Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23612

The American Empire is failing. A number of its puppet rulers are being overthrown by popular protests, and the almighty dollar will not even buy one Swiss franc, one Canadian dollar, or one Australian dollar. Despite the sovereign debt problem that threatens EU members Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, it requires $1.38 dollars to buy one euro, a new currency that was issued at parity with the US dollar. The US dollar’s value is likely to fall further in terms of other currencies, because nothing is being done about the US budget and trade deficits. Obama’s budget, if passed, doesn’t reduce the deficit over the next ten years by enough to cover the projected deficit in the FY 2012 budget.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/150192/wisc._conservatives_trample_democracy%3A_state_troopers_dragging_protesters_out%3B_dem_senators_head_home_after_gop_union-busting_measure_rammed_through/

Wisconsin Republicans pushed through a measure stripping state public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Late Wednesday, Wisconsin Republicans rammed a measure through the Senate stripping collective bargaining rights from most public workers in the state. Although the 14 Democrats who fled the state to block Governor Walker's union-busting bill remain in Illinois, Republicans were able to push through the measure anyway by separating the collective bargaining provision from the other elements of Governor Scott Walker's "budget repair bill." (This, after claiming for months that killing public workers' right to negotiate was all about reining in the state's debt.) The measure passed 18-1, with Republican Sen. Dale Schultz voting against. Critics say the rushed legislative session -- with only one Democrat in attendance -- may have violated the state's open meetings law.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/03/201139101019805732.html

As authorities adopt stricter version of Islam, culture of tolerance is under threat. As change sweeps the Middle East, there are fears of a new crackdown in Iraq. After anti-government demonstrations last week, security forces beat and arrested hundreds of protesters. Although officials have since apologised, but protesters fear that further repressive measures may be on the way.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1364177/Israel-ask-U-S-20billion-extra-military-aid-Middle-East-turmoil.html

Hinting: Ehud Barak, the Israel defence minister, told the Wall Street Journal that his country might ask America for a further $20billion.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/9/naomi_klein_on_anti_union_bills

As a wave of anti-union bills are introduced across the country in the wake of Wall Street financial crisis, many analysts are picking up on the theory that award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein first argued in her 2007 bestselling book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. In the book, she reveals how those in power use times of crisis to push through undemocratic and extreme free market economic policies. “The Wisconsin protests are an incredible example of how to resist the shock doctrine,” Klein says.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/03/2011391229382651.html

The UN report on civilian deaths says the toll increased by 15 per cent compared to last year. A UN spokesman confirmed that the civilian death toll was the highest since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. Civilian deaths in the Afghan conflict have risen in 2010, hitting numbers never before seen since hostilities began in 2001, according to a United Nations report. The UN, in its annual report on the civilian death toll in Afghanistan released on Wednesday, said 2,777 civilians died last year, a 15 per cent increase from 2009. Large numbers of women and children were among the dead, with their numbers being 555 and 1,175 respectively.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201139138156335.html

Concern that gas facilities have been struck as Ras Lanuf, a strategic city, comes under shelling by Gaddafi's forces. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have launched new air raids on the oil city of Ras Lanuf and are closing in on the western town of Az Zawiyah. Fresh reports of rockets landing on Ras Lanuf came on Wednesday, leading to a growing concern for the city's gas facilities, which if bombed, could spell disaster for people living in the area. Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Ras Lanuf, said fighter jets were circling overhead and the rebels were firing back.