Two New Zealand pilots whose plane ran out of fuel landed on a wing and a prayer, literally, local media reported yesterday.

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson from Blenheim, at the top of the South Island about 50 kilometres south of Wellington, were in a microlight plane when the engine cut out.

"When you're in a microlight if you crash, you usually die. I turned to Wilson and he said we had no fuel," Mr Stubbs told the Marlborough Express newspaper.

"I asked what we should do. He said: 'You just pray Grant.'"

Mr Stubbs said he prayed to God to get them over a ridge and they finally landed in a small grassy area, and beside a six metre high sign stating "Jesus is Lord - The Bible".

Historian steals Lincoln letter

A US historian pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge stemming from stealing letters penned by former US Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Edward Renehan, 51, admitted stealing a March 1, 1840, letter written by Abriaham Lincoln and two by George Washington, one written in 1791 and one written and signed on December 29, 1778.

Mr Renehan later sold them to a New York gallery for $97,000.

Mr Renehan, who has written six books including one on the Kennedys, stole the letters from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, a New York-based historical and cultural association where he had been a director.

He pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Mob burns 11 'witches'

A mob has burned to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft in an area of west Kenya were traditional beliefs run deep, police said yesterday.

"Their houses were torched. Eight women and three men suspected of being witches died," Kenya's deputy police spokesman Charles Owino said.

Traditional African beliefs, Christianity and Islam co-exist peacefully in Kenya. But there is widespread suspicion of sorcery, particularly in west Kenya, which has a long tradition of witch doctors and faith healers.

Queen goes green

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is going green by investing in the largest wind turbine in the world, her property company the Crown Estate said yesterday.

The Estate, which owns most of the seabed off Britain's shores, regularly leases out its land to wind farm projects but has never invested in the turbines. With a capacity of 7.5 megawatts, the Crown has gone for the biggest yet.

Speaking at an energy conference in Aberdeen, Ben Barton, the company's offshore manager for wind farms said the Crown Estate had decided to make the investment to help overcome turbine supply difficulties, which he said were a key constraint to the construction of off-shore wind farms.

The Crown Estate is looking at areas in north-east England as a possible site for the project, he said.

'The Scream' is back

Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's "The Scream" goes back on display this week after repairs to the masterpiece which was stolen in 2004 and recovered by police two years later, museum officials said yesterday.

Munch's most famous work, "The Scream" is an icon of existential angst showing a terrified howling figure against a blood-red sky.

The famous picture was stolen by armed robbers in broad daylight before stunned visitors at the Munch Museum in August 2004, removed from its frame and damaged while in the thieves' possession. Since its recovery in August 2006 it has been out of sight, except for a brief showing, under restoration by a team of five conservators at the museum. However, despite the restoration work, the pictures still bear the scars of the robbery. The lower left corner of "The Scream", painted on cardboard, was stained by water and the surface marred by breaking glass.

"There are still some small pieces of glass in the cardboard," said chief conservator Mette Havrevold. Three men were convicted of taking part in the theft and sentenced to up to eight years in jail.

UK girl 'starves to death'

Police said yesterday that a man and a woman have been charged with child neglect after reports that a seven-year-old girl starved to death in Birmingham.

The girl, Khyra Ishaq, was taken to hospital on Saturday where she was pronounced dead. The cause of death has not been confirmed.

A report in the Birmingham Mail newspaper said the girl died from starvation and that her mother and stepfather had been charged. It said her five brothers or sisters were also taken to hospital.

In a statement, West Midlands Police said only that a man, aged 29, and a woman, aged 33, were arrested on Saturday under child cruelty laws in Handsworth, a suburb in northwest Birmingham.

The maximum sentence for neglect under the Children and Young Persons Act is 10 years in prison.