Teenage girl dies after first kiss

(captured from The Telegraph)A teenage girl described as “shy and timid”died suddenly after being kissed for the first time.Jemma Benjamin, 18, was kissed by fellow university student Daniel Ross, 21, at his home where she died from a rare heart condition known as the sudden adult death syndrome (SADS). According to the British paper The Telegraph, Ross told police that he and Benjamin had been fr

Feb. 13, 2011

6 dead, 37 injured in attack on Mexican nightclub

State police stand outside of a nightclub after gunmen opened fire and hurled a grenade in the western city of Guadalajara, Mexico, early Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011. Six people were killed and at least 37 were injured. (AP Photo) GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) _ Armed men opened fire and hurled a grenade into a crowded nightclub early Saturday, killing six people and wounding at least 37 in a western city

Feb. 13, 2011

Egypt-inspired protests spread to Algeria, Yemen

Thousands demand reforms in Algeria; 400 arrestedALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Heavily outnumbered by riot police, thousands of Algerians have defied government warnings and dodged barricades to rally in their capital, demanding democratic reforms a day after mass protests toppled Egypt's autocratic ruler.   Protesters chanting ``No to the police state!'' and brandishing signs that read ``Give us back

Feb. 13, 2011

Pirates face death penalty in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A Malaysian court on Friday charged seven suspected Somali pirates for firing at Malaysian forces during a Gulf of Aden raid to free a hijacked tanker, under laws that carry the death penalty.Malaysia became the first nation in Asia to lay charges against suspected Somali pirates, as part of growing legal moves around the world to deal with the piracy crisis off lawless Somali

Feb. 12, 2011

Analysis: Military coup was behind Mubarak's exit

CAIRO (AP) - It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days — its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself.The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore order

Feb. 12, 2011

Mubarak leaves and Egypt celebrates

CAIRO (AP) _ One Egyptian kissed the ground. Another rolled in ecstasy in the grass outside a presidential palace. People wept, jumped, screamed and hugged each other with a shared joy they had never known. Cairo erupted in a cacophony of celebration: fireworks and car horns and gunshots in the air. President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military on Friday, and Egypt held its big

Feb. 12, 2011

Dog OK after getting head stuck in smudge pot

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A dog in Riverside County is recovering after becoming a real pot head.Animal Services spokesman John Welsh says the male dog got his head stuck in an old smudge pot, a device used for burning oil.An officer safely freed the white dog, who was nicknamed "Smokey" because his face was blackened during his misadventure Friday near Hemet.The officer says the animal was likely

Feb. 11, 2011

President Mubarak defies resignation calls

    CAIRO (AFP) - Furious Egyptian demonstrators vowed to launch their most spectacular protest yet in Cairo on Friday to demand the immediate departure of President Hosni Mubarak and his newly anointed deputy.   Many tens of thousands of citizens thronged Tahrir Square in the heart of the capital late Thursday hoping to hear the 82-year-old strongman step down. Instead he delegated presidential p

Feb. 11, 2011

Sarkozy tells cabinet to holiday in France

PARIS (AP) ― President Nicolas Sarkozy is awkwardly trying to stamp out a controversy over his ministers taking sun-and-sea holidays paid for by the Egyptian government and a Tunisian businessman.Some top French politicians have made a habit of planning vacations around the largesse of foreign governments or influential tycoons. But the long-standing practice has come under scrutiny following reve

Feb. 10, 2011

Egypt regime warns of crackdown as revolt spreads

     CAIRO, (AFP) - Egypt's embattled regime warned of a military crackdown on Wednesday as massive protests demanding its overthrow spilled out across the country and deadly unrest flared in the remote south.   Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square the day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as other demonstratio

Feb. 10, 2011

Italian judges to seek immediate Berlusconi trial

ROME (AFP) ― Italian magistrates on Wednesday will request that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi face a fast-track trial over allegations he had sex with an underage girl and abused his powers to help her.Chief prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati and his fellow judges in Milan have finished an inquiry into allegations that the 74-year-old premier paid for sex with a nightclub dancer nicknamed Ruby t

Feb. 9, 2011

Obama finally quits smoking

US President Barack Obama has finally kicked his craving for the odd cigarette -- and his wife Michelle is "very proud" the former puffer-in-chief can look his kids in the eye and say he doesn't smoke.Obama's struggle to beat his addiction has been a subject of inordinate fascination for the US press, throughout his barnstorming 2008 campaign and in the first two years of his presidency. President

Feb. 9, 2011

Get rested in the coldest place on the planet

The coldest place on earth is not, as one might expect, in Antarctica or Siberia. Believe it or not, it is in southern England. Champneys health resort in Hertfordshire specializes in Cryotherapy, a medical therapy that uses extreme cold to treat everything from sports injuries and psoriasis, to depression and fatigue, according British tabloid the Daily Mail. One staff reporter bravely volunteere

Feb. 9, 2011

Junk food diet linked to lower IQ: study

PARIS (AFP) ― Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind.The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eig

Feb. 8, 2011

Fair-haired island no blonde joke in Lithuania

 VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) -- Empowering blondes or stereotyping them? The jury is out on a Lithuanian company that plans to build a ``fantasy resort'' staffed only by blondes in the Maldives. Olialia (pronounced Oh-la-LA) has created a business empire in Lithuania, using its troupe of glitzy models with platinum hair to market just about anything from potato chips to pop music. There's Olialia pizz

Feb. 8, 2011

Protest held near Berlusconi's villa in Milan

A demonstrator wears a mock mask of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, dressed as a pink rabbit with handcuffs during a protest outside Berlusconi's private residence, in Arcore, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, to demand Premier Silvio Berlusconi's resignation following allegations he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and used his office to cover it up. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)MILAN (AP) _ Critics of

Feb. 8, 2011

Public puffing increasingly difficult in Korea

Choi Hak-young, a 37-year-old office worker in Seoul, grew up seeing people smoking just about everywhere in South Korea, including at subway stations and even on city buses and airplanes.Today, South Korea is no longer a smokers’ haven. The social environment of smoking has changed so much over the years, and smokers like Choi too often find themselves unwelcome almost everywhere in the country.

Feb. 8, 2011