Washington, May 18 (ANI): Researchers have now turned towards clay - a naturally occurring substance recognized since antiquity for its medicinal properties - to kill a range of pathogens.

Shelley Haydel, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and her graduate student, Caitlin Otto, lay out the case for clay, demonstrating that certain varieties of clay have the ability to aggressively kill a range of pathogens including E. coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), May 18 (ANI): Observing the 18th year of disappearance of their spiritual leader, the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Cheoki Nyima, scores of exiled Tibetans participated in prayer meetings here on Friday to mark the International Tibet Solidarity Day.

International Tibet Solidarity Day marks the anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Cheoki Nyima who went missing in 1995.

Panchen Lama is the second highest religious leader after

Mumbai, May 18 (ANI): Bollywood actress Preity Zinta has made her debut as a producer with the promotion of her romantic comedy Ishkq in Paris in Mumbai.

Zinta is set to return to the silver screen after a three-year sabbatical.

Directed by Prem Raj, the film is shot partly in Paris and India and is a story about a couple, two complete strangers, after having met on a train from Rome to Paris, end up spending the evening together in the romantic city.

They part ways the next

Kathua, (Jammu and Kashmir), May 18 (ANI): The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is widening 115 kilometres of arterial roads that connect to remote villages in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua District.

It is expected that these projects will provide relief to hundreds of villages and their residents.

BRO officials were conducting inspections in the district and reviewing existing road conditions before revamping work in these areas start.

This decision has been taken so that we

Pune (Maharashtra), May 18 (ANI): A three -day Afghan film festival was inaugurated here by the Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammand Abdali.

Speaking on the occasion, theAfghan Ambassador appreciated the work of some .

Bollywood actors of the fifties and sixties and expressed the need to revive old camaraderie with India.

An Afghan filmmaker, Siddiq Barmak threw light on the difficulties, which they faced while shooting a film in Afghanistan and said, Sometimes

Bhubaneshwar , May 18 (ANI): The Information and Broadcasting Minister , Manish Tewari, has blamed the opposition for the Governments inability to pass the Food Security Bill, which would have helped the country's poor. He was speaking during his visit to Odisha.

Manish Tewari said that the bill was so ambitious and breathtaking in its very conception and would provide food security to 67 percent of the people of this country, including the poorest of the poor, the marginalised,

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to pay official visit to Japan from May 27 to 29 and to the Kingdom of Thailand on May 30 and 31.

The visit to Japan is at the invitation of Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe.

The Annual Summit between the Prime Ministers of India and Japan is expected to enhance and strengthen the Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries.

The Prime Ministers of India and Japan will discuss bilateral,

Jaipur, May 18 (ANI): In a shocking incident, staffers of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) raped two deaf and mute orphaned girls who were undergoing treatment for speech therapy at the orphanage. .

Biju George Joseph, the Additional Police Commissioner on Saturday disclosed that the complaint was lodged on April 30 and police is probing the case. Five deaf and mute girls living in a state-run orphanage complained of sexual molestation by staffers of a non-governmental organisation

Mumbai, May 18 (ANI): Mumbai Police Crime Branch raided Sofitel Hotel in the city, the hotel in which spot-fixing protagonist S.Sreesanth was residing and has recovered a laptop belonging to him.

Raids are likely to be conducted iat a few more places on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council Chairman Rajeev Shukla on Saturday said that the Working Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would meet in Chennai on Sunday to decide on

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Arunachal Pradesh Member of Parliament Takam Sanjoy on Saturday urged the Indian Government to be assertive in asking China to stay away from his state.

We are optimistic that the Indian Government will be very assertive on various issues affecting the two nations. All that we would ask from the Indian Government is that talks are held on the border issue. India should be assertive in placing their points, Sanjoy said.

The recent incursion by China hasn't

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday said that the UPA-II government should hold talks with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang from a position of strength.

Yashwant Sinha pointed out that there were many issues on which India and China can cooperate globally. He said that a major issue in India-China relation today is the huge trade imbalance. He said : But all in all, we should talk to the Chinese Prime Minister from a position

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N.Srinivasan on Saturday termed the tainted Rajasthan Royals cricketers as dirty cricketers who have let the Indian Premier League (IPL) down and should be put behind bars.

If permitted, we will file a criminal case against them, IPL has not let down people, its the dirty cricketers who have let down people. We feel bad that such a thing has happened. But I don't have to personally apologise as long as

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Johnny Depp has confessed to girlfriend Amber Heard that she is his soul mate.

The 49-year-old actor, who has two children with former girlfriend Vanessa Paradis, is said to be head-over-heels in love with his 'Rum Diaries' co-star and has even mentioned marriage, Contactmusic reported.

A source told America's OK! Magazine that Depp plans to spend the rest of his life with the blonde beauty.

The insider asserted that things are very serious

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): South African batsman Hashim Amla said that he is not surprised by the decision of Gary Kirsten to step down from the position of head coach of the team.

Amla, who is currently the premier batsmen in world cricket and is ranked number one in both one-day internationals and Test cricket, has won over fans and critics alike with his runs, languid style and professional attitude, www.PakPassion.net reports.

According to Amla, he is not surprised at Kirsten's

New York, May 18 (ANI): On of the leading purveyors of bondage porn has claimed that X-rated videos depicting female abductions and forced sex don't lead to real life crimes.

