Top news stories this day as we close Live!For details, scroll down. C'mon be a man with the mouse.

1. Not a trace! Where has Gadaffi vanished
2. US air strikes in Libya disproportionate: Putin
3. Desperate Gaddafi calls for ceasefire
4. PC orders NIA to probe all Hindu terror cases
5. Quakes in Kashmir, Delhi, Pakistan, Philippines
6. Google accuses China of blocking Gmail
7. Didigiri works: Cong gets 65 seats
8. Batcha autopsy doc to fight TN polls
9. Top Yemeni general defects
10. 'Military mission in Libya to end in days'

As the heart of Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli lay in shambles today, the Libyan leader's whereabouts -- and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" -- remained unknown, reports cnn.com.

The United States and allies continued their mission to dilute the Libyan leader's strength. A coalition military official insisted neither Gadhafi nor his residence were intended targets of the bombing late Sunday.

But the official -- who was not being identified because of the sensitivity of the information -- said the compound was targeted because it contained capabilities to exercise command and control over Libyan forces.

It's a small incident, but a commentary on the desperation for awards and recognition by the police force.

A police constable, deputed as a personal security officer of an ex-MLA in Jaipur, shot himself to claim a gallantry award. Mahesh Rajguru alleged that around six unidentified persons opened fire at him at the rented house of the ex-MLA Surendra Singh and sped away in a car. But when senior officials found his statements and crime scene suspicious, he he confessed he shot himself just to claim a gallantry award.

Rajguru, received bullet injuries in stomach and arm is stated to be out of danger.

The Home Ministry has ordered the NIA to probe all cases involving Hindu terror, including the Sunil Joshi case (a suspect in the Samjhauta train blast). There will be an official notification by the law ministry shortly.

Earlier this month, the home ministry has written letters to the CBI and state governments concerned asking them whether they would like to hand over all Hindu terror cases, including the Malegaon blasts of 2006 and 2008, the Ajmer Dargah blasts case of 2007 and the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts case, to the National Investigation Agency.

The MHA has also asked the Madhya Pradesh government to hand over the Sunil Joshi murder case to the NIA.

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.7 shook buildings in the Philippine capital today, but was not expected to cause any damage, the head of the government's seismology bureau said.

The earthquake had been felt across Manila, a sprawling city of more than 12 million people.

If you remember, Philippines was also one of the places the tsunami was supposed to strike after Japan, but miraculously escaped strike.

Does an apology make it all OK?

The US Army today formally apologised "for the distress" caused by pictures portraying abuse allegedly committed by US troops serving in Afghanistan. German weekly Der Spiegel had published photos that showed two US soldiers in Afghanistan from a rogue army unit posing with dead Afghans.

Two photos, which Spiegel said US authorities had sought to keep secret, appear to show two members of a unit that allegedly killed Afghan civilians for sport.

• In one, a purported soldier, cigarette in hand, holds up the head of a blood-spattered man who is apparently dead.
• In a second, another purported soldier is grinning widely while also holding up the same man.
• A third photo shows two bodies propped up against a post. Again the people in the picture appear to be dead.

The Army statement said the actions seen in the pictures were "repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army."

Remember US human rights abuse in Iraq's Abu Ghraib?

The worst of times sometimes brings out the best in people, even in Japan's mafia,the yakuza. The Daily Beast writes that hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving.

Read more(Can imagine Mumbai's underworld shoving each other aside to help)

The AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa has announced the names of her party's 160 candidates for the April 13 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

The AIADMK supremo, who will launch her campaign at Trichy on Wednesday, also shared the list of 41 candidates from the DMDK led by actor Vijayakanth.

From the Express Tribune, Pakistan.

Family members of the two men shot dead by CIA contractor Raymond Davis have secretly been flown out of the country. A chartered plane carrying 18 family members of Faizan Haider and Faheem Shamshad, the two men killed by Davis, left the Chaklala air base on Friday at 4:30 pm for the UAE.

