Islamabad, Nov 7: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has refuted media reports that his government had borne all the expenses of President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent Saudi Arabia visit.

Zardari went to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit on Tuesday with a delegation of up to 200 people to seek financial assistance package from the kingdom.

Talking to reporters here last evening, he said that he wanted to clarify that the expenses of the “large” delegation were borne by the President, reported the Dawn.

Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said women who suffer migraine headaches may have as much as a 30 % lower risk of developing breast cancer. The study published in the November issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, said the reason for this reduced risk could be the lower estrogen levels which migraine sufferers have.

Wellington  - A new bride died in a car crash on the way home from her wedding reception in Auckland, police said Friday.

Yan Liu, 26, a Chinese immigrant, suffered fatal head injuries Thursday night when the car she was travelling in hit a traffic island in the suburb of Mount Wellington after the reception in a Chinese restaurant.

Her husband was not travelling in the same vehicle. Police said a man and a woman who were also in the car were in serious condition in hospital but the male driver had been discharged.

Yan Liu moved to New Zealand three years ago and worked at an early child-care centre.

Washington, Nov 7: A new study has linked the rise and fall of China’s ancient dynasties with monsoon cycles, with the weakening of the natural phenomenon proving to be the last straw for the kingdoms.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the study was led by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Lanzhou University in China.

The work rests on a 2,000-year-old record of monsoon activity preserved in the layers of stone in a 118-millimeter-long stalagmite found in Wanxiang Cave in Gansu Province, China.

The climate record was preserved in a stalagmite—a rock formed by mineral-rich waters dripping onto the cave floor year after year.

New Delhi, Nov 7: Eminent Kashmiri poet Rahman Rahi received the Jnanpith award, the country's highest literary award, for his contribution to Indian literature

Rahi was conferred the Jnanpith (pinnacle of knowledge) award by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at a function organised in New Delhi on Thursday.

He became the first person from Jammu and Kashmir to receive the honour.

Miami, Florida  - Tropical Storm Paloma strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea as it headed toward the Cayman Islands, the National Hurricane Center in the United States said.

Paloma had maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour by late Thursday, making it a category one hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.

The Miami-based centre said it was expected to strengthen further and forecast that it would reach category two status Friday when it was expected to reach the Caymans and possibly hit category three by Saturday.

On Sunday, it was forecast to hit Cuba, which has already been pummeled by two hurricanes this season.