Washington  - The legislature of the US state of Vermont on Tuesday voted to make same-sex marriage legal, overriding the governor's veto of a bill that allowed gay couples to marry.

Vermont becomes the fourth state to allow same-sex marriage, and the first to do so through the legislative process and not court action. It joins the states of Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut, where the courts intervened to make gay marriage legal.

Lost Angeles - A California woman said to be the world's oldest human being celebrated her 115th birthday this week amidst well wishes from the US president and California governor.

The party for Gertrude Baines was held in an old-age home near Los Angeles, where cake was served on Monday. She wore a red hat and laughed as celebrants gathered at her bedside, People. com reported.

Baines became the world's oldest person after the death in January of Maria de Jesus in Portugal, who was also 115 years old, Guinness World Records confirmed on its website.

Washington/Geneva  - Medical personnel aided in the interrogation of US-held terrorism suspects that amounted to torture, according to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that was confirmed by the organization Tuesday.

According to the ICRC, medical personnel hired by the CIA observed and in some cases participated in interrogations in secret CIA prisons. The methods used included starving and subjecting inmates to extreme temperatures and a simulated drowning technique known as water-boarding.

Washington  - A few hundred students gathered at a US university campus to watch a pornographic film, chanting slogans about free speech and protesting threats by a state senator to cut funding if the movie was screened.

Students of the University of Maryland watched excerpts of Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge on Monday night, which was followed by a discussion on free speech by lawyers and professors.

Only half an hour of the two-and-a-half-hour film was shown - but the students had made their point.

Washington  - The United States has placed sanctions on six Iranian companies and a Chinese businessman for aiding the Islamic regime's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.

The US said Li Fangwei, commercial manager of the Chinese firm LIMMT, has been violating United Nations resolutions by selling graphite and other materials to Iran for its missile programme.

New York, Apr