Every Wednesday, the Sifter posts top-line summaries to current events around the globe. All news articles are from Reuters and BBC News.


Libya protests: Pressure mounts on isolated Gaddafi [BBC News]

- Pressure has mounted on isolated Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi after a chorus of international condemnation and resignations by top officials. The man considered the colonel’s number two, Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younes al-Abidi, is among senior figures who have joined the opposition. The UN Security Council demanded an end to the violence on Tuesday, while the Arab League suspended Libya
- Protesters greeted an angry speech by the veteran leader with defiance. At least 300 people have been killed so far in the uprising, which has spread from the east of the country, although Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters in Rome that a more realistic death toll was 1,000. Meanwhile, European countries have been evacuating their citizens from Libya
- People have reacted with anger and derision to Col Gaddafi’s speech on Tuesday in which he referred to the protesters as rats and cockroaches. During the rambling 75-minute address on state TV, Col Gaddafi – who has ruled the country since taking power in a 1969 military coup – vowed to crush the revolt and die as a martyr.

New Zealand rescuers sift rubble, quake toll reaches 75 [Reuters]

- New Zealand rescuers sifted through rubble in search of quake survivors on Wednesday, guided by sounds of crying and tapping, as the death toll in Christchurch climbed to 75, with many dozens still feared trapped inside collapsed buildings. Rescue teams had to perform amputations to free some of the 120 survivors so far pulled from the wreckage of Tuesday’s strong tremor, which had hit the country’s second-biggest city at lunchtime. The death toll is expected to rise further
- Tuesday’s 6.3 magnitude quake struck — the second to hit the historic tourist town in five months — struck when streets and shops thronged with people and offices were still occupied. It was New Zealand’s most deadly natural disaster for 80 years. New Zealand sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates and records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0
- It is the country’s worst natural disaster since a 1931 quake in the North Island city of Napier which killed 256. Christchurch Hospital saw an influx of injured residents, with broken limbs, crush injuries and lacerations. The city has been shaken by more than 50 aftershocks since the initial magnitude 6.3 shake, bringing down more debris

Bahrain unrest: Thousands join anti-government protest [BBC News]

- Tens of thousands of Bahrainis have joined an anti-government rally in the capital, Manama. Tens of thousands of Bahrainis have joined an anti-government rally in the capital, Manama. The pro-democracy supporters remain camped out in Pearl Square, in the city centre, refusing to enter talks with the Crown Prince until their demands are met. Aside from the prisoner release – no details of which have yet been given – they want the government to resign, the deaths of protesters to be investigated, and political reforms that will lead to a constitutional monarchy
- Some protesters have also called on King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah to step down. The king’s stated new commitment to dialogue may be put to the test late on Tuesday, analysts say, if Hassan Mushaima – leader of the opposition Haq movement – makes good a pledge to return to Bahrain from exile in London. Mushaima is on trial in absentia, one of 25 people charged in connection with an alleged coup plot
- Seven people were killed and many wounded in the past week as security forces used force to quell protests, before being ordered to withdraw on Saturday. The majority Shia population in Bahrain have long said they are discriminated against when it comes to housing and government jobs. They have also been calling for greater political rights from the Sunni royal family. But the protesters have been careful to describe their revolt as non-sectarian, chanting slogans such as: “There are no Sunnis or Shias, just Bahraini unity.”

DR Congo colonel Kibibi Mutware jailed for mass rape [BBC News]

- A military court in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo investigating a case of mass rape has sentenced Lt Col Kibibi Mutware to 20 years in jail. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity for sending his troops to rape, beat up and loot from the population of Fizi on New Year’s Day. Forty-nine women came to testify in the court in in Baraka
- Sitting in a mobile open air court in Baraka, the military judges also sentenced three officers serving under Lt Col Mutware to 20 years and five soldiers to between 10 and 15 years. Lt Col Mutware is one of many former rebels who joined the army as part of peace agreements in 2009. The judges said the state should pay compensation to the more than 60 women were raped on 1 January in Fizi
- In August 2010, rebel forces were accused of raping hundreds of women, girls, men and boys around the town of Luvungi. The UN recorded some 11,000 rapes in 2010 – the true figure is believed to be much higher. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres says it is planning to deploy a mobile clinic to the area on Monday after receiving credible reports of 30 new rapes last week. It says it has treated more than 70 victims of rapes in two similar incidents in the area between 19 January and 4 February

Algeria to end 19-year state of emergency [Reuters]

