A suicide bomber has rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a building housing a police unit in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least four police officers.
Police officials say the attack in the city of Peshawar on Wednesday left at least 28 people wounded. The blast destroyed the building.
The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The militant group has carried out a string of attacks that it says are revenge for this month's killing of Osama Bin laden. The al-Qaida leader was killed by U.S. special forces during a raid in Pakistan.
Prior to Wednesday's bombing, the Taliban had claimed responsibility for three other incidents, including a Monday attack on a Karachi naval base in which 10 security personnel members were killed.
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U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have spent the day in London with Britain's royal family. It was the start of President Obama's first state visit to Britain and it may bolster the longtime relationship between Britain and the United States.
Obama and the first lady arrived in London late Monday, 12 hours early because of a volcanic ash cloud that is disrupting air travel.
But Tuesday they were back on schedule, with a day marked by the pomp and pageantry that typifies state visits to Britain.
London's streets were cleared for the presidential convoy's high security trip to Buckingham Palace, the royal family's main residence.
There, Obama and his wife were met by Queen Elizabeth and her consort, Prince Philip.
The group have met before, two years ago, and Mrs. Obama even brought the couple's two daughters to England for a recent trip. But this is the first state visit by the president and his wife. The U.S. president was honored with a 41-gun salute and, in the palace gardens, the United States national anthem.
State visits are an important form of diplomatic contact between nations, and this trip is designed to show the close relationship between Britain and the United States.
When asked a few Britons had opinions about the strength of the relationship.
"I think it is pretty good. They both help each other out with the wars and politics and everything," said one man. "Barack's very involved with our parliament, as we are with America. We have helped to fight terrorism and a lot of holiday people leave here to go to America."
"There tends to be the thought that Britain still thinks that we are a bit of a superpower when we are not really anymore," said another man. "But America is and it is good to be allied with the most powerful country in the world, we would be stupid to turn our backs on that."
"I just think certain prime ministers of our country have not always hit it off with presidents," one woman said. "It has to be a warm relationship and obviously there are personalities that do not always hit it off amazingly, but I think the present leaders do."
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife hosted Mr. and Mrs. Obama at Downing Street.
The two elected leaders have plenty to discuss. At the top of the agenda is the ongoing crisis in Libya, Afghanistan, and Israel-Palestine, as well as the Arab Spring and Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Those conversations will be addressed further on Wednesday when Obama is to hold talks with British politicians and address Britain's parliament.
But for Tuesday evening, the president's plans call him back to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace, where he and Mrs. Obama will be guests of honor at an evening banquet, sure to be marked with the same splendor and ceremony as the day's events.
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Fresh explosions rocked Libya's capital late Tuesday.
Journalists in Tripoli say they heard at least six loud blasts.
The explosions occurred a day after NATO carried out some of its most intense bombings yet over the capital, including airstrikes near leader Moammar Gadhafi's compound.
Russia reacted to the NATO bombing campaign on Wednesday, calling the new airstrikes over Tripoli a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Russia's Foreign Ministry said the strikes are not stopping the confrontations between pro-Gadhafi forces and rebels but are only creating more suffering for Libyan population.
Meanwhile, South African President Jacob Zuma announced plans to travel to Libya in a bid to try to help resolve conflict. A statement released by President Zuma's office on Wednesday says the South African leader will hold talks with Gadhafi in Tripoli on Monday. The statement says Zuma will negotiate in his capacity as a member of a high-level panel of the African Union.
On Tuesday, a high-ranking U.S. official who is visiting Libya said the rebel Transition National Council (TNC) has accepted an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama to open a representative office in Washington. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said the U.S. is no longer communicating with Gadhafi and considers the opposition council the legitimate voice of the Libyan people. However, the U.S. has stopped short of granting formal recognition to the TNC.
Feltman, who is a three-day visit, commented from the rebel stronghold, Benghazi. He is the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the uprising against Gadhafi began in February.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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Fresh clashes have erupted in Yemen between government security forces and loyalists to a powerful tribal chief.
Witnesses reported hearing gunfire in the capital, Sana'a, on Wednesday, a day after fighting between the two sides left 38 people dead.
Reuters news quotes President Ali Abdullah Saleh as saying he will not be dragged into civil war, in spite of the clashes with Hashid tribal chief Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar.
On Tuesday, forces loyal to al-Ahmar took control of several buildings in Sana'a while President Saleh's forces fired mortars at the opposition chief's house.
Medical officials said 24 tribal loyalists were killed in Tuesday's unrest. Government officials reported the deaths of 14 soldiers.
The tribal chief's decision to engage his supporters in fighting against government forces marks an escalation in the nearly four-month-old anti-government uprising in Yemen.
On Tuesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council called for an immediate end to the fighting between security forces and tribesmen. The six-nation bloc had brokered a deal under which Saleh would resign and hand over power to a deputy. However on Sunday, the group suspended its efforts to mediate Yemen's crisis after Saleh refused to sign the deal for a third time.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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German officials say they will shut down airspace over northern Germany Wednesday, because of the ash cloud from Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano.
Experts say the cloud reached Scotland Tuesday. It is expected to move east over Scandinavia, The Netherlands and northern Germany Wednesday.
It is not clear how many flights in and out of Germany will be affected. But forecasters in Iceland say the plume of ash being blown out of the volcano has slowed.
Airlines grounded about 500 flights in and out of Britain Tuesday. There also were minor disruptions in Norway and Denmark.
Last year's eruption of a different volcano on Iceland forced thousands of flights to be cancelled, wrecking travel plans for millions and costing airlines nearly $2 billion in losses.
Experts warn that flying into a volcanic ash cloud could damage jets and cause engines to stall in mid-air.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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Significant aftershocks continue to shake Japan, more than two months after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that triggered massive tsunami, leaving 25,000 people dead or missing and creating a catastrophe at a coastal nuclear power plant.
Five tremors in excess of magnitude 5.0 on the Richter scale have shaken Japan just this week. But scientists are warning that the largest expected aftershock has yet to hit. And, new, devastating inland quakes can also be expected.
Japan hopes to never again hear these chilling words. An NHK announcer describing the scene on March 11 as a huge tsunami washes away homes, fishing trawlers and vehicles in coastal communities.
