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Gaddafi fire power still feared by rebels
The spreading revolt in Libya may be closing in on the embattled leader, Muammar Gaddafi, but the opposition still fears his fire power. Leaders of the rebel forces are marshalling their men and weapons to help the revolt in Gaddafi’s Tripoli stronghold but the thinking now is to let the capital free itself. Read our news file Meanwhile the leader’s own spin doctor, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has been denying allegations his father has ordered the bombing his own people. “The United Nations Security Council resolution was passed because of media reports saying that the Libyan air force is attacking Tripoli. So, you are now in Tripoli, I want you now to go to any district they mentioned, and take a random sample in the street.” The loss of eastern Libya and several towns in the west seems not to worry the Gaddafi camp, with his son claiming those areas were in chaos but still Libyan. In Zawiyah rebel spirits are high but they’ve raised barricades against surrounding government soldiers who are hoping hunger might flush them out. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Muslim Brotherhood to play a part in the new Egypt
With Egypt’s military ordering a committee to produce draft amendments to the constitution in the next ten days, speculation is growing on the exact roll the Muslim Brotherhood will take. The long-banned group has said it will form a political party once democracy is established but in a bid to allay fears at home and abroad, it also promised not to field a candidate for president. While the movement is poised to be a significant player in the new order, other opposition leaders have played down their influence to euronews. Oussama El Ghazali Harb, Leader of Democratic Front Party said: “The whole world saw during those glorious demonstrations the Muslim Brotherhood played their part but they were not the engine of the revolution.” As the only organised opposition for decades, the group may have suffered from its own limited success. Ayman Nour, leader of the El Ghad Party was sympathetic to the group, saying: “The Muslim Brotherhood is an important body which has a real impact, but it never deserved the dark image it was given under the Mubarak regime which presented it as something sinister.” Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that the deposed president Hosni Mubarak is in poor health. Installed at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, one source said he was refusing treatment for some undisclosed condition. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Bahraini army fires again on demonstrators
Anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain?�ended in panic on Friday. An unarmed crowd marched towards the capital, Manama’s Pearl square, and was met with gunfire from the mostly foreign mercenary security forces for the second day running.?�More than?�60 people are reported to have been injured in the clashes. Many have?�gunshot wounds to the head and upper body.?�The fusillade came just hours after the country’s crown prince appealed for calm and dialogue. President Barack Obama then phoned?�King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa condemning the violence and urging restraint.?�A?�young woman spoke to euronews from?�a?�hospital where the wounded are being treated, first in Arabic, then English.?�“We are in Salmaniyah hospital. We’re away from the place where the clashes are happening. But we can hear the clashes, the explosions. A witness just came from there and said the ground was red. The ground is red, painted with blood,” she said.?�About 1000 angry?�protesters gathered outside the hospital, spilling into the corridors.?�The fresh violence came?�on the same day that?�funerals were held for the four people killed when?�police broke up a protest camp?�on Thursday.?�More than 230 others were wounded in the raid, which the country’s leading Shi’ite cleric is calling a “massacre”. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Japanese shares bounce back as market recovers
Japan’s Nikkei has moved up four percent as concerns eas over the impact of the country’s triple disaster. Traders in Tokyo returned from a national holiday to recoup some of last week’s losses. Electronics giant Toshiba helped lead the way amid reports it will pay shareholders a dividend for the first time in three years. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Rebels claim gains in Western Libya
The proof of events in Benghazi has finally arrived with agency pictures showing the damage from fighting there, and the near total destruction of the main army base in Libya’s second city. Armour and heavy weapons are now in the hands of the people and rebel army units, and the bad news for Colonel Gaddafi continues with reports of heavy fighting breaking out to the west of the capital, Tripoli. Several towns there have reportedly fallen into the rebel’s hands, including the third city Misrata, where Gadaffi loyalists have launched a counter-attack. Az Zawiyah, an oil terminal just 50 kilometres from Tripoli, is also the scene of street fighting. One eyewitness described the city in “chaos”. Oil exports have been cut to a trickle, but there is a flood of foreign workers, mainly Egyptians and Tunisians, leaving the country after Gaddafi accused them of spreading their revolutions. Inflating previous estimates a doctor told the French press agency AFP over 2000 people had died in Benghazi alone. Copyright © 2011 euronews

