From pit to palace: Kate's coal mining ancestry

She's not exactly a coal miner's daughter, but Kate Middleton has deep family roots in the grim coal pits of northern England.

Middleton has already captivated the world's imagination with her Cinderella story of going from middle-class girl-next-door to queen-in-waiting, but until recently few knew of her family's connection to coal mining, once a prime source of Britain's prosperity that has now fallen on hard times.

Her great-grandfather left coal country nearly a century ago in pursuit of a safer way of life in the London area, but his siblings stayed behind and spent their working lives in the coal pits. She still has relatives in the area who expect her to bring a practical, no-nonsense approach to royal life once she and Prince William tie the knot at Westminster Abbey on April 29.

John Harrison, a cousin who still lives in Hetton-Le-Hole - once a bustling mining center now down on its luck - doesn't expect Middleton to act all high and mighty when she officially becomes a princess.

Bahrain's Shiite opposition set to talk to rulers

The Shiite opposition groups in Bahrain seeking to loosen the Sunni monarchy's grip on power said Thursday they are ready to negotiate with the Gulf nation's rulers about political change after weeks of protests.

The two-week standoff, in which seven protesters were killed, has rattled one of the wealthiest corners of the Middle East, where it was long assumed that oil riches would stave off the kind of unrest that roiled Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.

Bahrain's sectarian division, however, left it vulnerable. The kingdom has a Shiite majority but has been ruled for 200 years by a Sunni dynasty that it accuses of discriminatory policies and political persecution.

Senior opposition leader Abdul Jalil Khalil said the monarchy's opponents will accept the crown prince's invitation for dialogue.

"We will talk to the crown prince, but we are not going to sit together for a casual chat, but for a meaningful dialogue only," said Khalil, a leader of Bahrain's main Shiite group Al Wefaq.

Khalil said no date has been set for the beginning of the talks.

Italy scandal teen shakes up staid Vienna Ball

When Vienna's glitzy Opera Ball blossoms into a swirl of elegant waltzing couples Thursday evening, one famous guest will be watching from the sidelines.

"I can't waltz," says Ruby - a.k.a. Karima el-Mahrough. Pausing for effect, the Moroccan teen at the center of the scandal plaguing Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi smiles at reporters and adds: "I can only belly dance."

For centuries, Vienna's high society has waltzed blissfully through wars, recessions and firebomb-throwing anarchists opposed to the moneyed decadence they think such events represent. But it has never had to deal with an 18-year-old dancer said to have been paid by Berlusconi for sex while she was still underage - and the ripples caused by her presence are relegating Libya's revolution and other top news events to the back pages of Austria's newspapers.

Vienna's top priest has been drawn into the fray, citing scripture in favor of her attendance. The ball's organizer has threatened to ban Richard Lugner, the quirky 78-year old millionaire who invited her. State television's program head has ordered reporters covering the ball to avoid mentioning her at all costs. That, in turn has resulted in protests from TV employees who see her as the biggest news of the event.

In typical reporting, this week's front cover of News, one of Austria's most widely read magazines is dominated by a montage of Lugner in tails and top hat, his arm around a scantily clad Ruby and the headline "Scandal Surrounds the Opera Ball." Moammar Gahdafi and the uprising in Libya is relegated to a narrow strip running down the left side of the cover.

India.Arie readies 5th effort with Israeli singer

On India.Arie's last album, she blended a world music sound with her signature style of soul. She's planning to take things to the next level on an upcoming CD with Israeli singer Idan Raichel.

"I always go different (and) I went even farther," India.Arie said in a recent interview.

The album, "Open Door," will be released this summer. It will feature songs in Hebrew and English, though India.Arie doesn't know Hebrew, explaining that Raichel "teaches me the translation."

While vacationing in Israel, the 34-year-old singer asked locals who the most influential political singer-songwriter was in town.

UN: 200,000 people flee Ivory Coast fighting

More than 200,000 people have fled a suburb in Ivory Coast's commercial capital amid days of heavy street fighting that has left dozens dead and spread fears the country will slide back to civil war, the U.N. said Thursday.

Days of intense clashes have taken place in Abobo between police loyal to sitting president Laurent Gbagbo and rebel soldiers allied with his opponent, Alassane Ouattara.

Local U.N. human rights representative Guillaume Ngefa said Thursday that at least 26 people have been killed in Abobo in the last 24 hours alone.

The U.N.'s refugee agency also has expressed alarm about the dire conditions facing people trying to get out of the area, citing "reports of many dead bodies, buses burned and shops looted, and of young militiamen attacking people inside their homes."

The standoff between the two men claiming to be president reached a new level last week when the army began using war-like weapons, including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.