A Saudi official says the account of a Sri Lankan maid who said her Saudi employers forced 24 nails and needles into her body is “fabricated.”

L. G. Ariyawathi's allegations were baseless and amounted to blackmail, said Saad al-Badah, the head of a Saudi government department responsible for foreign workers.

A gunman who had taken a number of people hostage at the Discovery Channel headquarters outside Washington is shot and the three hostages are safe, police says.

Montgomery County Police chief, J. Thomas Manger, said the gunman, James Lee, 43, has been taken into custody. It's not clear what his condition is. The hostages were safe and out of the building, CBS New, reported.

Despite impressive games by Hamed Haddad and Arsalan Kazemi, Iran loses against the US 51-88 at the preliminary round of 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Americans have won all the four games against Croatia, Slovenia, Brazil and now Iran on Wednesday and automatically advance to the elimination Round of 16 as the top seed in Group B.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has expressed concerns over food security due to the long lasting damage to the nation's agriculture.

He said floods have ravaged Pakistan's economy, and called the social impact of the disaster "serious."

Apple Inc unveiled a smaller, cheaper version of its Web-to-TV device on Wednesday, stepping up a battle with Google Inc and Microsoft Corp for control of the digital living room.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs also rolled out a completely overhauled lineup of iPod media players and the latest version of iTunes, with a new logo that does away with the outdated image of a CD.

Germany's Catholic Church unveils tougher guidelines on dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by priests, saying any such allegation must be reported to prosecutors.

The new guidelines are valid for three years and come in response to hundreds of allegations of abuse by the clergy across Germany, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Muslims across the world observe Laylat al-Qadr, or the holy 'Night of Glory' marking the revelation of the holy Quran to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Laylat al-Qadr is viewed as one of the most significant religious occasions for Muslims as special prayer rituals and services are held on the eves of the last ten odd days of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Alcohol-related hospital admissions across the UK have soared by two-thirds in the last five years, a major new study has found.

The Daily Telegraph published the findings of the study on Wednesday which say British hospitals admitted two people per minute for excessive use of alcohol.

Iran's basketball team will play against the United States in its fourth Group B match on Wednesday at the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA world championship in Istanbul, Turkey.

Iran's basketball coach Veslin Matic said on Tuesday that "Iran has participated in the FIBA World Championship to make its dreams come true," adding, "The match between Iran and the US is not a political game."

Amazon.com Inc has approached media companies with a proposal for a subscription service that gives users unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet in a bid to rival Netflix Inc, two people familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

The Seattle-based online retailer has approached media companies including Time Warner Inc, CBS Corp and Viacom Inc, these people say.

Officials in Pakistan have ordered thousands of residents in a number of towns in southern parts of the country to evacuate as floodwaters submerge new areas.

Floodwaters are currently threatening the Pakistani towns of Jati and Choohar Jamali, forcing more than 100,000 people to flee their homes.

A Vatican official has criticized Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for calling on the European continent to convert to Islam during his two-day visit to Italy.

Speaking before 500 women paid to attend his lecture, Gaddafi on Sunday urged the Italian women to convert to Islam.

The Chilean mine engineers have started the lengthy process of digging a rescue route to pull out the 33 miners trapped underground for more than three weeks.

On Monday, the engineers used a huge drilling machine to bore a pilot hole that will be served as a guide in drilling the shaft.

After lashing the northeast Caribbean islands, Hurricane Earl is on collision course with East Coast and is expected to become the worst storm to hit the region in 20 years.

Hurricane Earl has strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm, generating winds of 215 km/h (135 mph).

Three Pakistan players named by a British newspaper as being involved in a betting scam will travel to London to meet the head of their country's cricket board.

Captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif are due to meet Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt on Wednesday before rejoining the squad.

Iran's national basketball team earned its first win at the preliminary round of 2010 FIBA world championship against Tunisia 71-58 in the Turkish capital, Istanbul.

After losing the first two matches in Group B, Iran on Monday blew most of the 24-point lead, and was down to three in the final minutes, before taking the game.

US states with a highly educated population and higher tax rates on cigarettes have fewer smokers, a new Gallup study of poll data says.

According to the study conducted by the Gallup organization, one in every five American adults smokes.

A team of scientists have used a pair of robots to take thousands of photographs of the world's most famous shipwreck, Titanic.

