabrouk does not believe all Arab countries will experience similar revolutions. But he is certain of one thing; authoritarian Arab governments will be forced to open the political arena and respond to their people's calls for change.
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A Turkish court Monday charged five more journalists with involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow Turkey's Islamist-rooted government. According to human rights groups, more than 60 journalists are now in detention for their reporting.
But the latest arrests, which include two prominent journalists, have provoked widespread concern and condemnation both in Turkey and the European Union, whose parliament is due later this week to discuss its annual report on the country.
The latest arrests of journalists in Turkey saw thousands of people take to the streets in protests both in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. For many, the detention of two of the country's leading investigative journalists has caused feelings of shock and anger.
"It's about freedom of us, because I am not a journalist, but I have the right to reach through an independent news," one person said.
"This is unbearable and for me, it's a sign of a terrible thing," said another.
Until recently, most Turkish prosecutors were targeting pro-Kurdish reporters. But increasingly, government critics are also being investigated in connection with an alleged conspiracy by the Ergenekon network, a secularist group authorities suspect is planning bombings and other attacks to discredit the government and trigger a military takeover. The jailing of two of Turkey's leading and widely respected investigative journalists in connection with the Ergenekon investigation has posed serious questions about its legitimacy.
Emma Sinclair Webb of the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch conveys the growing sense of concern. "Our fear now is that the investigation into the Ergenekon gang has taken a quite different turn and what is now being investigated is in fact critical reporting and journalism," she said.
Concerns about the latest prosecutions are shared by the U.S. State Department. Spokesman P.J. Crowley on Thursday said the United States would monitor trends in Turkey and the ongoing arrests of journalists.
European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele says Turkey is in urgent need of legal reform to protect freedom of the press. In last year's accession report on Turkey, the EU said the jailing of journalists and press freedom were highlighted as areas of major concern. The European Parliament's annual report on Turkey, which is to be debated on Tuesday, also is expected to carry the same message. But Turkey's minister for EU affairs, Ergemen Bagis, says his government is not to blame.
"Blaming the government for the judicial process for the ongoing lawsuits is a contradiction. On the one side, you want the judicial branch to be independent of the executive branch; on the other side, blaming the executive branch for not interfering in the process of the judicial branch is a contradiction," he said.
Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin says his government is committed to freedom of speech, saying he has personally blocked the prosecution of many cases against writers and journalists. But with the number of reporters being arrested and jailed growing nearly every month, most of whom are investigating alleged government misdeeds, prominent newspaper columnist Kadri Gursel says he and fellow writers are under increasing pressure.
"I have to be careful. I have to watch my steps to survive and to fulfill my job," he said.
Observers say growing concerns about press freedom come at a critical time with Turkey heading towards a general election this June.
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday launched the "100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges" on the eve of the100th anniversary of International Women's Day, which marks the economic, political and social achievements of women.
One hundred women from 92 countries gathered at the State Department to begin a three-week professional exchange program in the United States.
Secretary Clinton told them that investing in women is the right thing and can help alleviate problems like poverty and hunger. "For me, investing in women and girls is smart. It pays off," she said.
She called the women "pioneers" in business, academics, civil society and government, and she said their actions inspire her and others.
Clinton also recognized the achievements of some of the participants. "Raquel Fernandez from Paraguay connects with women and girls trapped in a life of servitude," she said. "In Sudan, Aisha Humad, where's Aisha? Aisha is empowering women by teaching them to stand up for themselves and to stand up for their own rights."
The women are taking part in the International Visitor Leadership Program, which brings 5,200 current and emerging leaders to the United States to engage with their American peers and to experience life in the United States.
Clinton has long worked to make women's rights a key U.S. foreign policy issue, when she was first lady in the 1990s and now as secretary of state. Monday was the first of a series of events that will be held during the coming year to highlight key foreign policy issues that directly affect women and girls worldwide.
