Late goals light up Premier League

Late goals light up Premier League


Late goals light up Premier League

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 12:13 PM PDT

Berbatov nets late winner to put Red Devils five points ahead of Arsenal as Gunners draw at West Brom.


Moonlighting now a way of life for Zimbabwean workers (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:39 PM PDT

Tecla Mazanhi presents some of her merchandise in Harare. Mazanhi splits her time between her job as a computer saleswoman, her lead role in a local soap opera, and her cross-border trading in South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique to buy clothes for resale to top-up her salary.(AFP/Jekesai Njikizana)AFP - Watson Chimbira mingles with mourners at the Chitungwiza cemetery outside Zimbabwe's capital, where he digs graves and paints epitaphs on metal plates that serve as temporary tombstones.



We must learn from Pakistan defeat, warns Ponting (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:57 PM PDT

Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (L) successfully appeals for a catch against Australian captain Ricky Ponting (R) in Colombo on March 19. Ponting warned Australia on Sunday that the defending champions must learn the harsh lessons of their shattering defeat to Pakistan if they want to stay in the World Cup.(AFP/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)AFP - Ricky Ponting warned Australia on Sunday that the defending champions must learn the harsh lessons of their shattering defeat to Pakistan if they want to stay in the World Cup.



Grave of prominent Aborigine Bennelong found (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 08:46 PM PDT

File photo shows children playing beneath a mural in Sydney featuring Aborigines on walkabout. The grave of one of the most prominent Aborigines in Australian history has been located under the garden of a suburban Sydney home, a report said Sunday.(AFP/Illustration/Torsten Blackwood)AFP - The grave of one of the most prominent Aborigines in Australian history has been located under the garden of a suburban Sydney home, a report said Sunday.



Allied Forces Attack Libyan Targets

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 11:20 PM PDT

U.S. and coalition forces launched military strikes against Libya, gambling that a rapid and substantial attack could knock out loyalist support for Gadhafi. Antiaircraft fire was heard Sunday morning in Tripoli.


Stability at stake in close Haiti run-off vote (Reuters)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:13 PM PDT

U.N peacekeepers stand guard outside an electoral center as they distribute electoral materials in Port au Prince March 19, 2011. Haiti's presidential run-off election between Michel Martelly and the former first lady Mirlande Manigat will be held on Sunday. REUTERS/Kena BetancurReuters - Haitians vote in a presidential run-off on Sunday that international donors hope can cement in place the stability needed to rebuild the crippled nation after last year's huge earthquake.



Arab Spring: Is the Revolution Starting up in Syria? (Time.com)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:00 PM PDT

Time.com - The Assad dynasty has rooted out is enemies with no mercy in the past. Will it deal differently with the large protests now breaking out? The first signs are not promising


British budget to focus on recovery amid cuts (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:35 PM PDT

Britain's government unveils its annual budget Wednesday, expected to focus on nurturing economic growth in the face of deep spending cuts and tax hikes aimed at slashing the nation's huge deficit.(AFP/File/Leon Neal)AFP - Britain's government unveils its annual budget Wednesday, expected to focus on nurturing economic growth in the face of deep spending cuts and tax hikes aimed at slashing the nation's huge deficit.



Bahrain rights activist questioned by authorities (AP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:22 PM PDT

A boy holds a Hezbollah flag during the speech of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah at a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 19, 2011, during which Nasrallah expressed support to people who rose against their regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain. Nasrallah criticized the sending of Arab troops to Bahrain saying these forces were send to defend a regime that is not in danger. (AP Photo / Bilal Hussein)AP - The wife of a leading human rights monitor in Bahrain says he has been questioned by security agents.



West pounds Libya, Kadhafi vows retaliation (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:28 PM PDT

A Libyan rebel holding a knife gestures in the town of al-Marj, about 100 kilometres (65 miles) east of Benghazi. Libya's foreign ministry said that in the wake of the attacks, it regarded as invalid a UN resolution ordering a ceasefire by its forces and demanded an urgent meeting of the Security Council.(AFP/Patrick Baz)AFP - The US, Britain and France pounded Libya with Tomahawk missiles and air strikes into the early hours of Sunday, sparking fury from Moamer Kadhafi who declared the Mediterranean to be a "battlefield."



