Gadhafi asks Obama to end airstrikes

Letter to U.S. president also wishes him luck with his re-election bidWASHINGTON (AP) ― Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appealed directly to President Barack Obama on Wednesday to end what Gadhafi called “an unjust war.” He also wished Obama good luck in his bid for re-election next year.“You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action,” Gadhafi wrote in a rambling, three-p

April 7, 2011

Couple survives (natural) disaster honeymoon

(MCT)STOCKHOLM (AP) - Honeymoons aren't always easy for newlyweds, but six natural disasters?When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm set out on their 4-month-long honeymoon with their baby girl on Dec. 6, they say they got more than they bargained for: Immediately they were stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms, he said.But that was just the beginning.After that

April 7, 2011

Japan stops highly radioactive leak into Pacific

TOKYO (AP) ― Workers stopped a highly radioactive leak into the Pacific from Japan’s flooded nuclear complex Wednesday, but with the plant far from stabilized, engineers prepared an injection of nitrogen to deter any new hydrogen explosions. Nitrogen can prevent highly combustible hydrogen from exploding ― as it did three times at the compound in the early days of the crisis, set in motion March 1

April 6, 2011

High winds, rain hit U.S. South, at least 8 killed

JACKSON, Georgia (AP) ― An enormous tree limb that crashed through a Georgia family’s bedroom killed a father and the young son he was holding in his arms Tuesday as a fast-moving storm system pounded the South with tornadoes, hail and spectacular lightning.At least eight people were killed around the region, including several who died on roads made treacherous by downed trees and power lines.Para

April 6, 2011

Obama kicks off re-election campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) ― No longer the fresh voice of change, President Barack Obama embarked on a bid for re-election Monday by asking a divided, anxious electorate to let him finish the job he won in 2008. He’s getting an early start against a Republican field that’s still undefined, but he’s saddled with an ailing economy that still isn’t working for millions of voters.Obama began with an effort to re

April 5, 2011

Three bodies found on New York beach

Police search in the brush by the side of the road on Cedar Beach, near Babylon, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010.(AP)NEW YORK (AFP) - Three bodies have been found on a beach in Long Island, east of New York City, authorities said Monday, bringing to eight the number of corpses found in the same area since December.Local media hyped the idea of a serial killer, but police said they had no suspect at t

April 5, 2011

Japanese town mulls whether to rebuild

MINAMISANRIKU, Japan (AP) ― The only thing left of Minamisanriku City Hall are its two front steps.Nearby, a pink octopus lies dead in a pool of sea water, its tentacles wrapped around a crumpled sheet of corrugated aluminum that may have been a roof, a gate, a wall. Beside it, a broken tarmac road runs as far as the eye can see through fields of demolished houses and debris.As post-tsunami Japan

April 4, 2011

As India rises, northeast state wracked by chaos

IMPHAL, India (AP) ― In his years as a police officer in the badlands of Manipur, Khaidem Muhi had survived an attack on his post and an ambush on a convoy he was guarding. He had been overpowered by insurgents and had his weapon stolen so many times he was hit with a 12-year suspension.Back on the job last month, the 50-year-old was guarding the home of a government official under threat from ins

April 4, 2011

Quran protests spread to Afghan east

U.S. Gen. Petraeus decries burning Quran as ‘extremely disrespectful’JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) ― Demonstrators battled police in southern Afghanistan’s main city on Sunday and took to the streets in the turbulent east for the first time as Western pleas failed to halt a third day of rage over a Florida pastor’s burning of the Quran.An officer was shot dead in a second day of clashes in the city

April 4, 2011

Good mood may lead to bad memory

Being in a positive mood may affect our memory, but in a negative way. A recent study has found that forgetfulness has something to do with positive emotions. Elizabeth Martin, a doctoral student of psychology in the College of Arts and Science of the University of Missouri in the United States, has found that being in a positive mood decreases our working memory capacity, according to news report

April 4, 2011

Obama to launch re-election bid

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama is about to make one of Washington’s worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.Democratic officials familiar with the president’s plans said Saturday that Obama intends to file papers as early as this coming week with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2012 re-election campaign. He also will announce his candidacy to supporters by email

April 3, 2011

Zimbabwe mass grave becomes political propaganda

A body is brought to the surface at Monkey William Mine about 200 km from Harare. Hundreds of skeletons found at one of the mine shafts have brought a macabre thrust to election campaigning in Zimbabwe, but the putrefying stench of some corpses still with skin, hair and dripping body fluids has raised doubts over claims white colonial era troops committed the massacres more than thirty years ago.

April 3, 2011