Clinton called the women "ambassadors" for their countries. She said government relations are not the only way to deal with global challenges. "Ultimately, I think it is people-to-people relationships that make a difference and that can really give you the strength to keep going through very difficult times," said Clinton.
After Clinton's speech, the women asked questions of Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale, Assistant Secretary of Education Ann Stock and Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills.
One woman from Latin America left the panelists momentarily speechless.
"Do you think now that your country is ready for a woman as a president? I am not sure any of the three of us should answer that," she said.
Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills said she does not think the U.S. is quite ready to elect a woman as head of state.
"I certainly think it is the case that our country demonstrated ably in the last election that they are more than willing to support women in a leadership role and more than willing to actually see a woman as their leader," said Mills. "But I think for getting over that final hurdle, I think we are a little bit away."
Secretary Clinton was a U.S. senator when she campaigned for president in 2008. She lost the Democratic Party nomination to her then-Senate colleague Barack Obama.
The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day is Tuesday. Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama will mark the day by honoring 10 women from around the world with the International Women of Courage Awards at a ceremony in Washington.
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Libyan rebels are fighting back against government forces between Bin Jawwad and Ras Lanuf, towns marking the shifting frontlines of the past few days.
Witnesses say Libyan warplanes struck positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf Monday. Residents were seen leaving the town earlier, expecting an attack by pro-Gadhafi forces after assaults Sunday on other rebel-held cities.
An official in the de facto rebel administration in Benghazi conceded Monday that rebel forces had to pull back from Bin Jawwad the day before. But Khaled Sayeh, the military-civilian liaison, offers an explanation that would be incendiary if true.
Sayeh says pro-Gadhafi troops used women and children of the town as shields to protect themselves, forcing the rebels to retreat.
Using civilians as a human shield is a war crime, and Sayeh's accusation is not the first made during the conflict.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi repeatedly accuses al-Qaida of fomenting the popular uprising, drugging Libyans to ensure chaos. In an interview Monday with France 24, he also accused Western media of ignoring what he called the broad support enjoyed by his government.
His is a dubious claim, given that the eastern half of Libya is now in rebel hands. But it is perhaps no less credible than the figure offered Monday by former Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younis, a top defector to the rebel cause. He says 90 percent of the country is under opposition control.
Everyone, it seems, has something to say about what is being said. Aimen Areibi, an air traffic controller at the now-closed Benghazi airport, says the government shutdown of the Internet and the curtailing of telephone service doesn't help.
"When there is a rumor that has been made by the government on TV, on the local TV - they say that they took Tobruk and they dropped many soldiers there to get it back - the problem is you can't ask the people in Tobruk about the situation over there to find out what's going on," said Areibi.
For all the confusion, what is clear is that some sort of impasse has been reached in the battle, with neither side appearing to give their all in the fight against their fellow Libyans. Government airstrikes miss their apparent targets with regularity. Rebels have yet to move much of the vast arsenal they have captured up to the front lines.
Not that the battles have been bloodless, as the ambulances speeding out of Ras Lanouf will attest.
Which may be why former Prime Minister Jadallah Azous al Talhi Monday called on leaders in the rebel-held east to engage in dialogue with the government. He said he is seeking open communication to end the violence.
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Computer hackers have attacked and infiltrated some 150 computers in the French Finance Ministry, stealing sensitive information related to the country's leadership of the Group of 20 economic group.
Budget Minister Francois Baroin said Monday the "spectacular" cyberattack began in December and targeted only G20-related data, not personal records or tax records.
France's network security chief, Patrick Pailloux, told local media that the hacking was carried out by professionals and was the largest-ever cyberattack against the French government.
France took over the rotating presidency of the G20 in November 2010. The G20 brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies to promote global financial stability.
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China says it will focus on what it calls "summit diplomacy" this year, with the foreign minister outlining plans for Chinese leaders to take part in high-profile meetings around the world.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi emphasized Monday that China's diplomacy will serve domestic interests, especially associated with the country's economic development.
