JORHAT (India) - AN INDIAN woman is hoping to enter the record books as the world's 'hottest' woman after munching 51 fiery chillies in two minutes, organisers of the feat said on Friday.

TOKYO - THE youthful governor of Japan's Osaka city voiced gratitude on Friday for an unexpected present from a woman aged in her 80s - a backpack stuffed with US$1 million (S$1.5 million) in cash donations.

TOKYO - JAPANESE liberal teachers and historians voiced concern on Friday over the approval of a history text written by a group of nationalistic scholars, saying it would whitewash the country's wartime past.