London, Nov 20 (IANS) Hollywood star Hugh Jackman has healed a long-running rift with his mother, who had apparently walked out of their home when he was a child.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) American actress-singer Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony are facing a lawsuit from a woman who alleges she was injured by the couple's dog.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) Scottish actor Gerard Butler is keen to launch his own fragrance.

Berlin/Brussels, Nov 20 (DPA) Top diplomats from the so-called Ƌ+1' group of world powers expressed disappointment Friday at Iran's rejection of a compromise deal on the country's controversial nuclear programme and urged its leaders to reconsider.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) The Oprah Winfrey Talk Show will come to an end in 2011 after more than two decades on air, BBC reported Friday.

Port-of-Spain, Nov 20 (IANS) French President Nicholas Sarkozy and UN chief Ban Ki-moon will be attending the Commonwealth of Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the Trinidad and Tobago capital Nov 27-29 as special guests, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen will also attend.

Rome, Nov 20 (IANS/AKI) The transsexual prostitute at the centre of the sex, drugs and extortion scandal involving former governor Piero Marrazzo was Friday found burned to death in a fire at her apartment in the Italian capital Rome.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) Pain relieving, anti-inflammatory 'cold laser' causes increased skin tumour growth, says a new study.

London, Nov 20 (ANI): One in 10 British teenagers is unemployed and not in education, according to latest official figures.

London, Nov 20 (ANI): A couple from Poole are said to have named their new born baby daughter after the place she was born in - a Kia Carens people carrier.

London, Nov 20(ANI): The Forbes' Rich List has revealed that a buoyant stock market and a still-robust economy have almost doubled the number of billionaires in India.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) More than half the energy consumed worldwide is wasted, most of it in the form of excess heat.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) A simple, cheap and accurate test finds undetected landmines in a jiffy.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): Ireland's failure to qualify for the World Cup finals due to a blatant French handball has threatened to trigger a diplomatic row between the two countries.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): America's first and only legal marijuana coffee shop has been opened in Portland, Oregon.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) The estranged husband of an Indian-origin woman who was murdered this week with her hand chopped off has vowed to catch her killer.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) India is falling behind China in its attempts to increase the use of English, risking squandering a key economic advantage, a new report says.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown along and three of his cabinet colleagues has launched a campaign to gather Labour support for Britain's role in Afghanistan.

London, Nov 20 (ANI): The Brit rabbi, who has been accused of setting up business as a drug dealer and of supplying cocaine in exchange for sexual favours, is said to have gone on a three-day drug-fuelled orgy.

Paris, Nov 20 (IANS/AKI) Italy's unemployment rate is expected to increase to 7.6 percent in 2009 and rise even higher in 2010, according to the latest economic outlook from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

London, Nov 20 (ANI): A wealthy couple turned to High Court in the UK to decide how to divide the 500,000-pound house they once shared.

London, November 20 (ANI): Older generation of drug addicts is prone to suicidal thoughts, a new Scottish study suggests.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): Britain was aware about the CIA's barbaric torture techniques on terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, a former Gitmo detainee has claimed.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): Indian-origin Rajinder Singh, who blames Muslims for killing his father during the Partition of India in 1947, is set to become the first non-white member of the racist British National Party (BNP).

London, Nov 20 (ANI): Fergie, the Duchess Of York, has come a step closer to standing trial in Turkey after she was served with legal papers by Scotland Yard yesterday.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) The surrogate mother of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthhew Broderick's twins has testified in court that tax files and ultrasound photos were taken from her home in Ohio while she was in hiding prior to giving birth.

London, Nov 29 (IANS) British actor Hugh Grant says he didn't want to have kids a decade ago but now, at age 49, he hopes to be a father.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) Oprah Winfrey will be ending her long running popular talk show in 2011.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): The International Association of Athletics Federations has denied the South African Government's claims that it had agreed to allow Caster Semenya keep her World Championship gold medal despite the gender controversy clouding her victory.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): The CIA reportedly used a horse riding school in Lithuania as a secret prison to hold and interrogate top al-Qaeda terrorists.