The expedition left Newfoundland early August to the spot where the ship hit an iceberg back in 1912 and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, AP reported.

The unprecedented heatwave in July and part of August has contributed to a 50-percent climb in Moscow's mortality rate compared to the previous year, says Russia's health ministry.

According to data provided by the state statistics service, 14,340 individuals died in Moscow in July, up from 9,516 who died in the same period last year.

China and Russia have agreed to establish a cross-border protection zone for Siberian tigers in a bid to save the endangered species, state media have said.

China's northeastern province of Jilin and Russia's Primorsky Krai region formally agreed on the project during the second annual Siberian Tiger Cultural Festival, which opened in Jilin's Hunchun city on Sunday.

Floodwaters have submerged a town in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh while a nearby city is spared from flooding, officials say.

Some 250,000 people have left the town of Sujawal.

Hurricane Earl is gathering strength as it moves towards the eastern US coast after sweeping across the northern Leeward Islands in the Atlantic, heading towards Virgin Islands.

On Monday Earl kept its category two status, but as its winds were getting stronger, the US National Hurricane Center said it could turn into a major storm.

Individuals with a particular gene variant on chromosome 8 are placed at a greater risk of experiencing migraine attacks, a new study suggests.

Migraine attacks had long been believed to have a genetic component and run in families; this is, however, the first study to pinpoint the gene variants responsible for the condition.

Six people have been killed and at least 14 others wounded after an unidentified gunman opened fire in the suburbs of Bratislava in Slovakia.

The bloody incident occurred Monday morning on the streets of Devinska Nova Ves, on the outskirts of the Slovak capital, TASR, the Slovak News Agency reported.

A man suspected of fatally shooting five people in the US state of Arizona has been found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police have identified the suspect as 26-year-old Brian Diez.

Chilean miners, who have been trapped deep underground for more than three weeks, have had their first telephone contact with their families.

The connection was made possible through a small emergency shaft drilled to their location.

Thousands more Indonesians have been forced to leave their homes after Mount Sinabung in the north of Sumatra erupted for the second time in two days.

"It erupted again at 6:30 am (2330 GMT) and lasted about 15 minutes. The smoke and ash reached at least 2,000 meters (6,600 feet)," government volcanologist Agus Budianto was quoted by AFP as saying on Monday.

The annual conference of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will focus on global health with an emphasis on greater NGO involvement.

The 63rd joint conference of the UN department of public information and NGOs, which will take place in the Australian city of Melbourne, has attracted more than 2,200 participants from some 70 countries, the world body said on its website on Sunday.

Contaminated water has affected the life and health of flood-hit Pakistanis, claiming the lives of six more people, including one child, in the Upper Dir district.

At least six people have died in a gastroenteritis outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, previously known as the Northwest Frontier Province, bringing the death toll from water-borne diseases to more than 80.

Contaminated water has affected the life and health of flood-hit Pakistanis, claiming the lives of six more people, including one child, in the Upper Dir district.

At least six people have died in a gastroenteritis outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, previously known as the Northwest Frontier Province, bringing the death toll from water-borne diseases to more than 80.

A bus going through Ecuador's highlands towards the capital Quito went off the cliff before dawn Sunday, killing 42 passengers and injuring 12.

The crash happened in the central province of Cotopaxi where rescue workers are struggling to extract bodies and look for survivors on the steep cliffs around area of La Delicia, about 55 miles (95 kilometers) south of Quito.

Chilean miners move to a drier and cooler site deeper inside the San Jose gold and copper mine, where they were trapped since a cave-in 24 days ago, officials says.

Some of the 33 trapped Chilean miners have developed fungal infections and body sores from the hot, dank conditions in the part of the mine where they took refuge after an August 5 cave-in blocked their exit from the mine, AFP reports.

Iranian ambassador to Pakistan says the Islamic Republic is readiness to transit the relief aid of regional countries to the flood-hit nation by land.

Mashallah Shakeri said on Sunday that Pakistan currently needs tents, water pumps, water filtering equipment, drinking water, medicine and canned food.

Despite the benefits reported for antioxidants, a new study suggests some of these compounds may place the consumers at risk of developing iron deficiency and anemia.