Peter Acworth, whose San Francisco based company- Kink.com- has built an empire catering to sexual fetishes, told the New York Daily News that fetish porn is in no way responsible for recent high profile sex crimes.

During the trial of former New York police officer Gilberto Valle, testimony revealed that

London, May 18 (ANI): Jimmy Savile's history of sex abuses against children is to be made into a musical by a British scriptwriter.

Punch and Judy will tell the dark, irreverent tale of how the cheekiest chappy in the land turned into a sex-hungry monster, the Daily Star reported.

The musical will use song and comedy to look at how the late television presenter managed to rape and abuse vulnerable children.

However, the play, which is to be shown at the Edinburgh Fringe

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Researchers from the University of Tokyo are in the process of developing a technology to put the mobile phone on the palm of your hand.

Using a special camera that combines high-speed vision and two rotational mirrors, Masatoshi Ishikawa and his team at the Ishikawa Oku Laboratory, said that they have found a method to project a device's display screen or keyboard onto the palm, or any other surface, so that people can operate it remotely in their home or

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Kim Kardashian has sparked speculation that she is expecting a daughter with beau Kanye West, after she sent out the invitations to her baby shower featuring a dancing ballerina.

According to Eonline.com, the reality star's sisters Kourtney and Khloe have spared no expenses for the special bash for the mum-to-be on 2nd June and even sent out the party invitations, which contain music boxes that, when opened, play the rapper's song 'Hey Mama' and put

London, May 18 (ANI): Wayne Rooney has added a guitar signed by double Brit award winner Ben Howard to his collection.

The 27-year-old footballer, who is apparently a fan of Howard, sent the singer a left-handed Martin guitar worth thousands to scribble his signature on it, the Sun reported.

Howard has agreed to return the instrument with his autograph. (ANI)

Washington, May 18(ANI): Stoke City is set to begin investigations after a pig's head was found in the locker of player Kenwyne Jones at its training ground.

According to the report by The Independent, another player Glenn Whelan reportedly carried out the prank.

Furious over the 'religiously offensive' prank, Jones smashed the windscreen of Whelan's car while his partner Kissa Abdullah, took out her anger via Twitter posts where she said that one needs to be sensitive

London, May 18 (ANI): Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has been warned by Paris Saint Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti that he may also be sacked by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich if he returns to the club.

Sources said that Mourinho has agreed to return to Stamford Bridge, where he won two Premier League titles as boss between 2004 and 2007, on a 12 million pounds-a-year contract, although the move will be confirmed after the end of the current season at Real, the Mirror reports.

However,

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Scarlett Johansson is all set to don the director's hat with the film adaptation of Truman Capote's unpublished novel 'Summer Crossing'.

The movie will tell the story of a 17-year-old Protestant debutante, who begins an affair with a Jewish parking-lot attendant while her family vacations in Paris during the summer of 1945, Contactmusic reported.

The 28-year-old actress is confident that the project, which is currently being pitched to potential

London, May 18 (ANI): George Michael, who suffered non-threatening injuries following a car crash on Thursday, has now been released from the hospital.

The 49-year-old singer suffered a head injury in the accident that took place near junction 6A and St Albans at 5.50pm on Thursday and was flown from the M1 to a specialist trauma centre.

According to the police, the cause of the accident - in which no other cars were involved - was a mystery.

Michael's boyfriend Fadi Fawaz,

London, May 18 (ANI): Rihanna is set to file a 5-million-dollar lawsuit against UK retail giant Topshop over alleged unauthorised use of her picture on their products.

The 25-year-old singer was reportedly angry after finding out that the High Street Fashion chain had been selling women's T-shirts printed with an image of her from her 'We Found Love' video and is apparently taking legal action after eight-months of negotiations with the firm - owned by billionaire Sir Philip Green.

A

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A 22-year-old fan of Taylor Swift was arrested while he was attempting to trespass at the country singer's Rhode Island home.

When questioned by the police, he allegedly said that he was there to visit Swift, Fox News reported.

The 23-year-old pop diva was not at her home when the incident happened. (ANI)

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Adam Sandler has told of his horror when he discovered that his maid had been rubbing poison ivy on him, to get back at him for having to deal with his soiled underwear.

The 46-year-old comedian apparently had no clue how he had contracted the itchy skin rash, so he turned to his household security camera footage to ensure that he wasn't sleep walking, Contactmusic reported.

The 'Big Daddy' star claimed that he was horrified to discover the reason

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Jenny Mccarthy unabashedly bared her boobs in front of the members of her studio audience while pre-taping her raucous Friday night chat show earlier this week.

The guest, American rapper Lil Jon, had challenged the former Playboy star to show her breasts for the cameras and she accepted, Contactmusic reported.

I will give you 100 dollars if you show off your t**ties to everyone over there, he said.

The model-turned-actress stood up, lifted her top

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Mariah Carey's spokesperson has vehemently denied rumours that the singer was lip-synching during her performance on American Idol on Thursday night.

The Idol judge, who took the stage during the reality TV show's big finale, treated fans to a number of her greatest hits, including 'Hero', 'Vision of Love', 'We Belong Together 'and 'Make it Happen'.

But many viewers took to Twitter, to question whether the artist was actually

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Kelly Osbourne, who is having renovations done at her Los Angeles home, was left red faced when a workman walked in to her bedroom and saw her naked.

The 'Fashion Police' star, 28, later took to Twitter to express her dilemma.

#DyingRightNow getting work done on my house and one of the builders just walked into my bedroom while i was half naked! my face is so red (sic), she wrote.

