Two car bombs struck Shiite pilgrims Monday in an Iraqi holy city, killing at least 18 people as crowds massed for religious rituals marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the Islamic sect's most beloved saint.

The blasts in Karbala were the latest in nearly a week of attacks that have killed at least 159 people. The uptick in violence has shattered a lengthy period of calm and raised anew concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security ahead of a full withdrawal by the U.S. military.

The political crisis in Lebanon is threatening to derail economic progress after a year that saw 7 percent economic growth, a record number of tourists and bank deposits among the highest in the Middle East.

Lebanon's government collapsed Jan. 12 after Hizbullah and its allies resigned from the Cabinet in a dispute over a U.N. court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The U.N. health agency says world leaders will discuss efforts to clamp down on junk food marketing to children when they meet in New York on Sept 19-20.

The World Health Organization says heads of state will use the U.N. General Assembly meeting to talk about limiting the number and type of ads that children are exposed to.

Will Lonesome George ever become a dad?

Scientists are still hoping to mate the near century-old giant tortoise from the Galapagos — even though efforts over the past two decades have failed.

Facebook said Friday it has raised $1 billion from non-U.S. investors, which combined with an infusion from Goldman Sachs and Russia's Digital Sky Technologies in December, brings the haul from its latest round of funding to $1.5 billion.

The investments value the social networking site at $50 billion, more than the current market values of Yahoo Inc. or eBay Inc., but below those of Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc.

A Japanese rocket carrying supplies for the International Space Station successfully lifted off from a remote island Saturday on a mission designed to help fill a hole left by the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program.

The unmanned rocket was carrying nearly 6 tons of food, water, clothing and experimental equipment to the astronauts in orbit in the space station, an international project involving 15 nations. The rocket also was carrying cargo for NASA.

Attention, Walmart shoppers: The food in your cart, from fruit drinks to salad dressing, may soon get healthier.

The nation's largest grocer said Thursday it will reformulate thousands of store-brand products to reduce sodium and sugar and push its suppliers to do the same.

The pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world said Thursday it is freezing its dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks calling for the protection of Christians in Egypt.

The move from Cairo's Al-Azhar comes as Muslim-Christian tensions have been rising in Egypt following the New Year's bombing on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria that killed 21 people. Egypt's government has rejected international expressions of concern over the country's Christian minority as foreign meddling in its internal affairs.

Have your luck and eat it, too.

That's the philosophy behind traditional Chinese New Year's dishes, which are loaded with symbolic meaning auguring prosperity for the coming year.

Oil prices rose to near $92 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, underpinned by a rise in regional stock markets and increases to demand forecasts for this year.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 34 cents at $91.72 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which expires this week, fell 16 cents to settle at $91.38 on Tuesday.