The bride said she was a virgin. When her new husband discovered that was a lie, he went to court to annul the marriage — and a French judge agreed. The ruling ending the Muslim couple's union has stunned France and raised concerns the country's much-cherished secular values are losing ground to cultural traditions from its fast-growing immigrant communities.

Seventy men in Australia have been arrested in a global crackdown on Internet child pornography and more will be detained, police said Thursday. The Interpol-led probe involving 170 countries was launched after a hacker posted 99 child porn images on a European website, which attracted 12 million hits in just 76 hours.

A man allegedly raped his daughter when he was in an inebriated state, police said today. A resident of Vaishali Nagar locality here was arrested yesterday following a complaint by his daughter who accused him of raping her.

The accused, hailing from Maharashtra, is working in an iron factory and had recently brought his daughter here from his native state, police said.

Handing down the first sentences in Tibet riots, China today jailed 30 people, including six monks, for their alleged role in the worst anti- government protests since 1989 in Lhasa as it asked the Dalai Lama to create suitable conditions for the proposed talks.

In a reprieve for Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, the Kerala High Court yesterday stayed proceedings against him in three cheque bouncing cases. The stay order was issued by Justice R Basant on a petition by Shroff to quash the cases pending against him before the Judicial First Class Magistrate court at Kodungaloor in Thrissur.

Rape, molestation and abductions, the crimes are numerous but low conviction rates for the same is one of the major reason for the growing number of offenses against women, point out experts. Apart from other factors, the low conviction rate in the cases of rape or molestation is the biggest worry we have today. There is hardly any deterrence.

As the rape of a minor girl here sparked an outrage, a Delhi traffic police constable accused of the crime was today dismissed from service and the national capital's Police chief Y S Dadwal summoned by a Parliamentary Committee to discuss the safety of women.

Two persons, including an auto driver, were arrested for allegedly molest of a foreign national at Kozhikode early today. Police said driver Abdul Khader (22) and his companion Anwar Jamwal (21) were arrested for allegedly molesting the 19-year British national near the Kozhikode private bus stand last night.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who visited the trouble hit areas here today issued a shoot at sight order to prevent any further violence. Those behind the violent incidents will be arrested soon. Severe action will be taken to curb violence and police can take any step for the same, Kodiyeri said.

Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking to quash a cheque bouncing case pending against him in a lower court in Thrissur. Shroff has stated in his petition, filed yesterday, the Judicial First Class Magistrate at Kodungalloor in Thrissur district had no territorial jurisdiction to consider the complaints filed against him in the case.