Yang said China will pursue what he calls an "integrated approach" in its foreign relations. Besides summit diplomacy, he says China will pursue country-specific, region-specific and area-specific diplomacy in what he described as a "comprehensive" and "coordinated way".
Next month, China will host a meeting for the so-called BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and, now, South Africa. Chinese leaders also routinely attend summits for the G20, meetings of Southeast Asian leaders and other world gatherings.
The foreign minister pointed to President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States in January as a good start to the year, and said there is "good atmosphere" in Sino-American relations.
Yang said there are differences and frictions over some issues, and that China is strongly opposed to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a separately governed island Beijing considers part of its territory. He urged the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan, calling it "very important to upholding the overall interests of China-U.S. relations."
The relationship will be highlighted by two visits: Vice President Joseph Biden comes to China while Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will go to the United States.
In addition to diplomatic outreach, Yang said Beijing has been closely following the debt problems in Europe. He says China's decision to buy European bonds was not based on strategic interests alone.
According to Yang, China bought bonds from European countries to help them advance the EU integration process.
Yang also said President Hu will make a state visit to Russia this year, to highlight improving relations between the two giant neighbors.
And, in May, Premier Wen Jiabao goes to Japan, for a meeting that also includes South Korea. Yang repeated China's call for a speedy resumption of the stalled six-party talks on persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs.
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While the U.S.-based foundation One Laptop Per Child is building new partnerships in Africa, the initiative also is being criticized by some development experts. They say there are limits to how technology can help reduce poverty.
An advertisement for One Laptop per Child calls it the little green laptop that could. "My name is Zimi. I am seven years old. I come from a place you have never heard of. A country you cannot pronounce. A continent you would rather forget."
The ad shows the young girl from South Africa balancing her laptop on her head, walking with it wherever she goes and using it at school and at home. The ad ends with a link to an online site where for $199 one of these laptops can be donated to the developing world.
Ambitious program proliferates
About 2 million of the small laptops already have been sold. The laptop connects to the Internet through wi-fi hotspots or school networks, like any other computer would. It has less code than other computers, which brings its cost down, but so far not down to the original $100 goal of the project's initiators.
A new version expected later this year will cost $165, with the added ability to run on just two watts of power. It also will have a hand crank that can be used when the battery is running low.
The initiative, founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte, is now in its sixth year. Last month, his non-profit organization reached a new partnership with the African Union to deliver laptops to primary school students throughout Africa. A separate deal was reached last month with Rwanda's government to increase distribution of the devices.
Inefficiencies, other priorities cited
Many development experts, however, dislike the ongoing initiative. G. Pascal Zachary, who teaches a class about technology and development in sub-Saharan Africa at Arizona State University, is one of those against it.
"They continue to push technologies at Africans and tell them that they ought to accept these technologies," said Zachary. "They ought to have more personal computers. They ought to have better seeds. They ought to do this and they ought to do that. But very clearly, when Africans decide themselves what they value, they quickly take up a technology and mobile phones is a great example."
Zachary said one area where Africans could use help is to make their electricity systems more robust.
He finds the One Laptop per Child program inefficient and prone to corruption, especially when the organization cuts deals with governments, while, he said, the school system in Africa is extremely decentralized.
"Most Africans that I talk to in African cities want the same laptop you get, not some gizmo that has a special power source and looks like a shoebox. But for some reason the wise people at M.I.T. did not think Africans deserved getting a normal laptop, they wanted to give them a special one that looked like a brick. I think there are a lot of levels in which this kind of pushing at Africans technologies that are inappropriate for them simply to benefit their own need for vanity and for moral reinforcement. Let's hope that we are seeing less and less of this type of thing."
Defending educational goals
At a recent conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, exploring links between technology and eradicating poverty, Negroponte defended himself against similar criticism. He said his project is an educational one, and that with his laptop, children have an intuitive way to learn.
"So solution to poverty is education and the way to get learning is, in my mind, very much connected to technology, particularly in the developing world."
