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See the world: New York City? He hearts Benghazi

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Every day, WorldNow highlights a remarkable photo from somewhere around the world. Today we picked this photo from Benghazi, Libya, where a man holds a placard reading ‘I (heart) Benghazi.’

Thousands of Libyans marked the one-year anniversary of the uprising against strongman Moammar Kadafi this week with slogans, flags and fireworks in the capital, Tripoli, and the onetime opposition stronghold, Benghazi.

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What celebrations were planned for Friday night? ‘I have no idea,’ a Libyan hip-hop artist told National Public Radio. ‘No one does. Libya has never done this before. We don’t know how to celebrate an anniversary.’

Kadafi was captured and killed in October, ending his iron-fisted reign. Libya’s new rulers declared they were ‘liberated’ and said they were on the path to become Libya’s first representative democracy.

But Libya still has a ways to go. Amnesty International recently warned that the armed militias that helped oust Kadafi were repeating many of his abuses, carrying out revenge attacks against people they believed to be Kadafi supporters.

Libyans have also protested against the new transitional government, accusing it of incompetence.

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-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles

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