Sharpville, A Crime That Still Echoes – More than fifty years ago, a massacre shocked the world and proved beyond doubt the inherent monstrosity of the apartheid system. It may have taken another 30 years for it to fall, but it was Sharpeville that first made its ultimate destruction inevitable. “As the police emerged to clean up the carnage, one officer grew sick at the sight and vomited. But the police commander [G D Pienaar] said coolly: ‘My car was struck by a stone. If they do these things, they must learn their lesson the hard way.’ The dead – estimates range from 72 to 90 – were carted off to makeshift morgues; more than 200 wounded overflowed the native hospital.” [Daily Maverick]

Libya: Col Muammar Gaddafi Faces Second Night Of Air Attacks From British, French And American Forces – Britain joined a second wave of military action against Libya last night after Col Muammar Gaddafidefied Western forces by launching fresh attacks against rebels. [Telegraph]

Oil Rises as Allied Forces Strike Libya, Turmoil Escalates in Middle East – Oil climbed as allied strikes at targets in Libya threatened to prolong the shutdown of supplies from North Africa’s third-biggest producer and renewed concern escalating turmoil may disrupt Middle East supplies. [Bloomberg]

US worried over Gaddafi’s mustard gas – The United States is wary of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s stockpiles of mustard gas but there is no sign he intends to deploy chemical weapons, the top US military officer said on Sunday. “He does have [a] store of that, a significant quantity,” Mullen said when asked if Libya had stockpiles of the dangerous chemical agent. “It’s something he could do a lot of damage with.” [News24]

Egyptians say “yes” in constitution vote – A majority of Egyptians who voted in a referendum have backed constitutional changes that will allow Egypt’s military rulers to move swiftly to elections. The main fear is that it will be interpreted by some of the political forces that supported the referendum as a kind of support for their programs, I mean the Islamists.” [Reuters]

Wyclef Jean ‘grazed by a bullet’ in Haiti – Hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean heard “the sound of the boom” and then realized he was “grazed by a bullet” in Port-au-Prince Saturday night, the eve of Haiti’s presidential runoff election, Jean told CNN. The wound was superficial and “he is doing well,” Jean spokeswoman Cindy Tanenbaum said. [CNN]