But scientists are cautioning that a repeat for Japan - on a smaller scale - is not a matter of if, but when.
After analyzing the magnitude 9.0 quake, scientists in Japan and the United States are making that sobering conclusion.
Several studies indicate the descending Pacific Ocean plate and the overlying plate on which Japan sits, slipped past each other by up to 60 meters. The research indicates five portions of the fault - covering more than 600 kilometers - were ruptured in the quake. That forebodes more seismic activity.
And, because the March 11 quake seems to have transferred stress along the same fault, some scientists are cautioning about a magnitude 8.0 closer to the Tokyo metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people.
However, others offer a wider geographical target, as far to the north as Hokkaido.
A frequently cited time frame, by some of Japan's most senior seismologists, is between now and the next ten months.
However, professor Takeshi Sagiya at Nagoya University's Research Center for Seismology, Volcanology and Disaster Mitigation is cautious about that narrow chronology.
"I'm not quite sure about the basis of those specific kind of prediction about aftershocks," said Sagiya. "Those aftershocks happening are quite variable from place to place, from time to time. It can happen with a month, or within days, from the main shock. But also it can happen within some decades."
Geophysicist Seth Stein of Northwestern University in the U.S. state of Illinois says the forecast intensity is in line with historical data but, like professor Sagiya, he is more comfortable expressing an extended timeline.
"They are thinking of the possibility you could have a magnitude eight, which makes sense. The largest aftershocks of an earthquake over the years around the world we've observed tend to be about one magnitude unit less than the main shock, more likely within months, but it could be years."
Professor Sagiya of Nagoya University says the March 11 quake also "activated" inland faults.
"They may be not as large as magnitude eight, but because they occur just beneath our cities, our house, they can be quite disastrous," said Sagiya.
Professor Stein - a former editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research - agrees that as a result of the March 11 temblor - the fourth most powerful ever recorded - the quake risk has increased for Japan, one of the world's most seismically active places.
"We sometimes use this analogy of a kid's game called 'booby trap' where you have a bunch of little blocks and there's a spring piston and it pushes on them. And, once you disturb one piece then you increase the possibility that the other pieces are going to be pushed and slip also," said Stein. "So if you think of Japan in that way you can realize that once you've had a huge earthquake of this sort there's a chance that a lot of faults could have smaller earthquakes."
Seismologists caution the public that their work is still an inexact science. They note improvements for indicating where a big quake approximately will occur, but not when.
They also acknowledge that this year's huge magnitude 9.0 was not anticipated, looking at the historical data.
That was also the case with the December 2004 earthquake off western Indonesia, which measured magnitude 9.3.
That prompted seismologists and geologists to re-examine the world's subduction zones, areas where oceanic plates slide beneath either a continental plate or another oceanic plate.
Some of the researchers, analyzing fresh data, are now challenging the conventional thinking and willing to state that most, if not all, of the world's subduction zones (more than a dozen are recognized) are able to generate quakes equal to or exceeding magnitude 9.0.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is ready to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but he says Israel will not return to its pre-1967 borders.
Mr. Netanyahu got a rousing reception when he addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Tuesday. He said his country will not go back to what he said were "indefensible" borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.
He said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not been about forming a Palestinian state, but rather that Palestinians are unwilling to accept a Jewish state. He said Israel will be generous with the size of a Palestinian state, but he added that Jerusalem will never be divided.
Mr. Netanyahu said peace can only be achieved through the negotiating table, and he voiced his opposition to a planned effort by the Palestinians to seek U.N. recognition of statehood in September. He said Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which he described as the Palestinian version of al-Qaida.
He also warned of the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, saying the nightmare of nuclear terrorism would be a clear and present danger throughout the world.
Afforded the rare honor of addressing a joint meeting of Congress, Mr. Netanyahu also highlighted the strong ties between his country and the United States, describing Israel as an unwavering ally. He congratulated the U.S. on the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., saying, "Good riddance."
On Monday, he told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that peace will only come when Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist.
U.S. President Barack Obama told the same pro-Israeli lobbying group on Sunday that Israel must "make the hard choices" necessary to reach a peace agreement. He said they include basing the borders of Israel and a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps of territory.
The prime minister said Monday that peace will not solve all the endemic problems in the Middle East. He said what is needed is genuine democracy that includes elections, freedoms of speech, press and assembly, and rights for women, gays and minorities.
In his speech to the U.S. Congress, Mr. Netanyahu described Israel as an example of democracy in the Middle East.
During his visit to the U.S., Mr. Netanyahu met at the White House with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received an exuberant welcome from a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. The Israeli leader told lawmakers his vision of how to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was happy to return to the U.S. Capitol, where he gave his first speech to a joint meeting in 1996.
He emphasized the strong bonds between Israel and the United States. "In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability. In a region of shifting alliances, Israel is America's unwavering ally. Israel has always been pro-American, Israel will always be pro-American," said the Israeli prime minister.
Netanyahu's speech was interrupted at least 29 times for standing ovations, and once by a young woman protester who unfurled a banner and shouted, "No more occupation, end Israeli war crimes." She was quickly removed from the House gallery.
Netanyahu said the Middle East now stands at a crossroads, and commended the courageous Arab protesters who have taken to the streets in a number of countries. He pointed out that Israel has long had a robust democracy and that its citizens enjoy civil liberties denied elsewhere in the Middle East.
"In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different," he said.
The Israeli Prime Minister singled out Iran as one of the most powerful forces opposing democracy in the region, and warned of the ongoing danger he said Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons poses.
"After six million Jews were murdered, Iran's leaders deny the Holocaust of the Jewish people, while calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every respectable forum on the planet," he said.
Since arriving late last week in Washington, Netanyahu and President Barack Obama have publicly clashed about the basis for reviving the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected returning to the pre-1967 war borders. President Obama told a pro-Israeli lobbying group on Sunday that Israel must "make the hard choices" necessary to reach a peace agreement. He said they include basing the borders of Israel and a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, the most powerful Democrat in the Senate, spoke to the same group late Monday, and gave support to Netanyahu's stance and not to President Obama's. Senator Reid said negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must take place at the negotiating table - and nowhere else - not in speeches.
"No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building, or about anything else," he said.