Osbourne, who has shed more than 60 pounds over the last two

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday renewed his pledge to fight all external elements seeking to disrupt the country's peace at the fourth anniversary celebration of winning the three-decade war.

He was alluding to foreign countries, led by the United States, who have been critical of Sri Lanka's human rights record and called for an independent investigation into the alleged war crimes committed during the last stage of the war in the

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed that the wakeup call to eat healthier came after her late father, director Bruce Paltrow, was diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago.

The 'Iron Man 3' star, who covers the debut issue of Beach magazine, talked to the publication about how seeing her own father's health dwindle made her open her eyes, Us magazine reported.

I started to research anti-cancer diets in hopes that he would try to hit it from all angles, she said.

Bruce

New York, May 18 (ANI): Michael Jackson's former maid has revealed that the late singer pointedly threatened her life if she ever snitched his sordid secrets.

Adrian McManus told Inside Edition that she also believes that her deceased ex-boss committed child molestation, the New York Daily News reported.

McManus claimed that one of Jackson's employees told her that if she would ever go on a talk show or a TV show, they could hire a hit man and have her neck slit.

They'll

Johannesburg, May 18 (ANI): Former South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini has said that he has no plans to retire at the moment, despite being notably omitted from the contracted squad of the first class side Chevrolet Warriors for the 2013/14 season.

Ntini, who spent 18 years playing for Border and the Warriors, was not offered a contract for the new season along with fellow senior players Arno Jacobs, Justin Kreusch and Lyall Meyer, Sport24 reports.

However, Ntini, who made his

Washington, May 18 (ANI): NASA's senior Mars rover Opportunity is investigating a rock intensely altered by water.

The fractured rock, called Esperance, provides evidence about a wet ancient environment possibly favorable for life.

The mission's principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, said, Esperance was so important, we committed several weeks to getting this one measurement of it, even though we knew the clock was ticking.

The

Washington, May 18 (ANI): At 5:24 am EDT on May 17, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later and affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground.

Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, showed that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 745 miles per

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): A judge in Pakistan, who is investigating the murder of Sarabjit Singh, has appealed to Indian nationals having information about the case to file written submissions with relevant documents within seven days.

Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court is investigating the death of Sarabjit after he succumbed to his injuries following a brutal assault by prisoners in Kot Lakhpat Jail.

According to national daily, Riaz Ahmed, the personal

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Researchers from the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, and the space robotics company Honeybee Robotics, have successfully completed a first series of field tests aimed at investigating how humans will explore and work on near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and eventually the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.

From April 13 to 15, field experiments were conducted at the US Army's National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California,

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): An Australian has been charged under anti-terrorist laws for issuing a how-to list on Facebook for how young men can engage in holy war without getting killed or ending up in Guantanamo Bay.

Zaky Mallah had travelled to Syria and lived with the rebels engaged in the bloody civil war against Muslim hardliner President Bashar al-Assad.

He has posted some top tips for joining jihad and experiencing life on the frontline, news.com.au reports.

According to

New York, May 18 (ANI): A Massachusetts brewing company is creating a beer in the honour of a hero cop, Sean Collier, who was allegedly gunned down by the Boston Marathon bombers.

According to the Cambridge Brewing Company, 'Collier Stout' -a dry Irish stout- will hit bars by mid June and 1 dollar from every sale will go to Collier's memorial fund, the New York Post reported.

Collier's friend Travis Dixon told the Boston Globe that he thinks that the late cop would be

London, May 18 (ANI): Millions of British holidaymakers and business travellers heading for the United States this summer are facing longer queues than ever for their applications to be processed by immigration.

Research by The Independent has revealed that budget cuts at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have sharply increased airport queues, with the worst delays in Florida.

The research revealed that travellers to New York's John F. Kennedy airport and Dallas-Fort Worth

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Michelle Obama urged graduates of Bowie State University to encourage more young African Americans to follow in their footsteps and focus on education.

On Friday, she asked the graduates at commencement ceremonies held at the nearby University of Maryland, College Park, campus, just north of Washington to become an example of excellence to the next generation.

The First Lady said that more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and more than

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A woman, who lost her hands, one leg and her other foot to a flesh-eating bacteria after an accident last year, has been fitted with bionic hands.

Aimee Copeland had developed the infection, called necrotizing fasciitis, following an accident on May 1, 2012.

She got a cut in a zip-lining accident and fell into a Georgia river after which the flesh-eating Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria entered her wound.

A new video released on Friday and provided to

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Fewer than 50 percent of primary school-aged boys and fewer than 28 percent of girls meet the minimum levels of physical activity required to maintain health.

However, a new study shows that exergraming, in which active console video games are used to track player movement to control the game, could help counteract sedentary behaviors.

Dr. Louise Naylor and researchers from The University of Western Australia, Liverpool John Moores University, and Swansea

New York, May 18 (ANI): Christy Turlington has said that she can't wait to be 50.

Turlington, who infrequently adorns magazine covers now, made the confession while posing in a lingerie for June/July cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine.

The 44-year-old super model was discovered at 14 in Florida while horseback riding and by the age of 15 was on her way to stardom.

The former Calvin Klein model who still has her vibrant looks intact said that she doesn't have to nor

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Japanese government confirmed the DPRK's missile launches on Saturday, saying none of the missiles have landed in Japan's territorial waters, Kyodo news agency reported.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency earlier reported that the DPRK launched three short-range guided missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, citing the country's defense ministry.