Previous studies have pointed out the various health benefits of polyphenols including their capability for fighting prostate cancer and leukemia, reducing the risk of heart disease, improving bone health, and preventing glaucoma and other eye conditions.

Month-long floods in Pakistan continue to devastate more areas near the Indus River in the worst-hit area of southern Sindh Province.

Floodwaters have submerged Sajwal city and dozens of villages in the region.

Minister of Science, Research and Technology Kamran Daneshjoo says the "enemies" of Iran are plotting a cultural invasion of the country's universities.

"The enemies are making efforts to replace the Islamic atmosphere in [Iranian] universities with their liberal democratic environment," Daneshjoo said Sunday, referring to remarks by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

As Islam continues to appeal to the British public, high profile people have converted, including the son of the former director-general of BBC, Yahya Birt.

Yahya Birt, formerly Jonathan Birt, who converted to Islam in 1989, is the son of former BBC Director General Lord Birt. Yahya Birt received his doctorate from Oxford University on the subject of young British Muslims.

Scientists have identified eight key signs of cancer, hoping to promote early detection of the condition and improve the quality of life in the sufferers.

There are more than 200 different types of cancer, all of which are characterized with various symptoms. Cancer Research UK scientists, however, believe eight symptoms are comparable between all of these malignancies.

Adding margarine enriched with omega-3 oils to the diet of patients with a history of heart attacks does not protect them against a second attack, a new study says.

Previous studies have considered omega-3 fatty acids as heart tonic. Many physicians therefore recommend their heart patients take their regular cardiac pills and follow a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids in order to reduce the blood levels of triglyceride and subsequently the risk of developing cardiovascular events.

A new test can stop women experiencing prolonged labor in the hope of a normal delivery through detecting the pregnancies that will end up with a Caesarean section.

Many pregnant mothers in different parts of the world experience a long and painful labor before physicians come to a decision that an urgent C-section is needed to save both the mother and her baby.

A new research shows that more than 9 million British adults including the elderly, widowed and people on lower incomes are missing the chance to connect to the internet.

The study, whose findings were published by the Daily Mail and was carried out by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), warned that the UK faces a “digital divide” if it fails to get millions more online.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley says the government is to pull the plug on NHS Direct, the major medical telephone helpline, in favor of a more economical alternative.

The revelation that the non-emergency phone number 111 is to replace NHS Direct was made through a slip of the tongue by Lansley when visiting a hospital on Wednesday.

A volcano has erupted on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes as black smoke and ash shot up 1,500 meters into the air.

Mount Sinabung in the north of Sumatra began erupting around Saturday midnight after rumbling for several days.

The UN has warned that tens of thousands of children affected by the floods in Pakistan risk death from malnutrition, as flood waters threaten to engulf two towns in southern Pakistan.

A month after the disaster began, flood waters of the Indus River entered two south Pakistani towns leaving more children at risk of malnutrition and death.

Engineers in Chile are devising an alternative plan, which they hope will speed up the rescue of 33 miners trapped in a collapsed shaft 700 meters underground.

Initially, engineers had planned to drill a 66 centimeter-wide escape shaft, which would allow the men to be brought to the surface one by one.

Exposure to high levels of a chemical commonly found in food and drink packaging may contribute to endocrine changes in men, a new study says.

Previous studies have reported that bisphenol A (BPA), found in the liners of some food cans, feeding cups, and baby bottles, has a similar molecular structure to estrogen and therefore affects sex hormone signaling in laboratory animals.

A newly-developed medication improves the progression-free survival rate in patients dying from the advanced forms of melanoma, a new study says.

Previous studies have revealed that the majority of patients with advanced and metastatic melanoma only live for a couple of months after receiving standard treatments.

The death toll of a magnitude-5.9 earthquake that rocked the northeastern Iranian city of Damghan has reached three with 21 others wounded.

"Two children and an elderly woman were the three [victims] who lost their lives in the magnitude-5.9 quake, that hit villages near Shahrood and Damghan on Friday night," Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar told IRIB on Saturday.

After around three weeks trapped underground, the 33 Chilean miners are going to receive a NASA treatment, as they have been told the rescue efforts could last months.

An official with the US space agency said on Friday that Chile has called on NASA to help miners with their nutritional and behavioral health needs.

The new laboratory-made corneas have shown promising results in improving the sight of patients suffering from significant vision loss, a new study found.

