The Short List - March 2, 2011

• In Libya, Qaddafi's comments would be laughable if not for the death his delusional defiance has brought to his people.


• Pakistan's Minister of Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the cabinet was killed outside his home today.  Early reports indicate Islamist militant groups may be responsible.  Minister Bhatti had been critical of Pakistan's blasphemy law.


• As the world's attention focuses on Libya and the Arab Spring, Ivory Coast's former president, Gbago, appears emboldened in his attempts to violently cling to power.


• Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunis has been removed as head of the Grameen Bank by the Bangladeshi government.


• Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Ergodan surprised many with his defiant remarks in Germany over the weekend.  The speech and indeed the recent calculus of Turkey would seem to indicate the country is looking East, having been spurned by the West, specifically the EU.


• Volkswagen has bought a stake in SGL Carbon, a German firm that produces carbon fiber chassis for vehicles.  The move, coupled with SGL's existing relationship with BMW, suggests that carbon fiber may play a big role in the cars of the future.