Japan has raised the alert level at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant from four to five on the seven-point international scale of atomic incidents March 18. The crisis, previously rated as a local problem, is now regarded as having "wider consequences." Officials said damage to the containment cores at reactors 2 and 3 prompted the raising of the severity grade. The level five rating does not yet apply to the cooling ponds that have lost water, despite the dangerous heating of the spent fuel stored there. Elevated radiation levels have been detected up to 30 kilometers away from Fukushima.

The Libyan government announced an immediate ceasefire in its offensive against rebels in the country's east March 18, as a coalition of Western and Arab nations prepared for air-strikes following the previous day's UN Security Council resolution. Rebels said government forces had been bombarding Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the west—but the government denied that this had continued after the ceasefire. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told Reuters: "Libya has already implemented the ceasefire. We have not carried out any military operations today on Misrata or anywhere else in the country." He added that Tripoli wanted the Turkish and Maltese authorities to "supervise and help implement the ceasefire."

Armed regime loyalists opened fire on protesters in a square they have been occupying at Yemen's Sanaa University March 18, killing at least 32 and leaving some 200 wounded. Parliamentary opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri accused the regime of a "massacre" and said "these killings will not help keep Ali Abdullah Saleh in power." Thousands of people have camped out in the square since Feb. 21, demanding the departure of Saleh, a US ally who has held power since 1978. Police also fired warning shots as thousands marched in the southern port of Aden. Opposition leaders say over 70 have been killed since the anti-regime protests began this year. (Middle East Online, March 18)

Thousands marched in angry protests in cities across Pakistan March 18 after a US drone attack one day earlier killed 41 people in North Waziristan. The government also condemned the attack, with army chief Ashwaq Perwez Kayani saying the strikes had "carelessly and callously targeted" a tribal jirga. Pakistan also pulled out of upcoming talks with the US on the war in Afghanistan. Six missiles were apparently fired at a house in Dattakhel village, some 40 kilometers west of Miramshah. Tribal leaders in North Waziristan issued a statement vowing revenge against the US: "We are a people who wait 100 years to exact revenge. We never forgive our enemy."

Moammar Qaddafi pledged an imminent assault on rebel stronghold Benghazi March 18. "The decision has been taken. Prepare yourselves. We will arrive tonight," the strongman said on state television. "We will chase the traitors from Benghazi. Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free." Invoking again his claims that al-Qaeda is behind the rebellion, Qaddafi said "we will hunt down the miscreants and bearded ones that have destroyed out country and we will punish them without mercy." (AFP, March 18)

Libyan rebels battled Qaddafi-loyalist forces at Ajdabiya on March 16, as the provisional opposition government in Benghazi, just 150 miles up the coast, prepared for an assault on the city. In response to international calls for a no-fly zone, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the dictator's son, boasted to reporters: "The military operations are finished. In 48 hours everything will be over. Our forces are close to Benghazi. Whatever decision is taken, it will be too late."

Some 200 Syrians defied a state emergency in place since 1963 to gather in Damascus to demand a political opening March 15. "God, Syria, liberty" and "Syrians, where are you?" chanted young men and women, urging their compatriots to join the "peaceful march" which unfolded in a central souk of Old City Damascus. The protesters marched through landmark souks al-Hamidiyeh and Hariqa, drawing dozens of other Syrians with them. But security forces broke up the group and arrested two.

Hundreds of riot police backed up by tanks, bulldozers and helicopters killed at least two and wounded dozens more March 16 as they cleared a protest camp in Bahrain's Pearl Square. The action came a day after an armed intervention force from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates entered the country, and King Hamad declared a three-month state of emergency.