It is reported that the defense ministry detected two missiles launched in the morning and

London, May 18 (ANI): Russia has defended its arms sales to Syria, saying it is for purely defensive purposes.

The statement from Russia came after reports that Moscow had delivered advanced anti-ship missiles to the Damascus regime.

According to the Guardian, Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, did not confirm it directly, but said that Moscow's weapons sales would not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition.

The

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday launched three short-range guided missiles into the Sea of Japan, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea's defense ministry.

It is reported that the defense ministry detected two missiles launched in the morning and the last one was in the afternoon.

The defense ministry said the launching might be a training or a test launch, according to their observation, and that South Korea

Bumla/New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's maiden visit to India symbolises the rising significance of New Delhi as the two Asian giants seek to overcome a chequered past and border tensions to broaden strategic ties and boost bilateral trade.

Premier Li arrives in India on Sunday on his first foreign trip since assuming office. He would also visit Pakistan, Germany and Switzerland during the week-long foray.

China and India, despite both being founding members

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has declined association with video-related clips that show him smoking cocaine.

Someone who tried to sell it to Toronto Star newspaper filmed the footage on a smartphone.

Toronto Star reporters were shown the video by an anonymous tipster in a car park. The newspaper claims that it did not pay money for the video and did not obtain the copy of the same and hence could not verify the authenticity of the footage.

According to

Washington, May 18 (ANI): The New York Times has revealed that its website was hacked earlier this week, preventing access to a small number of users.

The newspaper claimed that earlier Chinese hackers had attacked the website for months, but did not mention the sources for the latest round of attacks. The Chinese hacking led the paper to turn to an outside security firm to block future attacks.

A Huffington Post report has revealed that the increasing number of cyber attacks has

London, May 18 (ANI): Daniel Radcliffe has opened up about his gay sex scene in his upcoming film 'Kill Your Darlings', revealing that the director gave him step-by-step instructions.

The Harry Potter actor, who will play poet Allen Ginsberg alongside Chronicle's Dane DeHaan in Kill Your Darlings, spoke to Graham Norton about the forthcoming film.

The 23-year-old actor said that the favourite note he has ever had was when they were kissing and the director shouted, 'Not

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A 79-year-old great-grandmother from Brooklyn, disobeyed her doctors' orders to skydive 13,500 feet out of an airplane in New York.

Carolyn Meiselbach said that she jumped in order to settle some unfinished business, ABC News reported.

Meiselbach told the publication that when she was young, she went through a 20-week parachute training course, but at that time she was afraid to make the jump because there was no reserve chute.

She sustained only

Karachi, May 18 (ANI): Pakistani spin star Saeed Ajmal praised fellow pace bowlers Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan, saying that the bowlers will be more destructive than before during the ICC Champions Trophy after pace legend Wasim Akram's coaching.

Stating that Irfan and Khan will be Pakistan's strike bowlers in the Champions Trophy, Ajmal said that Akram had worked closely with the duo during the recent training camp, adding that they can now bamboozle any opposition, The Dawn

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Not many women may wash their hands after putting them inside their bag, but researchers have suggested that they perhaps should.

Researchers with the hygiene and washroom services company Initial Washroom Hygiene swabbed handbags to find the dirtiest parts.

They found that 20 percent of handbags that they swabbed had higher levels of bacteria-related contamination, which could potentially cross-contaminate other surfaces - and contained more germs than

Srinagar, May 18 (ANI): A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was killed on Saturday during an infiltration bid by militants in the Macchil sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara District.

One other soldier was also injured.

According to media reports, troops of the 56 Rashtriya Rifles noticed some suspicious movement of two to four persons along in the Macchil sector at around 3 a.m. and challenged the intruders. an Army spokesman said.

The militants

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): A team of students from India became the winner of the 60,000-dollar-grand-prize at the Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC 2013) for its project Solar Conduction Dryer.

The winning team comprised of two Indian students, Shital Somani and Vaibhav Tidke from Mumbai.

Shortlisted from more than 2,600 projects ideas that addressed issues impacting more than 110 countries, five finalists convened in Austin this week to compete for the cash prize as part of

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): The lawyer who had filed a petition in the judges' detention case has withdrawn his complaint against former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf.

The decision was taken by Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman a day before the hearing of the case on Saturday by the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court.

According to Dawn News, the case was to be heard at General Musharraf's Chak Shahzad farmhouse, which has been declared a sub-jail.

The judges'

Washington, May 18 (ANI): In a letter signed by eight members of Congress, the privacy safeguards of Google's high-profile and much hyped wearable computing device, Google Glass, have been questioned.

The device connects wirelessly to a smartphone using Bluetooth technology and the wearer sees the functions as 'visions'. These 'visions' play in front of the eyes of the wearer sans a physical screen.

In a report by Fox News, the Republican Reps. Joe Barton (Texas),

London, May 18 (ANI): English legend Sir Ian Botham has said that he is confident that James Anderson will surpass him as England's leading Test wicket-taker after the fast bowler took three more Test wickets against New Zealand to reach 301, 82 short of Botham's England record.

Welcoming the Lancashire player to the exclusive 300 club, Botham said that he had told Anderson that his next target should be 384, then 400 and maybe 450, although he quipped that Anderson did not seem

New Delhi/Chennai, May 18 (ANI): Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council Chairman Rajeev Shukla on Saturday said that the Working Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would meet in Chennai on Sunday to decide on the quantum of punishment to be given to the three cricketers accused of spot fixing in the sixth edition of the event.

