Athens/Nicosia  - The drought-stricken island of Cyprus welcomed its first rain storm in recent months Wednesday which ended up causing flooding to many parts of the eastern Mediterranean island.

Heavy storms forced the closure of two main roads in the capital Nicosia and emergency crews were called in to evacuate more than 300 homes due to heavy flooding.

Cyprus, which is heavily reliant on rainfall for water supplies, is suffering one of the worst droughts and water shortages in the past 100 years.

Prague - Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government faced a parliamentary confidence motion Wednesday, just as the Czech Republic prepares to take over the EU presidency in January.

The left-leaning opposition sought the vote on ousting the government after Topolanek's Civic Democrats, in power since January 2007, were weakened by a defeat in regional elections Saturday.

Wellington, Oct 22 : Ice cream tastes better when it''s licked from a cone than eaten from a spoon, according to an expert.

The question of whether ice cream tastes better from a cone than when eaten from a spoon was a tricky hypothesis to prove.

Now, Kay McMath, a sensory scientist from Massey University and chief judge for the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards, has provided a scientific explanation to support the idea that ice cream tastes better when it''s licked, reports the NZPA.

London, Oct 22 : A new survey has revealed that one in four trainee teachers struggle to spell even simple words.

The finding was made after more than 11,000 teachers, who started at schools this year, failed a basic test.

The inability to spell was just another finding added to the shocking statistic that was revealed last year after a whopping 20,000 were found to be duffers in arithmetic.

The student teachers were given an online test, which they can do as many times as they like, or until they pass, and it was discovered from the first test itself that the number of failures was 16 per cent higher than seven years ago.

Tokyo - Japanese electronics company NEC Corp lowered its earnings estimates for the full year through March as slowing markets caused sluggish sales of its computers and mobile phones.