WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Big Bird is back as a player in big time U.S. politics.Mitt Romney wanted to get rid of him, but after a reprieve following the Republican’s election defeat, the towering Sesame Street puppet has signed up to endorse First Lady Michelle Obama’s nutrition and fitness campaign.The fluffy yellow character known to generations of U.S. kids is seen jogging in the East Room of the White House and checking out a bowl of fruit and vegetables in the presidential kitchen in two new publ

The planet Mercury may have had a large, rolling ocean of magma very early in its history after its formation about 4.5 billion years ago, U.S. astronomers say.Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have analyzed Mercury's current rocky surface using data from NASA's MESSENGER probe orbiting the planet to partially reconstruct its history over billions of years.The chemical composition of rock features on the planet's surface suggests a large ocean of liquid magma may have once

Many of the sexual attacks on women during protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square are organized with as many as 300 men participating, activists say. Activists describe a tactic that has become known as the "circle of hell," Ahram Online reports. They say the men form two long lines and move through the crowds in the square. Once the groups find one or two women alone they form a circle around them, trapping them. Masa Amir, a researcher at Nazra for Feminist Studies, said the attackers continue to w

DAMASCUS (AP) ― Russia and the Arab League proposed Wednesday to broker talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar Assad’s regime to try to resolve the country’s civil war, while a government airstrike on a rebellious Damascus suburb killed at least 20 people. The 23-month-old conflict in Syria, which has killed more than 70,000 people and laid waste to the country’s cities, has repeatedly defied international efforts to bring the parties together to end the bloodshed. Wednesday’s

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― Pope Benedict XVI may enact a new law governing the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope amid continued uncertainty over when the voting can begin. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wednesday that he didn’t know for sure if the new law under consideration would address the timing of the conclave following Benedict’s Feb. 28 resignation. He said it would contain some “clarifications” on certain points. But given the crush of interest surrounding the conc