Twitter confirms major cash boost

Social networking website Twitter has confirmed that it has closed a "significant round of funding".

Co-founder Evan Williams said in a blog post that the site had secured money from five investment firms.

However, he did not confirm earlier reports that suggested the firm had managed to secure $100 million (£62m), which would value the firm at $1bn.

The site, which allows users to write and share 140-character messages, has more than 45 million users worldwide.

The site had previously raised $35m in February in a deal that valued the business then at $255m.

Strauss talks up England chances

Captain Andrew Strauss said England could be a force to be reckoned with after surprising Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy in Johannesburg.

England reached a target of 213 in 45 overs to win by six wickets and looked a team transformed following their 6-1 series defeat by Australia.

Strauss said: "It was just great to see our batsmen play without fear.

Poisoned patriots? Stricken Marines seek help with illnesses

For Rick Kelly, the first sign of cancer was a feeling of discomfort in his chest.

"My wife would hug me, and it became almost unbearable," he said. "I went to a doctor, and they sent me to the oncologist, and they did biopsies on both sides. And then I ended up with a double mastectomy."

Uefa probes 40 match-fixing cases

Uefa is investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing involving games in the Champions League and Uefa Cup.

New Iran uranium enrichment site raises concerns

Iran's newly revealed uranium enrichment plant is a heavily guarded, still-unfinished underground facility in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom that will be able to produce nuclear fuel — or the payload for atomic warheads, Western intelligence officials and diplomats said Friday.

The revelation suggests a network of facilities, including ones with centrifuges that would enrich uranium at much higher speed and efficiency than previously known sites.

Iran's secrecy has heightened suspicions that the new site might have been meant to produce weapons-grade uranium while U.N. monitors were focused elsewhere — concentrating on known facilities to ensure that Tehran produces only low-enriched uranium that cannot be used for weapons.

Iran says its facilities are producing nuclear fuel for power plants, not for weapons.

"No We Can't": Why Young German Voters Have Tuned Out

It was a puzzling experience for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a rally last week in Hamburg, the leader of the Christian Democrats - and the expected winner of Sunday's national elections - gave her stock election speech, which usually elicits occasional rounds of polite applause. This time, however, every sentence was punctuated by loud cheers of "Yeah!" from a small part of the crowd. A similar thing happened in the city of Mainz three days later. Again, there were shouts of "Yeah!" following each line of Merkel's speech. Other people in the crowd repeated random words, such as fÜnf (five), HintertÜr (backdoor) and Wachstum (growth).

Woman in embryo mix-up gives birth to boy

A woman who had the wrong embryo implanted in her gave birth to a baby boy Friday, according to a statement from the couple.

"Our family is deeply grateful for the support and prayers of so many people from around the world," the statement said. "We also would like to thank the medical professionals who provided superior care and treatment throughout the pregnancy and delivery."

"Our family is going through a very difficult time and requests privacy in the days ahead."

The couple said a fertility clinic implanted another couple's embryo into Carolyn Savage's uterus -- in essence, she become an unwitting surrogate for another family.

Ten days after the procedure in February, they received a call from the clinic's doctor: "Carolyn is pregnant, but we transferred the wrong embryos."
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"I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life," Savage said. "It was such a nightmare and, in a way, I felt violated."

Within minutes of learning the news, the Sylvania, Ohio, couple decided to carry the baby and relinquish him to his DNA parents after birth.

Honduran interim leader: No meeting with Zelaya

Honduras' interim leader says ousted President Manuel Zelaya might be allowed to leave the foreign embassy where he has taken refuge without being arrested if he is granted political asylum outside the country.

Interim President Roberto Micheletti told The Associated Press in an interview late Friday that the final decision would be up to the courts to make.

As for him, he said that at least for the moment he won't negotiate face-to-face with Zelaya.

Pope hopes to bring faith to secular Czechs

Pope Benedict XVI starts his three-day visit to the Czech Republic on Saturday with the hope of restoring faith in the largely secular ex-communist nation where religion was stifled for 40 years.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church arrives in Prague shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, a peaceful coup that toppled Communist rule in former Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Religious belief was suppressed throughout the communist regime, which labelled the Church the people's enemy, put priests under secret police surveillance and banned the Catholic press and Catholic associations.