Another panelist at the conference, Kentaro Toyama, from the University of California Berkeley, said his research has shown technological educational initiatives so far have proven to amplify inequalities more than help the poor.
Educational outcomes questioned
"There are studies that show that just putting a computer in a school and having students interact with it does not actually contribute to educational outcomes. Many people say that in developing countries, because teacher absenteeism is such a problem, that at least a computer is better than no teacher at all, but the cumulating research seems to suggest exactly the opposite. Computers can help good schools with good teachers, caring administrators, and so on, but in schools which are really struggling to teach their students, it turns out the computers only suck up resources and take up space."
Other panelists also said they believe cheaper assistance, such as providing deworming for school age children, or school lunches, or helping with teacher salaries, were more efficient than donating a computer to help improve education.
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Former French President Jacques Chirac went on trial Monday on corruption charges related to hirings that allegedly benefited his center-right party. Chirac becomes the first French head of state to go on trial.
The charges date back to when former President Jacques Chirac was mayor of Paris, between 1977 and 1995. The 78-year-old former head of state is accused of giving people city hall jobs when they really worked for his then center-right Rally for the Republic Party.
He denies the allegations, arguing all the posts were legitimate.
Corruption allegations against Chirac have persisted for years. But as president, he enjoyed immunity from prosecution – which ended when he left office. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine of about $207,000 dollars.
In brief remarks Sunday to France's Europe 1 radio, Chirac said he was as well as could be expected – French media have reported he may have Alzheimer's disease although his wife has denied this. He refused to discuss the trial.
During his last years in office, Chirac battled high unpopularity ratings. But now, he is among the most popular figures in France – and the French are divided over whether he should stand trial.
Dominique Paille, spokesman for the ruling, center-right UMP party – which was founded under Chirac's presidency – said the French justice system could have avoided a trial.
Paille told France Info radio it was sad that Chirac should be on trial at the end of his life. He said Chirac's political legacy dwarfed the allegations against him – and that the trial would hurt France's image.
Last year, Paris city hall dropped separate civil charges against Chirac following a $3 million settlement. Chirac, however, did not acknowledge any wrongdoing.
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A top NATO official says the alliance has "no intention" for the time being of intervening in Libya's anti-government uprising.
But in a news conference Monday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance is also conducting "prudent planning for any eventuality."
The NATO chief added that if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces continue what he calls "systematic" attacks on the population, it will be difficult for the United Nations and the international community to "stand idly by." He said the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya would be a very complex undertaking requiring a wide range of military assets.
His comments came as the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued an appeal for $160 million in international aid to help about one million people either fleeing Libya or stranded in the country.
Speaking in Geneva Monday, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Valerie Amos said the appeal is based on a projection of 400,000 mostly migrant workers fleeing the Libyan unrest, including more than 200,000 people who already have fled since the uprising started last month. She says another 600,000 people stuck inside Libya also are in need of humanitarian aid.
As part of the U.N. appeal, the International Organization for Migration said Monday it is seeking $49 million in aid for 65,000 migrant workers affected by the Libyan uprising.
The United Nations also says a special U.N. envoy for Libya, appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will engage in urgent consultations with Mr. Gadhafi's government in Tripoli. Mr. Ban named former Jordanian foreign minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib to the post of special envoy Sunday. It was not immediately clear when Al-Khatib will meet with Libyan officials.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama says the U.S. and its NATO allies are considering a "wide range of potential options" including military options to stop what he called the "unacceptable" violence being carried out by the Libyan government and its supporters against anti-Gadhafi rebels.
Obama said Monday at the White House that he wanted to send a clear message that those working for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will be held accountable for their choices.
The president also said he has authorized an additional $15 million in humanitarian aid for the people of Libya.
Obama spoke after an Oval Office meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He said the United States and Australia are united in their view on Libya, standing for democracy in the face of "unwarranted violence."
Mr. Obama also thanked Australian troops for making what he described as extraordinary contributions in Afghanistan. He offered condolences for those Australians affected by January's floods in the state of Queensland.
