JAKARTA (AFP) ― An Indonesian woman exhales cigarette smoke into the mouth of a gaunt, naked patient at a Jakarta clinic, where tobacco is openly touted as a cancer cure.The Western patient is suffering from emphysema, a condition she developed from decades of smoking. Along with cancer and autism, it’s just one of the ailments the Griya Balur clinic claims it can cure with cigarettes.“I missed th

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ― Libyan rebels, backed forcefully by European leaders, rejected a cease-fire proposal by African mediators on Monday because it did not insist that Moammar Gadhafi relinquish power.A day after an announcement that the Libyan leader had accepted the truce, a doctor in rebel-held Misrata said Gadhafi’s forces battered that western city and its Mediterranean port with artillery

Rush-hour explosion wounds 150; terrorist attack suspectedMINSK (AFP) ― Belarus on Tuesday sought to identify the perpetrators behind the bombing on the Minsk metro that killed 12 and wounded 150, the first major apparent act of terror in its post-Soviet history.The explosion at a busy metro station in the heart of the Belarussian capital near the headquarters of President Alexander Lukashenko stu

ROME (AP) ― A boat carrying as many as 300 migrants from Libya capsized in rough seas off the Italian coast early Wednesday, leaving 250 people unaccounted for. Survivors told of desperately trying to reach rescue boats as those unable to swim screamed in the darkness and pulled one another under the water.If the number of dead is confirmed, it would prove the deadliest crossing to Italy in recent

Letter to U.S. president also wishes him luck with his re-election bidWASHINGTON (AP) ― Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appealed directly to President Barack Obama on Wednesday to end what Gadhafi called “an unjust war.” He also wished Obama good luck in his bid for re-election next year.“You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action,” Gadhafi wrote in a rambling, three-p

TOKYO (AP) ― Moody’s Investors Service warned Wednesday it may downgrade its credit rating for Toyota Motor Corp. due to the financial fallout from suspended car production following the March 11 quake and tsunami.The rating agency said Toyota’s financial and operating performance will worsen as a result of the disasters, which are causing major disruptions in auto parts supply and have forced Toy

Notes released from March 15 meeting show growing worries about inflationWASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve officials raised concerns last month that a big jump in energy prices could weaken the economy and unleash inflation, prompting a few to suggest the possibility of tightening credit this year. Such a move usually involves boosting interest rates, although the minutes from the Fed’s closed-doo

WASHINGTON (AP) ― No longer the fresh voice of change, President Barack Obama embarked on a bid for re-election Monday by asking a divided, anxious electorate to let him finish the job he won in 2008. He’s getting an early start against a Republican field that’s still undefined, but he’s saddled with an ailing economy that still isn’t working for millions of voters.Obama began with an effort to re

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Republican plan for the 2012 U.S. budget would cut more than $4 trillion over the next decade, more than even the president’s debt commission proposed, with spending caps as well as changes in the Medicare and Medicaid health programs, its principal author said Sunday.The spending blueprint from Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is to be released Tuesd

Economists expect stronger hiring, producing a net gain of about 2.5m jobsWASHINGTON (AP) ― The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in two years in March, and the outlook is brightening as major companies plan to add more jobs.Increased hiring cut the unemployment rate to 8.8 percent ― an encouraging sign for the unemployed and for President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects.

Stock movements may seem irrational, but they tend to follow patterns even in times of crisisNEW YORK (AP) ― The threat of severe nuclear contamination from a breached Japanese nuclear reactor still looms. The outcome of the escalating war in Libya is uncertain. Yet The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the week up 2.7 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.1 percent. So what happened to