Damage to the cornea -- the transparent layer that covers the pupil, iris and front of the eye and is entirely made of collagen -- is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. Corneal transplant is used to treat the condition; there is, however, a worldwide shortage of human donors.

Apart from various benefits noted for breastfeeding, a new study suggests that it can also protect new mothers against developing type 2 diabetes.

Latest figures have revealed that breastfeeding will save the lives of nearly 900 babies by preventing deaths and illnesses caused by conditions such as stomach viruses, ear infections, asthma, juvenile diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome and even childhood leukemia.

August 25, 1941 marks one of the darkest days for Iranians in the history of their country. It is the day on which the Britain and the Soviet Union that claimed to be fighting the Nazis for the freedom of all unleashed their forces on Iran despite it had announced its neutrality in the war.

The Operation codenamed Countenance turned Iran into an occupied land and the allied forces into invaders. Britain and the Soviet Union claimed the government in Iran had violated the terms of neutrality in the war and literally given a hand to one of the parties in the conflict by inviting German engineers and contractors to take part in the development projects in Iran. But that was nothing more than a pretext; one that only provided the red army and the British military with a lame justification to violate the neutrality of Iran which was announced and maintained in line with the international law.

While blueberries had long been known for their high anthocyanin antioxidants content, a new study says black rice is a less pricey source of the compound.

Previous studies have reported that strawberries, blueberries and acai berries, which are rich in polyphenolics, can slow down the natural aging process in the brain. The high antioxidant content has shown promising results in reducing blood levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and fighting heart disease.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends NHS to reject the use of the drug Avastin to treat bowel cancer due to its high costs.

The decision by the government's health watchdog NICE not to fund Avastin on the NHS has drawn widespread criticism from cancer charities, who argue that the drug can help patients live longer and should be available to everyone.

Unison, the public sector union, has taken legal action against the government over its plans to reorganise NHS claiming it failed to consult with the public.

According to Press Association, Unison claims that the government's White Paper, Liberating the NHS, published last month, proposed plans that would "fundamentally change" NHS, and that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's “refusal” to consult with the public on the proposals was unlawful.

Iran is ready to dispatch humanitarian aid to Pakistan and help reconstruct its flood-ravaged regions, the Islamic Republic's Interior Ministry says.

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar made the remarks on Friday on the sidelines of his tour of Iran's headquarters for public donations to the flood-stricken people of Pakistan, IRNA reported.

More than 175,000 people have fled Pakistan's southern city of Thatta, leaving it virtually empty, as flood waters threatened to submerge the city's outskirts.

A fresh wave of floodwaters broke through a third protective barrier around the city on Saturday, as people headed to nearby towns and cities, as well as the high ground of an ancient graveyard.

Iran's parliamentary delegation to Pakistan's flood-hit areas has assured Islamabad of the full support of its western neighbor.

Ali Aqaee, heading the delegation, talked with the Pakistani chairman of the Senate, Farooq Naek, on the phone on Friday as reported by Pakistan's Daily Times.

Unremitting torrential rains in Nicaragua have killed at least 34 people this summer and affected over 80,000 in the Central American country, officials say.

Floods and landslides have been wreaking havoc on the country, killing eight more people this week, including a four year-old girl, who was crushed by a tree in Jinotega Department in north central Nicaragua.

Five of the 33 Chilean miners who have been trapped 700 meters underground for three weeks are struggling psychologically, the country's health minister says.

"Five of the miners are isolated, are not eating well and do not want to appear on camera," Jaime Manalich was quoted by AFP as saying. "This is what we call depression."

More than 175,000 people have fled Pakistan's southern city of Thatta, leaving it virtually empty, as flood waters threatened to submerge the city's outskirts.

A fresh wave of floodwaters broke through a third protective barrier around the city on Saturday, as people headed to nearby towns and cities, as well as the high ground of an ancient graveyard.

Engineers aim to retrieve a failed blowout preventer from its ruptured Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico to shed some light on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which left 11 workers dead.

Retired US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Friday that BP engineers planed to retrieve the 15-meter, 300-ton blowout preventer which was designed to stop the flow of oil in case of an emergency, Reuters reported.

An earthquake measuring at least 5.7 on the Richter scale has struck northern Iran, killing two children.

