SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia’s Qantas Friday launched the nation’s first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel.The Airbus A330 left Sydney for Adelaide using a 50-50 blend derived from recycled cooking oil and regular jet fuel in what the airline hopes will be the first step towards a sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia.“We need to get ready for a future that is not based on traditional jet fuel o

ISTANBUL (AFP) ― Iran and world powers agreed in talks here to hold a more in-depth meeting in Baghdad next month where, Western nations warned Tehran, much must be done to ease fears that it is seeking nuclear arms.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said there had been “constructive and useful” talks in Istanbul Saturday with Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili but cautioned that the meeting in Iraq on May 23 must “take us forward in a very concrete way.”Echoing her, the United States a

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) ― Some 384 prisoners including militants escaped early Sunday from a jail in northwestern Pakistan after an attack by insurgents armed with guns, grenades and rockets, officials said.More than 150 heavily-armed Islamist militants stormed the central prison outside the restive northwestern town of Bannu bordering the lawless tribal regions where Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants are known to operate.Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan milita

ABOARD MS BALMORAL (AP) -- In the birthplace of the Titanic, residents gathered for a choral requiem. In the North Atlantic, above the ship’s final resting place, passengers will pray as a band strikes up a hymn and three floral wreaths are cast onto the waves.A century after the great ship went down with the loss of 1,500 lives, events around the globe are marking a tragedy that retains a titanic grip on the world‘s imagination -- an icon of Edwardian luxury that became, in a few dark hours 100

Some 384 prisoners including militants escaped early Sunday from a jail in northwestern Pakistan after an attack by insurgents armed with guns, grenades and rockets, officials said.More than 150 heavily-armed Islamist militants stormed the central prison outside the restive northwestern town of Bannu bordering the lawless tribal regions where Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants are known to oper

Authorities in Washington state said an unlucky car theft suspect was arrested after a series of accidental "pocket dial" calls to 911.Police said a dispatcher answered what appeared to be a 911 "pocket dial" March 14 and listened to a group of men having a conversation that appeared to be about stealing cars, KOMO-TV, Seattle, reported Thursday.The phone was tracked to downtown Renton, where poli

The Secret Service was engulfed in a sex scandal on Saturday after a dozen agents assigned to President Barack Obama's trip to Colombia were sent home amid reports of them using prostitutes.Five US military personnel are also being investigated for misconduct said to have taken place at the same hotel where the Secret Service staff were staying in the resort city of Cartagena, and have been confin

PARIS (AFP) ― The world’s richest countries should take immediate, tough steps to reduce debt, a “major challenge” which must be met so as to stabilize their strained public finances, the OECD said Thursday.The 2008 global financial crisis has sent debt levels soaring as governments have spent heavily, borrowing huge amounts to try and keep their economies afloat, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development said.Now their debt, averaging 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product for the

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil's supreme court has voted to authorize abortions in cases of fetuses with no brains.Abortion is illegal in Brazil except when a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother and in cases of rape. The Supreme Federal Tribunal's 8-2 vote Thursday now decriminalizes abortions involving anencephalic fetuses. Such fetuses develop without brains and cannot survive outside th