Washington, Feb 14: The Taliban, which follows an extremely strict and anti-modern ideology, are well known for banning music, movies and all sorts of conveniences are no more averse to latest iPhones.

The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan until late 2001, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, surprised Al Jazeera reporter Hamish Macdonald during an interview earlier this month when whipped out his iPhone.

Taipei  - Taiwan has invited more than 4,000 fans from East and South-East Asia to meet the boy band Fahrenheit in Taipei to boost tourism to the island, the Tourism Bureau said Friday.

The 4,200 fans are from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries. The get-together, called Wish to See You in Taiwan, is to take place Sunday at the National Taiwan University Gymnasium, the bureau said.

London, Feb 12: Besides wrecking English language, the increased use of text messages and emails is making spelling standards fall, according to a new study.

London, Feb 12: Women's personality traits are written all over their faces, while men's are closed books, claims a new study.

According to the New Scientist study, simply by looking at females' faces one can tell if they're lucky, religious or trustworthy.

However, studying men''s faces gives no hint as to their character, the study found.

To reach the conclusion, researchers asked 1,000 people to send in photographs of themselves and fill in a detailed questionnaire about their personality and beliefs.

Jakarta - Nine people were seriously injured and many buildings were damaged when an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck early Thursday off the northern tip of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, an official said.

A small island chain off Sulawesi near the Philippines was hit hardest, with houses and government buildings collapsing, said Sutiono, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta.

"According to the latest information, nine people were badly injured in Kabarua district," Sutiono told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

London, Feb 11: Kids who are weak in maths can improve their skills in the subject by playing cricket, according to a Brit Schools executive.

Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, has said that playing cricket helps develop skills such as managing statistics and working out sums under pressure.

Also, he suggested that with the development of technology such as computerised ball trackers and England''s new sweaters that help regulate body temperature, the game could boost children''s grasp of science.

Balls made the comments prior to a speech at a school sport conference.