TOKYO (AP) ― Support for Japan’s prime minister fell sharply in a public opinion poll released Saturday, as a growing number of voters question his government’s ability to lead the country through numerous pressing problems.Only 19.9 percent of respondents to the poll by Kyodo News agency said they approved of Naoto Kan’s administration, a plunge of about 12 percentage points from a month ago, whe

TOKYO (AFP) ― Four Japanese women will go to court Monday to challenge a law that now compels almost all females to drop their maiden names and assume their husbands’ surnames when they marry.The group ― plus one of their husbands ― want a civil code clause from the late 1800s declared unconstitutional and are seeking financial damages for their emotional distress at the Tokyo District Court.The l

PARIS (AP) ― President Nicolas Sarkozy is awkwardly trying to stamp out a controversy over his ministers taking sun-and-sea holidays paid for by the Egyptian government and a Tunisian businessman.Some top French politicians have made a habit of planning vacations around the largesse of foreign governments or influential tycoons. But the long-standing practice has come under scrutiny following reve

NAIROBI (AP) ― Somali pirates captured a Greek-flagged supertanker carrying an estimated $150 million worth of oil to the Gulf of Mexico, the second successful attack against an oil tanker by sea bandits in two days, officials said.Such vessels can command higher ransoms because of the value of the crude on board. Owners of the oil may want to resolve hostage situations quickly, particularly if oi

PARIS (AFP) ― Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind.The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eig

NEW YORK (AP) ― Online company AOL Inc. is buying highly-trafficked website Huffington Post in a $315 million deal that represents a big bet on the future of online news.The acquisition, which will put Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington in charge of all AOL content, brings AOL an additional 25 million unique visitors a day.That could help AOL begin to turn around its display advertising

10-year pact limits each side's strategic warheads and heavy bombersMUNICH (AP) ― A new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty has taken effect, securing a key foreign policy goal of President Barack Obama and raising hopes among officials on both sides that it will provide the impetus for Moscow and Washington to negotiate further reductions.“The treaty marks significant progress toward Presiden

BELGRADE (AFP) ― Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belgrade on Saturday for a major opposition rally calling for the government to call early elections or risk new protests in April.Some 70,000 people gathered for the rally in front of the Serbian parliament in central Belgrade, an AFP correspondent said. Police estimates put the figure at 55,000.“I know you are dissatisfied,

 TUNIS (AP) ― Police fired at an angry crowd of 1,000 attacking the police station in the northwestern town of Kef on Saturday, killing two people and injuring 17 others, the Interior Ministry said.The official Tunisian news agency said the crowd had turned on police after the police chief “abused” a member of the community.A local journalist said the police chief slapped a woman during a demonstr

TOKYO (AP) -- A revived volcano in southern Japan erupted Tuesday with its biggest explosion yet, shooting out a huge plume of gas, boulders and ash and breaking windows 8 kilometers away.The danger zone around Shinmoedake volcano was widened to keep residents safe. The largest eruption since it burst back to life last week covered wide areas in ash, shot boulders onto distant roads, knocked down

Demonstrators call for ousting of prime minister, freedom of assemblyMOSCOW (AP) ― About 500 people demonstrated in a central Moscow square Monday to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his “rule of thieves.”The rally took place peacefully, but police detained a separate group of 20 opposition activists nearby. About 60 protesters also were detained in St. Petersburg, one of a n

Ghannouchi fled nation in 1987 after Ben Ali came to power in coupTUNIS (AFP) ― Thousands turned out Sunday to welcome Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi’s return after more than 20 years in exile, as political Islam prepares a comeback following the fall of Tunisia’s regime.“God is great!” Ghannouchi cried out, raising his arms in triumph as he walked into the arrivals hall of Tunis airpo

Thailand’s ruling coalition is leading in opinion surveys and ready for an election that will bring stability and redress complaints that spawned violent protests since 2008, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said. “Looking at the polls, the government is slightly ahead,” Abhisit told Bloomberg Television in Davos at the World Economic Forum, without naming the polls and adding that a win can’t be

TEHRAN (AFP) ― The Netherlands has frozen contacts with Iran after Tehran hanged an Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling Saturday, having initially arresting her for anti-government protests.Zahra Bahrami’s execution brings the total number of people hanged in Iran so far this year to 66 ― on average more than two a day ― according to an AFP tally based on media reports.“A drug trafficker named

BANGKOK (AFP) ― With neatly spaced tents, massages, free vegetarian meals and a heavy dose of nationalist rhetoric, Thailand’s powerful royalist “Yellow Shirts” are back on the streets of Bangkok.More than a thousand people have camped out around the government’s compound since Tuesday, demonstrating against its handling of a border dispute with neighboring Cambodia.Despite relatively small number

YANGON (AP) ― Myanmar is preparing to open its first session of parliament in more than two decades, a major step in the ruling military’s self-styled transition to democracy but one being carried out with little fanfare or public enthusiasm.There is muted hope that Monday’s convening of the new legislature will be a step, however small, in the right direction for a country that has seen the army

WASHINGTON ― In the three short weeks since a poor, unlicensed Tunisian fruit-seller set himself on fire after police seized his wares, protests have ousted his country’s longtime authoritarian ruler and confronted Egypt’s octogenarian president with the greatest challenge of his 30 years in power.Thousands of Yemenis inspired by Mohamed Bouazizi’s death in Tunisia demanded an end to their ruling

South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na said Friday she is on the right track for the world championships in March and is looking forward to returning to the ice.In an e-mail interview with her Seoul-based agency, All That Sports, Kim said she’s been gearing up for the championships by building up her strength and focusing on her new programs.“There’s plenty of time left until the competition,” Kim s

LA JOLLA, California (AFP) ― All eyes were on Tiger Woods, but it was South Korean Kang Sung-hoon, playing his second U.S. PGA Tour event, who topped the leaderboard on Thursday after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.Woods launched his 2011 campaign with a bogey-free three-under par 69 on Torrey Pines’ North Course.That left him five behind Kang, who notched six birdies and an eagle i

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) ― Tunisia’s government issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday for ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and six relatives, accusing him of taking money out of the North African nation illegally.Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia after being driven from power this month by violent protests, was also being charged with illegally acquiring real estate and other assets