MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) ― With their Senate colleagues still in hiding, Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly began introducing a barrage of 100 amendments Tuesday to try to stymie the Republican governor’s plan to strip unionized public employees of most of their bargaining rights. Both houses of the GOP-controlled Legislature convened shortly before noon amid noisy protests outside the state Cap...

The following article was contributed by Muteb Al-Mutoteh, ambassador of the State of Kuwait, on the occasion of the country’s National Day. ― Ed. The Embassy of the State of Kuwait is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Day on Feb. 25, 2011 and the 20th Liberation Day of the State of Kuwait on Feb. 26, 2011. On this auspicious Golden Jubilee, I would like to take this opportunity t...

CAIRO -- A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his ``last drop of blood'' and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime Tuesday, signaling an escalation of the crackdown that has thrown the capital into scenes of mayhem, wild shooting and bodies in the streets. The speech by the Libyan leader -- who shouted and pounded his fists on the pod...

A 103-year-old woman says her avoidance of the opposite sex could be the secret to her long and healthy life. Gladys Gough from Stoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom told British paper The Daily Mail : “I never got married or had a boyfriend either. That probably had something to do with it. I just couldn’t be bothered with men.” Instead, the life-long singleton enjoyed traveling around the wo...

An Indian woman who is HIV-positive says she has had sexual relations with more than 100 partners. The 29-year-old patient who works as a maid claimed she has had more than 300 sexual encounters with 100 men over the past three years, reported the Times of India . Dr. Gilada, doctor of the patient told the newspaper: “She admitted to frequent encounters with men ranging from her employers and...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Monday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years. U.S. naval forces quickly boarded the captured yacht after hearing the gunfire and tried to provide li...

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) -- A powerful earthquake struck one of New Zealand's biggest cities Tuesday at the height of a busy workday, toppling tall buildings and churches, crushing buses and killing at least 65 people in one of the country's worst natural disasters. ``I rang my kids to say goodbye,'' said Ann Voss, interviewed by TV3 from underneath her desk where she was trapped in a col...

Moody's downgrades Japan rating outlook from stable to negative on massive national debt TOKYO (AFP) ― Ratings agency Moody’s on Tuesday cut its outlook on Japan’s sovereign debt to “negative,” arguing that government policy may not be strong enough to contain the industrialized world’s biggest debt. The move will put further pressure on Japan’s center-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in power le...

Amid bloodshed, demonstrators loot and burn down local government building SANAA (AFP) ― Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Monday not to quit under popular pressure as demonstrations demanding his ouster spread across the country and the death toll in protests rose. Saleh, whose long reign makes him one of the Middle East’s great survivors, said the protests were “not new” and accuse...

A town in Wales caused a stir with its unusual name. The small Welsh village of Sully, which is spelled “Sili” in Welsh, drew people’s attention, with some confusing the name with “silly,” according to the British daily, Metro. The town’s people held a vote and the majority voted the name should be changed. Locals preferred “Abersili” as the Welsh town name instead, the newspaper reported. On t...

Next time you go see a movie, you better watch out for the noise you make while eating snacks. A Latvian man was shot dead for eating popcorn too loudly by an irritated audience member at a cinema in the Latvian capital Riga. Two men -- one 27 years old and the other 42 years old -- were involved in an argument over the noise during the movie “Black Swan.” At the end of the movie, the younger m...