Istanbul - Muslims around the world should come to the support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to a message allegedly released by Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network on the internet Wednesday.

Muslims should either directly support the fight against the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip or, at the very least, provide financial support, bin Laden said in the 22-minute long audio message.

Washington - Retail sales in the United States plunged in December as holiday shoppers cut back in a recession and ignored big sales incentives, the Commerce Department said in its initial estimate Wednesday.

Sales tumbled to 343.2 billion dollars, down 9.8 per cent compared to December 2007 and down 2.7 per cent from November, worse than economists expected.

US retailers have suffered their worst holiday shopping season in decades, failing to lure in shoppers despite offers of savings and other incentives ahead of Christmas.

Washington, Jan. 14 : A Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo Bay has claimed that the U. S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani. His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that''s why I did not refer the case" for prosecution, the Washington Post quoted ," Susan J. Crawford, a senior Bush administration official, as saying.

Washington, Jan 14 : Socialite Paris Hilton's website has been hacked by cyber thieves.

They have infected her website ParisHilton. com with a parasite virus which steals personal details from subscribers'' computers.

Thousands of her fans have been hit by the virus, and has spread to up to 15,000 other websites.

The virus, discovered by computer safety consultant ScanSafe, prompts fans to update their systems then downloads to their system.

With the help of the virus, thieves can extract personal details such as bank information from a home computer or sensitive corporate material from a company network.

Washington  , Jan. 14 : A nearly 500-page report from House Judiciary Committee has demanded more investigations of Bush''s presidency, citing that his administration may have abused its powers in more ways than one during his eight years in the White House.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Junior's (Democrat-Michigan) report on Tuesday documenting the "numerous abuses and excesses" of the Bush administration and calling for continued investigations of his presidency.

Washington, Jan. 14 : President George W. Bush will deliver a farewell address to the nation on network television at 8 p. m. local time on Thursday, the White House announced.

The address will be 10 to 15 minutes long, from the East Room of the White House.

White House press secretary Dana Perino e-mailed reporters: