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In Libya, the focal point has been on the continued siege of the western town of Misrata. But there is also erratic fighting in the east between rebels and forces loyal to the government of leader Moammar Gadhafi. The front line there is outside the city of Ajdabiya. A busy city just a few weeks ago, Ajdabiya now has the feel of a ghost town. Chunks of concrete, twisted light poles and other debris garbage the streets. Much of that was dragged there to slow the traffic, of which there is very little these days. A few knots of fighters suspend out on street corners. They don't look up at the sound of a jet above your head � the NATO planes circling on their no-fly zone patrols. In recent weeks, the eastern front of the clash between rebel fighters and Gadhafi forces has moved back and forth between this city and the oil ports of Brega and Ras Lanuf to the west. Ajdabiya has calculated value because it's the point where two major highways intersect. From here, it's just 100 m...

President Obama will focus on four items in today's speech on reducing the federal debt, the White House says in a statement: Lower domestic expenses, less defense spending, excess spending in Medicare and Medicaid, and elimination of tax breaks that favor the wealthy. Medicare and taxes are likely to be the most controversial: Liberal groups such as MoveOn.org have warned Obama against making changes to Medicare; congressional Republicans have said that Obama's calls for tax improvement amount to a call for tax hikes. Obama will also "borrow" many of the recommendations made by his bipartisan fiscal commission, the White House said in a statement, but it did not detail which specific proposals the president will endorse. "The President will advocate a balanced move toward to controlling out of control deficits and restoring fiscal responsibility while protecting the investments we need to grow our economy, create jobs, and win the future," said the statemen...

It may be time to add a long workday to the list of danger factors for heart disease. A new study has found that office workers in England considerably increased their chances of having a heart attack by working more hours than their peers. The study, conducted by researchers at University College London, found that workers who regularly worked 11-hour days or longer were 67 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those who worked seven- or eight-hour days. One U.S. specialist said many factors could account for the rise in risk among those tied too long to the office. Those working long hours may have very less time for exercise, healthy eating and physician�s visits," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, associate chief of cardiology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "They may be exposed to more strain, get less sleep and engage in other behaviors which contribute to cardiovascular risk." About 70 percent of the workers were men, and most (91 percent) were...

Spring is in the air. As we embrace this new time of year, we also escort in the challenges of seasonal allergies. Each and every year, more than 35 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever. Seasonal allergies are an effect to triggers released into the air during a certain time period, such as spring or fall. The Symptoms of seasonal allergies consist of sneezing, runny nose, itchy or watery eyes, itchy nose, coughing and post-nasal drip. Some patients report having only one or two symptoms; in some cases, it might be complicated to tell the difference between allergies and a cold because symptoms are similar. Airborne pollen is the most frequent cause and the biggest trigger of seasonal allergies. Pollen grains released from grass plants and promising trees can travel through the air for miles. An affected by reaction is triggered when pollen is inhaled through the nose or lands in the eye or on the skin. Specifically oak, elm, birch, ash, hic...

Dame Elizabeth Rosemont Taylor, debatably the last great female star of the Hollywood studio system, has died at the age of 79. The Oscar-winning star died in the early hours of the morning at Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Los Angeles, from congestive heart failure, according to her orator Sally Morrison. She said Taylor's children were at her side. Dame Elizabeth, who had been in sick health for a number of years, was taken to the hospital with heart failure six weeks ago. A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "She passed away at 1.28." Taylor's glowing screen presence, allied to a colorful private life, made her a mainstay of US popular culture for more than 50 years. She won her first best actress Oscar for playing the self-styled "slut of the world" in 1960s Butterfields 8. Her second came courtesy of a stimulating turn opposite then-husband Richard Burton in the 1966 drama who�s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Born in Hampstead, north London, Taylor relocated...

The nation's biggest organization of pediatricians is telling its members and parents that children riding in cars should stay in rear-facing child safety seats at least until their second birthday - and if possible even longer. This reverses advice many pediatricians gave parents for years that children's car seats should be turned just about shortly after their first birthday. The new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics, published Monday in the Pediatrics medical journal, is bolstered by investigate that shows children under 2 are 75% less likely to die or be severely wounded in a crash if they are in rear-facing child restraints. Similarly important, the academy recommends that children remain in seats with five-point safety harnesses as long as possible and should change to booster seats that rely on adult seat belts only when they exceed the height and weight limits for the five-point harness. Five-point harnesses, which run across children's shoulders and h...

Rifca Stanescu, from the village of Investee, Romania, told how she gave birth to her daughter, Maria, while only at the of 13. Despite her mother's please to stay in school, Maria gave birth to son Ion at the age of 11. Rifca, now 25, told the Sun: 'I am happy to be a grandmother but I wished somewhat else for Maria - and something else for me. Ion is a good boy - and he is already engaged to a girl at aged 8. Boys are forever good to have - they don't have to suffer as much girls I think. Born in 1985, Rifca defied her family's wishes and ran away with jewellery merchant Ionel Stanescu when she was 11 and his husband was at 13. A year after they were married, Rifca fell conceived with Maria. She said: I wanted to marry him, so I decided, and of course after we had spent the night together then there was no way anyone could disconnect us. I had been promised to one more boy's family since I was two years old but I didn't want that. Britain's earlier younges...