In his address to Congress, Netanyahu emphasized the points of agreement with President Obama and praised him repeatedly, without giving any ground on his own position on the borders in a future peace agreement.
"We will be generous about the size of the future Palestinian state, but as President Obama said, the border will be different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967," he said. "Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967.
Netanyahu also called for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stand before his people and declare that he will accept a Jewish state, and to tear up his unity pact with the militant organization Hamas. He also said Israel must continue to have a military presence in the Jordan Valley, and that Jerusalem must never be divided.
A spokesman for the Palestinian president quickly responded to the Israeli leader's speech to Congress, saying Netanyahu had put more obstacles in the way of a Middle East peace agreement by imposing impossible conditions.
The two-decade old Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been at a standstill since September due to a dispute over Jewish settlement building on land captured in the 1967 war. Palestinians say peace must be based on the 1967 boundaries and they will not accept any Israeli military presence in their future state.
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A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parameters for a new round of negotiations, saying they create more obstacles to peace.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh said there was "nothing new" in the Israeli peace guidelines that Mr. Netanyahu presented Tuesday in a speech to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
Rudeineh said the Israeli leader has created "more obstacles" to peace by saying Jerusalem must remain what Mr. Netanyahu called Israel's "united capital" and that final Israeli borders should include major Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli prime minister said Israel also seeks to retain a "long-term military presence" in the West Bank's Jordan Valley to prevent weapons smuggling into a future Palestine.
Mr. Abbas's government has said it wants to establish a future state in all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Aides to Mr. Abbas said Tuesday his government will continue to seek international recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September.
The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza said Mr. Netanyahu's speech denies the Palestinians their rights. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said the Palestinians must pursue "resistance" rather than peace talks with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu has said that Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas.
Israel and the United States both say Palestinian statehood must be a result of negotiations. U.S. President Barack Obama warned the Palestinians last week that "symbolic" actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations "will not create an independent state."
The head of the West Bank Jewish settlers' council, Danny Dayan, criticized Mr. Netanyahu for saying that some settlements will be located outside of Israel's final borders. Mr. Netanyahu also drew criticism from lawmakers of Israel's main opposition Kadima party who accused him of not being sincere in trying to negotiate peace with the Palestinians.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barak Obama triggered shock and anger among many Israelis last week when he called for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be resolved along the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods have spread far beyond that armistice line, also known as the Green Line.
Ramot is a suburban-like neighborhood of neatly arranged tract homes on a hilltop overlooking Jerusalem. It sits on land next to what was a battleground between Israeli and Jordanian forces in the Six Day war of 1967, when Israel captured it.
Hilary Herzberger, a Jewish immigrant from South Africa, was among Ramot's early residents. "We wanted to live in a community in Jerusalem and this was the community that was allocated to us to build 116 units. Political issues were never really taken into consideration," she said.
Ramot's residents came here looking for a comfortable, quiet suburban life. They have found it. A new shopping mall is being built next to an expressway that connects the neighborhood to downtown Jerusalem, only a few minutes away.
Shattering the quiet and comfort is the political reality that Ramot is on land beyond the 1967 lines. Like other sections of land adjacent to Jerusalem that Israel captured, the Jewish State annexed Ramot in a move that has never been internationally recognized.
The Israeli government has for decades carried out a policy of building Jewish neighborhoods on a ring around Jerusalem with the aim of securing the city against future attacks.
Palestinian leaders claim the territory where Ramot is, as well as other neighborhoods and East Jerusalem, as part of their future state.
In the shadow of Ramot, Israeli authorities have fenced off the neighboring West Bank Arab town of Beit Iksa and its 27,000 people.
Omar Gayth, deputy head of the town council, says Israel bars Beit Iksa's residents from accessing their farmlands on the other side of the fence. For him, the measures are a stranglehold that should be dealt with first and foremost.
The solution he seeks is not a return to the 1967 borders. He says that what the people of Beit Iksa need is the right to come and go to their land, wherever it is.
The issue of the 1967 lines has long been part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and discussion of it is a sensitive matter for many Israelis.
Hilary Herzberger rules out any return to the armistice lines. Talk of land swaps also makes her nervous.
"If we're talking about Ramot, it's a neighborhood of 45,000 people and we have many neighborhoods similar. There's no possibility. Those neighborhoods today are very much part of Jerusalem and I think it's not even a question and so it was a terrible shock to hear '67 borders," she said.
Many Israelis have praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not giving in to what they perceive as U.S. pressure to relinquish territory.
For Israelis like Herzberger, there is no going back.
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Two Somali men have pleaded guilty to piracy for their roles in a yacht hijacking in February that left four Americans dead.
Abdi Jama Aqid and Said Abdi Fooley entered their pleas Tuesday in a court in the eastern U.S. city of Norfolk. They are the latest of seven Somalis to enter guilty pleas in connection with the incident.
According to court documents, Aqid spotted ships to target for hijacking and believed he could get as much as $80,000 as his share of ransom. Fooley admitted to bringing a semi-automatic weapon on board the ship. He said he often was stationed at the front of the yacht as a guard.
Both men said they were not personally involved in the shooting of the four U.S. citizens on board. They face mandatory life sentences, but they could serve less time as a result of their plea agreement. The men are expected to be sentenced by September.
Including Aqid and Fooley, 14 people from Somalia and one from Yemen are facing charges related to the hijacking.
The owners of the yacht Quest and their two friends were shot to death several days after being taken hostage, hundreds of kilometers south of Oman. They were the first U.S. citizens killed in a wave of pirate attacks in recent years in the region.
On Monday, two other Somalis pleaded guilty to piracy in the incident. The latest guilty pleas bring to seven the number of defendants who have admitted their roles in the abduction of the yacht.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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The United States has announced sanctions against seven foreign entities, including Venezuela's state oil company, for engaging in trade with Iran in violation of U.S. law. It is part of an effort to prompt Iran to return to big-power talks over its nuclear program.
The Obama administration is stepping up its sanctions against foreign companies aiding Iran's energy sector following a disappointing Iranian response to the latest big-power offer to return to nuclear talks.
A State Department announcement said seven companies, among them the Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, will face varying penalties for helping deliver refined oil products to Iran.