But the fall of communism failed to bring a religious revival, and in 2001 almost six in ten Czechs said in a census they did not identify with any religion, up from 39 percent a decade earlier.

Egyptian minister urges swap for Israeli soldier

Egypt's foreign minister urged Israel on Friday to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in 2006.

Egypt has been mediating a prisoner swap and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Israel needs to show flexibility.

A year ago, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar accused Israel of going back on a promise to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Cpl. Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas-allied militants in a cross-border raid near the Gaza border in 2006.

Car bomb kills six in Pakistan city: police

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - A suspected car bomb killed six people and wounded more than 10 others on a road leading to the main army cantonment in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Saturday, police said.

Could a Mixed-Race Contestant Become a Chinese Idol?

In many ways, Lou Jing is a typical young woman from Shanghai. Pretty and confident, she speaks Mandarin heavily accented with the lilting tones of the Shanghai dialect and browses the malls of this huge city for the latest fashions.

But there is one thing that distinguishes this 20-year-old from her peers, something that has made her the unwitting focus of an intense public debate about what exactly it means to be Chinese: the color of her skin. Born to a Chinese mother and an African-American father whom she has never met, the theater student rocketed into the public consciousness last month when she took part in an American Idol[EN]esque TV show, Go! Oriental Angel.

US says British ties solid despite Lockerbie row

US officials sought Tuesday to calm the row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber, saying the government was "looking to move on" and stressing the British-US relationship was still solid.

Asian markets higher amid recovery optimism

Asian stock markets were narrowly higher Tuesday amid optimism the region's economies can help lead a global recovery.

Most markets gained in lackluster trade, with Japan and a couple other countries' bourses closed for holidays. Crude oil prices rose following a big fall overnight as the dollar weakened against the yen and euro.

Investors have been piling into Asian equities this year as easy money made available by monetary loosening around the world flows toward regions with stronger growth prospects.

The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday that Asia has held up better than expected amid the global downturn and raised its growth forecasts for China and India.

"The Asian region has proven more resilient than earlier thought," said ADB chief economist Jong-Wha Lee as the Manila-based bank issued a report on developing Asian economies.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 109.20 points, or 0.5 percent, to 21,582.05, and South Korea's Kospi gained 24.19 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,719.69. India's Sensex was up 0.7 percent.

Markets in Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for public holidays.

Honduras curfew as Zelaya returns

The Honduran authorities have imposed a round-the-clock curfew and shut down airports after the dramatic return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Mr Zelaya has taken refuge in Brazil's embassy in Tegucigalpa. Many of his supporters later gathered outside.

He said he had crossed mountains and rivers to return to the capital, where he said he was seeking dialogue.

Smoking bans 'cut heart attacks'

Bans on smoking in public places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected, data shows.

Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and North America by up to a third, two studies report.

This "heart gain" is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure recently quoted by England's Department of Health.

The studies appear in two leading journals - Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year.

Latin American drug cartels find home in West Africa

Colombian and Mexican drug cartels have jumped the Atlantic Ocean and expanded into West Africa, working closely with local criminal gangs to carve out a staging area for an assault on the lucrative European market.

The situation has gotten so out of hand that tiny Guinea-Bissau, the fifth-poorest nation in the world, is being called Africa's first narco-state. Others talk about how Africa's Gold Coast has become the Coke Coast. In all, officials say, at least nine top-tier Latin American drug cartels have established bases in 11 West African nations.

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan

A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country's home minister told CNN.

Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken region in eastern Bhutan, but they could be delayed by closed roads. The quake sent boulders down the hillsides, blocking access to some of the remote, hilly regions, said Bhutan's home minister, Minjur Dorji.

The strong quake destroyed many homes and damaged monasteries, homes and dzongs -- Bhutanese forts.

Firm offers to settle toxic waste case in Ivory Coast

A giant oil-trading company is offering to pay thousands of Africans a settlement after a contractor illegally dumped toxic waste in West Africa three years ago.