The plane landed at the Dubai airport from where the 18 people proceeded to Abu Dhabi where two houses have been rented for them.

Four American Green Cards and two residences in the US have also been arranged for the two families.

Interestingly, husbands of the seven sisters of the two victims have also disappeared along with their children, the sources said. They have been shifted to undisclosed location for their safety.

Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray never fails to disappoint. In the Sena mouthpiece Saamna today, Thackeray said that the whole political fabric of the country has been spoilt by the Congress. "There is dynasty," Thackeray lamented in an interview.

While Thackeray's son Uddhav is the executive president of Shiv Sena, his grandson Aditya is the boss of party's youth wing, Yuva Sena.

Thackeray criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying she has no achievement to her credit. Maintaining that elections and democracy have been the been bane of India, Thackeray said his party was opposed to the electronic voting machines.

From the cnn blog on Libya.

• A group of supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi chanted, "Down with the USA" and confronted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he was leaving the Arab League buidling in Cairo today.

• A witness in the Libyan city of Misrata reported "absolute destruction and carnage" by forces supporting Gaddafi today - despite the regime's recent call for a ceasefire.

Search giant Google today accused the Chinese Government of blocking its Gmail service in the country, after a month-long online disruption that coincided with an Internet campaign calling for protests like those in the Arab nations.

Google started getting complaints about interruptions in access to Gmail service ever since the Jasmine uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt last month, which subsequently spread to several other Gulf countries.

While China blocked all information relating to these protests in Chinese language Internet services, used by over 457 million people, Google and Gmail services experienced periodic disruptions after overseas Chinese dissident groups started calling for similar protests in Chinese cities, which were put down with iron hand by Chinese police.

Back in India, for the first time in the country's electoral history, candidates will be helped by 'expenditure agents' as the Election Commission recently notified their inclusion to keep track of all poll-related expenses of candidates.

"An expenditure agent, however, is not mandatory for a candidate. A candidate may or may not chose to keep such an aide," sources said.

Candidates have to keep a track of all minute details when it comes to expenditure related to elections. The representatives of political parties hence asked the EC to allow them to appoint a person to perform all these heavy duty tasks, which the EC has now agreed to.

One of Col Gaddafi's sons has denied an eyewitness claim he personally ordered soldiers in Benghazi to shoot at unarmed demonstrators. Saadi Gaddafi was sent to Benghazi in response to the protests in the city in which more than 200 civilians died, reports bbc.co.uk

Read.

Meanwhile, in Yemen, key Yemeni General Ali Mohsen, who is close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, says he has joined the protest movement against the regime.

His announcement comes a day after President Saleh sacked his entire cabinet. Meanwhile in the north, 20 people have been killed in fighting, reports say.

Rediff.com's Indrani Mitra has a confirmation for us. The Congress has agreed to 65 seats as against the 90 demanded. That's up by just one more seat from the 64 Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had to offered on Friday.

This in effect means that the Trinamool Congress and the Congress alliance for the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly elections will get an official stamp soon. It should be mentioned here that on Friday, tension had ensued between the two allies after Mamata unilaterally announced candidates 228 seats leaving aside 64 seats for Congress.

According to party sources, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Banerjee this afternoon and made her agree to part with one more seat apart from the 64 that she set aside on Friday.

Banerjee had kept a deadline of Monday, 4 pm for the Congress to take a call. The Congress initially was aspiring for a contest in 90 seats in West Bengal. However, it seems the party decided on a compromise to keep the alliance alive.

The 65th seat granted to Congress will be within 100 km of Kolkata.

Socialite Paris Hilton is desperately fishing for an invite to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The 30-year-old heiress, known for her party-loving ways, is determined to jet over to the UK for the big day at Westminster Abbey on April 29.

"Paris is a massive fan of the royals and counts Princess Di among her idols, so she's desperate to be seen at the wedding. She knows it will be an event not to be missed. She's been speaking to all her contacts in the hope of getting an invite, but so far she hasn't had any luck."

