"As of the last 9 months of the 2008 - 2009 financial year which concluded on 30 June, the U.S. fiscal deficit exceeded 1 trillion USD for the first time. According to forecasts by the Obama administration, the federal fiscal deficit will reach 1.84 trillion USD by the end of this year. The International Monetary Fund says in its most recent 'World Economy Outlook' report that 'the huge size of the U.S. deficit will possibly exacerbate inflation, devaluing the U.S. dollar, and having a negative effect upon U.S. sovereign credit.'"

Recent figures show obesity is more prevalent among African-Americans and Hispanics, indicating racial and ethnic disparities in US obesity rates. The overall obesity rate in the US is reported to be about 25.6%. The condition is also reported to be more prevalent in women in all three racial and ethnic groups. According to the report published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, non-Hispanic blacks (35.7%) followed by Hispanics (28.7%) and non-Hispanic whites (23.7%) had the highest prevalence of obesity in the US during the years 2006 and 2008. Differences in behavior as well as physical and social environments are possible factors contributing to the disparity in obesity rates in these individuals. "The disparities here are easy to explain," said David Katz, adding that "They're associated with poverty, less education, areas where you can't find fresh fruits and vegetables, and some cultural differences."

While liniments and balms have long been used to alleviate sore muscles, tendons and joints, a new study finds them ineffective. According to the article published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, commonly used over-the-counter rubefacient rubs are no better than placebos particularly in treating acute muscle pain. Compared to dummy creams, topical salicylate -- a close drug relative of aspirin -- were reported to have better effects against chronic conditions.

Facebook has "serious privacy gaps" and must make changes to comply with Canadian laws, according to a report issued by the country's privacy commissioner on Thursday. This is the first time a government has found Facebook in direct violation of its laws, and comes as the world's largest social network with 250m users, is pushing its users to share more of their information with everyone on the web.

An Al-Jazeera reporter who spent six years in illegal US custody is to bring legal action against the former American administration. On Friday, The Guardian quoted the former detainee Sami al-Haj as saying that he was to sue former US president George W. Bush and other former US officials. The action is expected to be taken through a Geneva center al-Haj is co-founding as a platform for the victims who had endured similar ordeals at the US Cuba-based detention facility, Guantanamo. Suspecting him of being a 'potential terrorist', American operatives detained the Sudanese in 2001 in Pakistan. The capture took place as al-Haj was on his way to Afghanistan where he was to contribute to reports for the Qatar-based TV channel. He was subsequently labeled an 'enemy combatant' -- a term which signified a person in armed conflict against the United States. "I need them to go to court ... We do not want [what happened to us] to be repeated again," the daily quoted him as saying.

Hamas intelligence sources say they have received word of a pre-planned assassination plot against senior members of the resistance movement. Top Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said Sunday that there is compelling evidence that an unidentified group intended to stage a number of terrorist operations against resistance leaders to sabotage long-awaited Palestinian reconciliation talks. For months, Palestinian factions have been striving to reach an agreement on forming a unity government and setting up a date for elections. Al-Zahar dismissed reports suggesting intelligence forces affiliated with Muhammad Dahlan -- a former Palestinian Authority security commander -- have resumed operations in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar said Hamas officials believe these intelligence forces [led by Dahlan] only serve the interests of Israel. Dahlan, once considered a key ally in Washington's drive to broker a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal, has been reportedly cited as the main reason behind the crisis in Gaza. According to Hamas representatives, Dahlan, with the political and financial blessings of the US and Israel, has created a new force in the Gaza Strip with the main goal of bringing down the Hamas government.

With Armenia's civil aviation organization confirming that the Caspian Airlines plane that crashed in Iran on Wednesday had passed all pre-flight safety inspections, the cause of the disaster remains a mystery. Flight 7908 went down near the Iranian city of Qazvin in the village of Jannat-abad at 11:33 am local time on Wednesday, killing all 168 people onboard. The plane, a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154M, was flying from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia. "The Tupolev Tu-154M had passed aircraft safety inspections in Russia earlier in June. It was then certified fit to fly until the end of 2010," Nelli Cherchinian, a spokesman for Armenia's civil aviation organization, told RIA Novosti on Thursday. Armenia and Iran, meanwhile, have agreed to coordinate efforts to investigate the cause of the crash, which has remained a mystery despite the recovery of the aircraft's data recorders. Investigators have so far found two of the three black boxes in the plane and the search for the missing third continues. One of the data recorders is believed to be damaged beyond repair and will thus be sent to its Russian manufacturer for analysis. Meanwhile, Russian experts have decided to visit Iran to help with the investigations. .....The plane crash was Iran's worst air disaster since February 2003, when a Russian-made Ilyushin 76 crashed into the mountains of southeastern Iran, killing all 302 people onboard. US-led sanctions prevent Iran from buying new planes and updating its existing fleet. The sanctions also make it hard for Iran to get its hands on European planes or spare parts. Ten members of Iran's junior judo squad, a Canadian woman, her son and an Australian brother and sister were among the 168 victims of the tragic incident.

After the tragic crash of a Caspian Airlines jet in Iran, the country's prosecutor general blames the passenger deaths on a ban on the sale of airplane parts to Iran. Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi said Sunday that such bans are on a par with crimes against humanity, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported. Najafabadi, who extended his condolences to the grieving families of those onboard, also called for improved air safety in the country. The crash of Caspian Airlines' Flight 7908 en route from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia, and the loss of all 168 onboard has raised heckles in Iran, with questions rising about the seemingly high rate of air accidents in the country. It has since transpired that the crashed aircraft was a 22-year-old Tupolev 154M, formerly owned by Afghanistan's Bakhtar and Ariana airlines, before entering the fleet of the private Caspian Airlines.