New York, Apr 3 : The new law brought by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that allows Shiite men to demand sex from their wives every four days and keep them indoors indefinitely is causing an uproar.

The new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home.

US State Department is trying to force a repeal of a law more restrictive than even the old Taliban regime, the Daily News reported.

New York, Apr 3 : Paris Hilton's brother Barron has no intentions of following in the footsteps of his sister - he's determined to give up the party life to pursue a career in music.

"I want to be an international singer-songwriter," the New York Post quoted Barron, as saying.

"I''m sick of all the Hilton stuff, where all anyone cared about was whether I was doing coke in the bathroom or how many [bleeps] I was sleeping with. I''m done with partying and traveling. It''s time to get this [bleep] started," he added.

New York, Apr 3 : Despite launching her own spray-tan line, actress Lindsay Lohan hasn't stopped using other brands.

According to sources, the `Mean Girls' star has employed the services of mobile spray tanner Fake Bake several times over the past few months.

"Lindsay tans on the sly, and will have the van come to the house of her girlfriend [Samantha Ronson] instead of her own for discretionary purposes," the New York Daily News quoted a source as saying.

Lohan's own spray-tan line, Sevin Nyne, will hit the stores on April 15.

New York  - A New York-based human rights group on Thursday urged the United Nations to declare April as Genocide Prevention Month. Six genocides - Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenia, the Holocaust and Darfur have significant anniversaries in April.

"We are trying to work with the United Nations to recognize the day," said Jonathan Freedman, spokesman for the Genocide Prevention Project. He said US Ambassador Susan Rice was to take part in a ceremony at UN headquarters related to the Rwandan genocide.

New York  - US and global stocks surged Thursday as a summit of the world's major industrial and emerging powers agreed on a more than 1-trillion-dollar aid package to help revive the global economy.

Major stock indices in the US climbed nearly 3 per cent and the Euro Stoxx index surged more than 5 per cent on the Group of 20 (G20) deal in London.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday children and adults with autism can be helped to lead a normal life as the world organization marked an international awareness day on autism.

"This is not a far-off dream, it is a reality that can be attained by promoting positive perception about autism as well as a greater social understanding of this growing challenge," Ban said in a message.

The day was marked at UN headquarters with lectures, briefings and art shows with the presence of Yoko Ono, widow of the famous member of the Beatles, John Lennon.