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Intake of omega-3-fatty acids may help lessen age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of blindness and poor vision in the elderly, a new study has said.

AMD has an effect on macula, which is a part in the eye responsible for central vision. AMD is mainly seen in patients older than 60 years.

A report published in the British Journal of ‘Ophthalmology’ said that adding up omega-3 fatty acids, found in abundance in fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel, to a diet can ward off AMD risk.

Sydney  - A second night of protests by Indian students over perceived racially motivated violence against them prompted Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to warn Wednesday against the formation of vigilante groups.

"I fully support hardline measures in response to any act of violence towards any student anywhere - Indian or otherwise," Rudd said. "And furthermore we also need to render as completely unacceptable people taking the law into their own hands."

Sydney  - Borrowing to bet on the stock market has cost Australia's largest Anglican diocese 100 million Australian dollars (80 million US dollars).

"We've done very well over many many years through putting our money in investments, but that also means that there are times when you can seriously lose," Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen said Wednesday.

But for the recent upturn on global markets, the hit could have been 260 million Australian dollars, prompting Jensen to go cap in hand to parishioners.

Wellington  - Fiji's military government on Wednesday extended for another month the emergency powers it introduced in April when the constitution was revoked and the judges sacked.

The powers include banning political meetings and posting military censors in all newspaper offices and broadcasting stations to forbid any criticism of the regime, which has ruled since a bloodless coup in December 2006.

Rio de Janeiro - Recovery teams pulled an additional 17 bodies out of the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil Tuesday, to bring the total number of bodies retrieved after last week's Air France plane crash to 41.

The airliner, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board, crashed into the ocean in the early hours of June 1 about 1,300 kilometres north-east of Brazil's coast, in a region beset by rough seas and tumultuous storms, which have hindered recovery efforts.

Wellington  - A committee of the New Zealand Parliament has criticized the country's banks for failing to cut mortgage interest rates as much as they could in order to maintain healthy profits.

"We are not sure that the banking financial sector is carrying its fair share of the burden through this recession," Craig Foss, chairman of the finance and expenditure committee, said on Wednesday.