It was the talk of Davos, grabbing the imagination of a forum otherwise shrouded in gloom: a miracle machine that cracks the code of life within hours and could revolutionize healthcare.

Patients will no longer have to wait weeks to know if they have cancer and their doctors will know immediately what kind of disease they have, allowing them to target therapies precisely and to avoid harmful delays or mistakes.

Bugs that cause childhood pneumonia and meningitis have evolved to evade vaccines by swapping bits of their genome with other bacteria, according to a study published Sunday.

The findings, published in Nature Genetics, show how quickly these life-threatening pathogens can disguise themselves with borrowed genetic decoys, and how hard it is for medicine to keep up.

Jordan said on Monday it will raise electricity prices this week by between nine and 17 percent to offset losses caused by cut-offs in Egyptian gas supplies.

"An increase between nine to 17 percent will be imposed from Wednesday on consumers who use more 600 kilowatt/hour per month," said the Electricity Regulatory Commission.

South Sudan on Monday accused its former foes in the Khartoum government of arming gunmen who killed over 40 people in a cattle raid, as the U.N. warned tensions between the two sides risk regional peace.

"A militia group from Unity state penetrated into Warrap state... and attacked people in a cattle camp, killing over 40," said Interior Minister Alison Manani Magaya, the latest wave of violence in the world's newest nation.

Israeli forces on Monday demolished a home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, residents told Agence France Presse.

The home, a makeshift structure in the Arab neighborhood, was knocked down by bulldozers that moved in around 6.30 am (04:30 GMT), according to the Samara family, who had been living in the building.

Gunmen have attacked two more police stations in Nigeria's second city of Kano, killing at least two people amid a wave of escalating violence blamed on Islamists.

One of the attacks occurred at dawn on Monday, setting off a gunbattle with police, residents said. On Sunday night, gunmen stormed another police station near a bus station, leaving two civilians dead.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum put campaigning in Florida on hold Sunday, as his daughter, Bella, was hospitalized just days before a key primary vote.

Two days before Florida's winner-takes-all primary, Santorum spent the day in Pennsylvania, where his three year-old was admitted to a Philadelphia children's hospital.

Bomb squad officers were called to the French and Israeli embassies in Australia on Monday following the discovery of suspicious packages that were later found to be harmless.

Police said a bomb response team dispatched to the diplomatic posts in Canberra determined that the items were not suspicious and road closures around the embassies were lifted, a police spokeswoman said.

After his brother led Cuba for almost five decades, President Raul Castro announced at a Cuban Communist Party event Sunday that political terms would be limited to 10 years -- even his own.

"We can begin implementing this slowly without waiting for a constitutional reform" that is legally necessary, the president, 80, told the special conference trying to re-energize a party that has run the island uncontested for five decades, but is under mounting pressure to boost the pace of change.

Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in about a year and create the means for delivery in a further two to three years, the U.S. defense chief said Sunday, reiterating President Barack Obama's determination to halt the effort.

"The United States -- and the president's made this clear -- does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the CBS program "60 Minutes."