Gillard said she is "personally committed" to the war in Afghanistan and that she and Obama had discussed the transition of security responsibility from NATO to Afghanistan.
She also said she is "pleased and grateful" for the rare opportunity to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress during her visit.
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Food prices continue to rise, threatening to push more and more people into poverty and hunger. A new report from the UN food agency says one of the best ways to boost agricultural productivity worldwide would be to remove the barriers women farmers face that their male counterparts do not.
Women farmers tend to be less productive than men, but there are good reasons for that, says Agnes Quisumbing, an economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute.
"If you actually look closer and look at the resources that women farmers are bringing to their plots, they're actually starting off with much less," she says.
The new FAO report finds that while women make up 43 percent of the world's farmers, only about 10 to 20 percent own the land they farm. Without land for collateral, it is harder for them to get credit to buy inputs such as better seeds and fertilizers. In many countries, women are half as likely as men to use fertilizers to increase yields.
In addition, many of the world's women are raising their children at the same time they're farming, which also may help explain why their productivity is lower than men's.
"Helping women farmers have the same access to inputs and control of resources that male farmers have would really do a lot toward improving agriculture productivity and reducing hunger and malnutrition," says Quisumbing.
According to the FAO report, closing the gender gap could increase agricultural output in the developing world by as much as four percent, which in turn could reduce the number of undernourished people by as much as 17 percent.
Quisumbing was a collaborator on the FAO report. She says rather than playing for sympathy, the report makes the business case for focusing on women farmers.
"We hear a lot about how women are disadvantaged. And they tend to be very bleeding-heart arguments. But bleeding-heart arguments don't necessarily tell heads of state to move their money."<!--IMAGE-->
Quisumbing says governments would be wise to back programs which help close the gap for women farmers - for example, vouchers that help them buy better seeds and fertilizers.
But beyond financial support, she adds, in many countries the policy environment needs to change, too. "I think it's about time governments come on board and really look at their laws, which discriminate against women in the area of property, in the area of labor force participation, in the area of marriage law."
Quisumbing believes leveling the playing field has wider benefits beyond the women themselves. That's because studies show when women have financial resources, they are more likely than men to spend them on food, health and educating their children. And that means a better future for the next generation.
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The United Nations children's agency is launching its global annual appeal for funding for women and children caught in various crises. Within that appeal, the agency called for donors to contribute $303 million to projects in eight countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, with the bulk going to Ethiopia, Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
UNICEF's regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy, told reporters human-made and natural disasters are taking their toll in East and Southern Africa.
"We estimated in 2010 that 17.4 million people in the region were food insecure due to the combination of entrenched poverty on the one hand, drought and conflict," he said.
The agency is asking for $303 million to fund projects in Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
About 80 percent of African funding is earmarked for Ethiopia, Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
In Ethiopia, droughts and flooding compound an already chronic situation of poverty, shortage of safe drinking water, and high dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
<!--IMAGE-->"In addition to that, we see in a number of countries in our region - like Somalia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe - where political instability has contributed to the deterioration of the physical infrastructure in the public sector," he added.
This deterioration, said Sy, leads to mothers not being able to access health care, children not getting the essential services they need, and many young people being out of school.
Projects in the eight countries will focus on improving water quality and quantity, health-care, sanitation, and education.
The $303 million is part of the agency's worldwide appeal for $1.4 billion covering 32 countries.
This is an increase of 21 percent over last year, due primarily to the impacts of unprecedented flooding in Pakistan, the earthquake in Haiti, and hunger across the Sahel.
Displacement and violence in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia have also fueled the need for more funding.
The U.N. children's agency responds to an average of about 200 emergencies each year.
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The United Nations has expanded the scope of a tsunami warning fund for Asia to include programs for disaster and climate-change preparedness. The Asia-Pacific region is the world's most disaster-prone region and the United Nations says more funds are needed to prepare countries, especially the poorer ones.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on Monday announced it is expanding the work of a trust fund that helped establish a regional tsunami warning system.
