Hailing Mamata Banerjee's historic victory over the Left Front in West Bengal on Friday, Bengali NRIs in Canada wanted industrialisation of the state to top her agenda. Toronto-based Molly Banerjei said, "People in West Bengal have voted against decades-old corruption and oppression. They have voted for hope and a brighter future. They have voted for change. Her biggest challenge will be in attracting industry back to West Bengal.''

Suzanne Thabet, the wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was on Friday sent to custody for 15 days in connection with charges that she abused her position to make illicit monetary gains, as probe continues into the fortune of the Mubarak family.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said they are confident of defending their proud home record against Pakistan in the two-Test series. The first Test will begin at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday. Pakistan beat West Indies 3-2 in the ODI series.

The leader of Al Qaeda's Yemen branch has warned that jihad will become more "intense and harmful" after the killing of Osama bin Laden by US commandos, Site monitoring group reported on Wednesday.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been awarded a gold medal by the Sydney Peace Foundation in recognition of his "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights", the Australian Associated Press reported. Previous winners of the award include Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Egypt's former tourism minister Zuheir Garranah was sentenced to five years in jail on Tuesday for illegally issuing licences to tourism companies, state TV said.

Indonesia on Saturday called on fellow Southeast Asian states to "give serious attention" to soaring food and energy prices, warning inflation could drive more people into poverty.

Russia plans to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup in 13 cities, but the final decision would be made by Fifa, football's international governing body, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.

Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie says that she is comfortable discussing adoption with her six kids, three of whom were adopted from orphanages in Asia and Africa.

A Russian court sentenced an ultra-nationalist to life in prison on Friday for the 2009 murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anastasia Baburova, a court spokeswoman told AFP.