The others cited under the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act from the U.S. Congress are two firms based in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Britain, Singapore, Monaco and Israel.
Despite its vast crude-oil resources, Iran has been dealing with a chronic shortage of gasoline and other refined oil products. The Obama administration has focused sanctions efforts on Iranian fuel imports as a way to exploit that vulnerability and boost pressure on the nuclear issue.
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At a news briefing, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg cited reports that Iranian fuel imports may have dropped by 60 percent as would-be suppliers realize that with potential sanctions, the risk of doing business with Iran is just too high.
"By imposing these sanctions, we are sending a clear message to companies around the world. Those who continue to irresponsibly support Iran's energy sector, or help facilitate Iran's efforts to evade U.S. sanctions, will face significant consequences," he said.
The last round of talks between Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council member states and Germany, the P5+1, was held in Istanbul in January.
The major powers, offering incentives to Iran to end its uranium-enrichment program, have proposed further talks provided Tehran is ready to deal seriously on the nuclear issue.
U.S. and European officials believe the enrichment drive is weapons related, although Iran denies nuclear weapons ambitions.
Steinberg said the latest Iranian note on the issue, delivered earlier this month to European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, was "not responsive" to big-power concerns.
"The core is a real commitment for them to address the nuclear program and we did not see that in the letter that was sent to Cathy Ashton," he said. "So it is very clear that is why we are continuing to pursue these measures both by ourselves and with others, because I think we need to continue to keep the pressure on Iran. These clearly had an impact on their economy. At what point that will cause them to make different decisions obviously is something we have to watch carefully."
The U.S. announcement came a day after the European Union expanded Iran sanctions, action the Tehran government said was contradictory to the bloc's stated desire for dialogue.
In a separate move, the State Department says it is sanctioning 16 foreign companies and individuals under the 2000 Iran, North Korea and Syria Non-Proliferation Act, which is aimed at curbing weapons of mass-destruction programs of the three countries.
That action bars U.S. business dealings or aid for at least two years to the named firms or persons from Iran, North Korea, Syria, China, Belarus and Venezuela.
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Fifty years ago, on May 25, 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy issued a grand challenge that changed the world as humankind knew it - to send a man to the Moon and bring him home again, and to do it by the end of the decade.
It is one of the most enduring images of all time - an Earthling setting foot upon the Moon for the first time. The moment was immortalized by astronaut Neil Armstrong.
"One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," said Armstrong.
The challenge to put a man on the Moon had been issued only eight years earlier, on May 25, 1961, by newly elected President John F. Kennedy in a bold speech before Congress.
"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the earth," said President Kennedy.
To set the stage for this speech, here is a bit of history:
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik - the first artificial object ever placed into orbit around Earth.
And only one month before Kennedy's speech, the Soviets sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin.
Three weeks later an American followed suit - Alan Shepard, who admired the view from his Freedom 7 Mercury space capsule.
"On the periscope - what a beautiful view," said Shepard. "Cloud cover over Florida."
The Space Race was well underway.
Allan Needell works at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, where he curates the lunar-mission spacecraft collection. He says attaining technological superiority in the Space Race was also about swaying new nations on Earth.
"The Soviet Union was providing a real challenge to American supremacy, and the fear was that most of these emerging countries, both in Latin America and in Asia, would choose the model of the [Communist] Soviet system rather than the free market, capitalist system that was favored by the United States," said Allan Needell.
At the time of Mr. Kennedy's speech, there were also issues at home.
"It was the end of a recession, a recession which by recent standards wasn't as severe as the one we're just passing, but it was severe in the context of the 1950s, which had been a period of quite dramatic growth," said Needell.
There was also high unemployment and a number of aging Americans who could not afford adequate healthcare - challenges similar to those the country faces today.
Recently, President Barack Obama recalled the early days of the Space Race.
"After investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs," said President Obama.
That wave of innovations sent men to the Moon.
Other presidents have set out grand challenges for space innovation, such as Ronald Reagan in 1984.
"We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic and scientific gain," said President Reagan. "Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade."
It took a little longer than planned, but people have lived continuously on the International Space Station for the past decade, and the ISS is seen as an advancement for all mankind.
Needell says that was also the case with the first Moon landing.
"The vision of this being 'we come in peace for all mankind' was developed and actually accepted all around the world, that this was a human accomplishment as much as it was a demonstration of American superiority," he said.
And a giant leap for mankind.
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NATO planes stepped up their bombing of Tripoli early Tuesday.
A series of powerful explosions shook the Libyan capital Tripoli overnight after NATO warplanes carried out close to 20 bombing raids. Witnesses say many of the raids appeared to be close to a military compound where Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi may be hiding.
A NATO spokesman indicated that a vehicle storage facility next to the Bab al-Aziziya camp had been hit in the bombing raids.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, however, claimed that NATO warplanes missed their target, instead striking civilian houses nearby.
"Dozens of people have been injured and we have three martyrs, so far," he said. "The injured have been taken to two different hospitals. Some of them were treated and they have gone home already because of their light injuries. Some of them have bigger, more serious injuries."
Libyan government television showed three bodies at a hospital. Hospital workers claimed the victims were civilians who were killed by "NATO crusaders."
Supporters of Mr. Gadhafi chanted slogans in favor of their leader. Some denounced NATO, the United States and President Barack Obama. One man claimed NATO warplanes bombed a mosque, showing shards of glass on top of a Quran.
Delegates from several African countries gathered in Tripoli to hear Libyan officials slam NATO's intervention.
Both France and Britain, meanwhile, announced plans to step up attacks on Libya. "We're very much behind the intensification of the military campaign and … so is France," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The buildup comes after U.S. envoy Jeffrey Feltman told a news conference in Benghazi Monday that the U.S. is no longer talking to officials from Gadhafi's government, and that President Obama has invited the rebels to open a representative office in Washington.
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Officials in the Midwestern U.S. town of Joplin, Missouri, say the death toll from Sunday's massive tornado stands at 116 and that search efforts continue for possible survivors trapped in rubble.
Search and rescue teams are conducting their third sweep through the nearly 10 kilometer-long and one-kilometer wide swath of destruction left by the tornado. They are working as quickly as possible while weather conditions remain relatively stable. More storms are forecast for the area.