The epicenter of the earthquake, which happened on Friday night at 11:53 p.m. local time, was located near Damghan, Semnan province in the Kavir plains about 285 kilometers (175 miles) east of Tehran and 105 kilometers (65 miles) east of the city of Semnan, which is the provincial capital.

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale has struck northern Iran but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said that the epicenter of the earthquake, which happened on Friday night at 11:53 p.m. local time, was located in Semnan province about 285 kilometers (175 miles) east of Tehran and 105 kilometers (65 miles) east of the city of Semnan, which is the provincial capital.

At least two people have been killed and nearly 1,500 more made homeless after a massive fire tore through two coastal villages north of the Philippine capital, Manila.

A senior fire officer for the Navotas district, where the fire began, said on Friday that the fire started in one shanty and quickly spread.

Scientists have found that when certain plants are attacked by a caterpillar; they send SOS signals, calling predator insects for help.

The findings came from a research made by scientists from Dutch and German institutes who studied chemicals produced by tobacco leaves, the BBC reports.

A Sri Lankan housemaid whose employers in Saudi Arabia allegedly hammered nails and needles into her body has most of the nails surgically removed.

In March 2010, the 49-year-old L.T. Ariyawathi travelled to Saudi Arabia where her Saudi employers allegedly inflicted body harm as a punishment for her complaining about the workload.

Pakistani officials warn of a significant increase in the death toll from the heavy flooding in the worst affected areas which currently stands at 1,600.

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday the figure will rise as the water recedes and more bodies are accounted for.

In the US, Hurricane Danielle has gather strength to become a category four storm as it sweeps across the North Atlantic Ocean heading towards Bermuda.

The US National Hurricane Center said on Friday that a category-four Danielle could very well bring dangerous rip currents to the country's East Cost.

Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader has called on Muslims across the globe to display a massive turnout in the Quds Day demonstrations.

Speaking ahead of the annual occasion scheduled for September 3, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani called on Muslim nations to make a special effort to memorialize the Quds Day this year.

Chilean miners trapped in a mine for three weeks have sent a video footage showing them singing their national anthem to keep their spirits up.

The 45-minute video, released late on Thursday, depicts the 33 men chanting "Long live Chile" and "long live the miners" from the gold and copper mine in the north of the country.

Landslides have claimed the lives of at least eight people in northern Turkey, with six others were gone missing, according to media reports.

Torrential rain, which triggered the incident, wiped out several homes in the town of Gundogdu late Thursday, Anatolia News Agency reported on Friday.

She was thought to be one of Germany's prized secret agents, described as beautiful and languid and capable of infiltrating an enemy camp, obtaining secret plans of attack, and then delivering them to her bosses.

A former ballerina, Marina Lee was said to have naturally light blonde hair and to speak several languages, and a page in her security service dossier made note of intelligence passed on by the French: Very nice legs.

Spanish and Swiss tennis giants Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer could meet at the final match of the US Open following their draw.

The official draw was announced at Flushing Meadows on Thursday.

A Russian vessel with 14 crewmembers on board has sunk around the country's Arctic region after sending a distress call, officials say.

Rescuers discovered a life raft from Russia's Alexei Kulakovsky tugboat, which sank on early Friday morning in the Laptev Sea some 20 nautical miles (more than 30 km) from the shore, RIA Novosti reported.

A group of scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in unravelling the genetic code for wheat, a discovery that could help combat world food shortages.

British researchers have published their findings online, giving scientists and breeding companies access to 95 per cent of wheat genes - knowledge that should help them find ways of growing more robust and plentiful crops.

The president of the Asian Football Confederation says he will support Sepp Blatter to stay in his position as the FIFA president in the next election.

"I will be backing Sepp Blatter to remain in office for a new mandate," Mohamed Bin Hammam told AFP on Friday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said taboos about women attending the Cabinet have broken and his government has helped women play active roles in various arenas.

Today, with their active presence in various venues, the faithful, joyful and dynamic Muslim Iranian women have proved this fact, noted the Iranian president in a meeting with the officials and counselors from the Woman and Family Affairs Organization.

Miners trapped in a collapsed Chilean copper and gold mine have sent a video to the surface that documents their life underground and shows them in relatively good spirits.

The video, released late on Thursday on Television Nacional de Chile, shows the shirtless men sitting and standing, most of them with puffiness under their eyes and thick, ungroomed facial hair.