The fund now will cover programs for disaster and climate-change preparedness.
Noeleen Heyzer is executive director of ESCAP. She says there is urgent need for the region's wealthier and better prepared nations to help the poorer ones get ready for natural disasters and other emergencies.
"Many of the region's countries do not have the capacity or the resources essential for disaster preparedness on their own. They benefit from pool[ed] resources, access to new technologies, skill development, and best practices derived from across the region. These are the benefits this fund is designed to provide," she said.
The tsunami warning fund was established after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which struck at least 12 countries and killed more than 200,000 people.
Thailand and Sweden provided the bulk of contributions to the fund and were later joined by Bangladesh, Nepal, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
Countries are currently reviewing future pledges for the expanded fund.
Thailand's foreign minister, Kasit Piromya says they have appealed for other countries to pledge funds and support.
"So, now it's only five, six countries. So, I think, we need more funding in order to be able to carry out more comprehensive activities. But, this is sort of a common responsibility for all," Kasit stated.
The Asia-Pacific region every year is struck by earthquakes, tropical storms, monsoon floods and landslides. The toll from the disasters is compounded by the region's dense population, the remoteness of many areas, such as some Pacific island nations, and the extreme poverty of such countries as Burma and Bangladesh.
In 2008 Burma was hit by Cyclone Nargis, which killed 140,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
The U.N. says from 2000 to 2008, 80 percent of the world's natural disaster victims were in the Asia-Pacific.
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The United Nations chose the theme of women and science education for this year's International Women's Day to highlight the gender gap in many parts of the world between the number of men and women scientists.
Yanti, a scientist developing new chemical agents to treat inflammatory diseases like arthritis, says there is no significant gender gap in Indonesia, at least not in her field.
"I find when I enter undergraduate school in the department of chemistry, I found that most students are women. And also at the department of biology at the time," Yanti said.
Yanti, who like many Indonesians uses one name, is a researcher and lecturer in biotechnology at Atma Jaya University in Jakarta.
So is Noryawati Mulyono, who is developing a new type of biodegradable plastic. She says today there are more opportunities for women to compete with men in the field of science.
"Nowadays there is a lot of science competitions, such as science olympiads, both national and international level," said Mulyono. "So if the women have a good academic record, she can join the competition and the competition is disregarded about the gender."
While the United Nations credits Indonesia with near gender parity in the field of science, overall in Asia women only constitute 18 percent of researchers.
And despite parity in some fields, Indonesia still has a gender gap in the overall literacy rate. Poverty plays a large part in that situation, by keeping many girls out of school, although Indonesia has always valued education for girls as well as boys.
Education advocates say in a world where technological innovation is key to development, a gender gap in science can put countries at a competitive disadvantage.
Both Yanti and Mulyono recently received fellowships for their research from the cosmetic company L'Oreal. The awards are given to support gender equality in science.
Both women are passionate about their work.
Mulyono prefers to spend her vacation, or refreshing time as she calls it, collecting new samples of damar, a substance found in certain trees in Indonesia that she uses in her research.
"So last year I go to Kalimantan I found another species of dammar," Mulyono added. "So while refreshing I still find something if I can have a chance to do research."
Yanti says the most rewarding aspect of being a scientist is the process of discovery.
"If we fail and it make like, yeah, sometimes we feel like we are losers, kind of like that," said Yanti. "But after that and then, we think again. 'OK, lets' read again, read again', and then we study and then we try to find what's the mistake and what's the solution for that. For me that is the interesting or soul of research."
Indonesia has a long history of strong women leaders in a number of fields. Dewi Sartika, who built school for girls in the early part of the 20th century, was declared a national hero by the Indonesian government. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's first president, became the country's first female president in 2001. And economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati was the country's finance minister and is now the managing director of the World Bank.
Despite their recent recognition, neither woman says she feels like a role model or a pioneer because in their experience, women scientists are nothing extraordinary.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a new set of guidelines urging parents to avoid excessive use of fever-reducing medications when their child is running a temperature.
