According to the U.S. Geological Survey, three earthquakes were recorded in Arkansas over the past 24 hours near the town of Greenbrier, north of Little Rock.
An initial 4.7 magnitude quake was recorded at 11 p.m. Sunday night, and according to reports, was felt in four other states. A 3.8 magnitude tremor followed almost 20 minutes later, and a third 3.6 magnitude quake was recorded at 2:46 a.m. Monday.
(CNN) -- Firefighters in Texas continued efforts to contain fast-moving wildfires that have destroyed nearly 60 homes, burned more than 110,000 acres and caused an accident that killed a 5-year-old child, state forestry officials said Monday.
The fires broke out about noon Sunday, said Lewis Kearney, a spokesman for the forest service's Texas State Lone Star Incident Management Team. Officials believe many were started by power lines that fell from high winds.
Since that time, forestry officials, who were called in to help local fire departments, have responded to 25 fires in 15 counties across the Texas Panhandle, Kearney said.
China maintains its prime concern on the Korean peninsula is "stability," but has pointedly refused to support the results of the South Korean investigation with international participation, the Cheonan incident. Last week, it opposed a move in the United Nations to condemn North Korea for construction of a new nuclear reactor capable of enriching uranium for nuclear weapons.
"After the Cheonan incident, we have witnessed a new chapter in the war for the Korean peninsula," says Koo Kab-woo, professor at the University of North Korean Studies here. "The new situation depends on China. North Korea has to talk to China before doing anything."
China, says Professor Koo, wields power over North Korea by modulating the flow of food as the North suffers through the coldest winter in many years. "That way China can manipulate the North Korean planning," he says. With China providing the North with 80 percent of its food and fuel, he notes, Chinese officials "have leverage."
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Demonstrators blocked roads and clashed with police on Monday in Oman, the normally quiet oil-rich country along the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, as three-day-old protests calling for political reforms and better living conditions spread to Muscat, the capital.
In the northeast port city of Sohar, where the protests originated, demonstrators blocked roads to the port, Oman's second biggest, and an industrial area that includes a refinery and an aluminum factory, according to two witnesses in Sohar and news agencies. They also set a supermarket on fire and clashed with the police. Protesters have also been camped out for three days in the city's main square, called Kurra Ardiyah Roundabout, despite efforts by police and army to push them out, a resident in Sohar said by e-mail.
Television images showed a small number of protesters also gathered in Muscat; the demonstrations there appeared peaceful.
With the rebel and loyalist forces locked in an increasingly tense stand-off on the ground, the prime ministers of France and Britain echoed Mrs. Clinton's call for Colonel Qaddafi to go, Germany proposed a 60-day ban on financial transactions, and a spokeswoman for Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said that contacts were being established with the opposition.
Italy's foreign minister on Sunday suspended a nonaggression treaty with Libya on the grounds that the Libyan state "no longer exists," while Mrs. Clinton said the United States was reaching out to the rebels to "offer any kind of assistance."
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi made a personal appeal to loyalists in Tripoli to "fight and defeat" his opponents, as the U.S. imposed sanctions and said it will join other nations in steps short of military intervention to try to stop the killing.
"When needed, all the weapons stores will be opened," Qaddafi said, portraying the opposition as foreign aggressors. Addressing a crowd in Tripoli's Green Square, where people carried posters and banners supporting him, Qaddafi declared that "Libya will become a fire."
The prospect of civil war in North Africa's biggest oil producer has pushed crude prices to a 2 1/2-year high, and led to calls for action to stop the worst violence seen in the two months of unrest across the Middle East and North Africa. At the United Nations, Libya's ambassador, who has repudiated the Qaddafi regime, pleaded for the Security Council to act.
"Please UN, save Libya," Ambassador Mohammad Shalgham said. "I tell my brother Qaddafi, leave the Libyans alone."
Shalgham spoke before the Security Council began private talks on a draft resolution that would impose an arms embargo on Libya and a travel ban and asset freeze on Qaddafi, his family, and his top aides. The text, circulated by Britain and France, would also ask the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate possible violations of international law by the regime, including attacks on civilians. The council plans to discuss the resolution today.
France's position is clear, Mr. Qaddafi must go," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a news conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Ankara yesterday. Sarkozy, the first leader of a major power to call openly for Qaddafi's resignation, said intervention wasn't a good option.
President Barack Obama signed an order freezing any U.S. assets of Muammar Qaddafi, his family and members of his regime in Libya, as the first in what the administration says will be a series of sanctions.
A toddler spent several hours trapped in bank vault in suburban Atlanta, MyFoxAtlanta reported Friday.
The ordeal ended when an emergency locksmith was called in to open vault and free the 2-year-old.
The girl was at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Conyers around closing time with her mother and grandmother, who worked at the bank.
Investigators said the child wandered into the bank vault, which shut behind her, and was spotted on security cameras.
Police and firefighters arrived at the scene, but were unable to open the vault because it was on a timer and had locked for the night.
Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson told reporters it was a "very tense scene" as authorities stood by along with the relatives, and rescue workers pumped fresh air into vents leading to the vault.
Authorities said the baby could be heard crying during the rescue.
The toddler was finally reunited with her mother after four hours.
"That was one of the better moments I've ever witnessed," Wilson said, adding the girl was fine save a needed diaper change.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals, has become the first major victim of increased internet censorship in China in the wake of an online campaign for pro-democracy protests.
"We can confirm that access to LinkedIn is being blocked for some in China," said Hani Durzy, LinkedIn spokesman, in an emailed statement on Friday. "This appears to be part of a broader effort in China going on right now, involving other sites as well."
Some LinkedIn users in China started reporting on Thursday that they couldn't access the site unless they used tools such as virtual private networks to circumvent the Chinese government's internet blockages.
A LinkedIn user under the name Jasmine Z set up a discussion group on the site last week on which she called herself a "dissident" and said she hoped for democracy in China.
The disruption of the service comes as Beijing is trying to crush attempts to use online appeals to spark a "Jasmine revolution" in China inspired by the wave of protests sweeping the Middle East.
Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader, has said that al-Qaeda is responsible for the uprising against him, amid attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces against anti-government protesters in several cities.
In a speech made via telephone and aired on state television on Thursday, Gaddafi claimed that the protesters were young people who had been manipulated by Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda's leader, and were acting under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.
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As he spoke, troops loyal to Gaddafi launched a counter-offensive on Thursday against anti-government protesters, striking at two cities near the capital, Tripoli.
The worst violence was seen in the town of Az Zawiyah, about 50km west of Tripoli, where troops opened fire with automatic weapons and an anti-aircraft gun on a mosque where protesters had been taking shelter.
In his speech, Gaddafi argued that he was a purely "symbolic" leader with no real political power, and that citizens had "no reason to complain whatsoever". He hinted that he would be prepared to raise salaries, but warned that protesters would be tried in the country's courts. [The entire speech is available here.]
DENVER — The last three players listed in the box score — Kendrick Perkins [stats], Nate Robinson and Luke Harangody — were no longer Celtics [team stats].
At one point Doc Rivers had a lineup of Glen Davis, Delonte West, Von Wafer, Avery Bradley and Chris Johnson on the floor,
Johnson, signed to a 10-day contract earlier in the day, was wearing the jersey of Semih Erden — also no longer a Celtic — with his name patched over that.
