Air France said Thursday it will resume its flight to Lebanon, a day after it was forced to land briefly in Syria and then head to Cyprus after protesters blocked the road leading to the Beirut airport.

A spokeswoman said the plane took off Wednesday from Paris, but was diverted when it was an hour from Beirut because of concerns passengers would be trapped if it landed.

Fans of Elvis Presley cheered as the singer's daughter and ex-wife appeared publicly at Graceland on Wednesday to thank them for their loyalty, 35 years after the music legend's death.

Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley spoke for little more than a minute at the gates of the mansion at the start of an all-night candlelight vigil in memory of the king of rock 'n' roll's sudden death in 1977, at the age of 42.

Lion bones have become a hot commodity for their use in Asian traditional medicine, driving up exports from South Africa to the East and creating new fears of the survival of the species.

Conservationists are already angry over lion trophy hunting.

As Britain loses faith in its banks and feels shockwaves from the euro crisis, one city is trying to keep local wealth in local pockets with the launch of its own currency.

The Bristol pound -- usable only with member businesses in the city in southwest England -- is to launch in September, and organizers are deluged with local firms wanting to sign up.

The beauty industry is booming in Brazil, where meticulous manicures, sophisticated scents and impeccable make-up are a must-have for women who have made the country the sector's world number three.

Last week, Sao Paulo hosted "Nails Fashion Week" -- where about a dozen domestic and foreign brands are offering up the latest trends in nail color as well as stilettos, make-up and eyewear in a bid to seduce new customers.

It was the trauma of seeing Israeli troops raze homes in the Bedouin community where she lives that inspired 14-year-old Salha Hamadin to write an award-winning fairy tale.

Earlier this year, Salha, who comes from an impoverished Palestinian Bedouin community near Jerusalem, was crowned winner of the teenage category of the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Bay competition, which saw 1,200 entries from around the world by youngsters aged 11 to 16.

Australia said Thursday it has no plans to ban smoking after a key court ruling allowing cigarettes to be sold in plain packets, describing the health battle against tobacco as "one step at a time."

Tobacco products will have to be sold in drab, uniform packaging with graphic health warnings in Australia from December 1 after global cigarette firms lost a constitutional challenge against the world-first plan.

A boatload of asylum-seekers picked up by a Singaporean merchant vessel after a distress call was Thursday accused of acting like pirates after forcing the captain to take them to Australia.

The Singapore-flagged MV Parsifal picked up the 67 asylum-seekers from a people-smuggling ship off the Indonesian island of Java on Monday in response to a distress call relayed by Australian authorities.

A Syrian envoy in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials has praised her host's attitude to her country, contrasting it with that of Western powers, in comments published Thursday.

China has joined Russia to repeatedly use their vetoes to scuttle U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at tackling the conflict in Syria, putting them at loggerheads with fellow permanent members the United States, Britain and France.

Heavily armed militants stormed a Pakistani air force base on Thursday, sparking clashes that left 10 people dead and raised concerns about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.

One security official was killed and a plane damaged in the pre-dawn assault at PAF Base Minhas, where suspected Islamists again showed their ability to penetrate a sensitive military site five years into a Taliban insurgency.