Havana - Cuban President Raul Castro replaced his foreign investment minister after the agency reported a drop in the number of state firms receiving foreign investment.

The announcement of the cabinet change was made Wednesday night on state-run television and did not give a reason for removing Marta Lomas, 58, and replacing her with UN Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca, 52.

Los Angeles - A woman who once tried to become a contestant on American Idol was found dead outside the home of Paula Abdul, one of the talent show's judges, in a case police are investigating as a possible suicide, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The woman was identified as Paula Goodspeed, 30, who auditioned for the show in 2005. She identified Abdul as her idol and bore a remarkable resemblance to her.

Kathmandu  - At least six people were killed and dozens more injured in a bus-tractor accident in eastern Nepal, police said Thursday.

Police said the bus crashed into a tractor in Sunsari district, about 400 kilometres east of the Nepalese capital, late Wednesday night.

Among those killed where the people travelling on the tractor. More than 30 people were injured and some were in serious condition.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. However, police suspected speeding by the bus was the main cause of the accident.

Los Angeles  - He was born from misfortune, formed in a creative flash by Walt Disney who had just been dispossessed of his previous cartoon character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, in a trademark dispute.

As the cartoon genius sought a replacement, he considered a horse, dog, cat, frog and cow. But his mind kept returning to the mouse he had kept as a pet growing up on the family farm.

Tokyo - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell more than 5 per cent in Thursday morning trading as the market sentiment was dampened due to persistent worries over the US economy and the yen trading stronger against other currencies.

The Nikkei index tumbled 5.12 per cent, or 445.46 points to 8,250.05.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also fell 36.84 points, or 4.21 per cent, to 838.39.

Exporters were hurt by the stronger yen as it shaves off Japanese firms' earnings overseas.

Bogota  - Colombia's indigenous people are set to ward off a potentially catastrophic volcano eruption by establishing a "spiritual connection" with the volcano, a news report said.

A group of 20 wise men will prevent the Cerro Machin volcano, located in the central Andean state Tolima, from erupting by "establishing a spiritual connection," Feliciano Valencia, one of their leaders, was quoted as saying by the Colombian El Pais newspaper on Wednesday.