Joplin Fire Chief Mitch Randles said there are areas with large piles of rubble that might hold survivors.
"We are still finding individuals. We did rescue seven individuals from underneath rubble yesterday and, of course, we are also finding deceased folks, as well, said Randles. "It is just really incredible the fact that we are still finding people. We are hoping to find more folks and that is why we are doing these searches. We want to make every opportunity that we can to find everybody that is in the rubble and that has survived to this point."
Randles said the current sweep involves a slower pace than previous searches and that he plans a fourth search, possibly on Wednesday, using specially trained dogs.
"We are searching every structure that has been damaged or destroyed in a more in-depth manner," he said. "I have dogs and dog handlers coming from all over the country to help us in that effort."
Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said the Red Cross and other volunteer organizations are helping people who were left homeless by the twister and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is on hand to help.
"Joplin is a great city. We have suffered a devastating loss," said Rohr. "We will recover and we will recover strongly and we have a lot of help and a lot of volunteers to facilitate that."
The tornado that struck Joplin was classified by the National Weather Service as an F-4, with winds of more than 300 kilometers per hour. It lasted only 20 minutes, but it killed more than 100 people, injured more than 400 others, and destroyed or heavily damaged some 2,000 homes, businesses, churches and a hospital. Authorities have registered more than 1,700 calls about missing people and they hope to resolve most of those cases soon, as victims are identified and survivors come forth and reunite with loved ones.
This was the worst tornado to strike the United States in 60 years. It was the latest in a wave of violent storms that have swept midwestern and southern states in recent weeks, leaving more than 300 people dead and causing more than $2 billion dollars in damage.
President Barack Obama plans to visit the devastated area next week, after he returns from an official trip in Europe.
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The arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in southern Europe from North Africa has prompted a fierce debate within the European Union on how to deal with the influx. Some countries have begun reinstating border controls within the EU, despite a decades-old agreement on passport-free travel throughout much of the continent.
After five days on rough seas, these migrants have finally arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The 800 migrants had set sail from Tripoli, packed into their aging fishing boat. Italian coastguards spotted the boat and helped them navigate into port.
Many of the arrivals are in desperate need of medical attention.
The inhabitants of Lampedusa, mostly fishermen, say they feel great sympathy for the migrants.
Today, Enzo Ochese is holding a party to mark the launch of his new fishing boat. Like many of Lampedusa's people, he has helped care for some of the most vulnerable migrants. "I saw this small Nigerian boy, three-years-old [on one of the boats]. We took him home, we washed him, he was really happy. His mother was grateful. Lampedusa has always welcomed these poor persons. I think this is a really serious problem, I think the entire world, especially Europe, should assume the responsibility over this huge phenomenon, not just Italy," he said.
That sentiment is shared by the Italian government. It wants other European countries to share the burden of the migrant influx.
What is happening on this tiny outpost of Europe is having deep ramifications for the whole of the EU.
Many of the Tunisian migrants who have arrived in Lampedusa want to travel to France, which has close ties with its old colony.
But last month, a dispute erupted after French authorities prevented a train carrying migrants from crossing into France from Italy, an apparent breach of the EU's Schengen treaty on open borders.
For several years, it's been possible to travel without a passport from Finland in the north to Malta in the south. But the influx of migrants on Europe's southern shores has prompted a debate here in Brussels over the re-introduction of border controls. And that challenges one of the central pillars of the European Union, passport-free travel across much of the continent.
At a recent EU meeting on the issue, there was disagreement over whether European countries should start reinforcing their borders.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström made her position on the Schengen agreement clear. "Schengen is a fantastic achievement that we have achieved in the European Union, and we should protect it and defend it. It is a beautiful achievement for the mobility of the people of the European Union," she said.
Human rights activists say Europe needs to do more to help the refugees arriving on its shores.
Anneliese Baldaccini is from the human rights group Amnesty International. "We have seen Europe taking only 5,000 people last year, the whole of Europe has taken, resettled 5,000 people from the global refugees population. They surely are not doing enough," she said.
But immigration has become a fiery topic in European politics - and analysts say agreement on what to do with the migrants once they arrive remains a distant prospect.
For now, the EU is reinforcing its external borders in places like Lampedusa.
With the uprisings in the Arab world creating turmoil on Europe's southern borders, authorities expect no letup in the flow of migrants.
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Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak is to face trial for his alleged role in the deaths of protesters during the uprising that drove him from power. The ex-leader and his two sons are also charged with crimes stemming back decades.
The charges against Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa include abuse of power and wasting public funds, as well as the killing of pro-democracy demonstrators earlier this year.
The prosecutor general's referral of the Mubaraks to criminal court follows widespread calls for members of the former government to face justice. Human rights activists believe at least 800 people were killed during the protests, which ended nearly 30 years of Mubarak's rule.
The move comes three days before renewed protests, which pro-democracy activists are calling "A Second Revolution."
Abdalla al Ashaal is a political science professor at the American University in Cairo.
"I think this should be a welcome decision on the face of it, but it seems to me that the timing is trying to precede the demonstrations which are expected to be taking place in Tahrir Square on Friday."
Some in the protest movement have said they are worried that justice will not be served, and are frustrated by what they see as the continued influence of members of the old government in current affairs.
Prosecutors have been interrogating the former president at a hospital in Sharm el Sheikh, and his sons while in custody in a Cairo prison.
Gamal Mubarak held no formal government position, but had a key post in the former ruling National Democratic Party and was seen as being groomed to succeed his father. His brother Alaa was a prominent businessman, also without an official post.
Professor Ashaal says that while the two men and other members of Mubarak's inner circle profited from his rule - and in doing so earned the disdain of many - the motive for putting the three Mubaraks on trial together is not immediately clear.
"This is one of the signs of the incredibility of the decision because, of course, the package of Mubarak is totally different from the one that should be attributed to his sons."
He speculates it could be an administrative mistake, or a move to forestall Friday's protests.
The former president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak, has also been questioned about alleged illegal gains. Last week, she promised to turn over several million dollars worth of property and other assets.
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As northern Sudanese troops continue to occupy Abyei - an area both north and south Sudan claim as their own - a Sudanese official has outlined what he says are major stumbling blocks to peace in the area.
