Anti-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gunmen celebrate the freedom of the Libyan city of Benghazi, Libya on Sunday February 27. US President Barack Obama has called on Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to leave power immediately, saying he has lost the legitimacy to rule with his violent crackdown on his own people. (AP Photo) MADRID, February 27 (AP): Libya's oil industry is in chaos, and that's no exaggeration. Armed men loot equipment from oil field installations. British commandos

A child holds up a poster as demonstrators stage a protest against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi demanding an end to the violence in Libya, in Valletta, Malta on Saturday, February 26. (AP Photo)WASHINGTON, February 26 (Reuters): The United States imposed sanctions on the Libyan government on Friday and said the legitimacy of longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had been "reduced to zero."In response to Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on an uprising against his 41-year rule, Pre

Christchurch, February 26 (AP): The first text message said: "Mommy, I got buried." About 40 minutes later: "Mommy, I can't move my right hand." Then, a brief call from New Zealand's earthquake rubble to parents in the Philippines pleading to send help. After another harrowing hour in a crumpled building, when she sent a half-dozen more texts about increasing pain, continued shaking and overwhelming smoke, came the final one: "Please make it quick." 

BENGHAZI, February 24 (Reuters): World leaders condemned Muammar Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on a revolt that has split Libya, but took little action to halt the bloodshed from the latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.U.S. President Barack Obama made his first public comments, condemning as "outrageous" and "unacceptable" attacks on protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days and helped drive oil prices to levels that threaten global economic recovery. Yet th

LONDON, February 24 (Reuters): A British court has agreed to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden where he is accused of sex crimes, dismissing claims such a move would breach his human rights.Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange about allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies, made by two WikiLeaks volunteers during his time in Sweden last August.One alleges Assange, who has angered the U.S. government by releasing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic ca

LONDON, February 24 (Reuters): Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday. Sex, anger, marijuana use and chest or respiratory infections and can also trigger heart attacks to different extents, the researchers said, but air pollution, particularly in heavy traffic, is the major culprit.The findings, published in The Lancet journal, suggest populati

SURKH ROD, February 24 (Reuters): A few minutes and a few bullets were enough to turn Abdullah from an 11th grade student with dreams of becoming a translator to the despairing head of a family of more than a dozen.His father and oldest brother were shot dead last August at the start of a midnight assault by NATO-led troops on their house in Afghanistan's east. Abdullah himself was hooded, handcuffed and flown to prison, where he was detained for questioning and then released. They wer

GAZA CITY, February 24 (AFP): Israeli jets bombed several sites in the Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to a rocket attack on a southern Israeli city, the military said.There were no immediate reports of casualties in the air force strikes or from the rocket that landed in the city of Beersheba, the first time the city has been targeted since Israel's devastating 2009 Gaza offensive. The tit-for-tat fire comes after a day of clashes along the Gaza border in which one Islamic Jihad

CHICAGO, February 23 (Reuters): Spending 50 minutes with a cellphone plastered to your ear is enough to change brain cell activity in the part of the brain closest to the antenna.But whether that causes any harm is not clear, scientists at the National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday, adding that the study will likely not settle recurring concerns of a link between cellphones and brain cancer."What we showed is glucose metabolism (a sign of brain activity) increases in the br

Egyptians, who have just crossed Salloum land port gate with Libya, at background, arrange their luggage on a mini bus on Wednesday, February 23. Turkey evacuated 3,000 citizens on two ships Wednesday from the chaos of Libya’s uprising but thousands of other foreigners were still stranded at Tripoli airport, struggling to get a flight home. Several countries- Russia, Germany and Ukraine among them sent more planes to help their citizens escape the turmoil engulfing the North Afri

Striking teachers protest outside the Greek Parliament behind a banner calling for a general strike on Wednesday in central Athens on Tuesday, February 22. (AP Photo) ATHENS, February 23 (AP): A general strike halted public transportation across Greece on Wednesday and led to the cancellation of more than 100 flights at Athens International Airport, as unions stepped up opposition to the country's austerity measures. More than 30,000 protesters chanting "Don't obey the rich -