The cash-for-vote scam is expected to cast its shadow on Parliament tomorrow with the BJP planning to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly misleading both Houses over the WikiLeak expose.

Some Congress MPs are contemplating moving a breach of privilege notice against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj for allegedly defying Speaker Meira Kumar last week over the issue. Parliament is not in session today over an extended Holi holiday.

Pakistan government has started peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban and other militant groups across the restive northwestern tribal areas in anticipation of an early withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. The move is a critical step in the transition to full Afghan control by the end of 2014 as announced by US President Barack Obama at a NATO summit in Lisbon last year.

The TTPhas claimed responsibility for killing anti-blasphemy law supporter Pak Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

Just in: British nationals Duncan Grant and Alan Waters, accused of sexually abusing boys at the Anchorage Shelter Home,have been arrested in Mumbai after the Supreme Court overturns their acquittal.

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned their acquittal and charged them with child sexual abuse at the Anchorage shelter home for street children in Mumbai.

The SC order also applies to Indian national William D Souza, who worked at the shelter for abetting the abuse.

Conspiracy theorists get going...

The doctor who performed an autopsy and postmortem on the body of Sadiq Batcha, the real estate tycoon and key aide of jailed former telecom minister A. Raja, has resigned from government service.

Dr V Dekal, who heads the department of forensic sciences at the Madras Medical College, said he had put in his papers on March 3, over a fortnight before Batcha's suicide, to contest the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

"I am yet to make up my mind since the relieving order is yet to come. If it comes soon, I may contest as an independent," he said.

Dr Dekal's father was a DMK member.

The WikiLeaks disclosures have become a many-splendoured thing. Kudos to Hindu newspaper and N Ram. The disclosures are leading to lots of fireworks in the parliament and the political class is quite nervous that the morrows might bring more disclosures - with the solitary exception of the Left parties, perhaps. It is quite funny for a commoner to see the habitually cocky Delhi elites becoming wobbly and suddenly weak in the legs.

Read MK Bhadrakumar's definitive blog

Take our word for it -- this is a must read.

On October 12, 2000, in the deep-water port of Aden, Yemen, the U.S.S. Cole, a guided-missile destroyer weighing eighty-three hundred tons, was docked at a fuelling buoy.

The Cole, which cost a billion dollars to build, was one of the most "survivable' ships in the US Navy, with seventy tons of armor, a hull that could withstand an explosion of fifty-one thousand pounds per square inch, and stealth technology designed to make the ship less visible to radar.

As the Cole filled its tank, a fibreglass fishing boat containing plastic explosives approached. Two men brought the skiff to a halt amidships, smiled and waved, then stood at attention.

The symbolism of this moment was exactly what Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, had hoped for when he approved a plan to attack an American naval vessel. "The destroyer represented the West,' bin Laden said later. "The small boat represented Muhammad.'

The New Yorker story of whether the CIA stopped an FBI detective from preventing 9/11?

The plot thickens in West Bengal.The Congress says it is prepared to contest all 294 seats in West Bengal, if the alliance with the Trinamool Congress fails.

Remember the meeting on seat-sharing this morning between the Cong and the Trinamool came to naught as the Congress said it would need more time to decide on the 64 seats.Latest reports indicated the TMC was fine with that.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee also met party chief Sonia Gandhi over the issue.

Just in: Smoke rising from Fukushima nuclear reactor. Some workers have been evacuated.

Also read: Courage of Fukushima Fifty

In the first response since the air strikes on Libya, External Affairs minister SM Krishna says India was very concerned and regretted the air strikes by coalition forces in Libya and was watching the situation very closely.

Remember, this is the third day of air strikes on Libya. India had abstained from voting on a UN resolution approving "all necessary measures," including imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.

If you haven't been able to get in touch with him at the Oval office, here's why. US Barack Obama and First Lady are in Brazil. And if you believe the Brazilian press, the Obamas and the first family made a very unusual request for their first-ever visit to this meat-loving country: they asked for a vegetarian menu.