The Sudanese ambassador to Kenya, Kamal Ismail Saeed, told reporters in Nairobi that northern government troops would pull out of Abyei once outstanding issues are resolved.
"Yes, we have received several calls and appeals from different corners of the world for the withdrawal of our forces," said Saeed. "We said, 'OK, we are open for any type of negotiations,' we would like to sit and agree. Whenever we agree, we will be in line with that agreement."
Saeed did not specify what the subject of those specific negotiations would be. But during his statement, he named several issues of concern to Khartoum.
Saeed said the May 21st occupation of the disputed area by the Sudanese Armed Forces was the result of what he calls 24 "provocations" by forces of the southern Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army. He said the last straw was the May 19 attack on an SAF convoy, allegedly the work of the SPLA.
"I think that was a serious blow, which ended the continuous patience and self-restraint of SAF, so it responded in self-defense, and as a matter of fact, it has knocked out all aggressors in the area," said Saeed.
He also decried the postponement of a referendum that was supposed to be held in Abyei in January, in which the people of the area would have voted on whether to join north or south Sudan. Saeed accuses the southern Sudanese government of restricting who could vote in that referendum.
Southern Sudanese government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin could not be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts. But the spokesman was quoted in news reports as saying that it is an "absolute lie" the SPLA is trying to enforce its presence in Abyei.
He told the French news agency that last Saturday's attack, in his words, "is an illegal invasion and breaks all the peace agreements, endangering the lives of thousands of civilians."
The U.N. Security Council has called for the northern government to withdraw its troops from Abyei immediately.
North and south Sudan were at war for more than two decades, which ended with both sides signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
Southerners voted overwhelmingly to separate from the north in a January 2011 referendum that was part of the CPA. South Sudan is scheduled to become an independent country on July 9, but many fear this might not happen because of the Abyei dispute.
Fouad Hikmat is African Union and Sudan Special Advisor for the International Crisis Group. He said he thinks the two sides can reach an agreement on the Abyei issue before the July 9 independence date.
"There is now a characteristic of the Sudanese politicians that things are always resolved in the last five seconds before midnight," said Hikmat. "Then, for the moment, what is important is that the situation does not escalate (into violence)."
Hikmat said that both sides can use the Abyei Protocol created under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement to resolve the issue even beyond the July 9 independence date.
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Yemeni opposition tribesmen have taken control of several government buildings in the capital, Sana'a, while engaging in a second day of heavy fighting with forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Witnesses say tribal fighters allied with Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar sealed off the commerce ministry and other government offices in northern Sana'a's Hassaba district on Tuesday.
Tribesmen said government forces stationed near the interior ministry fired mortars at al-Ahmar's residence in Hassaba, killing five fighters.
The government accused the tribesmen of attacking a nearby school. At least 12 people, including one government security force member, have been killed in the fighting in recent days.
Al-Ahmar joined unarmed Yemeni opposition activists in March to call for the ouster of Saleh, who also belongs to the Hashid tribe.
The tribal chief's decision to engage his fighters in battle with the government marks an escalation of the near-four month old uprising.
Gulf Arab states suspended their efforts to mediate in the uprising on Sunday, after Saleh refused to sign a deal to hand power to a deputy within 30 days in return for legal immunity.
Saleh backed out of the agreement Sunday after Yemen's opposition signed it the previous day. It was the third time the Yemeni leader has refused to sign the deal.
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As international troops close in on Mogadishu's Bakara market, a stronghold of the militant group al-Shabab, an analyst from the International Crisis Group is warning that seizing the critical position could prove to be complicated and costly.
Much of the military campaign in Somalia's war-torn capital, Mogadishu, has been a battle for Bakara market. Sitting on top of a hill in the city's main business district, Bakara is a nerve center for much of southern Somalia, and has served as a stronghold for the al-Qaida-linked insurgent group al-Shabab for the past half decade.
For the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) moving towards the market has been a key goal for the past year. During the September "Ramadan Offensive" the government and international troops touted significant gains made in nearby neighborhoods such as El Hindi.
A Somalia analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), Rashid Abdi, explains the importance of Bakara to the AMISOM mission.
"Strategically, of course, it really denies al-Shabab a place they have been using for the last five or six years to launch mortar attacks and basically to recruit and also to extort money from traders," said Abdi. "So if AMISOM is about to take control of Bakara market then that will be a very significant victory and a big blow for al-Shabab."
According to recent reports, AMISOM and forces of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) have closed in and appear to be tightening their grip on the position that has eluded them for so long. AMISOM says two soldiers and 20 insurgents were killed in fighting around the market in the past few days. The insurgents have reportedly begun to dig trenches to prevent tanks and vehicles from entering, and civilians are beginning to flee in advance of the fighting.
African Union and Somali government forces have promised not to bomb or even enter the market, but rather to cut off critical al-Shabab supply lines and squeeze the insurgents out. But ICG's Abdi warns that any major fight will be difficult for government and AMISOM troops.
"The problem is that Bakara is a very difficult place," added Abdi. "It is a maze of tightly packed kiosks or stalls. It is teeming with humanity, traders, shoppers. It is a very difficult place to control and al-Shabab have used Bakara market to launch mortar attacks on TFG positions."
The other problem is civilians. Bakara is the busiest, most populated part of Mogadishu, and perhaps the largest legitimate component of southern Somalia's economy remaining after two decades of chaos and war. With al-Shabab hiding behind it, Abdi fears the worst.
"They use the civilian cover there and so it has been very difficult for many of the past TFG government to move in because of the fear that that will cause massive civilian casualties," added Abdi. "If AMISOM is closing in and about to take it, then the question is: "at what cost?"
Al-Shabab still controls parts of Mogadishu and much of central and southern Somalia, though AU and government forces have been gaining ground.
On March 22, just 60 days ago, Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed pledged to remove al-Shabab within 90 days. With a month left, the world will be watching to see if Somali and international forces can make good on his promise.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has hailed the Internet in transforming the world and driving recent Arab protests. Sarkozy launched an Internet forum before a G8 summit later this week.
President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke to an audience of key movers and shakers in the digital universe, gathered in Paris for the first so-called "E-G8" forum. Conceived by the French president, the two-day meeting will debate the Internet's role in transforming politics, the economy and social services, and whether or not it should be regulated.
