World News: Gaddafi makes gains as forces recapture oil town

Gaddafi's ground forces have recaptured a strategic oil town and moved within striking distance of another major eastern city, nearly reversing the gains rebels made since international airstrikes began.

Rebels have pleaded for more help, while a US official said government forces are making themselves harder to target by using civilian "battle wagons" with makeshift armaments instead of tanks.

Meanwhile, the Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa is in Britain and "no longer willing" to work for Gaddafi's regime, the UK Foreign Office says.

He flew in from Tunisia on a non-commercial flight and was questioned for several hours by British officials.

His apparent defection comes as rebels in Libya are retreating from former strongholds along the eastern coast.

Western powers kept up the pressure to force Gaddafi out with new airstrikes in other parts of Libya, hints that they may arm the opposition and intense negotiations behind the scenes to find a country to give haven to Gaddafi.

A former US intelligence officer said that CIA operatives were sent to Libya this month.

Britney deal stinks, says firm

A marketing company that brokered a deal for Britney Spears' fragrance line is suing the singer and her father, claiming the pair secured a new contract with cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden that cut the firm out of its 35 per cent commission on the perfume.

9 die as train and bus crash

Vietnamese police say a train has crashed into a mini bus just outside the capital, killing nine people.

Police in Hanoi's suburban district of Thuong Tin say seven died at the scene and two others died in hospital following the accident.

Police said today that the driver was being detained.

Fighters take Ivorian capital

Fighters supporting Ivory Coast's internationally recognized leader have seized control of the nation's administrative capital, marking a symbolic victory after months of chaos sparked when the former president refused to step down after an election.

The fall of Yamoussoukro caps a dramatic advance on the city from multiple directions this week by soldiers supporting Alassane Ouattara, but many believe a final bloody battle is on the cards.Malaysia puts Bibles on display

A Malaysian Christian group says 5000 imported Bibles will be kept as "museum pieces" at churches instead of being sold because authorities in the Muslim-majority country defaced them.

The Bible Society of Malaysia's announcement is the latest twist in a row between Christians and the government.

Radiation levels still on the increase

Japan: Recent radiation readings outside the exclusion zone around the nuclear disaster show radiation substantially higher than levels at which the UN nuclear agency would recommend evacuations, agency officials said.

China: Paramilitary troops and riot police have defused a large-scale, five-day protest by thousands of farmers upset about being moved off their land in central China.