Interacting with media here, Shukla said: The BCCI Working Committee will decide on the intensity of the punishment and the toughest

Washington, May 18 (ANI): President Barack Obama has spoken of the importance of fathers to their sons on Friday after a young man he met at a community center in Baltimore mentioned wanting to provide for his sons.

Obama, at the Center for Urban Families, which serves fathers and their families, said that one of the biggest challenges he faced growing up was growing without a father.

According to Politico, a man named Marcus Dixon had told him about the center's key role in

Muzaffarabad (Pakistan), May 18 (ANI): A Chinese man has been taken into protective custody in Pakistan administered Kashmir after he was accused of desecrating the Koran.

The man, named only as Mr. Lee, works for a Chinese consortium that is building a dam in Kashmir.

A police official was quoted by the BBC, as saying that Mr.Lee was held to prevent him from being lynched by an angry mob.

Allegations of blasphemy are taken very seriously in Pakistan with a number of controversial

London, May 18 (ANI): Kelly Brook and Holly Willoughby accidentally locked lips on 'Celebrity Juice' while demonstrating how to play game Read My Lips, on Friday night.

The game involved the contestants passing pieces of paper to each other using just their mouths.

The duo shared the kiss after their paper dropped to the floor, the Sun reported.

Later, the show's host Keith Lemon, who was apparently not satisfied with the pair simply brushing lips, asked the girls

London, May 18 (ANI): Beyonce has admitted that she does not sing her hits to her baby daughter, Blue Ivy, in her full concert voice because she is scared the tot will grow up hating her voice.

The pop singer told ITV's Daybreak that instead of using her 'Beyonce voice', she uses a 'simple Mummy voice', the Sun reported.

I remember hearing a story about Celine Dion and she's like when I sing my, I don't know if it was her son that cried. She has the most beautiful

Karachi, May 18 (ANI): The anticipated India vs Pakistan fixture of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, to take place at Edgbaston on June 15, is set to be purely overseen by English match officials, according to the International Cricketing Council (ICC).

A list released by the ICC has seen former England wicket-keeper Ian Gould and Richard Kettleborough appointed as the on-field umpires with Nigel Llong monitoring the TV replays for the Group 'B' clash between the two arch-rivals,

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The Supreme Court has refused to interfere in the functioning of the Group of Ministers (GoM) examining the issue of CBI's autonomy.

A two-judge bench comprising of Justices B S Chauhan and Dipak Misra on Friday declined to hear the plea of a group of CBI cadre officers who moved the apex court to restrain the Centre from framing new rules for the appointment of officers against the recommendation of the parliamentary committees which have suggested building

Berlin, May 18 (ANI): Countries that have higher levels of corruption struggle to attract and retain skilled workers, the authors of a new study published in EMBO have reported.

Qualified workers are in demand in many countries around the world. They are internationally mobile and have the flexibility to take on new challenges.

However, if the exodus of skilled workers exceeds the immigration rate of highly qualified individuals it may have a negative impact on the economic performance

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Girls have once again outperformed boys in this year's ICSE Class-X and ISC Class-XII examinations.

The results of two examinations were declared Friday.

In all, 98.78 per cent of girls and 97.73 per cent of boys passed the Indian Certificate for Secondary Education (ICSE) exam, while 96.66 per cent of girls and 93.91 per cent of boys passed the Indian School Certificate (ISC) examination. (ANI)

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Physicists in Switzerland may have created the smallest drops of liquid ever made in the lab.

That possibility has been raised by the results of a recent experiment conducted by Vanderbilt physicist Julia Velkovska and her colleagues at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle collider located at the European Laboratory for Nuclear and Particle Physics (CERN) in Switzerland.

Evidence of the minuscule droplets was extracted

Washington, May 18 (ANI): By using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, researchers have shown that they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset.

For the devastating Japan 2011 event, the team reveals that the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes.

Most tsunamis, including those in

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The recent data theft by hackers from two Indian companies processing prepaid cards for several overseas banks, which led to a global fraud of 45 million dollars, has made India's 100 billion dollar IT industry a primary target of spam, phishing and viruses. The security breach has reopened the debate on IT security norms followed by Indian firms and the role played by 'ethical' hackers.

A gang of cyber-criminals operating in 26 countries stole USD 45

London, May 18 (ANI): In a response to the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the Indian Premier League (IPL), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) may reportedly arrange interview any player under its jurisdiction who has had links to the Rajasthan Royals.

Three of the Royals players - Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and the former international seamer S Sreesanth - were arrested on Thursday along with 11 bookmakers after a police sting, and it has since emerged that one of the bookmakers,

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference for tackling the disease across the world.

In two studies led by researchers in the UK and Switzerland, the new LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test was compared to existing methods in London laboratories that deal with imported cases of malaria to the UK, and to diagnostic methods used in the field in Uganda,

Washington, May 18 (ANI): An experimental, inexpensive iPhone application transmitted diagnostic heart images faster and more reliably than emailing photo images.

According to a research study presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013, the app could help save lives by speeding treatment for the deadliest type of heart attack known as STEMI (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction), in which a clot blocks blood flow

NOIDA (Uttar Pradesh), May 18 (ANI): Amity Institute of Education, New Delhi jointly with National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) organized a two-day seminar on Quality in Higher Education: Identifying Developing and Sustaining Best Practices on May 16 and 17 at Amity Campus, Saket, New Delhi.

