CULTURE AND SPORT

Loyalist forces overran the Libyan town of Ras Lanuf, scattering outgunned rebels as world powers debated arming the rag-tag band of fighters.

The global cost of natural and man-made disasters more than tripled in 2010 to $218 billion, reinsurer Swiss Re said.

Flooding across southern Thailand has killed 11 people and stranded thousands on storm-swept holiday islands.

International powers meeting in London edged closer to an exile plan for embattled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

The world's two best players rolled into the quarter-finals of the ATP and WTA Miami Masters, following a two-hour afternoon rain interruption.

US filmmaker Ken Burns will produce a 10-12 hour documentary about the Vietnam war.

Loud blasts rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli as world powers began debating whether to arm the rag-tag rebels.

Artists throughout the nation are showing their sympathy for people suffering from the recent catastrophes in Japan through a variety of activities.

The global fight over fossil fuels has hit home in South Africa as the country debates its energy future before hosting UN climate talks later this year.

Japan said the government is on "maximum alert" over a crippled nuclear plant.

Roger Federer fought through a tough first set and turned it on in the second to beat Juan Monaco.

President Barack Obama told Americans he had stopped a "massacre" in Libya, but bluntly warned that trying to oust Moamer Kadhafi by force could repeat the carnage of Iraq.

India, home to most of the world's wild tigers, reported a rise in the animal's numbers for the first time in years.

A massive blast Monday at an ammunition plant in southern Yemen looted by Al-Qaeda killed at least 70 people.

Loyalist troops halted a rebel advance on Moamer Kadhafi's home town Sirte after NATO took command of military operations in Libya.

US President Barack Obama prepared to give a prime-time address to the nation aimed at winning the support of the American public for the military intervention in Libya.

Authorities in Mexico's Chihuahua state along the US border announced preventive health measures to stanch a return of an H1N1 epidemic.

Libyan rebels' westward push to Tripoli gathered momentum as Moamer Kadhafi's hometown was pounded by a coalition air raid.

Monster earthquakes are unlikely to trigger a large quake in distant regions of the world, experts said.