Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the immediate release of an American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on "baseless" espionage charges.

"We believe she should be freed immediately," Clinton said. "The charges against her are baseless."

Roxana Saberi had been held in Iran for months prior to last week's sentence. The Iranian government charges she was operating in the country illegally because she was not a credentialed journalist.

Washington - A key gauge of the US economy's performance dropped in March, the private Conference Board said Monday, warning that the US' nearly 15-month recession will likely continue through much of 2009.

The New-York Based Conference Board's Leading Economic Index fell 0.3 per cent on the month, following a 0.2-per-cent decline in February and March.

The report comes amid some small indicators in housing, financial and manufacturing sectors over the last few weeks that suggest the US economy may be improving.

New York, Apr 20: Disgraced former Governor Eliot Spitzer revealed that he did not lose his tranquility and maintained normal family life even after the prostitution scandal because he wanted his family to make it through.

Spitzer''s, who was identified as Client No. 9, got rave reviews for sending his three daughters to school and into the public spotlight, while his scandal was making headlines.

New York, April 20: Jay-Z has defended Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps’s pot smoking incident, saying it was a young mistake.

Phelps, who has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian, had been keeping himself at bay from the spotlight since his controversial marijuana pictures surfaced in January.

And hip-hop mogul Jay-Z offered to explain the reason for the ace swimmer’s actions.

New York, April 20: Jay-Z has defended Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps’s pot smoking incident, saying it was a young mistake.

Phelps, who has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian, had been keeping himself at bay from the spotlight since his controversial marijuana pictures surfaced in January.

And hip-hop mogul Jay-Z offered to explain the reason for the ace swimmer’s actions.

New York, April 20: Former US President Bill Clinton has said that it is necessary to confront and resolve ‘Slumdog’ realities in India.

The 62-year-old had been reacting to drastic conditions in the country, the recent one being when father of ''''Slumdog Millionaire'''' star Rubina Ali Qureshi had allegedly decided to put her up on the black market for 300,000 pounds.

And it was to this incident, reported by News of the World, that Clinton offered his part of the solution.