Washington  - A vaginal gel which can kill the HIV virus during sexual intercourse was hailed Monday for showing it was somewhat effective in preventing infection and for holding promise as another weapon in the arsenal against the deadly disease.

The gel, PRO2000 produced by Indevus Pharmaceuticals, was 30 per cent effective in reducing the incidence of AIDS during four years of trials in Africa and the United States, according to research revealed at an AIDS conference in Montreal, Canada.

Los Angeles  - As among the brightest and most successful young stars in the US music industry, Chris Brown and Rihanna were a match made in publicists' heaven. But just as they were set to send their relationship into hyperdrive with a joint appearance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, the fairy-tale romance turned sour and very ugly.

Brown, just 19, stands accused of making criminal threats against Rihanna, 20, and police say that prosecutors could charge him with more - or less - depending on their investigation.

Los Angeles  - Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studios has signed a long-term distribution deal with Walt Disney Studios, the companies confirmed Monday.

The deal comes after Spielberg signed a huge financing deal last year with Indian media conglomerate Reliance, and after a previous distribution deal with Universal Studios fell through because of the credit crisis.

Washington - The family of world number one golfer Tiger Woods has grown with the birth of the sportsman's second child and first son, the player said on his website Monday.

Charlie Axel Woods was born Sunday. He is the brother of Sam Alexis, who was born in June 2007.

Woods said he was "thrilled" over the birth of his son, and noted that both the baby and his wife, Elin, "are doing great."

Washington  - Alex Rodriguez, arguably the greatest US baseball player and an icon for the sport, admitted Monday to taking performance-enhancing drugs for three years while playing for the Texas Rangers.

The shocking confession came in an interview with US sports network ESPN. Rodriguez, or A-Rod, said he started using steroids in 2001 after signing a 252-million-dollar contract with Texas, which at the time was the most expensive in baseball history.

"I was stupid for three years. I was very, very stupid," said Rodriguez.

San Francisco  - Amazon released a new version Monday of its highly successful electronic book reader Kindle, just days after Google said it would make available large parts of its vast catalogue of scanned books to smartphone users.

The new 359-dollar Amazon device will hold up to 1,500 books, boasts 25 per cent better battery life than its predecessor and includes a "talk to me" feature that reads books aloud.