London, Nov 20 (IANS) Mariah Carey, who flew her personal vet from Los Angeles to New York to help her dog deliver puppies, missed the birth because she was not in town at that time.

Rome, Nov 20 (IANS/AKI) Almost four million Italians are living abroad, according to a new report released Thursday.

London, Nov. 20 (ANI): Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been elected as the first President of the European Union, while Britain's European Trade Commissioner, Baroness Ashton, is the new foreign minister of the council.

Monte Carlo, Nov 20 (IANS/AKI) Italian prime minister and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi will determine the future of his estimated 8 billion euro fortune, his eldest son Piersilvio said Thursday.

Hamburg, Nov 20 (DPA) Asterix, the world's most famous Gaul just turned 50, bringing all of Europe into a fever about the comic book hero.

Wiesbaden (Germany)/Washington, Nov 20 (DPA) Police in 24 nations raided illegal internet pharmacies this week, intercepted parcels at mail depots and seized stocks of illicit medicines, German police and US officials said.

Brussels, Nov 20 (DPA) European Union leaders agreed to appoint Herman Van Rompuy, a relatively inexperienced prime minister from Belgium, as their first-ever full-time president.

Brussels, Nov 20 (DPA) European Union leaders agreed to appoint Herman Van Rompuy, prime minister of Belgium, as the bloc's first-ever full-time president, diplomatic sources said.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood star-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he'll quit as a politician next year.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt reportedly turned down $5 million for a public appearance to spend time with his children.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) American actress-singer Nicole Richie has been hospitalised with pneumonia.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Troubled actress-singer Lindsay Lohan is in talks to play a character loosely based on herself in a romantic comedy.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Colombian pop star Shakira believes she could belly dance since being born and never had to train to learn her dance moves.

Brussels, Nov 19 (DPA) Top diplomats from the so-called Ƌ+1' group of world powers were to meet in Brussels Friday to discuss how to respond to Iran's refusal to reach a nuclear deal, diplomats said Thursday.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Police arrested six more men from a house in west London Thursday in connection with the murder of an Indian-origin woman who was found dying on the street with her hand chopped off.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) The mother of Scarlett Keeling, the British teenager who was murdered in Goa last year, has been charged with a 50,000-pound benefit fraud, according to a newspaper report Thursday.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) English county club Middlesex have signed up Adam Gilchrist for next season's Twenty20 Cup and are now looking to get Sachin Tendulkar on board as well.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) The son Osama bin Laden favoured to carry on his work says he would like to work for the United Nations instead -- as a peace campaigner.

London, Nov.19 (ANI): Britain's first female Muslim peer, Baroness Uddin, claimed 100,000 pounds in parliamentary allowances by registering her main home, a property that she barely occupied.

London, Nov 19( IANS) Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry has vowed never to undergo plastic surgery.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Acclaimed American novelist Philip Roth has been shortlisted for the Bad Sex Award, alongside fellow-literary luminaries Amos Oz and Paul Theroux.

London, Nov 19(ANI): At least six British MPs and peers may face criminal charges of fraud into the abuse of the Parliamentary expenses system following investigations by Scotland Yard.

Munich (Germany), Nov.19 (ANI): A German spy has gone on trial in Munich accused of betraying state secrets after his wife discovered he was having a gay affair.

Paris, Nov 19 (DPA) Although much of the world appears to be emerging from the economic crisis, joblessness is expected to remain high in the US and Europe at least until 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Thursday.

Moscow, Nov 19 (RIA Novosti) Russia's Constitutional Court prolonged on Thursday a moratorium on the death penalty, which was due to expire Jan 1.

London, Nov 19(ANI): Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's son, Omar bin Laden, has insisted that he is definitely not someone cut from the same cloth as his father, saying he would 'like to be in a position to promote peace'.

London, November 19 (ANI): A 19th century medal created to mark the hanging of a cheating banker has been put up for sale in London.