The United Nations has warned that more than 3.5 million survivors of Pakistan's massive floods do not have access to clean drinking water.

"Millions of people are still faced with the dilemma of drinking contaminated water, putting them at risk of diarrheal diseases," DPA quoted Karen Allen, deputy country representative of UNICEF in Pakistan, as saying on Thursday.

The 33 miners who got trapped in a San Jose mine in Chile have been informed that it will take months for the rescue workers to get them out.

“The group -- initially feared dead -- were told that drilling a fresh shaft will not be completed until before Christmas,” the Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich said on Wednesday, DPA reports.

At least 21 people have been killed in densely populated Nangarhar Province as torrential rain has triggered heavy flooding in eastern Afghanistan.

"Nineteen people have been killed in the floods in Nangarhar. Eight people were injured while a dozen others were missing in the flooding," the provincial governor's spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said.

Scientists have discovered a planetary system in which at least five Neptune-sized planets orbit a solar type star called HD 10180 in the southern constellation of Hydrus.

The newest system of exoplanets, planets outside our Solar system, is believed to be the richest of its type.

Greece's Defense Ministry has announced that two Greek fighter jets have collided in mid-air in the south of the island of Crete.

The ministry said the two F-16 planes, with a total of three crew members on board, were part of a four-plane team that were on a training mission out of Souda airforce bay in the island's northwest on Thursday.

The remains of a prehistoric child that is believed to be more than 10,000 years old have been removed from an underwater cave in Mexico for further study.

Two German divers found the corpse in a cave 8.3 meters beneath the surface in 2006.

Wildfires in Russia have burnt forests with an economic value of at least 300 billion dollars during the country's worst ever heat wave, environmentalists say.

Alexei Zimenko, general director of Moscow-based Biodiversity Conservation Center, said at a press conference on Thursday that based on the market value of timber and the cost of reforestation, Russia has lost 25,000 dollars per each burnt hectare of forest that makes a total of at least 300 billion dollars, AFP reported.

A US government study says nearly 17 million Americans have driven a vehicle while drunk at least once within a year.

According to a 2008 survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated eight percent of all drivers, or 17.2 million people had driven a vehicle at least once even though they knew they were drunk.

A German pop singer who confessed to knowingly exposing two men to the risk of HIV after finding out she had the virus herself was convicted by a court on Thursday of grievous bodily harm.

Nadja Benaissa, 28, from German girl-band No Angels was given a two-year suspended sentence. She could have faced up to 10 years in jail. Prosecutors had sought a lenient sentence because Benaissa had confessed and expressed remorse.

About half a million flood-hit people of Pakistan have been ordered to evacuate their towns amid fears of extra flooding in the devastated country.

People in Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Daro were asked on Thursday to leave for safer places in view of possible flooding, a Pakistani official told AFP.

A New York taxi driver has been stabbed by his passenger for being Muslim, amid controversial debate over plans to build an Islamic center near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The Muslim cab driver was brutally stabbed by the assailant after responding to his question, "Are you Muslim?"

New figures show that around half a million people, mostly the youth, have contracted sexually transmitted infections (STI) over the past year in Britain.

According to the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA), the most affected people were between 15 and 24 years old, British media published on Wednesday.

As Pakistan's floods continue to sweep southward, the government has warned residents of three towns to evacuate after floodwaters breached an embankment.

Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro, a senior official in the local Thatta district government, told the AFP news agency that floods had caused a breach in one of the embankments at the village of Surjani, close to the Indus river, threatening the rest of the area.

Google Inc. is adding a free e-mail feature that may persuade more people to cut the cords on their landline phones.

The service unveiled Wednesday enables U.S. users of Google's Gmail service to make calls from microphone-equipped computers to telephones virtually anywhere in the world.

Nigerian health officials warn cholera epidemic poses a threat to the entire country after the water-borne infection has killed 352 people so far this year.

"Epidemiological evidence indicates that the entire country is at risk," the African country's Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The worst ever drought and wildfires last month have lead to a sharp rise in the prices of basic foodstuffs like buckwheat and flour in Russia.

Inflation in Russia was 0.2 percent last week, much higher than the figure before the drought. It is the third week in a row that prices have soared by this degree, the state statistics office announced.