Turkey reopened its embassy in Libya on Friday, a day after world leaders agreed to unfreeze billions of dollars of Libyan assets to help the country’s interim government rebuild. The Turkish foreign ministry said its diplomatic team with new ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin left Ankara for Tunisia Thursday and was traveling to Tripoli to start work. Meanwhile on Thursday, world leaders meeting in Paris – including France, Britain and others – pledged $15 billion in financial and humanitarian support to Libya’s provisional government.  They also promised to maintain their military operations as long as needed but said the focus is now on reconstruction. Separately, more countries – notably Romania and Russia – recognized the NTC as Libya’s “ruling authority.” Moscow had opposed NATO military intervention in the Libyan conflict. In other news, a military official with Libya’s interim government called Gadhafi “delusional,” in response to the former leader’s recent audio messages calling for his supporters to continue fighting. NTC military spokesman Colonel Ahmad Bani said late Thursday that Gadhafi has no connection to Libyans at all and accused him of trying to flee the country. Bani also said the NTC’s forces want to “avoid bloodshed,” as they seek to take over Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte.  But he said they are “ready and able to have a decisive battle,” if Gadhafi loyalists there do not surrender within the next week. Bani’s comments follow the broadcast of two audio messages attributed to Gadhafi on Arabic television news channels earlier Thursday. In the messages, Gadhafi said his loyalists would never surrender and would leave the country “engulfed in flames” from guerrilla warfare.  He also accused NATO of seeking to occupy Libya and vowed to prevent oil exports. NTC forces, who have effectively ended Gadhafi’s rule, have given loyalist fighters in Sirte an additional week to surrender. The NTC had originally set a Saturday deadline, but then said negotiations with tribal elders had made progress.  The extension of the deadline also applies to other strongholds of Gadhafi supporters. Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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MADRID – A Romanian Gypsy woman whose 10-year-old daughter just gave birth in Spain says she’s delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn’t understand why the birth has shocked anyone — let alone become an international sensation. Spanish authorities have released few details about the case to protect the girl’s privacy. But in comments published Wednesday, her mother told reporters the baby’s father is a 13-year-old boy who is still in Romania and is no longer going out with her daughter. The 10-year-old girl and her baby daughter plan to stay in Spain because the young couple separated, said the girl’s mother. She identified herself only as Olimpia and appeared to be in her 30s but did not give her age. She also said she didn’t understand the attention the case was generating because she and her daughter are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, and their custom is to allow girls to marry young even though that’s against the law in Romania. “That’s the way we get married,” the girl’s mother told reporters Tuesday outside the modest apartment building in the southern town of Lebrija where the family lives. Meanwhile, the story was going viral on the Internet and causing an uproar in Spain. “Mother at 10 years old” blared a headline in Barcelona’s La Vanguardia newspaper, which dedicated two pages to the story. In contrast, news about the 10-year-old mother barely registered in Romania, with stories buried inside newspapers focusing on the controversy the birth had caused among Spaniards. The girl moved to Spain about three weeks ago, her mother said, and her baby was born in a public hospital last week in the nearby city of Jerez de la Frontera. There were no complications during the birth, and the 10-year-old and her baby are doing fine, her mother said. “She’s doing well and is very happy with her daughter,” the woman said. The 10-year-old and her baby are living with the new grandmother while Spanish social welfare authorities determine whether the family will be able to provide for the baby. Under Spanish law, having consensual sex with someone under age 13 is classified as child abuse. But a Justice Ministry official said this particular case is complicated, because the alleged father is not in Spain and is also a minor. It is not clear whether he could be charged, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy. Romanian law allows girls to get married at age 16 with parental consent, or at 18 without it. But arranged “marriages” between teenagers are relatively common among Roma, who make up about 1.5 million of Romania’s 22 million people. Families “marry off” daughters when they reach puberty, with the “husband” usually being a couple of years older. The marriages are not recognized by the state. Roma girls are often not encouraged to pursue a full education, and Romanian authorities do not widely enforce education laws that require children to attend school until age 16. In 2003, there was an international outcry after the European Union envoy to Romania, Baroness Emma Nicholson, demanded that a 12-year-old Roma girl and her 15-year-old common-law husband separate and cease all intimate relations until they were legally able to be married. The couple did separate for an unknown amount of time. ___ Jorge Sainz contributed from Madrid and Alison Mutler contributed from Bucharest, Romania. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

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BUCHAREST, Romania – The Romanian government was in an uproar Monday over austerity protests — the interior minister resigned, the opposition demanded the prime minister go as well and top police officials held emergency talks with the president. The chaos reflected social fallout from the sharp wage cuts, tax hikes and other austerity measures the government has taken to fight its budget deficit amid a deep recession. President Traian Basescu’s government has been unable to pay wages and pensions without a euro20 billion ($26 billion) bailout loan last year from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders, and the IMF is demanding strong action now to trim Romania’s national debt. His two-party coalition government, which does not hold an absolute majority in the legislature, is further hampered by the need to find consensus on how to best turn around the economy. Romania’s turmoil is just one part of Europe’s season of economic discontent. Widespread anti-government, anti-austerity protests have also erupted in France, Britain, Greece, Spain and other nations as governments struggle to balance budgets at a time of lingering economic weakness. Thousands of public sector workers demonstrated Monday in Slovenia, another Balkan nation, in an open-ended strike to protest plans to freeze their salaries for two years. Last week, an estimated 1 million people marched in France against plans to raise the retirement age to 62. And austerity-fueled protests continue to roil Greece, which only avoided bankruptcy in May because of a euro110 billion ($140 billion) rescue package from the IMF and European countries. Romanians took to the streets of Bucharest, the capital, several times last week in protest but the government was most shocked when 6,000 police angry over a 25 percent wage cut marched Friday to the presidential palace and threw eggs at it. Some shouted “Get out, you miserable dog!” On Monday, Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said the protesting officers had staged an illegal action and “forgot the oath they swore” when they earned their badges. Blaga, a close ally of the president, resigned, calling the move “one of honor.” Traian Igas, a little-known lawmaker from the Democratic Liberals — the dominant government party — was to be sworn in Monday evening as his replacement. Crin Antonescu of the opposition Liberal Party, meanwhile, called on Prime Minister Emil Boc to resign along with Blaga. Blaga, Romania’s top police chief and the head of its anti-riot police all held an emergency meeting with Basescu on Monday. There was no immediate word on the substance of the talks. The Romanian president had dismissed his police protection, saying Friday’s protest had undermined state authority. Boc had followed suit. Both are now relying instead on security paid for by the presidential budget, one of the few areas of government not cut. More anti-austerity protests are expected Tuesday in the capital, organized by two large trade unions. Thousands of medical workers, employees of Romania’s national railway and others are expected to march. Romania’s main opposition — the leftist Social Democratic Party — appears happy now to be out of power as economic hardship hurts the popularity of the ruling Democratic Liberals — and may even be using its traditional influence with labor unions to foment unrest. Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu — who does not belong to any party but is a Basescu critic — insisted Friday’s “spontaneous” march by police was legal and organizers could not be fined because there was no violence. Amid the uproar there were lighter moments. Television cameras captured the president driving himself to work, puffing on a cigarette and speaking on his mobile phone in his Dacia Logan, a boxy, no-frills Romanian-manufactured car. Stuck in traffic like any regular commuter, Basescu joked with reporters. It is rare for Romanian television to show the president smoking and it is against the law to be on a phone while driving — although the rule is widely ignored by Romanians of all stripes. ___ Associated Press writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

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