MID-DAY UPDATE: Violence escalates in Libya, concerns mount over rising oil prices
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Violent protests continue today in Libya. After reports of mass killings of anti-government protesters, the United Nations top human rights office and NATO have taken action to protect people in the Middle East and North Africa. Many people from around the world found employment in Libya’s oil industry, but as the violence continues to mount, countries now are scrambling to safely evacuate their citizens. And across Europe, governments and banks are calling for a freeze on Muammar Gaddafi’s assets.
Just months after receiving a $100 billion bailout from European governments, Irish citizens will vote today on a new government. Many citizens are still outraged over the bailout, and the state of the economy. Political scientists think that long-opposing Fine Gael and Labour parties will form the next government. But a change in government may endanger Ireland’s massive bailout.
As the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East continues, analysts worry rising gas prices will impact the U.S.’s economic recovery. According to Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large for CBS/MoneyWatch, the economy is still in a fragile state, and dramatic changes to American everyday expenses could stifle a sluggish economy. Oil industry executives are meeting with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in Houston today to discuss reopening deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Deep water drilling has been on hold since the disastrous BP oil spill, and reopening drilling is contingent on the industry figuring out how to contain a future spill.
CBS canceled one of its most popular television shows for the remainder of the season. Charlie Sheen’s public breakdown and subsequent media missteps has lead CBS to cancel this season of “Two and a Half Men,” disappointing 15 million viewers and affecting 200 employees.
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