Cambodia's parliament passed a law Friday that makes adultery a criminal offense that could result in up to a year in jail. The government argued that making adultery illegal would cut down on rampant corruption, but opposition lawmakers said the law sounds like one that would be instituted by a totalitarian regime. Married Cambodian men often keep mistresses, and some of their wives resort to violence to put an end to it. Since 1999 at least 108 cases have been reported of women being attacked with acid, generally by an infuriated wife, the Licadho human rights group says.

Osama bin Laden is obsessed with singer Whitney Houston, even though her music is "evil," claims a Sudanese poet and novelist. The writer, Kola Boof, says bin Laden told her he had a "paramount desire" for Houston, wanted to possess her, and talked about having her husband, Bobby Brown, killed. The 37-year-old writer's autobiography, Diary of a Lost Girl, is excerpted in the magazine Harpers' Bazaar.

An 88-year-old farmer in a remote village in India, has become one of the oldest people to become a father when his third wife bore him a son. Virmaram Jat said he has been praying for a son after having 16 daughters from his two previous wives.

In rural Cambodia where doctors and hospitals are scarce, poor villagers are turning to a magic elephant which is believed to cure illnesses ranging from typhoid to high blood pressure. A few times a month, Yey Proheu, a 70-year-old female elephant goes around to villages to offer relief to the sick with mahout, Pang Hy, and his assistants.

Descendants of Confucius in modern China have decided to include women in their family tree for the first time though their famous ancestor looked down upon females. In the past, women descendants were always excluded from the Confucius Genealogy. The spouses of male descendants, marked in small characters behind the names of their husbands, were almost hidden. In the new 5th family tree, which was kicked off in 1996, women descendants will be written in the same size characters as men. Spouses of female descendants will be marked in small letters behind the names of their wives.