Guinness World Records has denied a Chinese city's attempt at a new mark for the biggest serving of fried rice ever cooked, saying Yangzhou violated rules by wasting 150 kilograms (331 pounds) of the feast.

According to a posting on the record book's Chinese microblog, organizers said 4 metric tons (8,820 pounds) of cooked fried rice was distributed to five different outlets. However, it said a portion had been handled inappropriately, violating the organization's rules requiring that the food be edible and not be wasted.

An Iranian official says the Revolutionary Guard has sent more military advisers to Syria to help President Bashar Assad in the fight against insurgents.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard's deputy leader, says this has led to more Iranian deaths in the conflict. Salami didn't give any specifics for the Iranian death toll or for the number of troops dispatched.

Another meeting in another luxury hotel in another European city oozing with diplomatic history.

Such is the state of the international effort to revive a peace plan for Syria.

The Islamic State group has purportedly released a video showing the aftermath of a raid in northern Iraq by U.S. and Iraqi special forces in which one American soldier was killed.

The video, released by the pro-IS news agency Aamaq, allegedly shows the rubble of the prison raided in the town of Huwija, as well as abandoned first aid equipment and mutilated bodies, purportedly of IS militants killed in the clashes.

The thing to remember about Amazon's new $50 Fire tablet is that it's a $50 tablet.

It's not as light or as thin as a tablet that costs five or six times more. The camera isn't as good, and the screen isn't as sharp. But it works well as a budget device for the basics — reading, Facebook, video and, of course, shopping on Amazon.

Egyptian authorities have granted given government workers a half-day off in an attempt to bolster low turnout in the country's parliamentary election.

The Cabinet decree, reported in the state-owned daily Al-Ahram on Monday, reflected deep concern over the turnout in the first legislative election since Egypt's last parliament was dissolved in June 2012 following a court ruling declaring its election unconstitutional.

The coast guard says a passenger motorboat with 41 people on board capsized in central Philippines in a storm, leaving seven dead and two others missing.

A coast guard report Monday said the boat Tawash was on its way to to Guimaras province with 36 passengers and five crew members when it capsized.

Hizbullah fighters shelled Friday positions of the jihadist Islamic State group in an area near the Syrian border, killing five militants, Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said.

The shelling occurred on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Ras Baalbek, where IS fighters and Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, known as al-Nusra Front, are active.

For the Syrian refugee family, one reprieve from crushing boredom in the asylum center is short walks to a lake. But in a town teeming with neo-Nazis, the excursions can bring more distress than relief: A man recently stormed out of a coffee shop and screamed at two women of the Habashieh family to take off their hijabs "because we're in Europe!" Another time, people inside a car yelled: "Auslaender raus!!" — Foreigners out!!

Fear and frustration, however, have been tempered by kindness. A volunteer from nearby Dresden has befriended the Habashiehs, who fled Syria's civil war and are now living in a temporary facility in the eastern town of Heidenau after arriving in Germany last month, following a perilous journey from Damascus.

Spanish star Raul is retiring from football in November after his NASL season with the New York Cosmos.

The 38-year-old striker announced his decision Thursday, saying he wants focus on winning a championship in the second-tier league.