DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) - The Dalai Lama announced Thursday he would step down as political head of Tibet's exiled government, but continue to push the Tibetan cause in his key role as its spiritual figurehead. In a speech on the anniversary of a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, the Dalai Lama said he would seek an amendment allowing him to resign his political office when the exil...

Megan Fox’s trainer denies the public’s assumption that the star is suffering from anorexia. Worries were raised about the “Transformers” star after new advertisements for Armani featured Fox with a skeletal appearance. Yet, her personal trainer, Harley Pasternak announced that Fox is “far from that.” “Believe it or not she has this really fast metabolism,” Pasternak told Hollywood Life. Concer...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― Discovery ended its career as the world’s most flown spaceship Wednesday, returning from orbit for the last time and taking off in a new direction as a museum piece. After a flawless trip to the International Space Station, NASA’s oldest shuttle swooped through a few wispy clouds on its way to its final touchdown. “To the ship that has led the way time and time ag...

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s parliament chief Thursday ruled out any shift to multi-party democracy in a speech that appeared to pour cold water on political reform hopes sparked by remarks from Premier Wen Jiabao last year. Wu Bangguo, who is officially number two in the country’s leadership behind President Hu Jintao, said in his annual address to the legislature that abandoning the Communist Party...

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) ― The Dalai Lama announced Thursday his plan to retire as political head of the exiled Tibetan movement, saying the time had come for his replacement by a “freely elected” leader. The Dalai Lama, whose more significant role is as the movement’s spiritual leader, said he would seek an amendment allowing him to resign his political office when the exiled Tibetan parliament...

STEVENAGE, England (AP) ― Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little girls held her hand and turned stiff when they hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl began playing with a robot that teaches about emotions and physical contact ― and now she hugs everyone. “She’s a lot more affectionate with her friends now and will even initiate the embrace,” said Claire Sawczenko, Eden’s m...

CAIRO (AP) ― Thousands of Christians and Muslims clashed Tuesday, with one Christian man killed and scores wounded as anger rose over the burning of a church in a Cairo suburb. It was the second burst of sectarian fighting in as many days and the latest in a string of violent protests over a variety of topics as simmering unrest continues nearly a month after mass protests led to the ouster of P...

TOKYO (AP) _ A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit off Japan's northeastern coast Wednesday, shaking buildings hundreds of miles away in Tokyo and triggering a small tsunami. There were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries. The quake struck at 11:45 a.m. local time and was centered about 90 miles (150 kilometers) off the northeastern coast _ about 270 miles (440 kilometers) northeast ...

A Romanian woman is the world’s youngest grandmother, aged 23, British tabloid The Sun reported. Mother of two, Rifca Stanescu was 12 when she had her first child Maria. A year later she had a son, Nicolae. Stanescu was 11 when she married 13-year-old jewelry seller Ionel Stanescu. They eloped because Stanescu feared her father would want her to marry another man. Stanescu said she had been f...

Interim P.M. announces members of government, pledges to revive economy TUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia on Monday scrapped its feared political police and named a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Affirming a commitment “to apply the law and respect liberties and civic rights,” the interior ministry announced that it was abolishing the ...