However, the the White House says it never happened. And neither the president nor the first lady is vegetarian.

Read more

Good news for Japan and those doing business with the country.

US billionaire investor Warren Buffett said today that a massive natural disaster would not hamper the future of the Japanese economy and could prompt a new bout of stock buying.

"I'm not looking at Japan's economic future differently from 10 days ago... extraordinary events offer (a) buying opportunity," he said.

Buffett, the chairman of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, urged against selling Japanese stock -- markets were closed in Tokyo today -- and said Japan would recover relatively quickly.

stupidusmaximusAshish Shakya +TomAlter RT @mojorojo: I for one, deeply miss a Bollywood in which our token white person was Bob Christo, not Katrina Kaif.

Press Like

Agence France-Presse (AFP)journalists Dave Clark and Roberto Schmidt, have been missing since Friday in Libya while working in the eastern Tobruk region.

Clark, a 38-year-old reporter, and photographer Schmidt, 45, had informed the agency in an email on Friday of their plans to head 35 kilometres out of Tobruk. They planned on meeting opponents of the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and speaking with refugees fleeing the battles between rebels and the loyalists.

Meanwhile, four New York Times journalists missing in Libya since Tuesday were captured by government forces were released on Friday.

The meeting between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress on seat sharing has ended inconclusively. The Congress says it will take its own time to decide on seat sharing, but says it will stay with the TMC. The consensus onseat sharing is still to be arrived at.

Key leaders of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress met this morning at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi to decide on the seat-sharing arrangement for six-phased assembly elections in West Bengal.

The TMC has kept 228 seats, with 64 for the Congress. Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that if no agreement is reached, the TMC is ready to field candidates in all 292 seats.

Kolkata court finishes first round of hearing in the Rizwanur Rehman case. Case to continue between March 23 and March 25. Accused has been charged with criminal conspiracy and abetment to suicide.

Refresher on the Rizwanur case

Love rat Tiger Woods has certainly moved on from the embarassement and self-confessed trauma of his marriage ot Elin Nordegren.

There is now a blonde in his life -- 22-year-old Alyse Lahti Johnston -- who according to the sun.co.uk was introduced to the troubled golfer by her own stepdad, who is a boss at Tiger's sports agency.

Their relationship emerged days after Tiger's ex Elin bought a £7million Florida home near his.

Get your eye candy here

And more on Libya...

The Libya war and revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia should be a warning to authoritarian leaders in the Middle East and North Africa still ordering forces to shoot demonstrators, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.

Ban, who has castigated the king of Bahrain and strongly condemned the repression of demonstrations in Yemen and Syria in recent days, said as he began a trip to Egypt and Tunisia today that other nations have a duty to speak out.

"It is clear that a wind of change is sweeping this region," he said in an interview.

As the UK begins its second night of missile strikes against Libya, the country's military today called fora ceasefire across the entire country, reports the bbc.co.uk.

The UK is part of an international coalition, also including the US and France, trying to protect civilians from attacks by Col Gaddafi's forces.

Also read: Obama works to shore up Arab support

Der Spiegel, the German news organization, published photographs Sunday showing two American soldiers in Afghanistan posing with the corpse of an Afghan civilian they are accused of murdering.

The photos were among several seized byArmyinvestigators looking into the deaths of three unarmed Afghans last year. Five soldiers based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle, have been charged with murder and conspiracy.

A sniff away from Mai Lai massacare?

How different then, is the 2003 'allied' attack on Iraq and the 2011 Libya attack? Apart from the fact both the nations are oil-rich, the attacks are apparently very different in their purpose, or so, cnn believes.

Read why

So are Courteney Cox and David Arquette back together? The estranged couple was recently spotted together at a popular Malibu flower mart. 'The Scream' co-stars split late last year, sending Arquette into non-stop party mode for several weeks before he voluntarily checked himself into the Betty Ford Center after a wild New Year''s Eve.

He spent a month in treatment and has very quietly been working on his relationship ever since. They split over his infidelity.

Morning gossip.

Former Bollywood 'actress' Tania Zaetta, whose dominance in the Indian film industry came to a swift end in 2008, will reportedly face court early next month after being arrested at a Gold Coast nightclub.

The Australian actress and television host spent several hours in the cells before being processed and given watch house bail.

Her Bollywood ascendancy came to end when a scandal erupted over baseless allegations about her personal conduct while entertaining Australian troops in Afghanistan.

Claims that she had sex with Australian servicemen were leaked in a Defence briefing paper and the ensuing negative publicity tarnished her reputation at home and abroad.

She may be remembered for her blink and miss part in the memorable Bunty aur Babli as the woman whose husband bought her the Taj Mahal.

Key leaders of the Congress party and the Trinamool Congress have begun a meeting at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi this morning to decide on the seat-sharing arrangement for the six-phased assembly elections in West Bengal.

The first phase of voting in the state will take place on April 18, second phase on April 23, third phase on April 27, fourth phase on May 3, fifth phase on May 7 and sixth phase on May 10.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has set the Congress a Monday deadline to come to an understanding on the seat-sharing issue.

Bob Christo, who played negative roles in over 200 films in various Indian languages, died on Sunday evening atthe Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology in Bangalore following a heart attack. The actor was 70.

He had essayed villainous roles in many Hindi movies includingMr India, Disco DancerandQurbaniamong others.

Rajat Gupta, the former McKinsey & Co chief accused of insider trading in the US, has resigned from chairmanship of Indian School of Business, a Hyderabad-based B-School, today.

All the details here

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that the US expects to turn over control of the Libya military mission over to a coalition probably headed either by the French and British or by NATO "in a matter of days."

In his first public remarks since the start of the bombings, Gates said President Barack Obama felt very strongly about limiting America's role in the operation, adding that the president is "more aware than almost anybody of the stress on the military."

If the skies aremore bluetoday, it's because its Monday.Sigh...

Big today for the Congress and Trinamool. Mamata Banerjee's deadline for the Cong to accept the 64 seats ends today. Sonia Gandhi to decide.

But on to the top stories this morning.

Gaddafi compound strike hit control center (The Times of India)

A missile totally destroyed an administrative building of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's residence in Tripoli. Pentagon says Gaddafi is not the target. Read

Vaiko's MDMK to boycott polls (The Times of India)

The Vaiko-led MDMK on Sunday quit the opposition AIADMK front after its demand for 21 seats was rejected and decided not to field any candidates in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections to avoid splitting the anti-DMK votes. Read

Japan reconstruction may take 5 years: World Bank (The Hindu)

Japan may need five years to rebuild from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $235 billion of damage, the World Bank said on Monday. Read

What MEA was up to ahead of Ahmadinejad visit (The Hindu)

A senior Ministry of External Affairs official notified the Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would visit India on April 29, 2008, saying "she was providing the Embassy with this information prior to the MEA informing even other agencies within the Indian government, and before the information was to become public." Read

Japan quake dead: 18,000, missing nears 22,000 (DNA)

Tokyo Police officials estimate that the toll from the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami will exceed 18,000 deaths. The National Police Agency says that overall the number of bodies collected so far stood at 8,649, while 12,877 people were listed as missing. Read

Sadiq Batcha wanted to be the richest man on the earth (The Times of India)

A bunch of printouts pasted on mirrors stopped policemen who entered A M Sadiq Batcha's bedroom and bathroom to probe his death on Wednesday in their tracks. These were mission statements that bore testimony to the ambition that drove the man. Read

Warren Buffett looking to buy big businesses (DNA)
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said on Monday that he was looking at more acquisition targets after a $9 billion buy of US specialty chemical maker Lubrizol by his Berkshire Hathaway last week. Read