TRIPOLI, Libya - The West moved to send its first concrete aid to Libya's rebellion in the east of the country, hoping to give it the momentum to oust Moammar Gadhafi. But the Libyan leader's regime clamped down in its stronghold in the capital, quashing an attempt Monday to hold new protests as residents reported skyrocketing food prices from the crisis.

The two sides in Libya's crisis appeared entrenched in their positions, and the direction the uprising takes next could depend on which can hold out longest. Gadhafi's opponents, including mutinous army units, hold nearly the entire eastern half of the country, much of the oil infrastructure and some cities in the West. Gadhafi is dug in in Tripoli and nearby cities, backed by security forces and militiamen who are generally better armed than the military.

In the two opposition-held cities closest to Tripoli - Zawiya and Misrata - rebel forces were locked in standoffs with Gadhafi loyalists.

An Associated Press reporter saw a large pro-Gadhafi force massed on the western edge of Zawiya, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, with about a dozen armored vehicles and tanks and jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft guns. Residents inside the city said they were anticipating a possible attack.

Those who enjoyed an idyllic childhood could find that life has a nasty trick in store because, it seems, they are more likely to divorce.

Researchers found that men and women with a stable upbringing could have more confidence and so be more ready to leave a failing relationship.

For the long-term project at Cambridge University, thousands of Britons born in one week in 1946 were studied.

When they were in their teens, teachers rated them for happiness, friendliness and energy. Problems such as restlessness, disobedience and anxiety were noted.

After his sitcom Two and a Half Men was canceled over a bizarre radio rant on The Alex Jones Show, actor Charlie Sheen sat down with ABC News to give more from his side of the story. Unfortunately, that's not what happened.

Asked if his recent behavior was indicative of drug use, Sheen's answer can only be described as bizarre.

"I am on a drug: it's called Charlie Sheen," he said. "It's not available 'cause if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. Um ... Too much?

"So, uh, yeah, no, it's, it's ... You know, again, I woke up. I decided I've been kicked around, I've been criticized, I've been that 'aw shucks' guy with like, this bitchin' rockstar life. I'm just finally gonna completely embrace it, wrap both arms around it and love it violently ... And defend it violently, through violent hatred."

Elsewhere in the interview, Sheen claims he has "tiger blood" running through his veins, adding: "My brain ... fires in a way that is, I don't know, maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm."

This video is from ABC News. The full interview will air Tuesday night on the program 20/20.

The decentralized protest group "Anonymous" has a new target: no, it's not a middle eastern dictator, a major bank or even a bit player in the military-industrial complex.

It's none other than tea party financiers Charles and David Koch, who were being targeted, an open letter stated, for their attempts "to usurp American Democracy."

"Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin," an announcement posted to anonnews.org declared.

"Governor Walker's union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process," they explained. "The Koch's have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state's power supplies.

The group, which was responsible for taking MasterCard Worldwide offline for an entire day -- along with numerous other organizations that plotted against secrets outlet WikiLeaks -- said it would now be "actively seeking vulnerabilities" in Koch industries.

"In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed," the release added. "Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America's broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere."

They added that if one would like to withdraw their unknowing support for the brothers Koch, an array of products would need to be boycotted -- and not just by Americans, but people world-wide.

Brussels - European Union governments approved a package of sanctions against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his government on Monday, including an arms embargo and bans on travel to the bloc.

EU states also said they would freeze the assets of Gaddafi, his family and government, and ban the sale of goods such as tear gas and anti-riot equipment that can be used against demonstrators, diplomats said.

The decision, approved at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels, was brought forward to ensure the measures are enforced as soon as possible, the diplomats said.

The measures are expected to come into effect in the coming days, once the regulation is published in the EU's official journal.

"Have you drugged your kid today?"

That's the bumper sticker on English teacher Tarah Ausburn's Prius that got her fired. (She has a total of 61 on her car.)

The high school teacher from Surprise, Arizona, refused to peel off the sticker after five parents at Imagine Prep High School complained and administrators ordered it -- or her car -- removed.

Peel Off Sticker Or Park Elsewhere

They said she could keep the sticker on if she'd agree to park off campus for the rest of the school year.

At least 17 people have died in a small Brazilian town after a live power cable broke and fell into a crowd of people enjoying a pre-Carnival street party.

It happened in the town of Bandeira do Sul in Minas Gerais state, north of Rio de Janeiro.

A crush of people were dancing near a truck playing loud music in the main square when the cable came loose and fell among the revellers, said reports.

Dozens of people were hurt, some seriously.

The town was plunged into darkness and telephone services were disrupted immediately after the accident.

"It was chaos. People were electrocuted, and many people fell off the music truck. At that moment the lights went out. It was awful," Daniel de Oliveira Castro, 25, told the Brazilian news website Folha.com.

Candles used in a voodoo sex ceremony ignited a fast-moving fire that swept through a Brooklyn apartment building on the evening of February 19 and into early February 20, 2011, and killed a woman, according to FDNY fire marshals and a city official.


Also, an open door and a delay in calling 911 allowed the fire to get even bigger, the marshals determined.

"Time and time again we respond to tragedies that could have been so easily prevented," Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said. "This fire had so many of those elements -- candles left on the floor near combustible material, one of the occupants trying to douse the flames before calling 911 and an open door, which allowed fire to spread into the hallway. Hopefully others will learn from this tragedy."

Fire marshals said the fire started around 6:40 p.m., when a woman visited a man in the building and paid him $300 to perform a voodoo ceremony to bring her good luck. The man was known in the neighborhood as a voodoo priest, the AP reported.

A city official told the AP that the ceremony involved the man and woman having sex in a bed surrounded by candles. Those candles set fire to the linens and clothes on the floor, the FDNY said. But instead of calling 911, the man conducting the ceremony tried in vain to douse the flames with water.

A Bloomberg News journalist was assaulted yesterday in Beijing while covering the deployment of police in response to online calls for protests in the Chinese capital.

At least five men in plain clothes, who appeared to be security personnel, punched and kicked the reporter at Beijing's Wangfujing shopping street at 2:45 p.m. local time yesterday. They also took the video camera he was carrying and detained him in a roadside store.

Uniformed police arrived after the attack and escorted the journalist to a nearby station where he filed a report of the attack before seeking treatment for his injuries at a local hospital. Police returned the video camera while the reporter was at the station, saying a passerby had found it.

Hundreds of police deployed in Beijing and Shanghai yesterday at the site of planned demonstrations called to protest corruption and misrule. In Beijing, few protesters were apparent amid the police presence. In Shanghai, at least seven people were bundled into police vans near Shanghai's People's Square

Allegations of plagiarism, high-level political meddling and sheer poor taste on Sunday marred Russia's choice of three furry mascots to represent the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Russians chose three mascots -- a cute-looking snow leopard, polar bear and hare -- by popular vote in a seemingly innocent television show late Saturday that aimed to choose a people's mascot.

Eyebrows were first raised when the initial favourite to win the most votes -- a portrayal of Russian Father Christmas Ded Moroz -- was rather undemocratically ditched from the competition by the organisers.

Then it just so happened that the mascot which strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had declared his favourite -- the "strong, fast and beautiful" snow leopard -- polled easily the most votes.

Prominent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin told Moscow Echo radio that it was possible some none too cuddly tricks through a rigging of the telephone system had been used to engineer the desired result.

"Just after Vladimir Putin showed his sympathy for the leopard, its votes climbed sharply," he said.

The snow leopard, who somewhat implausibly moves around on a snowboard, was nowhere to be seen in the initial ratings which were led by the unfortunate Ded Moroz.