The United Nations says the 2006 dumping in Ivory Coast killed 15 people and sickened about 100,000 others.

Trafigura is offering $1,536 (or 950 British pounds) per person to settle a lawsuit stemming from the dumping of 500 tons of toxic waste off Ivory Coast, or Cote d'Ivoire, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

Karzai backs U.S. military call for more troops

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he backs a recommendation from the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan to boost American troop levels in the Islamic nation. Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Karzai also conceded that fraud allegations in his country's presidential elections is a "serious issue" that merits investigation.

Segway inventor aims at thirst with Slingshot

If you listen to inventor Dean Kamen, the biggest health problem facing the world today is not AIDS, obesity or malnutrition. It's a shortage of water. So the man who designed the Segway has invented a device called the Slingshot, a portable, low-energy machine designed to purify water in remote villages.

Insiders turn bearish on U.S. stocks

Corporate executives in the U.S. were buying stocks when the market hit bottom. But there have been a lot more insider sales than purchases following the market's rally. What does it say that they're selling now?

Official: U.S. revokes visas of Honduran president, 15 others

Ramping up pressure on Honduras' interim government, the United States has revoked the visa of the beleaguered country's leader, a senior Honduran official told CNN en Espanol on Saturday.

De facto President Roberto Micheletti and 14 supreme court judges had their visas revoked, said Honduran Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez. Lopez said he, too, lost his visa privileges.

The U.S. State Department recently announced that it would pull the visas of members of Honduras' de facto regime.

Karzai maintains lead in Afghan election

Afghan President Hamid Karzai maintains a substantial lead in the country's August presidential polls, according to partial results issued by election officials on Saturday.

Out of 5,545,149 valid votes from 92.82 percent of the country's polling stations, Karzai has 3,009,559 and his closest challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, the nation's former foreign minister, has 1,558,591, the Independent Election Commission said.

5 American troops killed in Afghanistan

Five U.S. service members were killed Saturday in two bombing attacks in Afghanistan, military officials said.

Two soldiers died after their patrol struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan's Wardak province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

The security force said the U.S. military confirmed that the slain troops were Americans.

In western Afghanistan, three soldiers were fired upon after they struck a roadside bomb, the U.S. military said. Two died in the initial attack, the third succumbed to his wounds later, the military said.

Israeli president discharged from hospital

Israeli President Shimon Peres was released from hospital Sunday, a day after he fainted in Tel Aviv, his office said.

Peres, 86, passed out Saturday evening after giving a speech.

He was revived a few moments later and taken to a hospital for further examination, spokeswoman Meital Jaslovitz said at the time.

Tea party activists rally at U.S. Capitol

The conservative advocacy group Tea Party Express massed at the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest health care reform, higher taxes and what they see as out-of-control government spending.

Marchers en route to the rally held no feelings in check as they waved signs reading, "Proud member of the angry mob," "I didn't vote for this Obamanation," "Fire the czars" and "You represent us, not rule us."

Nazi imagery and a poster of President Obama as an African witch doctor were popular images.

Crash prosecutions 'putting air safety in jeopardy'

Aviation experts have warned that flight safety is being jeopardised by "overzealous" criminal investigation and prosecution of pilots and other officials after accidents. The warning comes on the eve of a trial in which four airline officials, including two Britons, face manslaughter charges after an airliner crash in Greece which killed 121 people.

Helios Airways Flight ZU 522 from Larnaca to Prague smashed into a hillside near Athens in August 2005. Air crash investigators in Greece concluded the plane crashed after its crew and passengers were rendered unconscious, starved of oxygen by a drop in cabin pressure.

U.S. to Expand Review of Detainees in Afghan Prison

The Obama administration soon plans to issue new guidelines aimed at giving the hundreds of prisoners at an American detention center in Afghanistan significantly more ability to challenge their custody, Pentagon officials and detainee advocates say.

The new Pentagon guidelines would assign a United States military official to each of the roughly 600 detainees at the American-run prison at the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. These officials would not be lawyers but could for the first time gather witnesses and evidence, including classified material, on behalf of the detainees to challenge their detention in proceedings before a military-appointed review board.