When little Kaitlyn had a 38-degree Celsius (101-degree F.) fever, her mother Jill Cox gave her a fever-reducing medication to get her body temperature back to normal - 37 (98.6 degrees F.). "When I am giving her the medicine it's not just to reduce the fever it's also to, you know, to make her feel more comfortable," Cox clarifies.
The new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics on managing fever in children recommend that parents not worry so much about their child maintaining a "normal" body temperature.
Surveys by pediatricians show that half of all parents considered a temperature of less than 38-degrees (100.4 degrees F.) to be a fever. And a quarter of the surveyed caregivers said they would give fever reducers to children with body temperatures of just 37.8 degrees (100 degrees F.).
Dr. Kimberly Giuliano is a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children's hospital. She was not involved in developing the new guidelines, but she welcomes their emphasis on the benefits of running a temperature. "Fever is the body's natural defense mechanism to fight off infections. So, it raises the temperature to help fight off the bacteria or the virus that's making the child sick. It also stimulates parts of the immune system to work a little bit better. So, fever is a good thing," she explains.
Kate Hjelm says she knew that her one-year old Chloe was fighting infections when she ran a fever recently. But she still gave her child medication because she wanted to be able to do something as a parent. "It's hard to resist doing something that you know might make them feel better right away even when you know in your mind that its really for their own good to not maybe not jump to give them medication," she states.
Experts also note that fever helps our bodies recover quickly from viral infections by slowing the growth of bacteria and viruses and increasing the production of the white blood cells that are the body's main line of defense against infections.
The new guidelines note that despite widespread belief to the contrary, there is no established relationship between an untreated high fever and brain damage, seizures, and death. But mothers are more risk-averse.
"I am thankful for the fact that I live in a day and age where I live where I have medication that I can give my child to keep her to get healthy and to feel comfortable while she is fighting the sickness," Cox said.
"She has been obviously in distress, not feeling well not able to sleep, so it has been really to keep her comfortable to get her some rest…right ?" Hjelm adds.
Physicians agree that the primary goal of treating child fever should be simply to improve overall comfort. They advise parents not to wake a sleeping child to administer a fever medication.
"A lot of parents think that because it says you can give their fever medicine every 4 to 6 hours that if that four to six hour mark falls in the middle of the night they should wake their child up to give it to them. But sleep is important tool for a sick child," Dr. Giuliano said. "So, unless a sick child awakens on their own and they feel uncomfortable, there really is no need to re-dose the acetaminophen or ibuprofen in the middle of the night."
The guidelines also recommend that caregivers watch for signs of serious illness and make sure the children drink plenty of fluids.
They also outline some of the risks associated with the use of fever reducers, such as masking underlying medical conditions, delaying treatment, and possible drug overdoses.
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Hundreds of refugees fleeing the political violence in North African arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa Monday.
Coast guard officials say 10 fishing vessels arrived early Monday with close to 850 people on board. Another boat has been sighted in the waters off the island and now that weather conditions have improved more are expected to follow.
The new arrivals are given medical assistance, a hot drink and warm clothes. They are then identified and screened to see if they are asylum applicants requesting refugee status or simply economic migrants looking for jobs.
Most of the recent arrivals are young men. But there are also young women like Fatma, who arrived this week on one of the boats that made the crossing from Tunisia.
She says she arrived from Djerba. She is happy to have made it to Italy because there is no work back home and the situation is complicated. She says people are being killed.
Lampedusa officials say the island may be experiencing the beginning of a massive exodus of people fleeing the violence in North Africa.
Bernardino De Rubeis, Lampedusa's mayor, says a commitment is needed from the European Union. He says the EU talks about economic aid, but says it must also open the doors of its territory, because the risk is that Lampedusa and Italy will be overwhelmed.
Some EU officials have accused Italy of over-reacting to the crisis. But Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has warned his ouster could create chaos in the region, with thousands of refugees spilling onto European shores.
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