DUBAI

The International Telecommunication Union could pass new anti-Internet regulations by the end of the year, threatening new controls to stifle free speech. Starting at the end of February, Russia, China and many other countries will gather representatives in Geneva, Switzerland, to re-work a 1988 decision that has given rise to the open Internet many around the world have greatly benefited from.

Avram Grant, manager of Partizan Belgrade, has claimed that Iranian side Sepahan Isfahan cancelled a friendly game with his team because he is Israeli.

Stock index futures pointed to a rise in U.S. equities on Tuesday after the market opens following Monday's Presidents Day holiday, with futures for the S**9**P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent.

Chris Cornell paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston at Friday's Obama fundraiser in San Francisco.

After a year of protests, diplomatic wrangling and an assassination attempt, Yemenis will draw a line under Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade rule Tuesday by voting in an uncontested election to install his deputy as president.

Macy's will add about 4,000 full-time employees this year, the retail giant's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren told a group of fashion students on Friday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy used his brand new Twitter account to official announce that he would seek re-election during France's 2012 presidential race.

Glee pays tribute to the late singer with one of the biggest hits of her career.

Emirati marriage counselor, author and ultra-conservative Muslim Widad Lootah has urged Muslim and Arab women to embrace love and love-making on the eve of Valentine's Day, it has been reported.

A fountain video from Dubai set to I Will Always Love You has been received by many Whitney Houston fans to be a tribute to the late singer.

Oil fell from the highest level in three weeks ending a whole week of upward trend even as fears over a worsening eurozone debt crisis and its potentially disastrous impact on global commodity demand were contradicted by signs and figures of a quicker recovery from the U.S.

A new contender for the world's tallest building has emerged. Avesta Group's Azerbaijian Tower is set to rise over a kilometer in height, to around 3,444 feet and 189 floors. It would surpass the 2,723-foot Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building, as well as the planned Kingdom Tower.

Iran is seeking to close grain purchases using gold and oil as payment, and has paid in yen for a large volume of wheat in its first deal since western sanctions against Tehran started choking imports of food staples, European wheat exporters said.

India and Iran share close historical links, or so argued India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Now economic interests are pulling the two countries closer again. India has struck a clever deal to pay for Iranian oil in its own not freely convertible currency, the rupee. It could be a diplomatic hot potato.

Kim Kardashian, reality TV star vixen, may finally be ready to turn the cameras off when it comes to her impending divorce to New Jersey Nets basketball player, Kris Humphries. Unfortunately for her (and fortunate for viewers), Humphries is completely ready to air the couples dirty laundry on TV.

The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered the entire Airbus A380 fleet inspected for wing cracks.

Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier India, exporters and rice millers said on Tuesday, a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.

Syrian regime forces continued bombarding the rebellious city of Homs Monday, killing 50 more people in a sustained assault on several districts, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.

After being given a $30 million private jet, Chinese film star Jackie Chan may be spending a little more time in the air than even he's used to.The martial arts legend was gifted the Legacy 650 executive jet by Brazilian plane maker Embraer as the company tries to break into the lucrative Chinese market.

Mobbed by cameramen and with two fingers raised in a victory salute, Subramanian Swamy stood before the Supreme Court on Thursday, flushed with the vindication of an unrelenting legal campaign aimed at the country's most powerful politicians and the Congress party.

Remember the 35-minute long Runaway? Kanye is making another one.