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Hanoi - Vietnam, the world's number two rice exporter, may cease exports by 2020 unless the government slows the conversion of agricultural land to other uses, a government official said Thursday.

"Localities are racing with each other to ask the government for permission to convert agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, like golf courses," Nguyen Tri Ngoc, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's cultivation department, told the German Press Agency dpa.

London, June 18 : Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has an astonishing collection of boots to boast of.

According to The Daily Star, the England star has kept his Manchester United team-mates' boots in his custody for the past two years.

Ferdinand had collected around 30 smelly boots, when his team won the Premier League title in 2007.

"We'd had a great campaign. One day I'll buy a really nice cabinet for them," Ferdinand was quoted, as saying.

After failure of Indian men team, now Indian fans are expecting Indian women to win the World Cup title as Indian women will take on New Zealand in the semifinal of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup at Trent Bridge today.

The match against New Zealand will be tough for Indian women as New Zealand women team had reached semifinals without losing even a single match while Indian women lost their first match against England but managed to win two successive matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka to enter into the semifinals of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

Tel Aviv - An Israeli woman in her mid-40's has given birth to her 18th child in 21 years, accumulating a combined total of 14 years pregnancy, and she and her husband are planning their 19th, Israeli media reported Thursday.

The ultra-Orthodox couple have 12 boys and six girls. The most recent was born Wednesday, one week after the oldest child celebrated her 21st birthday.

"I cannot say I was as moved as I was with the first child, but each baby brings with it its own excitement and blessing, " the woman explained.

Washington, June 18 : In a breakthrough study that may lead to new cancer drugs, researchers at the University of Gothenburg have found the gate that regulates the flow of water into and out of yeast cells.

Writing about their work in the journal PLoS Biology, the researchers say that the significance of their study lies in the fact that the flow of water into and out of cells may play a crucial role in several types of cancer.

They say that their finding raises hopes of developing a drug that inhibits the spread and growth of tumours.

According to the researchers, special proteins called "aquaporins" regulate the flow of water into and out of yeast cells to maintain their forms and sizes.

Vienna - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at Israel Thursday for its lack of cooperation in uncovering the truth about an alleged nuclear reactor in Syria.

Israeli bombed the suspect al-Kibar nuclear site in 2007 without first informing the IAEA. Israel has since urged the Vienna-based agency to thoroughly investigate, but has not heeded the IAEA's calls for sharing intelligence information.