Jurors' failure to reach a verdict after 8-hours of deliberations, left the Judge in Britney Spears’ trial for driving without a valid California licence, no option but to declare it a mistrial.

Beijing - German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in China on Thursday for talks that were expected to focus on the global financial crisis.

Merkel was scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao later in the day before the two leaders join some 40 other heads of state at the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Friday and Saturday.

German officials said the fact that Merkel was one of the few foreign leaders making a formal state visit to China for the ASEM summit showed the importance of ties between the two nations.

Nick Hogan, 18 star of ‘Hogan Knows Best’ has been released from jail early, even though his reckless driving left his friend - former Marine John Graziano in need of life long medical care.

A recent study has said that suicide rates in the U.S. have shown an increase largely due to an increase in suicides among middle aged white men and women. This increase has come about after a decade long decrease in suicide rates.

The study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine said white people in the age group of 40 to 64 have "recently emerged as a new high-risk group for suicide." White women constituted the largest increase in suicides with a 4 % increase although white men still make up the largest number of people who kill themselves though there rate has increased by 3 %.

Bangkok - The upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Beijing provides an ideal opportunity for Asian and European leaders to pressure Myanmar to improve it's poor human rights record, New York-based Human Rights Watch stated Thursday.

"Since Burma's [Myanmar's] rulers have stonewalled on the efforts by the UN to bring about real change, its up to ASEM ministers to send a message that sham political reforms are unacceptable," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Obesity of mother directly affects the child. Previous studies have shown that an overweight mother has a higher chance of giving birth to a plump baby. Obesity increases the risk of many diseases.

The recent study found that slightly undernourished rat pups were healthier adults, while overfed babies were fatter.

A separate UNSW study showed that pups from obese mother rats fed more milk were almost twice as heavy as those born to lean mothers feeding normally.