World News from the BBC.
The Arab League has agreed to ask the United Nations’ Security Council to
enforce
a no-fly zone over Libya. The vote was
unanimous
. The secretary-general of the 22-member bloc, Amr Moussa, explained the reason for the decision.
“We want to protect the civilian population in Libya after what has been reported of attacks and casualties and very tense situation, very bloody situation.
As for
anything about the post-Gaddafi situation, we have not addressed that point.”
The pan-Arab television station al-Jazeera says one of its cameramen in Libya has been killed. Al-Jazeera said Ali Hassan Al-Jaber and his crew had been
caught up in
an armed ambush near Benghazi in the rebel-held east of the country.
The authorities in Egypt say they’ll lift restrictions on political parties, after a referendum on constitutional amendments a week from now. A military official, quoted by the state news agency MENA, said lifting the restrictions would allow politicians to form new parties simply by
notify
ing the authorities.
An American aid worker has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the state in Cuba. Alan Gross, who’s 61, was arrested in December, 2009. From Havana, here’s Michael Voss.
Alan Gross finally came to court earlier this month. The trial lasted two days and was closed to the press. The verdict was issued in a brief statement on state-run television. He’s been found guilty of “acts against the integrity and independence” of Cuba. Sixty-one-year-old Alan Gross was a subcontractor for a US government funded programme aimed at supporting civil society and promoting democratic change. The authorities in Havana consider it part of a long-standing US policy to subvert the revolution and