London, Nov 19 (ANI): A panda walking on two legs has become a top attraction at the zoo in Zhouzhi, China.

London, Nov 19 (ANI): Japan's largest banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUJF), is asking its employees to hit home early and have family time in a bid to reverse the nation's falling population and low birth rate.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Beware, depression can be as deadly as smoking.

London, Nov.19 (ANI): The Gordon Brown Government has been accused of desperate electioneering after Queen Elizabeth delivered the briefest of speeches, lasting seven minutes on the achievements of Labour since it came to power 12 years ago.Brown was said to have squandered the chance to clean up Parliament with legislation to end the expenses gravy train.

London, Nov 19 (ANI): The auctioning of items belonging to late Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge is said to have so far fetched four million euros with two more days left for the sale.

London, November 19 (ANI): Art auction house Sotheby's recently sold a rare 2.52 carat green diamond to an anonymous buyer for a whopping 2.05 million euros.

Melbourne, Nov 19 (ANI): US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confessed that she has a 'crush' on Britain's foreign minister, David Miliband.

Rome, Nov 19 (IANS/AKI) Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has ruled out a general election and said his government was 'solid'.

London, Nov 19 (ANI): A rabbi in Britain has been accused of setting up business as a drug dealer and of supplying cocaine to young prostitutes at parties in exchange for sexual favours.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood star Tom Cruise surprised wife Katie Holmes with an early wedding anniversary celebration in Boston, Massachusetts.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood star Johnny Depp has been named the sexiest man alive by People magazine.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Chris Weitz, director of the movie 'The Twilight Saga New Moon', says he will retire from Hollywood after making one more movie.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage visited a Kenyan prison to meet suspected Somali pirates to understand what's fuelling piracy in the Indian Ocean.

London, Nov 19 (IANS) Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman hates her singing voice because she can't reach the high notes.

Madrid, Nov 19 (EFE) Spain's Gross Domestic Product contracted at a slower pace in the third quarter, declining 0.3 percent relative to the previous three-month period and four percent year-on-year, according to final figures from the National Statistics Institute, or INE.

Melbourne, Nov 19 (IANS) Australia's ban on uranium sales to India made no sense at a time when that country was trying to develop its economy, deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop has said.

Florence, Nov 19 (IANS/AKI) Barbie dolls clad in Indian sari, wearing the Muslim burqa and the Japanese kimono are among a collection due to go under the hammer in the central Italian city of Florence Friday.

Rome, Nov 19 (IANS/AKI) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has rejected a decision by the European Court of Human Rights opposing the display of the crucifix in school classrooms in officially secular Italy, saying it is important to maintain traditions.

Zenica (Bosnia), Nov 19 (DPA) Porto midfielder Raul Meireles was the hero for Portugal as his side beat a 10-member Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 to qualify for next year's football World Cup finals in South Africa.

Brussels, Nov 19 (DPA) Following tough negotiations, European Union (EU) governments and the European Parliament have agreed on the bloc's budget for 2010.

Gelsenkirchen (Germany), Nov 19 (DPA) Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke was remembered by players from both sides ahead of a friendly football match that Germany drew 2-2 with the Ivory Coast.

Stockholm, Nov 19 (RIA Novosti) Russia aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below the 1990 level by 2020, President Dmitry Medvedev told an EU-Russia summit here Thursday.

Vienna, Nov 19 (DPA) An Iranian diplomat threatened Wednesday to withhold cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency's probe of a new nuclear site if the IAEA pushes too hard for information, participants at an agency meeting in Vienna said.

Hamburg, Nov 19 (DPA) Poland coach Franciszek Smuda got his first victory against Canada Wednesday while South Korea's 27-match unbeaten run in international football came to an end with a 1-0 defeat to Serbia in a friendly match played in London.

Brussels, Nov 19 (IANS) Officials of the European Union (EU) and Russia have signed a series of agreements here to boost socio-economic development in border regions.

Berlin, Nov 19 (IANS) Germany has decided to extend its military mission in Afghanistan for another year. The current mandate will expire Dec 13.