SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Yemen officials say 78 people were killed in a blast at an explosives factory after it was briefly taken over by militants and then looted by civilians.Medical and security officials in the southern Abyan province where the blast took place Monday said many women and children from surrounding villages were killed and wounded in the attack.On Sunday, Islamic fundamentalist milit

TOKYO (AP) ― Workers at Japan’s damaged nuclear plant raced to pump out contaminated water suspected of sending radioactivity levels soaring as officials warned Monday that radiation seeping from the complex was spreading to seawater and soil. Mounting obstacles, missteps and confusion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex have stymied emergency workers struggling to cool down the overheating p

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AFP) ― Marriage in Morocco has an increasingly changing face these days as young men and women in search of lifetime partners head for the souk, in this case a “cyber” marriage souk.In a country where many marriages are still arranged, a click of a computer mouse will take the Internaut to Soukzouaj, a free site where thousands of lonely hearted young Moroccans look for their soul mates“This marriage site was created in June 2010,” Yasser Nejjar, founder of soukzouaj.ma, tol

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) - A blast at an ammunition factory killed at least 40 people and wounded 90 others near the south Yemeni town of Jaar on Monday, a day after the plant was looted by Al-Qaeda, a local official said.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - The Syrian government says 12 people were killed in violence rocking a seaside Mediterranean city.Syria's state-run news agency said unknown armed elements on Saturday attacked neighborhoods in Latakia, shooting from rooftops and terrorizing people.Ten people, including security forces, residents as well as two members of the shadowy ``armed elements'' died in the violence.S

AL-EGILA, Libya (AP) - Libyan rebels took back a key oil town and pushed westward Sunday toward the capital, seizing momentum from the international airstrikes that tipped the balance away from Moammar Gadhafi's military.Brega, a main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell after a skirmish late Saturday and rebel forces moved swiftly west, seizing the tiny desert town of Al-Egila _ a collectio

   SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Yemeni security officials say suspected al-Qaida gunmen have killed seven soldiers and wounded seven others in an attack on a military post.   The officials said the attack Sunday took place at Ubaida area in the in the central Marib province, an al-Qaida stronghold and one of several areas where the central government has little authority.   The officials, speaking on condi

BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) ― Libyan rebels were pushing their advance on Sunday after recapturing two key towns from Moammar Gadhafi’s forces in their first major victories since the launch of Western-led air strikes.The rebels, who were in danger of losing their eastern stronghold city of Benghazi before the strikes were launched on March 19, on Saturday seized back Ajdabiya and Brega, 160 and 240 kil

 OSAKA (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Friday the situation at the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant was still "very unpredictable" and thanked those "risking their lives" to handle the crisis.   The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's northeast coast two weeks ago knocked out the crucial reactor cooling systems at the plant, located 250 kilometres (155

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ― French fighter jets hit aircraft and a crossroads military base deep inside Libya as the U.S. reduced its combat role in the international operation that is working to thwart Moammar Gadhafi’s forces by land, sea and air.Explosions could be heard in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, before daybreak Friday, apparently from airstrikes.Libya’s air force has been effectively neutrali