Baghdad - An Iraqi court on Tuesday reduced the sentence passed against the journalist who threw his shoes at former US president George W Bush, the journalist's brother said.

The Iraqi Court of Cassation on Tuesday reduced from three years to one year the prison sentence passed by a previous court's March 12 decision on Muntadher al-Zaidi for throwing his shoes at Bush at a December 14 press conference in Baghdad, his brother told the German Press Agency dpa on Tuesday.

Riyadh  - The Saudi Interior Ministry announced Tuesday the capture of 11 members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, al-Arabiya news channel reported.

The cell was arrested on the Kingdom's southern borders with Yemen, the report said. The group had been carrying several weapons.

The detainees, who were hiding near the border, were suspected of planning kidnapping and attack operations against Saudi security personnel, the Dubai-based channel said.

Washington  - The lawyer of Nazi-era war-crimes suspect John Demjanjuk on Tuesday attempted to halt his pending deportation to Germany.

Attorney John Broadley filed an appeal to stop the deportation after the US Immigration Court in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday had cleared the way for Demjanjuk to be taken to Germany as early as Wednesday. The court had earlier stayed the planned deportation, but then reversed course.

Lost Angeles - A California woman said to be the world's oldest human being celebrated her 115th birthday this week amidst well wishes from the US president and California governor.

The party for Gertrude Baines was held in an old-age home near Los Angeles, where cake was served on Monday. She wore a red hat and laughed as celebrants gathered at her bedside, People. com reported.

Baines became the world's oldest person after the death in January of Maria de Jesus in Portugal, who was also 115 years old, Guinness World Records confirmed on its website.

Washington/Geneva  - Medical personnel aided in the interrogation of US-held terrorism suspects that amounted to torture, according to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that was confirmed by the organization Tuesday.

According to the ICRC, medical personnel hired by the CIA observed and in some cases participated in interrogations in secret CIA prisons. The methods used included starving and subjecting inmates to extreme temperatures and a simulated drowning technique known as water-boarding.

Lima  - Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in jail on Tuesday for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity, including ordering the massacre of 25 people.

In a historic ruling, the Peruvian court convicted the former democratically-elected president, who fled his own country while still in office, for abuses committed during his presidency.