Is Gaddafi Going To Pull A Great Escape?

Italy Plots Escape Route For Gaddafi – Efforts appear to be under way to offer Muammar Gaddafi a way of escape from Libya, with Italy saying it was trying to organise an African haven for him, and the US signalling it would not try to stop the dictator from fleeing. The move came amid mounting diplomatic and military pressure on Gaddafi. [guardian]

Toxic Plutonium Seeping From Japan Power Plant – Highly toxic plutonium is seeping from the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan’s tsunami disaster zone into the soil outside. Plutonium has been detected in small amounts at several spots outside the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant for the first time, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. [associated]

Elizabeth Taylor’s Unpublished Love Letters Up For Auction – Before becoming a bride eight times over, Elizabeth Taylor was a 17-year-old starlet scribbling letters to her first fiance, charting on pale pink stationery his progression from her one-and-only to the one who got away. “I’ve never known this kind of love before — it’s so perfect and complete — and mature,” Taylor wrote to William Pawley on May 6, 1949. [associated]

Circus Accused Of Beating Elephant With Pitch Fork [Video] – Police have launched a joint investigation with the RSPCA after another animal rights group shot video footage of the UK’s last circus elephant being struck and kicked by her minder. Northamptonshire police said it had begun the inquiry in response to the covert film. [guardian]

Richard Branson’s Island Available At $53,000 A Night – Owned by Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson, the Necker Island is a 74-acre private getaway located in the British Virgin Islands. Celebrities like Mariah Carey, Oprah, Jay-Z and Beyoncé have earlier rented the entire island. If you want to make it your own private hideaway, get ready to shell out $53,000 per night, and you may bring up to 28 friends with you. [bornrich]

The Kill Team – Among the men of Bravo Company, the notion of killing an Afghan civilian had been the subject of countless conversations, during lunchtime chats and late-night bull sessions. For weeks, they had weighed the ethics of bagging “savages” and debated the probability of getting caught. Some of them agonized over the idea; others were gung-ho from the start. But they agreed to stop talking and actually pull the trigger. [rollingstone]

Malawi Charity Workers Sue Madonna – Eight workers at Madonna’s Malawi charity are suing the pop star for unfair dismissal and non-payment of their benefits. The board of the charity, Raising Malawi, was sacked after abandoning plans to build a state of the art girls’ school just outside the capital Lilongwe due to mismanagement. [reuters]

$1.5 Billion Drop In Music Sales – Global recorded music sales fell by almost $1,5-billion last year as digital piracy continued to take its toll on the industry, with the UK losing its mantle as the third largest music market after “physical” sales of CDs collapsed by almost a fifth. Global recorded music revenues fell 8,4% last year. [mail&guardian]

French ‘Spiderman’ Climbs World’s Tallest Tower – A tiny speck more than half a mile (800 meters) in the air, a French skyscraper climber successfully scaled the world’s tallest building Monday, even navigating the tapered spire that extends beyond the top floors of the Dubai structure. Photos. [ajc]

Ponting Steps Down As Australian Captain – Ricky Ponting, the most successful captain in 134 years of test cricket, resigned as the Australian test and one-day skipper on Tuesday but aims to continue playing the game at the highest level. The 36-year-old had led Australia in one day internationals since 2002 and tests since 2004. [timeslive]

Facebook May Hire White House Press Secretary – Facebook is in talks to hire Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s former White House press secretary, for a senior role in helping to manage the company’s communications, people briefed on the negotiations said. Facebook is seeking out Mr. Gibbs ahead of an initial public offering planned for early 2012, these people said. [nytimes]

Donald Trump Has A Go At Obama – Donald Trump, who has been making television appearances calling for President Barack Obama to release his official birth documents, released his birth certificate exclusively to Newsmax on Monday. “It took me one hour to get my birth certificate. It’s inconceivable that, after four years of questioning, the president still hasn’t produced his birth certificate.” [newsmax]

Killing Bono – New film “Killing Bono” is a tragi-comic tribute to rock’n’roll’s countless flops, and tells the true story of two brothers who began as U2’s friends and rivals but ended up on the scrapheap of musical history. The movie, which hits theatres on Friday, is based on music journalist Neil McCormick’s memoirs of the same name, although its makers took considerable liberties with the source material. [reuters]

‘Heartache’ Is Physically Sore – Heartbreak really does hurt. In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you’re burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you. In other words, the brain doesn’t appear to firmly distinguish between physical pain and intense emotional pain. [cnn]

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