Sarkozy described the Internet as a revolution that has changed many things, including driving the ongoing protests in the Arab world.
Sarkozy said the revolutions this year in Tunisia and Egypt took many by surprise, and helped changed foreign policy. He said they influenced France's decision to intervene in Ivory Coast and in Libya.
While praising the Internet's role in empowering people and economies, the French leader also talked about the importance of responsibility on matters like piracy and child pornography. Whether to regulate the Internet is a matter of hot debate, with countries like China and North Korea censoring the net and others like France pushing for copyrights and other regulations.
The 1,500 delegates attending the Paris forum include the heads of Google, E-Bay and social media site Facebook. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde noted the World Wide Web is not only boosting developed economies, but also developing ones, by helping transfer remittances.
"When you look at the amount and volume of remittances to Africa, it is bigger than the volume of aid, development money that is paid to African agencies, governments and companies," said Lagarde. "So it is a huge amount."
Indian telecommunications heavyweight Sunil Bharti Mittal talked about the role of mobile phones in delivering health care in poorer nations.
"M-health, rather than e-health, holds a great promise for countries like India," noted Mittal. "The rural health services are in an absolutely broken condition today. There are many, many things that can now be done on mobile phones or the benefit of large masses of the population."
Later this week, leaders of the Internet forum are expected to meet with heads of state at the G8 summit in the French city of Deauville, in what Sarkozy hopes will launch an ongoing dialogue between the two.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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China says it has not heard of Pakistan's request to operate a strategic port on Pakistan's southwest coast and to help build a naval base there.
Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar says China has agreed to take over operation of Gwadar, a strategic deep water port that China helped to build several years ago.
The Pakistan Defense Ministry also has said that Islamabad would be grateful if China also helped to build a naval base there. A Pakistani statement says the deal was reached last week when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was in China.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu Tuesday told reporters that China and Pakistan are engaged in extensive cooperation. But she said she has not heard of the specific Gwadar project.
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Jiang says the topic also was not raised during the Pakistani leader's visit to China last week.
While China helped to fund and to build the commercial Gwadar port several years ago, it is now run by the Singapore Port Authority. The port is located at the northern end of the Arabian Sea, with key access to shipping lanes heading west to the Persian Gulf.
Despite China's lack of official confirmation, Tim Huxley, a defense expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, says he has heard about the proposal.
"The initiative seems to have come from the Pakistani side, and I am sure there would be commercial benefits for China in doing this," he said.
The Pakistani prime minister's trip to China last week came as some U.S. lawmakers are calling for reducing billions of dollars in aid to Islamabad. While ties between Pakistan and the United States have long been tense, the killing of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani territory has worsened the relationship on both sides.
Huxley says he sees two reasons why China may want to consider helping with the Gwadar port.
"One is China's assistance in developing a commercial port and secondly possibly China's assistance to develop a Pakistani naval base, that might in the future, that Chinese vessels could visit that Pakistani naval base, which was been developed with Chinese assistance," he said. "I would not rule that out in the future."
Huxley says China has been expanding its naval operations in the Indian Ocean mostly because it wants to secure its oil supplies from the Middle East. He said that as China's economic power increases, its navy will increase as well to protect those interests, raising concerns among China's neighbors.
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Thailand's political parties are registering candidates this week for a July 3 nationwide election. The vote is expected to be tightly contested battle between the two leading parties: the Democrat Party and the opposition Pheu Thai Party. Political analysts say those parties are competing on two very different visions: continued rule by the country's traditional elites or a return to the populist policies of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
This time last year in Thailand, the country was gripped by violent clashes in central Bangkok between security forces and opposition protesters calling for the dissolution of parliament.
A year later, with a new election just weeks away, the leading candidates of the two main parties are staying away from divisive rhetoric as they rally their supporters in the race to fill 375 parliament seats.
The two main parties are the ruling Democrats of now caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the opposition Pheu Thai party led by Yingluck Shinawatra, the younger sister of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva spoke to reporters Tuesday after leading Democrat candidates to register for the election.
Abhisit said he chose qualified applicants to serve the people and not only in Bangkok. Abhisit added that party leaders travel to other provinces and give moral support to applicants there who vow to serve the country to move forward.
The opposition Pheu Thai party's number one candidate, Yingluck Shinawatra, is also striking an inclusive tone in her public appearances.
Yingluck said today the party sent applicants for all 33 constituencies and opinion polls show they are gaining more support. Yingluck noted the Pheu Thai Party and all of their applicants are ready to present policies to serve all the people.
Despite the inclusive rhetoric, Thai political analysts say both leaders are backed by powerful interests that have divided the country in recent years and appear no closer to reaching a compromise.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Thai politics observer at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He says the vote is basically a contest between traditional elites in Bangkok and supporters of Thaksin in the rural north.
"We are looking at a head on collision between two power blocks," said Pavin. "On one side led by the Democrat party, which represents the old interests, you know, of the palace, the military, the big businesses, and also, you know, the senior bureaucrats. Whereas Yingluck, she has emerged as a representative of the Thai poor, especially those in the north and the northeast region who have all these years been ignored by the traditional elite."
Critics say Yingluck, a wealthy business executive, will be used as merely a front for her brother to return to power.
Thaksin Shinawatra is a billionaire telecoms tycoon who won over the countryside through populist policies that brought money and development projects to the rural poor.
His detractors say he was corrupt, authoritarian, and undermined the revered monarchy, which he denies.
Although he was twice popularly elected, political analysts say Thaksin was seen as a threat to traditional powers in Bangkok.
He was ousted by the military in a 2006 coup and fled into exile to avoid jail time for corruption charges.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak is director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. He says there is no doubt Yingluck is a stand-in for Mr. Thaksin who has been actively leading Pheu Thai from exile.
"It's not camouflaged in any way," Thitinan noted. "In 2007, 2008 we had a Thaksin proxy government. But, it was more indirect; Samak Sundaravej, the prime minister in early 2008, and then Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law. In this case, Thaksin wanted to be known that Pheu Thai is his party, Yingluck Shinawatra is his younger sister and his representative."
Those successive governments loyal to Thaksin were removed by controversial court orders. Their parties were dissolved and their politicians were banned from politics for five years.