King’s Speech steals the show
The film The King’s Speech has won seven prizes at the BAFTA awards ceremony in London. Colin Firth, who plays the stammering King George VI in the film, took the award for Best?�Actor. The movie also took the prizes for Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), and Best Supporting Actor ( Geoffrey Rush).?�This year’s BAFTA award for Best Actress went to Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan, while Best Director went to David Fincher for the film about Facebook, The Social Network. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Key allies desert beleaguered Yemeni president
Military, diplomatic and other allies of Yemen’s embattled president are deserting him in droves, as pressure mounts on the veteran leader to quit. Senior officers, ambassadors and some tribes are now backing anti-government protesters. The televised announcement of defection by powerful army general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and his unit is a huge setback to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Declaring peaceful support and solidarity with the revolution and its demands, the general said: “We will carry on with our duties in maintaining security and stability in the capital.” With tanks deployed at key points in Sanaa, Yemen’s defence minister insisted the army backed Saleh and would defend him against any coup. Snipers killed 52 anti-government protesters on Friday, prompting Saleh to sack his cabinet and declare a state of emergency. The US embassy has urged its citizens in Yemen to stay indoors and France became the first major Western country to openly say Saleh must stand down. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Lagarde: G20 imbalances deal would be ‘big step’
France’s economy minister Christine Lagarde, host of a two-day Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Paris, has said she hopes indicators can be agreed on to address imbalances in the world economy. Lagarde said G20 countries will have made major progress this weekend if they reach a preliminary accord on what measures they will use to benchmark and address those mismatches. She also said she favoured a freer exchange rate for China’s currency, the yuan. Her remarks came amid concern that differences of opinion within the Group of 20 may prevent the finance ministers from reaching agreement at the meeting. They are looking at a five indicators on which to base judgements on whether countries should alter economic policy to redress imbalances. Lagarde told an Institute of International Finance conference that France, the G20 president this year, hoped a list of indicators could be agreed so that guidelines could be set to help make world growth more stable. “This is something which is highly debated at the moment and will be in the next couple of days, because some countries do not want to be identifiable as doing such and such a policy,” Lagarde said. The huge differences between rich and developing countries were also the focus of demonstrators near the G20 venue. They want ministers to put a tax on financial transactions to generate revenue for the poor. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Willam and Kate
Britain’s Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton visit St. Andrews University in Fife, Scotland. REUTERS/Toby Melville Copyright © 2011 euronews

Dozens more killed as Libyan violence hits Tripoli
More than 60 people are reported to have been killed in Libya’s capital Tripoli?�over the last few hours as Muammar Gaddafi’s regime clamps down on a growing anti-government revolution.?�If confirmed it would take the number of dead since the uprising began to well over 300.?�Demonstrators in Benghazi said an army unit swapped sides to join them, helping the protesters take control of much of the city. And the Libyan justice minister has resigned in protest at the “excessive use of violence” against demonstrators.?�Gaddafi’s?�son?�went on TV on Sunday night to warn that?�the government would fight the revolt to the ‘last man standing.’?�Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi said Libya is not like Egypt nor Tunisia. “Libya consists of tribes and clans,” he said.?�“It’s not?�a society?�with political parties and so on. It’s tribes and clans. Everyone knows their duties. This could cause civil war and we will repeat the civil war of 1936.”?�Despite a very visible show of support for Gaddafi, his hold on power appeared to be faltering in what is proving to be among the?�bloodiest of the current uprisings in north Africa and the Middle East.?�There are?�claims that a police station has been torched in Tripoli. And a Libyan newspaper is reporting that protests have broken out in Ras Lanuf, the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex. A coalition of Libyan Islamic leaders has issued a fatwa, telling Muslims it is their ‘duty’ to rebel against the Libyan leadership and calling for the liberation of all jailed protesters. Copyright © 2011 euronews