Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/20/2011

NATO forces continued to do damage to Libya’s air defenses today, and warplanes began bombing other military assets, including the command-and-control building in Col. Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that it was important not to exceed the mandate of the UN by extending NATO’s mission beyond the original stated goals. The Arab League is already unhappy, and has objected to what it sees as the duplicitous behavior of NATO in doing more than simply enforcing a no-fly zone.

Meanwhile, electricity has been restored to two more reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power complex in Japan. The situation continues to stabilize, and plant officials expect to have the cooling systems functioning again within the next few days.

In other news, violent protests continue in Yemen, Syria, and Jordan. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has announced increased social benefits and a higher minimum wage in an attempt to stave off popular discontent in his kingdom.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JD, KGS, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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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.