Software giant Microsoft has unveiled the updated version of its Windows 8 operating system at the world's second-largest computer show in Taipei.

Tami Reller, chief financial and marketing officer of the company's Windows Division, said that Windows 8.1 would be available on both PCs and tablets later this year.

A U.S. trade agency on Tuesday issued a ban on imports of Apple's iPhone 4 and a variant of the iPad 2 after finding the devices violate a patent held by South Korean rival Samsung Electronics.

Because the devices are assembled in China, the import ban would end Apple's ability to sell them in the U.S.

South Korea needed an equalizer in the seventh minute of injury time to earn a 1-1 draw with 10-man Lebanon in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

Hassan Maatouk put the hosts ahead in the 12th minute after some poor defending allowed the forward to collect the ball before firing low and hard past goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong.

The army vowed on Wednesday to trounce rebel fighters across Syria hours after recapturing Qusayr following a more than two-week assault on the strategic town on the border with Lebanon.

"After successive advances in the war against organised terrorists, our armed forces say they will not hesitate to crush the armed men wherever they are and in every corner of Syria," it said in a statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and American counterpart Barack Obama will talk cyber-security this week in California, but experts say the state's Silicon Valley and its signature high-tech firms should provide the front lines in the increasingly aggressive fight against overseas hackers.

With China seeking to grow its economy and expand its technology base, companies like Facebook, Apple, Google and Twitter are inviting targets. In fact, all have been attacked and all point the finger at China, which has denied any role.

Syrian government forces have pushed rebels battling to topple President Bashar Assad out of a key district on the edge of Damascus, the country's state news agency reported Tuesday.

If confirmed, the regime's latest gain would bolster the defenses of the Syrian capital and further shift the balance of power Assad's way in the civil war.

Lanky models in high heels saunter down the catwalk, one wearing a huge pink rose headpiece while another's face is draped in a taupe silk headscarf adorned with dangling gold accessories.

But this is not a typical fashion show. There's no-see-through sheaths, naked midriffs or long exposed legs that scream sexy. Instead, everyone on the runway at the Islamic Fashion Fair show is covered from head to foot in loose-flowing fabrics with a variety of textures and colors.

For decades, health officials have battled malaria with insecticides, bed nets and drugs. Now, scientists say there might be a potent new tool to fight the deadly mosquito-borne disease: the stench of human feet.

In a laboratory study, researchers found that mosquitoes infected with the tropical disease were more attracted to human odors from a dirty sock than those that didn't carry malaria. Insects carrying malaria parasites were three times more likely to be drawn to the stinky stockings.

South Africa's Paralympic hero Oscar Pistorius arrived at court for the first time since being freed on bail in February over the Valentine's Day killing of his model girlfriend.

Sporting a grey suit and blue shirt and tie, and looking tense, the sprinter known as the "Blade Runner" walked through the main front entrance and headed straight to a courtroom packed with media and his family.

The big winners at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards on Monday night were Proenza Schouler for womenswear, Thom Browne for menswear and Phillip Lim for accessories, but the crowd seemed to have the most love for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton received a standing ovation at the Lincoln Center ceremony before she presented the CFDA's highest honor, its Founder's Award, to Oscar de la Renta, whom she called "a dear friend." She recounted first meeting him as first lady in 1993 during a White House receiving line for a Kennedy Center event.