Murray and Kelly James look at their destroyed house in central Christchurch, New Zealand on Wednesday, February 23. (AP Photo) CHRISTCHURCH, February 23 (AFP): Hundreds of rescuers swarmed over twisted and smoking buildings Wednesday in a frantic search for survivors after New Zealand's catastrophic earthquake left nearly 400 dead or missing. Emergency services cordoned off central Christchurch, which was devastated by Tuesday's shallow, 6.3-magnitude tremor, to hunt for anyone s

A placard showing photos of some of those who have died is seen on top of a tank, in the early hours of Tuesday, February 22 in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo) UNITED NATIONS/KUALA LUMPUR, February 22 (Reuters): Libyan diplomats at the United Nations and several countries broke ranks with the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi, urging on Tuesday foreign nations to help stop what many called the slaughter of anti-government protesters.Gaddafi's forces have cracked down fiercely on demons

In this February 8, 2011, photo, a Cambodian soldier, right, stands near Cambodia’s famed Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Preah Vihear province, about 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodian. (AP Photo) JAKARTA, February 22 (AP): Military observers will be sent to the Thai-Cambodian border to enforce an unofficial cease-fire in place since deadly clashes erupted near a disputed 11th century temple, Southeast Asian foreign ministers sai

People look on as security guards clean up personal belongings and debris following a deadly stampede at Modibo Keita Stadium in Bamako, Mali on Monday, February 21. (AP Photo) BAMAKO, Mali, February 22 (AP): Anguished families wept at hospitals and morgues Tuesday after 36 people were crushed and at least 64 others were injured in a stampede as a crowd tried to leave a stadium following a religious ceremony. Tens of thousands had gathered to receive blessings from one of Mali's b

BERLIN, February 22 (AP): In a rare move that needed the pope’s approval, a Lutheran convert was ordained Tuesday as a Catholic priest in Germany and is being allowed to remain married to his wife - who has already become a nun. Harm Klueting, 61, was ordained by Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner in a private ceremony at the city’s seminary, the Cologne archdiocese said. Pope Benedict XVI gave Klueting a special permission to remain married to his wife Edeltraut Klu

Rescue workers climb onto the collapsed Pyne Gould Guinness Building in central Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, Feb. 22 2011. A powerful earthquake collapsed buildings at the height of a busy workday killing at least 65 people and trapping dozens in one of the country's worst natural disasters. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Mark Mitchell) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT CHRISTCHURCH, February 22 (AP): A powerful earthquake struck one of New Zealand's biggest cities Tuesday at t

BEIJING, February 22 (AP): China's main government news agency launched an Internet search site Tuesday, giving its own sanitized view of the Web following Google's closure of its China-based search engine last year over censorship. The Xinhua News Agency is operating www.panguso.com in partnership with state-owned China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone carrier by subscribers. The venture gives the ruling Communist Party a new tool to try to control what China's public sees onli

Bhubaneswar, February 22 (PTI): 12 Maoists including hardcore rebel leader Sriramalu Srinivasalu were on Tuesday released on bail as talks for safe return of abducted Malkangiri district collector and an engineer appeared to reach a decisive stage after another top Naxal Ganti Prasadam joined the negotiation process.Srinivasalu got bail along with 11 others from a fast track court in Malkangiri. The Maoists had demanded release of Sriramlu, Ganti Prasadam, Padma and several others for

London, February 21 (Agencies): Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has signed an agreement with oil major British Petroleum (BP) for 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries’ 23 oil and gas blocks including the KG-D6 gas fields . The deal, valued at $9 billion, is one of the biggest foreign direct investments in the country.  According to the agreement, BP will get 30 per cent of RIL’s upstream assets in 23 oil and gas blocks (including the producing K