Professor Dr. Ranjana Bhatia, Principal, Amity Institute of Education, Delhi and Professor J.S. Rajput, Formerly Director, NCERT inaugurated the seminar.

Sharing his views during

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that 30 countries in Africa with a total population of 508 million are considered to be at different levels of risk for yellow fever.

WHO Kenya Country Representative Dr Custodia Mandlhate told journalists in Nairobi that the global community should not be passive to this reality.

Most of the estimated 200,000 yellow fever cases and deaths occurring annually are from African countries at risk, Mandlhate

London, May 18 (ANI): One of the girls at Silvio Berlusconi's bunga bunga parties danced while dressed up as Barack Obama, it has been revealed.

Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahroug claimed that the ex-Italian PM plied women with cash and gifts at parties in his home near Milan in 2010, the Mirror reported.

She said that the girls dressed in costumes and approached him in a sensual way as they danced.

She was speaking at the trial of Berlusconi's three aides Emilio Fede,

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Uranus and Neptune have long been known to harbor swirling clouds and violent winds churning up their atmospheres.

But given that Uranus' atmosphere is believed to be thick enough to swallow the entire Earth, it was not known just how far the weather perturbations reach into the planet's interior.

Now a team of planetary scientists with the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, including William Hubbard and Adam Showman, has published

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Australian legend Adam Gilchrist has expressed his disappointment at the spot-fixing scandal of the Indian Premier League and has demanded life bans for the cricketers involved in the crime if they are found guilty.

Gilchrist, who plays for the Punjab Kings XI, became unwittingly involved as he faced an over allegedly 'thrown' by paceman S.Sreesanth, one of three Indian players charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy for rigging performances for the Rajasthan

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): At least nine people were killed and more than 55 others wounded Friday evening when two back-to-back explosions rocked Kandahar city, capital of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a provincial government spokesman said.

The initial reports said that three police officers and six civilians had died and over 55 wounded in two explosions which took place in Hyno area of the city Friday evening, spokesman Jawid Faisal told Xinhua, adding that the wounded

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): At least 15 people were killed and 57 others wounded in three roadside bomb attacks on Friday in Iraq 's capital city of Baghdad, a police source said.

A roadside bomb exploded in the Amiriya district in western Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 32 others, the police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Another roadside bomb in the Doraa district in southern Baghdad killed two people and wounded 20 others, he said.

A third roadside

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): President Barack Obama intends to nominate Army Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti to succeed Army Gen. James Thurman as the commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Friday at a Pentagon press conference.

Scaparrotti currently serves as director of the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. Once he is nominated, the Senate must confirm him for a fourth star and the position.

Thurman, who assumed his post in July 2011 and has served

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): U.S. stocks bounced back on Friday to end the week for a fourth straight gain, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S and P 500 closing at all-time highs.

The blue-chip Dow surged 121.18 points, or 0.80 percent, to 15, 354.40 points. The broader S and P 500 soared 15.65 points, or 0.95 percent, to 1,666.12 points. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite leapt 33.73 points, or 0.97 percent, to 3,498.97 points.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.56 percent and the

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Australian spin great Shane Warne has said that the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal felt like a kick in the teeth for the game of cricket.

Warne was the inaugural captain of the team at the centre of the scandal, the Rajasthan Royals, before current skipper Rahul Dravid took over after the 2011 IPL season, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Stating that he had spoken to the team's chairman and co-owner Manoj Badale since the news broke that three

Washington, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Two trains collided after one of them derailed during the Friday evening rush hour in Fairfield, the U.S. state of Connecticut, injuring at least 20 people, local authorities said.

The Fairfield police estimated that 20 to 25 people were injured in the accident, but no fatalities had been reported so far, media reports here said.

An New York-bound train from New Haven derailed at around 6 p.m. local time just out of the rail station in Fairfield,

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): China's Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Friday urged Washington to remain truly neutral on the Sino-Japanese territorial dispute in East China Sea by honoring its promise to take no side.

In an interview published by the U.S. magazine Foreign Affairs on its website, Cui blamed Japan for creating the dispute and tensions over the Diaoyu Islands by taking the move to nationalize the islands last year, breaking a previous agreement to put the

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z are expecting their second child, according to reports.

The news comes just two days after the 31-year-old singer called off a concert in Belgium.

At that time Beyonce had cited dehydration and exhaustion as the reason behind the pull out, but many took it as confirmation of the pregnancy rumours that started swirling when the pop diva was seen attending the Met Gala in a stomach-concealing, high-waist Givenchy dress, Fox News

London, May 18 (ANI): Daring thieves fled off with 1 million dollars worth of jewellery - which were to be worn by actresses at Cannes - on Friday.

They jewellery stolen was made by Swiss luxury jeweller Chopard and its pieces had been worn at this year's Cannes by Cara Delevingne, Cindy Crawford and Julianne Moore.

Thieves broke into a hotel room being used by a Chopard employee at around 2.30am and looted an entire safe, which contained bracelets, necklaces, earrings and other

London, May 18 (ANI): To increase the security at the upcoming Football World Cup in Brazil in 2014, the Brazil government will reportedly use a fleet of robots that are usually used to neutralize roadside bombs and inspect areas for traces of explosives.

