World News

US President Barack Obama has begun touring storm-ravaged communities in Alabama in the aftermath of devastating storms.

Alabama (AP):Dozens of tornadoes ripped through the South, flattening homes and businesses and killing at least 248 people in six states in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years. ...

KABUL (AP):A veteran Afghan military pilot said to be distressed over his personal finances opened fire at Kabul airport after an argument Wednesday, killing eight United States troops and an American civilian...

North Carolina (AP):A former high school band teacher in North Carolina was arrested on sex charges after a young woman wrote in an essay in her college newspaper that he got her pregnant, and took her to get an abortion, when she was his student....

Egyptian authorities have been forced to shut down a pipeline carrying gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan after it exploded following an attack by an armed gang.

ACAPULCO, (AP):A moderate earthquake shook the Mexican Pacific coast resort of Acapulco yesterday, forcing dozens of nervous spring vacationers into the streets.

KANDAHAR (AP): The massive security breach that allowed the Taliban to spirit more than 480 Afghan inmates out southern Afghanistan's largest prison must have involved inside collaborators, the justice ministry said yesterday...

MEXICO CITY (AP):Mexico's federal police rescued 51 people, including six Chinese and 18 Central American migrants, who were captive in the same border city where more than five dozen people were freed last week, authorities said...

IKOT EFUM (AP): Gunmen fired Kalashnikov rifles in the air and others brandished machetes while storm-ing a polling place yesterday, as voters in Africa's most populous nation...

There have been reports of explosions and gunfire in the Libyan city of Misrata, although the Libyan army had announced that it halted operations there, the BBC reports.

The most senior US soldier, Admiral Mike Mullen, says the war in Libya is moving towards a stalemate, even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40 percent of Libya's ground forces.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen will be among the international guests at the British royal wedding next week.