Al-Qaeda video directed at Obama not a threat to US    

Japan's top filmmaker takes swipe at comic-mad PM   

Japanese Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki criticised Prime Minister Taro Aso's penchant for "manga" comic books on Thursday and said children should spend more time experiencing nature than getting engrossed in video games and TV.

Somali pirates transform villages into boomtowns   

Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women - even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.

Gazans cook on wood fires because of power cuts   

While an Israeli cut-off in fuel shipments has closed down a dozen of his competitors, baker Khalil Awad stays in business thanks to a little creativity and dirty black oil drained from car engines.