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AP International NewsBrief at 1:37 p.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Buoyed by strikes, Libya rebels try to advanceZWITINA, Libya (AP) _ Energized by international strikes on Moammar Gadhafi's forces, rebels advanced in an attempt to reclaim an eastern city under siege by the Libyan leader's troops on Monday as the U.S. commander of the allied campaign warned that a stalemate could emerge from the bombardment. That could mean a longer conflict and an unclear end game as the U.S. and European countries try to calibrate how much their now three-day old air campaign _ officially intended to protect civilians _ should go toward actively helping the rebel cause. Henri Guaino, a top adviser to the French president, said the allied effort would last "a while yet." Captured NY Times journalists released from LibyaRAS AJDIR, Tunisia (AP) _ Four New York Times journalists who were held captive in Libya for six days were freed Monday by authorities and crossed the border into Tunisia, the newspaper said. Reporter Anthony Shadid, photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario and videographer Stephen Farrell left Libya at the dusty border crossing into Tunisia that has been used by tens of thousands of people fleeing violence. AP Exclusive: Rebels want Gadhafi ousted, not deadPARIS (AP) _ Libya's rebels want to drive Moammar Gadhafi from power and see him tried _ not have him killed, a European representative for the leading opposition group said in an interview Monday. Ali Zeidan, an envoy for the Libyan National Transitional Council, also told The Associated Press that airstrikes led by France, Britain and the United States have helped the rebels, but that the opposition needs more weapons to win. Rival tanks deploy in streets of Yemen's capitalSANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Rival tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital Monday after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the U.S.-backed president, radically depleting his support among the country's most powerful institutions. Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the army's powerful 1st Armored Division, announced his defection in a message delivered by a close aide to protest leaders at the Sanaa square that has become the epicenter of their movement. Italy issues NATO command ultimatum over LibyaBRUSSELS (AP) _ Italy is warning that it will review the use of its bases by coalition forces for strikes against Libya if the mission doesn't pass to NATO's command. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini issued the ultimatum Monday after Turkey blocked NATO from approving a military strategy that would allow NATO's participation in the operation. No quick fix seen at Japan's nuclear plantFUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) _ Officials raced Monday to restore electricity to Japan's leaking nuclear plant, but getting the power flowing will hardly be the end of their battle: With its mangled machinery and partly melted reactor cores, bringing the complex under control is a monstrous job that is anything but a quick-fix. Restoring the power to all six units at the tsunami-damaged complex is key, because it will, in theory, power up the maze of motors, valves and switches that help deliver cooling water to the overheated reactor cores and spent fuel pools that are leaking radiation. Plane crashes in Republic of Congo neighborhoodBRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) _ Witnesses say a cargo plane has crashed into a neighborhood in the Republic of Congo. The Antonov 32 owned by private company Trans Air Congo (TAC) crashed Monday in the Mvoumvou area of Pointe-Noire, the country's economic capital. 52 feared dead in Pakistan coal mine explosionSORANGE, Pakistan (AP) _ Rescuers used shovels and bare hands Monday to dig out miners buried after a gas explosion deep in a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, lining up wooden caskets to await the bodies from an accident that left 52 feared dead. More than 200 people stood outside the mine waiting to help or hear news from the search, but since the accident Sunday only bodies _ 27 of them _ have been recovered. At defiant march, Syrians shout 'No more fear!'DARAA, Syria (AP) _ Syrians chanting "No more fear!" held a defiant march Monday after a deadly government crackdown failed to quash three days of massive protests in a southern city _ an extraordinary outpouring in a country that brutally suppresses dissent. Riot police armed with batons chased away the small group Monday without incident, but traces of earlier, larger demonstrations were everywhere: burned-out and looted government buildings, a dozen torched vehicles, an office of the ruling Baath party with its windows knocked out. Protesters burned an office of the telecommunications company Syriatel, which is owned in part by the president's cousin. WHO: Real risk if radiation contaminates foodGENEVA (AP) _ Japan needs to act quickly and ban food sales from areas around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant if food there has excessive levels of radiation, the World Health Organization said Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that radiation in some Japanese milk and vegetables was "significantly higher" than levels Japan allows for consumption, and Japanese authorities are expected to decide by Tuesday on a comprehensive plan to limit food shipments from affected areas. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. 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