French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops retook control of Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday after Islamist rebel occupiers fled the ancient Sahara trading town and torched several buildings, including a library holding priceless manuscripts. The United States and the European Union are backing a French-led intervention in Mali against al Qaeda-allied militants they...

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10 rare pygmy elephants found dead in Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR: Ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead this month in Malaysian Borneo and are thought to have been poisoned, conservation officials said Tuesday.Wildlife authorities in Sabah, a state on the eastern tip of the island, have formed a taskforce together with the police and WWF to investigate the deaths.Laurentius Ambu, Sabah wildlife department director, said it...

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Forget Episode VII, watch 'JJ Abrams Star Wars - The Musical'

Are you a late-model "Star Trek" fan with issues about your guy, J.J. Abrams jumping ship in order to direct the next "Star Wars" film? Or maybe a "Star Wars" devotee filled with dread at having your favorite franchise be under the control of someone who's directed two "Star Trek" films?If so, there's a musical for you.Picture Darth Vader and Abrams singing at each other on a pier. Picture Vader shaming...

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Massive loss of life in Brazil nightclub fire

Last Updated 10:16 p.m. ET BRASILIA, Brazil Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Firefighters responding to the blaze...

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Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual...

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Tony Leung tells all about "weird" relationship with Wong Kar Wai

SINGAPORE: They have worked on seven films together now, and spent countless hours in each other's company on the set.Their latest collaboration, "The Grandmaster", took over four years to shoot.But Hong Kong actor Tony Leung still doesn't quite understand his relationship with Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, who has worked with him on hits like "'In the Mood for Love" and "Chungking...

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New iPad 4 reportedly in the works -- perhaps a 128GB model

Are you ready for an iPad with beefier memory?A new fourth-generation iPad with Retina display -- and perhaps as much as 128 gigabytes of memory -- is being readied for release, sources tell 9to5Mac. The upcoming slate would not be a new design but rather an addition to the current fourth-generation line, with the same color and wireless combinations as the iPad 4, these unnamed sources say.Pricing...

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At least 5 die in Chicago shootings

CHICAGO Authorities are investigating the shooting deaths of five people in a single day of bloodshed in Chicago. Police Officer Daniel O'Brien says Saturday's first killing occurred at around 2:15 a.m. on the city's west side when a gunman opened fire on two men who were sitting in a parked car, killing one and wounding the other. Investigators say a few hours later, someone opened fire on three...

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Squatter, Bank of America Battle for $2.5M Mansion

Bank of America is taking a Florida man to court after he attempted to use an antiquated state law to legally take possession of a $2.5 million mansion that is currently owned by the bank.Andre "Loki" Barbosa has lived in a five-bedroom Boca Raton, Fla., waterside property since July, and police have reportedly been unable to remove him.The Brazilian national, 23, who reportedly...

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Riots over Egyptian death sentences kill at least 32

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned...

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