Abhisit's Democrats then rose to power, sparking demonstrations by Thaksin's Red Shirt supporters who say their vote was stolen by Bangkok elites.
Tens of thousands of Red Shirts took over large parts of Bangkok last year demanding a new election and fair treatment for their leaders.
When negotiations broke down, Abhisit ordered the military to clear the protesters by force resulting in more than 90 deaths, most of them civilians.
Pavin says Yingluck is as much a proxy of her brother as the Oxford-educated Abhisit is a proxy of the establishment.
"Because the way he has come to power, because of the help of the military, and because of that I think he owes many people, especially his backers in the army and also in the elite circles - because of that, I think it has constrained him to become more independent or autonomous," Pavin noted.
Pavin says despite the turmoil Abhisit has managed to steer the country's economy in the right direction.
As for his opponent, even though she comes from a politically savvy and business oriented family, it is less clear if Yingluck can do the same.
Chris Baker, an author on Thai politics, says it would be extremely historic if Yingluck is elected as Thailand's first female prime minister. He says at any time in history a maximum of only about 15 percent of Thai lawmakers were female.
"And, you find the same kind of proportion running through all aspects of politics whether it's local councilors or even political journalists, you know, there's a very strong identification of politics with masculinity," Baker explained. "And so, it's quite a barrier for anyone to get over."
Yingluck's Pheu Thai party has pledged that if it wins the election, it will issue an amnesty for all charged in relation to the 2006 coup, which could pave the way for Thaksin to return to Thailand.
Many political analysts doubt Abhisit's backers would allow a party aligned with Thaksin to take power, let alone engineer his return.
Provincial-level political violence has already been reported and many worry that, whichever side wins, post-election turmoil is likely.
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A top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East says the Libyan rebel's Transitional National Council has accepted an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama to open a representative office in Washington
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Tuesday in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi that the United States is no longer speaking with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He said the U.S. considered the opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, stopping short of granting formal recognition to the TNC.
The high-ranking U.S. diplomat is on a three-day visit to Libya and is the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the uprising against Gadhafi began in February.
The diplomatic invitation comes as NATO warplanes rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, with some of its heaviest airstrikes yet.
Witnesses heard at least 15 explosions in the city as NATO warplanes roared overhead Tuesday. A Libyan government spokesman says the latest strikes killed at least three people and wounded dozens more.
On Monday, Britain and France announced that they plan to deploy attack helicopters to join the NATO air campaign. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Monday said the deployment falls within the United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians. NATO says use of the helicopters will allow more precise targeting of Gadhafi's military.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Two high-ranking Afghan officials have escaped assassination in attacks during a spring offensive by insurgents.
In southern Afghanistan, officials say the governor of Helmand province, Mohammad Gulab Mangul, was not injured when gunmen attacked his motorcade near the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, on Tuesday.
Mangul's security forces returned fire, killing two of the attackers.
In Kabul, a suicide car bomber tried to attack the deputy head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, Ahmad Zia. But Zia escaped unharmed. His bodyguards shot the attacker before he could detonate his explosives-laden vehicle.
In other violence, NATO said one its soldiers was killed by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan Tuesday. It did not release the name or nationality of the victim.
Elsewhere, a roadside bomb killed 10 road workers in the southern province of Kandahar Tuesday. More than 28 others were wounded by the blast in the Panjwai district. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which was condemned by President Hamid Karzai and NATO.
The Afghan Taliban recently stepped up attacks against NATO and Afghan troops, civilians and government officials, as part of its spring campaign.
NATO on Tuesday confirmed the capture of a senior Taliban leader during a May 14 security operation in the Babaji district of Helmand province.
The coalition also said Tuesday that a joint force captured a Germany-based Moroccan al-Qaida operative during a May 8 security operation in southern Zabul province.
Separately, French military officials say a French fighter jet crashed in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, but no one on board was injured. Officials say enemy fire did not cause the crash.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Human-rights groups say more than 20 political prisoners being held in the country's notorious Insein prison began a hunger strike last week protesting inadequate nutrition for all inmates and calling for fundamental rights.
Human-rights groups say at least 33 political prisoners in the notorious Insein prison near Rangoon began a hunger strike last week, when a group of women prisoners protested a government amnesty that reduced overall prison sentences by one year.
Thailand-based rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), says the strikers' demands include better nutrition, improved clothing, ending separation from other prisoners and granting family visiting rights.
The group says authorities have since cracked down on the protesters by sending an unknown number of them to solitary confinement cells no bigger than dog kennels.
Bo Kyi is the joint secretary of the Thailand based Assistant Association for Political Prisoners Burma. "As far as we know some of them are transferred to dog cells. We do not know the detail of the treatment. Some of them were told to prepare their belongings because they might be transferred to the other prisons," he said.
Bo Kyi says the authorities hope to weaken the protest by breaking up the group and sending them to other prisons. He says the inmates' families are genuinely concerned about the prisoners' well being.
"Some of the political prisoners families they really worry for the demonstrator especially their great concern for the way they are treated, very brutally, so that is their concern," said Kyi.
The prisoner amnesty by the new government in Burma, also known as Myanmar, reduced prison terms by one year, but was widely criticized by human-rights groups as being inadequate.
Rights groups say the government freed about 14,600 prisoners who had less than one year left on their sentences. But only about 55 of those were believed to be political prisoners. There are believed to be more than 2,000 political prisoners behind bars in Burma.
Those detained include more than 200 Buddhist monks and 300 members of the opposition National League for Democracy.
Spokeswoman Debbie Stothard, from a coalition of local rights groups named the Alternative ASEAN Network, says the hunger strike indicates Burma's rights situation has not improved, despite release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the installation of a new civilian government.
"It really emphasizes the urgent need to release all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally. The detention conditions in these jails are actually getting worse, not better, and this is partly one of the reasons why the detainees are on hunger strike. They are simply fed up," said Stothard.
A statement from the U.S.-based Campaign for Burma described prisons in Burma as "a living hell." The group accuses authorities of creating conditions that further punish political prisoners. It called for the United Nations and the international community to demand Prime Minister Thein Sein's new government release all political prisoners as a step to national reconciliation.
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