The 13 people aboard the International Space Station are currently facing a problem of sorts in the orbit - one of the two toilets of the space station is 'out of order'! As such, Mission Control has asked the six space station residents to use the one toilet which is functioning; while Endeavour's seven astronauts have been asked to use the shuttle bathroom.

Obesity is a major health problem in the world. It has been on the rise in the United States and many other countries. It also gives rise to other problems such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Now, a new study has disclosed that even a moderate weight reduction can be helpful for obese individuals to keep away from various cardiovascular diseases.

Doctors at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston showed that reducing weight virtually lowers the risk of having metabolic syndrome.

HOUSTON, Dec. 4 - A Houston woman whose Texas A&M University ring was stolen from her car more than a year ago said the ring was mysteriously returned to her in the mail.

Betty Ghio, 52, said the ring was stolen -- along with an iPod, a cell phone, purses, three dozen new golf balls and about $100 -- while her PT Cruiser was parked outside of a bank in June 2007, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

"I was just shattered, coming out to my car and seeing this," Ghio said. "It was only about $1,800 in goods that were stolen. But my A&M ring, you couldn't put a value on that."

HOUSTON, Dec. 4 - A Houston family lost a cat while camping at Yellowstone National Park and thought the kitty was dead, until it turned up alive and thinner three months later.

Philip Wattenbarger said Fluffy the cat went missing while he was camping with his wife, Elizabeth Ayers, and their three daughters at the northeastern U. S. park in August, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

Wattenbarger said the family searched the area for days but could find no sign of Fluffy. He said they eventually concluded that the family cat would not be able to survive for long in woods, what with the bears, wolves and other predators.

HOUSTON, Dec. 1 - The Houston Comets, who won the WNBA's first four championships (1997-2000), will close down this week.

The Comets had been owned by the WNBA since the middle of last season, but because a buyer couldn't be found the league made the decision to put the team out of business.

The Comets were originally owned by Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets. He sold the team to a group headed by businessman Hilton Koch last year, but the league then took over the franchise.

HOUSTON, Dec. 1 - The Houston Astros have come to an agreement on a deal with free-agent starting pitcher Mike Hampton pending a physical.

MLB. com reported Monday that Hampton, 36, will travel to Houston to be examined.

Hampton had some of the best years of his career with Houston. A 22-win season in 1999 saw him finish second to Randy Johnson in the Cy Young Award voting. After six years with Houston, Hampton joined the Mets for one season.

HOUSTON, Dec. 1 -- The Houston Astros have come to an agreement on a deal with free agent starting pitcher Mike Hampton pending a physical.

MLB. com reported Monday that Hampton, 36, will travel to Houston to be examined.

Hampton had some of the best years of his career with Houston. A 22-win season in 1999 saw him finish second to Randy Johnson in the Cy Young Award voting. After six years with Houston, Hampton joined the Mets for one season.

HOUSTON, Nov. 28  -- The crew of the U. S. space shuttle Endeavour is back in the spacecraft, facing a Friday departure from the International Space Station, NASA said.

After a freeze-dried Thanksgiving dinner Thursday and a round of good-byes to their comrades aboard the space station, the hatches between the shuttle and the orbiting scientific research facility were closed at closed at 7:31 p. m. EST, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported. Undocking is scheduled for 9:47 a. m. Friday, with the final separation burn at 12:14 p. m.

The STS-126 mission's main purpose was to bring new amenities, including a second toilet, a refrigeration system and a urine recycling machine, to the station and install them.

Houston  - More than 1,000 rescue personnel Monday intensified their feverish search for survivors and dead bodies in Texas after the death toll rose to 30 from Hurricane Ike.

Televised images showed the barrier island community of Bolivar, next door to Galveston, nearly wiped out, with only cement slabs or free-standing stilts remaining from one-time homes. An estimated 80 per cent of the town was washed away, CNN reported.

Houston  - Twelve hours after Hurricane Ike tore into Texas' Gulf Coast, rescue crews were trickling Saturday afternoon into the area around hard-hit Galveston, Texas officials said.

Rescuers immediately evacuated four patients from a University of Texas medical center in Galveston, the city on a barrier island where the storm pushed a surge of Gulf waters to a height of nearly 1 metre into the first floor of buildings, said Texas Governor Rick Perry in broadcast remarks.

Adjoining Galveston island, 125 people had been rescued from Bolivar Island, he said.

Houston - Hurricane Ike continued battering northern regions of Texas with 145-kilometre-an-hour winds Saturday, even as residents of the coast and Houston started a cautious survey of the damage after the storm had moved through.

There were three reported deaths, including a young boy killed by a falling tree as his family tried to clean up damage after the storm had passed, CNN reported.

Houston  - The lethal hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast has sent 1.2 million people fleeing for safety as Ike threatens with 16- metre breakers and 7-metre flooding, Texas Governor Rick Perry said Friday.

The evacuation included 12,500 seriously ill or elderly people, Perry told CNN broadcaster.

"The evacuation went relatively well," he said.

Hurricane Ike is now a huge category-2 storm that could strengthen to category 3 by the time it slams into the Gulf Coast and Galveston between 0200 and 0600 GMT.

Houston  - About 1,000 inmates on Friday remained in a jail on Galveston Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico that Hurricane Ike is expected to hit first.

The prisoners and a full staff stayed in the Galveston County Jail as huge waves started rolling over the island, with Ike expected to make landfall between 0200 and 0600 GMT Saturday morning.

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas ordered a mandatory evacuation of Galveston on Thursday.

Houston  - With huge waves already rolling over Galveston Island and the Texas coast Friday morning, US President George W Bush sent an urgent appeal to stubborn residents who refused to evacuate.

Hurricane Ike was aimed dead-on to hit Galveston, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, and Houston further inland, bearing winds of 195 kilometres an hour as it gathered steam over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.

The storm is expected to make landfall between 0200 and 0600 GMT Saturday morning.

Houston, Texas- Soaring oil prices have pushed Exxon Mobil to a record profit for the second quarter of 2008, with the world's largest publicly-traded oil company on Thursday posting a 14-per-cent rise in net income to 11.7 billion dollars.

Representing the largest-ever quarterly profit for a US company, the rise mirrors strong quarterly performances by European competitors BP and Shell.

Revenue meanwhile climbed to 138.1 billion dollars for the period, up 40 per cent on Q2 2007, the Houston-based energy giant said in a statement.

The figures however come in below analysts' expectations, with Exxon shares remaining under pressure.

A report released on Tuesday articulated that Houston is the worst of the nation's economic downturn so far, and is expected to see its economic output growth dip by $2.3 billion in 2008.

Prepared by economic analysis firm Global Insight Inc., the report titled as, "The Mortgage Crisis: Economic and Fiscal Implications for Metro Areas," was released at the start of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Detroit.