Following opening French air-strikes near Benghazi, US and British warships launched more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at defense facilities along the Libyan coast. The strikes targeted specifically surface-to-air missile sites and radar detectors that are part of the Libyan military's air defense infrastructure, said Vice Admiral William E. Gortney, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command. The campaign, code-named Operation Odyssey Dawn is being co-ordinated at a US headquarters in Germany. In a brief statement, Qaddafi pledged resistance to the "colonial crusader" attacks. (LAT, BBC News, March 19)

France has launched military strikes on Libyan tanks advancing on rebel-held Benghazi, Paris announced March 19. After an international meeting on the situation in Libya at Elysee Palace, President Nicolas Sarkozy said: "At unity with our partners our air forces will counteract any attacks from Col. Qaddafi planes on the residents of Benghazi. Other French aircraft are ready to countervail against armored vehicles which may threaten civilians." The French air-strikes on Qaddafi's forces came just as Qaddafi's planes carried out their first air-strikes on Benghazi, sending thousands of residents fleeing the city. The highway to al-Bayda, the next town to the east, is reported to be clogged with cars packed with families fleeing Benghazi. (APA, BBC News, AP, AGI, March 19)

The shelling of a market in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on March 17, which killed at least 25 people and wounded 40, may be a crime against humanity, the United Nations says. The UN blamed forces loyal to the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to cede power set off the crisis. The market was in the suburb of Abobo, a stronghold of Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the Nov. 28 presidential race. “Such an act, perpetrated against civilians, could constitute a crime against humanity,” the UN said in a statement. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to “take further measures with regard to the Ivorian individuals who are instigating, orchestrating and committing the violence."

Reports from Syria say at least five were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Deraa on March 18. Video footage posted on various websites shows large crowds said to be in Deraa chanting "God, Syria, Freedom" and other anti-corruption slogans. Reports from the city say authorities responded with waters cannon and live fire. The official SANA news agency said "infiltrators" had mingled with crowds of Friday worshipers, "to create chaos and unrest," setting cars and shops on fire—thereby obliging security forces to intervene "to protect citizens and their properties." Large protests are also reported from the cities of Homs and Baniyas, and security forces reportedly broke up a demonstration after Friday prayers in the main mosque in Damascus. (Haaretz, BBC News, SANA, March 18)

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."