The battle-tested remote controlled iRobot 510 Packbots are able to climb stairs, submerge in a metre of water and have multiple high-resolution cameras and are the same robots which examined the car allegedly hijacked by the Boston Marathon

Washington, May 18 (ANI): A Microsoft security expert said that computer viruses are on a rise worldwide once again after years of being less popular amongst computer attackers.

In a report by Fox news, the security expert Tim Rains said that although viruses were less chosen to attack systems by hackers nowadays as they used other forms of threats, but recently Microsoft security has observed that viruses are on a rise for the first time after years of being not in action.

According

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Former England captain Andrew Strauss has said that it is important for England to have star batsman Kevin Pietersen fully fit for a successful Ashes series, even though he has a big ego.

Pietersen is currently sidelined with a knee problem and in his absence England struggled to 232 all out in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, News.com.au reports.

According to Strauss, Pietersen is the best player he has ever played with

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Australian Test batsmen David Warner has come under investigation after he posted expletive-laden tirade on the social media against the journalists of a reputed Australian media company.

A series of fiery rants were posted on the Twitter account of Warner, in response to News Limited journalist Robert Craddock's article on the perils of the rich and corrupt Indian Premier League, News.com.au reports.

The report further said that Warner, who is currently

Jaipur, May 18 (ANI): Police in Jaipur, Rajasthan, have confirmed the arrest of an army staffer for allegedly passing on classified information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Rajasthan Dalpat Singh Dinkar said the accused person has been identified as Bidyut Kumar Sinha, adding that he was detained on May 14.

Dinkar said Sinha aged 43, was working with the Army Supply Corp and was posted in the South Western

Mumbai, May 18 (ANI): A special TADA court has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against two convicts in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

The order was issued against 70-year-old Zaibunissa Kazi and Sharif Parker alias Dada Parker after both failed to surrender within the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

Kazi was sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Supreme Court on March 19, and was granted a month's extension to surrender. The directive came a day after

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the chief investigator in the coal blocks allotment case for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs.7 lakh to settle a land dispute for a businessman.

A second CBI officer and two others were arrested as well.

The arrests were carried out by the CBI's internal intelligence unit.

The arrested persons are Superintendent of Police Vivek Dutt and Inspector Rajesh. They were arrested outside the CBI's

Patna, May 18 (ANI): Controversial former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Pappu Yadav was acquitted Friday by the Patna High Court in connection with the 1998 murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Ajit Sarkar due to lack of evidence.

A division bench comprising of Justices V N Singh and K K Lal set aside the February 2008 conviction of Yadav and two other accused - Rajan Tiwari and Anil Kumar Yadav - by a lower court, and acquitted them of all charges

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held the Congress Party responsible for the non-passage of the Food Security Bill during the budget session of Parliament.

Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar stated this at a news conference here on Friday.

The Congress is in the habit of blaming the BJP for the non-passage of the Food Security Bill. It is absolutely rubbish. It is the Congress which should take the blame for Food Security Bill not getting the Food Bill

Koderma (Jharkhand), May 18 (ANI): Acting on a tip off, Jharkhand Police have confirmed the seizure of a huge cache of explosives from a house in the state's Koderma District.

The owner of the house from where the explosives were found has been identified as Ayodhya Prasad Mehta.

We have recovered 1500 detonators from the residence of Ayodha Mehta of Machgama village. However, we couldn't arrest him, police inspector Suman Kumar Sinha said.

Maoists have significantly

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), May 18 (ANI): Accused of killing his 16-year-old daughter Aarushi in the month of May 2008, Dr, Rajesh Talwar, a dentist, deposed before the designated court at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday.

Literally hounded by media persons, the Talwars (Rajesh and Nupur) were seen walking towards the court at Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Later, counsel for the dentist couple, Manoj Sisodia, informed media persons about the court proceedings.

For

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The government has handed over a promised compensation of Rs.25 lakh to the family of martyred Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh.

After giving the cheque to the family, National Commission for Schedule Castes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) Vice-Chairman Raj Kumar Verka said the amount was not enough for the bereaved family.

I have handed over a cheque worth 25-lakh rupees, on the behalf of the India government, to this family from the Prime Minister's Relief

New Delhi/Shimla, May 18 (ANI): Pressing for the demand of release of Tibet's 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Cheoki Nyima, scores of exiled Tibetans and activists held protests in New Delhi and Shimla on Friday.

The Panchen Lama is the second highest religious leader after the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, and is reportedly being kept under secret detention by the Chinese. This is the 18th year of his disappearance.

Since last 15 years we are struggling out and inside

Gurgaon (Haryana), May 18 (ANI): A senior Japanese executive committed suicide by jumping off a multi storey building in a residential complex in Gurgaon, Haryana, on Friday.

Yushiharu Fuji, 54, jumped from a 15 storey high-rise apartment located in Phase 5, DLF City.

Gurgaon Police have since taken custody of Fuji's body.

Police said Fuji might have been depressed as he lived alone, and therefore, took the extreme step to end his life.

Bhupinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Chief negotiators of India and the European Union (EU) met here from May 15 to May 17 and concluded another round of negotiations for the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).

An official press release said that all issues were put on the table for discussions.

Negotiators on both sides felt that some positive movements have been accomplished, though they admitted that many critical issues still needed to be discussed further.

The

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Government agencies have procured over 243 lakh tons of wheat during ongoing Rabi marketing season, an official release has said.

As per data available from the fields till May 17, 2013, total wheat procured during the season in various states is 243, 57,056 tons.

