Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/20/2011

The big story of the day comes once again from North Africa, this time from Libya. The uprising against the Ghadafi regime has escalated very quickly, and the government retaliated ruthlessly, reportedly using machine guns and RPGs against the demonstrators. Benghazi is the center of the uprising, and is said to be all but in the hands of the insurgency. Col. Qaddafi and his sons vow to fight on to the last man (and last woman) standing. Some army units and at least one major tribe have joined the revolt. Two Libyan ambassadors in Asia have resigned in protest of the government’s brutal response to the protests. Hundreds of people have been killed.

On a related note, Chinese dissidents attempted to mount a “Jasmine Revolution” modeled on the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings through social media. Their efforts have so far been suppressed by the government.

In other news, according to reports from South Korea, the North is preparing to test another nuclear device.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, DF, Fjordman, Insubria, Larwyn, Mary Abdelmassih, Steen, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.