Around the world: No-fly zone planning begins as Gaddafi pounds rebels

President Barack Obama warned that the US and its Nato allies were still considering military options to stop what he called "unacceptable" violence by Gaddafi's regime.

Nato has boosted surveillance flights over Libya from ten to 24 hours a day.

Libyan warplanes launched multiple airstrikes yesterday on opposition fighters regrouping at the oil port of Ras Lanouf on the Mediterranean coast a day after they were driven back by a heavy government counteroffensive aimed at stopping the rebel drive toward Tripoli, Gaddafi's stronghold.

The rebels oppose any Western ground troops deploying in Libya, but they're pressing for a no-fly zone to relieve them of the threat from the air.

Arab Gulf countries joined the calls for a no-fly zone, with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates saying a conference of his country's neighbours that the UN Security Council should "shoulder its historical responsibility for protecting the Libyan people."

Mental tests for Tucson suspect

Prosecutors asked a US judge to commit the suspect in the Tucson shootings that wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords to a federal facility where he can be evaluated by psychologists to determine whether he suffers from a mental defect that makes him incompetent to stand trial.

Zimbabwe frees 'plotters'

A ZIMBABWEAN court freed 39 of 45 people charged with plotting an Egypt-style uprising against Robert Mugabe, while a magistrate ordered six others to face treason charges.

A magistrate ruled that former politician Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others will face treason charges on March 21. Treason is punishable by death.

The group was arrested on February 19 while attending a lecture and watching television footage of recent uprisings in North Africa.

President claims battle won

Somalia's president claimed victory over Islamist insurgents although it was not clear the militia had been defeated.

Forces nominally allied with the government have taken control of two border towns in recent days and yesterday residents said the insurgents had abandoned two more towns.

Quake rock sold for 30k

A NEW Zealand man whose house was smashed by a car-sized boulder in last month's Christchurch earthquake has sold the rock online for more than 60,000 NZ dollars (30,000).

Christchurch resident Phil Johnson said he had dubbed the 30-ton boulder "Rocky".

Petrol station car bomb kills seven

A PAKISTANI official said a car bomb has killed seven people in a major city in the country's east.

The blast went off today at a petrol station in Faisalabad. Government officials said ten people were also wounded.Pakistani TV showed cars strewn across the wrecked station.

Al Qaida and Taliban militants have carried out scores of suicide and other bombings in Pakistani cities, usually aiming at security forces.