Qaddafi defiant in the face of allied strikes (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 05:44 PM PDT

The Christian Science Monitor - The U.S. and European nations pounded Muammar Qaddafi's forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat.The longtime Libyan leader vowed to defend his country from what he called "crusader aggression" and warned the involvement of international forces will subject the Mediterranean and North African region to danger and put civilians at risk.The U.S. military said 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force. French fighter jets fired the first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east.President Barack Obama said military action was not his first choice and reiterated that he would not send American ground troops to Libya."This is not an outcome the U.S. or any of our partners sought," Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy."Thousands of regime supporters, meanwhile, packed into the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp in Tripoli where Qaddafi lives to protect against attacks.The strikes, which were aimed at enforcing a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, were a sharp escalation in the international effort to stop Qaddafi after weeks of pleading by the rebels who have seen early gains reversed as the regime unleashed the full force of its superior air power and weaponry.Qaddafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said in a telephone call to Libyan state TV that he was opening weapons depots to allow his people to arm themselves in defense.He said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war."He also said the U.N. Security Council and the international community were responsible for "stopping this unjust flagrant aggression against a sovereign country immediately."His regime also acted quickly in the run-up to the strikes, sending warplanes, tanks and troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the rebellion that began Feb. 15. Then the government attacks appeared to go silent.Operation Odyssey Dawn, as the allied assault has been dubbed, followed an emergency summit in Paris during which the 22 leaders and top officials agreed to do everything necessary to make Qaddafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday calling for the no-fly zone and demanding a cease-fire, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said."Our consensus was strong, and our resolve is clear. The people of Libya must be protected, and in the absence of an immediate end to the violence against civilians our coalition is prepared to act, and to act with urgency," Obama said earlier.Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters in Washington that U.S. ships and a British submarine had launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses to clear the way for the imposition of a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over the North African country.Gortney said the mission has two goals: prevent further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and civilians, and degrade the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.Defense officials cautioned it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught. But a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the mission was ongoing, said the Americans felt that Libya's air defenses had been heavily damaged given the precision targeting of the cruise missiles.Mohammed Ali, a spokesman for the exiled opposition group the Libyan Salvation Front, said the Libyan air force headquarters at the Mateiga air base in eastern Tripoli and the Aviation Academy in Misrata had been targeted.About 20 French fighter jets carried out "several strikes" earlier Saturday, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press. He said earlier that one of the planes had fired the first shot against a Libyan military vehicle."All our planes have returned to base tonight," he said, and denied a Libyan TV report that a French plane had been hit.He would not elaborate on what was hit or where, but said French forces are focusing on the Benghazi area and U.S. forces are focused in the west.British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country's forces were in action over Libya.The U.S. has struck Libya before. Former President Reagan launched U.S. airstrikes on Libya in 1986 after a bombing at a Berlin disco â€" which the U.S. blamed on Libya â€" that killed three people, including two American soldiers. The airstrikes killed about 100 people in Libya, including Qaddafi's young adopted daughter at his Tripoli compound.Libyan regime official Mohammed al-Zwei said a large number of civilians were injured when several civilian and military sites in the capital, Tripoli, and the nearby city of Misrata were hit. He also reiterated the Libyan allegation that the rebels were linked to al-Qaida. There was no way to independently verify the claims.The rebels said earlier that they had hoped for more, sooner from the international community, after a day when crashing shells shook the buildings of Benghazi and Qaddafi's tanks rumbled through the university campus."People are disappointed, they haven't seen any action yet. The leadership understands some of the difficulties with procedures but when it comes to procedures versus human lives the choice is clear," said Essam Gheriani, a spokesman for the opposition. "People on the streets are saying where are the international forces? Is the international community waiting for the same crimes to be perpetrated on Benghazi has have been done by Qaddafi in the other cities?"A doctor said 27 bodies had reached hospitals by midday. As night fell, though, the streets grew quiet.Libyan state television also showed Qaddafi supporters converging on the international airport and a military garrison in Tripoli, and the airport in Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte, in an apparent attempt to deter bombing.In an open letter, Qaddafi warned: "You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country."In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Qaddafi's government had lost all legitimacy and lied when it declared Friday it would abide by a cease-fire."We have every reason to fear that left unchecked, Qaddafi will commit unspeakable atrocities," she said.Saturday's emergency meeting in Paris, which included U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, was the largest international military action since the beginning of the Iraq war, launched almost exactly eight years ago."The time for action has come, it needs to be urgent," Cameron said after the summit.Earlier Saturday, a plane was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, sending up a massive black cloud of smoke. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire.Before the plane went down, journalists heard what appeared to be airstrikes from it. Rebels cheered and celebrated at the crash, though the government denied a plane had gone down â€" or that any towns were shelled on Saturday.The fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks."This city is a symbol of the revolution, it's where it started and where it will end if this city falls," said Gheriani.But at Jalaa hospital, where the tile floors and walls were stained with blood, the toll was clear."There are more dead than injured," said Dr. Ahmed Radwan, an Egyptian who had been there helping for three weeks.Jalaa's Dr. Gebreil Hewadi, a member of the rebel health committee, said city hospitals had received 27 bodies.At a news conference in the capital, Tripoli, the government spokesman read letters from Qaddafi to Obama and others involved in the international effort."Libya is not yours. Libya is for the Libyans. The Security Council resolution is invalid," he said in the letter to Sarkozy, Cameron, and the U.N. secretary-general.To Obama, the Libyan leader was slightly more conciliatory: "If you had found them taking over American cities with armed force, tell me what you would do."In a joint statement to Qaddafi late Friday, the United States, Britain and France â€" backed by unspecified Arab countries â€" called on Qaddafi to end his troops' advance toward Benghazi and pull them out of the cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiya. It also called for the restoration of water, electricity and gas services in all areas. It said Libyans must be able to receive humanitarian aid or the "international community will make him suffer the consequences" with military action.Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said that Libyan officials had informed the U.N. and the Security Council that the government was abiding by the cease-fire it had announced Friday and called for a team of foreign observers to verify that.In the course of the rebellion, Libya has gone from a once-promising economy with the largest proven oil reserves in Africa to a country in turmoil. The foreign workers who underpinned the oil industry have fled; production and exports have all but ground to a halt; and its currency is down 30 percent in just two weeks.The oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, held a news conference calling on foreign oil companies to send back their workers. He said the government would honor all its contracts."We are still considering all our contracts and agreements with the oil companies valid," he said. "We hope from their part that they will honor their agreements, that they will send back their experts and their people to work."He suggested future decisions on oil deals would favor countries that did not join the international force against Qaddafi: "A friend in need is a friend indeed," he told reporters in Tripoli.Italy, which had been the main buyer for Libyan oil, offered the use of seven air and navy bases already housing U.S., NATO and Italian forces to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya.Italy's defense minister, Ignazio La Russa, said Saturday that Italy wasn't just "renting out" its bases for others to use but was prepared to offer "moderate but determined" military support.Warplanes from the United States, Canada, Denmark arrived at Italian air bases Saturday as part of an international military buildup. Germany backed the operation but isn't offering its own forces.___Al-Shalchi reported from Tripoli, Libya. Associated Press writers Ben Hubbard in Cairo; Nicole Winfield in Rome; Jamey Keaten in Paris; and Robert Burns in Washington also contributed to this report.