- Algeria’s cabinet on Tuesday adopted an order to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency in a concession designed to dodge the tide of uprisings sweeping the Arab world, but protesters said it was not enough. The government also approved a package of measures aimed at reducing unemployment, which is one of the biggest grievances of ordinary people in Algeria
- Ending the emergency powers was one of the demands voiced by opposition groups which have been staging weekly protests in the Algerian capital that sought to emulate uprisings in Egypt and neighboring Tunisia. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is 73, is likely to remain under pressure — both from protesters and from inside the ruling establishment — to deliver more change and to explain to the public what he plans to do
- Algeria is a major energy exporter which pumps gas via pipelines under the Mediterranean to Spain and France. Tuesday’s decision will have few practical implications: new rules were also adopted which will allow the military to continue involving itself in domestic security, as it had done under the emergency powers. The emergency rules banned protest marches in the capital but Bouteflika said earlier this month this restriction would remain in force indefinitely

Pirates kill four U.S. hostages near Somalia [Reuters]

- Pirates shot dead four U.S. hostages on a private yacht on Tuesday, the deadliest incident involving Americans kidnapped for ransom in the increasingly dangerous waters off Somalia. The U.S. military said the pirates shot the hostages before American special forces boarded the vessel. U.S. troops killed two pirates as they took control of the boat, and took 15 pirates into custody. Another two pirates were found dead when the U.S. special forces arrived but they were not killed by U.S. forces, the military said.
- Pirate gangs preying on shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean typically target large merchant ships, with oil tankers the prize catch, but the snatching of foreigners can also yield high ransoms. There were around 750 pirate hostages at the end of January
- The U.S. military said negotiations with the pirates had been under way when on Tuesday morning, without warning, a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett. Then gunfire broke out inside the pirated vessel. In April 2009, U.S. Navy special forces freed the captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama by killing three Somali pirates who held him hostage in a lifeboat. Obama had authorized the use of force in that incident as well

Lehman Brothers $11bn case against Barclays fails [BBC News]

- Barclays’ takeover of much of Lehman Brothers’ US operations in 2008 was flawed but fair, a judge in New York has ruled. Lehman had sued Barclays for $11bn in damages, claiming the bank was given special treatment. However, while the judge said the sale process was “imperfect”, it was still “adequate” under the circumstances
- Lehman agreed to sell its US investment banking and broking arm for $1.85bn five days after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That, and the fact Lehman was the highest profile bank to be allowed to fail, was one of the most significant events of the global crisis. Lehman’s bankruptcy estate had hoped to extract an $11bn “windfall” payment from Barclays
- The deal was seen by many as vital for keeping the international banking system alive. Judge Peck there was an “undeniably correct” perception at the time that the sale “mitigated systemic risk,” and helped avert “an even greater economic calamity”. He said there was no better alternative to the sale, which avoided “a potentially disastrous piecemeal liquidation” and saved thousands of jobs in the financial services industry

Asia’s richest man strikes big gas deal with BP [Reuters]

- Mukesh Ambani does not do small. He is the richest man in Asia, chairman of India’s biggest listed company, and lives in one of the largest and most expensive homes in the world. On Monday, he struck a deal with BP that will see the British energy giant pump at least $7.2 billion into gas projects developed by his Reliance Industries in one of the country’s largest foreign investments
- The blockbuster deal comes less than a year after Ambani won a gas pricing dispute with his younger brother Anil that went all the way to the Supreme Court, leading to the end of a long-running family feud that had captivated India. At 53, Mukesh Ambani is the world’s fourth richest man with a net worth estimated at $29 billion, according to Forbes.
- Monday’s deal with BP is expected to boost shares in Reliance Industries, valued at about $70 billion, company watchers said, as it brings in capital and technology. Last year, he struck three shale gas joint ventures in the United States, including a $1.7 billion deal with Atlas Energy to own 40 percent of its Marcellus Shale operations in the eastern United States

Buju Banton convicted in Florida drug conspiracy case [BBC News]

- Grammy-winning reggae star Buju Banton has been convicted by a Florida court of conspiring to to set up a cocaine deal in 2009. Prosecutors said the singer, whose real name is Mark Myrie, told an police informant he could broker the drug. Banton testified in court he was merely boasting, and prosecutors conceded he had never put money into a deal, nor made any
- His Before the Dawn won Best Reggae Album at the Grammy awards last week. On Tuesday, Banton was convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it, another drug trafficking offence and a gun charge. He was acquitted of a fourth charge for attempted cocaine possession
- He now faces at least 15 years in prison, according to his lawyer, and he is being held for sentencing at a future date.
It was Banton’s second trial over the charges; his first ended in September when a jury was unable to reach a verdict. Much of the case hinged on video and audio recordings taken by the informant and by Drug Enforcement Agency personnel. The informant was paid $50,000 after Banton’s arrest in December 2009 with two others





New Zealand is embarking on a massive rescue effort after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck the city of Christchurch on South Island.


via In pictures: New Zealand rescues earthquake victims [BBC News]

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