Sister must donate kidney to get out of US jail

Sister must donate kidney to get out of US jail
Bobby Jindal voted most popular US governor
Ford, Chrysler recall over 160,000 vehicles
In China, record car sales add to traffic jam headache
Twins' Facebook fight rages on against Zuckerberg
8-yr-old boiled alive in New Zealand hotpool
Shaping a network with Oprah’s view
French model in anti-anorexia campaign dies
Olympic champion Wanjiru charged over death threat
Sudan withdraws from Darfur peace talks
Swede sentenced to prison for Auschwitz sign theft
UN: Forces obstruct Ivory Coast mass grave probe
Bolivia paralysed by fuel hike protests
Bomb blast damages Athens court building
Why Shanghai schools deliver toppers
Mecca's new look evokes harsh criticism
Christmas theme at Maldives restaurant sparks protests
'Mumbai-style' massacre plot foiled in Denmark
Former Israeli President Katsav convicted of rape

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A Mississippi woman must donate her kidney to her sister as a condition for their early release from jail after serving 16 years for an armed robbery that netted 11 dollars.

Bobby Jindal voted most popular US governor

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Indian-origin Louisiana leader Bobby Jindal is the most popular serving governor in the United States, an opinion poll has said.

Ford, Chrysler recall over 160,000 vehicles

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Automobile giants - Ford Motor Company and Chrysler - have announced the recall of more than 160,000 vehicles for repairing manufacturing defects, a media report said Friday.

In China, record car sales add to traffic jam headache

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Booming auto sales in China have been more than 50 percent higher than in the depressed American market resulting in traffic jams in the largest Chinese cities, particularly Beijing.

Twins' Facebook fight rages on against Zuckerberg

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Some people go to court hoping to win millions of dollars. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have already won tens of millions. But six years into a legal feud with Facebook, they want to give it back — for a chance to get more.The Winklevosses — identical twins and Harvard graduates — say that they, along with another Harvard student, Divya Narendra, had the original idea for Facebook, and that Mark Zuckerberg stole it. They sued Facebook and Mr. Zuckerberg in 2004, and settled four years later for $20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook shares.

8-yr-old boiled alive in New Zealand hotpool

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In a horrific incident, an eight-year-old boy has died after being boiled alive in a geothermal hotpool in New Zealand, local media reports said.

Shaping a network with Oprah’s view

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For decades cable channels have been built around specific interests like news, sports or classic movies. Beginning this weekend, there will be something altogether different: a cable channel shaped around a person, Oprah Winfrey.The channel, called OWN, short for the Oprah Winfrey Network, will depend in part on Ms. Winfrey's powerful role as a tastemaker for her millions of fans.

French model in anti-anorexia campaign dies

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Isabelle Caro, a French actress and model whose emaciated image in a shock Italian ad campaign helped rivet global attention on the problem of anorexia in the fashion world and beyond, has died at the age of 28.

Olympic champion Wanjiru charged over death threat

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Kenya's Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru has been charged with threatening to kill his wife and his housemaid, and violently assaulting his guard.

Sudan withdraws from Darfur peace talks

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A Sudanese official says his government has withdrawn from peace talks with Darfur rebel groups, but it is still committed to making peace.

Swede sentenced to prison for Auschwitz sign theft

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A Swedish man was sentenced Thursday to two years and eight months in prison for instigating the theft a year ago of the notorious "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free") sign from the former Auschwitz death camp.

UN: Forces obstruct Ivory Coast mass grave probe

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The United Nations accused incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo's security forces of blocking access to mass graves Thursday, saying investigators believe as many as 80 bodies may be in one building that U.N. personnel are being kept from entering.

Bolivia paralysed by fuel hike protests

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Bolivia's main cities were plunged into chaos as a public transport strike triggered by an 83 per cent hike in gasoline prices crippled daily life in the Andean nation.

Bomb blast damages Athens court building

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A powerful bomb detonated outside a court building near central Athens on Thursday morning, causing significant damage but no injuries, the police said.

Why Shanghai schools deliver toppers

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5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai outperformed students from about 65 countries on an international standardized test that measured math, science and reading competency. American students came in between 15th and 31st place in the three categories. France and Britain also fared poorly.

Mecca's new look evokes harsh criticism

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It is an architectural absurdity. Just south of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Muslim world's holiest site, a kitsch rendition of London's Big Ben is nearing completion. Called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, it will be one of the tallest buildings in the world, the centerpiece of a complex that is housing a gargantuan shopping mall, an 800-room hotel and a prayer hall for several thousand people. Its muscular form, an unabashed knockoff of the original, blown up to a grotesque scale, will be decorated with Arabic inscriptions and topped by a crescent-shape spire in what feels like a cynical nod to Islam's architectural past. To make room for it, the Saudi government bulldozed an 18th-century Ottoman fortress and the hill it stood on.

Christmas theme at Maldives restaurant sparks protests

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A restaurant that hung up Christmas decorations in the strictly-Muslim nation of the Maldives sparked angry public protests, police said on Thursday.

'Mumbai-style' massacre plot foiled in Denmark

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Scandinavian intelligence agencies have said they had foiled a "Mumbai-style" plot by Islamic extremists to massacre staff at a Danish newspaper which published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.