Stability at stake in close Haiti run-off vote

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:13 PM PDT

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitians vote in a presidential run-off on Sunday that international donors hope can cement in place the stability needed to rebuild the crippled nation after last year's huge earthquake.


Egypt votes freely for first time in half-century (AP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:07 PM PDT

An Egyptian woman, left, casts her vote at a polling center in a referendum on constitutional amendments in Cairo's commercial district of Atabah, Egypt, Saturday, March 19, 2011. The nationwide referendum is the first major test of the country's transition to democracy after a popular uprising overthrew President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule on Feb. 11. (AP Photo/Grace Kassab)AP - Millions of Egyptians voted freely on Saturday for the first time in more than half a century, joyfully waiting for hours to cast their ballots on a package of constitutional changes eliminating much-hated restrictions on political rights and civil liberties.



World intervenes in Libya, with unusual speed (AP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:06 PM PDT

U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, is welcomed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a crisis summit on Libya, at the Elysee palace in Paris, Saturday, March, 19, 2011. Britain and France took the lead in plans to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya on Friday, sending British warplanes to the Mediterranean and announcing a crisis summit in Paris with the U.N. and Arab allies. (AP photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)AP - In diplomatic terms, international military action against Libya's leader went from the brainstorming stage to the shooting-at-tanks stage with stunning speed.



Japan tragedy seared into the world's imagination (AP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:08 PM PDT

FILE - In this March 12, 2011 file photo, the town of Minamisanriku is submerged in water after a strong earthquake-triggered tsunami in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING ALLOWED IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCEAP - There are events in history that sear themselves into the world's collective imagination, and enter the realm where myth meets heartbreaking reality.



Bombs Over Big Bird?

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:31 PM PDT

Military spending costs us a lot more than NPR and PBS.


Moscow Calls Libya Attack "Hasty"

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 09:23 PM PDT

Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Lukashevich said Saturday in the Ria Novosti newswire that his co


While in Brazil, Obama Orders Libya Air Strikes

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Just before flying to Rio de Janeiro for the day Sunday, President Barack Obama ordered what he call


US ambassador to Mexico resigns

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 10:11 PM PDT

Decision linked to disclosure of Carlos Pascual's criticism of Mexican president's handling of war against drug gangs.


China regrets multinational air strikes in Libya (AFP)

Posted: 19 Mar 2011 09:36 PM PDT

The guided missile submarine USS Florida in the Mediterranean Sea. China's foreign ministry expressed regret on Sunday over the multinational air strikes in Libya, saying in a statement that it opposed the use of force in international relations.(AFP/US Navy Visual News/Mcs2 Daniel Viramontes)AFP - China expressed regret on Sunday over the multinational air strikes in Libya, saying in a foreign ministry statement that it opposed the use of force in international relations.