CULTURE AND SPORT

Seven people were killed in Libya as Moamer Kadhafi's regime sought to overshadow an opposition "Day of Anger" with its own rally in Tripoli.

Bahrain's leaders sent tanks into the streets, intensifying a crackdown that killed five protesters.

At least four people have been killed in clashes at demonstrations against the regime of Colonel Moamer Kadhafi.

British artist Banksy was ripped down in Hollywood, amid sightings of other pieces in a reported pre-Oscars publicity campaign in LA.

US President called the parents of a US agent killed in Mexico in the latest violent outburst in the Mexican government's crackdown on brutal drugs cartels.

The strongest solar flare in four years disrupted radio communications in southern China, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Young Vietnamese tennis player Nguyen Hoang Thien has moved up seven places from 241st to 234th in the world ranking this month.

Iran is sending two warships into the eastern Mediterranean, Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Bahraini security forces attacked demonstrators camped out in a square in central Manama square overnight Wednesday, several witnesses told AFP.

Five firework teams from the UK, S.Korea, Italy, China and Vietnam will compete in the fourth Danang International Fireworks Competition to be held April 29-30.

Fourteen people were injured in clashes in the city of Benghazi, a Libyan newspaper said on Wednesday, as the country braced for a "Day of Anger".

Rapper Tinie Tempah confirmed his rise to the top of the British music industry by winning two Brit Awards at London's O2 Arena.

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial in April over allegations that he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and used his status to spring her from police custody, a judge ruled.

Oil prices climbed in Asian trade Tuesday, bolstered by continued unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and robust Chinese demand.

Rising food prices have pushed about 44 million people into poverty in developing countries since last June, the World Bank warned.

Fewer than 92,000 couples married in or around Sin City last year. The last time the city of drive-through wedding chapels married fewer people, it was 1993.

The Lim Festival officially opened in northern Bac Ninh province on Feb. 14, drawing around 30,000 visitors.

Egypt on Tuesday called for international support to speed its recovery after its military rulers urged an end to labour strikes that have erupted.

A heart-wrenching documentary about AIDS sufferers in China has won a rapturous reception at the Berlin film festival.