So far Punjab has led the procurement with 107, 98,688 tons, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 59, 89, 800 tons and Haryana with 58, 54,104 tons.

Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh also made significant

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The government is considering a proposal to raise the eligibility criteria of income for people availing minority welfare schemes.

An official release said that at present, families with an annual income of less than Rs.40, 000 in rural areas and Rs.55, 000 in urban areas are eligible for the loans.

An official press release says, the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation will bring about significant changes in the lives of the poorest of

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The government has said that the nation's economy is on right track and that reforms will continue.

Expressing its disappointment over Standard and Poor's (S and P) assessment, the Finance Ministry said the government's fiscal policies are going in the right direction and there is nothing to be worried about.

The response was to Standard and Poor's (S and P)'s warning that it may downgrade India's sovereign rating to junk grade if the government

Srinagar, May 18 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has welcomed the release of Suspected Hizbul militant Liyaqat Shah on bail by a special NIA court in Delhi.

He expressed hope that the National Investigation Agency will complete its probe soon.

Liyaqat, 45, was arrested on March 20 while crossing the Indo-Nepal border in Gorakhpur with his family.

He had said then that he had come to surrender under the Jammu and Kashmir Government's rehabilitation policy,

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been conferred with the Polio Eradication Champion Award by Rotary International.

The award was given at a function here on Friday. It was given in recognition of her government's efforts in overcoming the challenge of polio.

On the occasion, Dikshit complimented the team of Delhi Government, doctors, officers supporting staff and health ministers for their works in this direction.he said there had not been a single

Bangalore, May 18 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah will expand his ministry on Saturday, amid demands that tainted legislators be kept out.

According to one television channel, Congress Lok Sabha member A.H. Vishwanath from Mysore and 95-year-old freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy, are among many who have been strident in their call to induct party legislators with clean image into the state cabinet.

Doreswamy was among the first group of people that Siddaramaiah called

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the only power-centre in the UPA Government and calls all shots.

In an interview to NDTV, Singh, who had created ripples in the Congress party with his recent two power centre comment, said his previous comments had been quoted and interpreted out of context.

There has to be one power centre and here, the power centre is Dr. Manmohan Singh in governance, and for political

Bangalore, May 18 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday inducted 28 members into his five-day-old cabinet.

Out of the 28 new ministers, 20 have been given cabinet rank, while eight have been given the rank of ministers of state.

State Governor H.R. Bhardwaj administered the oath of office and secrecy in batches to each of the new ministers at a formal Raj Bhavan ceremony here amidst loud applause and cheer.

The Congress Party has come to power in the state

Washington, May 18 (ANI): People who have their first drink during puberty have a greater risk of developing alcohol problems later in life, new research has suggested.

According to the research, age at first drink (AFD) is generally considered a powerful predictor of progression to alcohol-related harm.

Most teenagers have their first alcoholic drink during puberty, however, most research on the risks of early-onset alcohol use up to now has not focused on the pubertal stage during

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Researchers from Qinghai University, BGI, and other institutes have provided evidence that some genetic factors may be associated with the Tibetan antelope's adaption to harsh highland environments.

The data in this work will also provide implications for studying specific genetic mechanisms and the biology of other ruminant species.

The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is a native of the high mountain steppes and semi-desert areas of the Tibetan

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Archaeologists in southern subtropical China have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practised agriculture -before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region.

Current archaeological thinking is that it was the advent of rice cultivation along the Lower Yangtze River that marked the beginning of agriculture in southern China.

Poor organic preservation in the study region, as in many others, means

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Australian women cricketers are set to take a major leap towards professionalism after Cricket Australia's (CA) expected announcement of a major improvement in pay and conditions for female players next week when it unveils the women's Ashes squad.

The success of the national team the Southern Stars and the sacrifices women make to play domestic and international cricket, will also be acknowledged at an official celebration of the women's game in Sydney,

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The negative outlook affirmation by S and P for India's BBB- status is unfortunate, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has said.

Banerjee said that India can move faster on reforms, but what is important to note is that over the last eight months, a number of measures have been taken by the government, through the parliamentary system, and also through notifications, which have clear directional value in terms

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Heavy drinkers who smoke have more problems with their memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills, a study has suggested.

The study looks at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in one-month-abstinent alcohol dependent (AD) individuals in treatment.

Several factors - nutrition, exercise, comorbid medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, psychiatric conditions such as depressive

Washington, May 18 (ANI): College girls exceed National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) guidelines for weekly drinking more frequently than men, a new research has revealed.

In 1990, the NIAAA issued guidelines that define low-risk drinking, which differ for both the sexes: no more than four drinks per day, and 14 drinks per week for men, and no more than three drinks per day, and seven drinks per week for women.

Bettina B. Hoeppner of the Massachusetts General

London, May 18 (ANI): Retiring Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised arch rivals Manchester City for sacking Roberto Mancini from the post of manager, although he admitted the news had not come as a complete surprise to him.

Stating that the decision to dismiss Mancini was wrong, the Scot, who takes charge of his 1,500th and final game as Reds boss at West Bromich Albion on Sunday, said that it is disappointing that Mancini is not good enough for City even though he had

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that it will approach the Supreme Court on Monday with a petition to remove from service its own Superintendent of Police, who was arrested here for allegedly taking a bribe to settle a land dispute.

Vivek Dutt, who was heading the coal scam probe team, was arrested on Friday along with an inspector and two others for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.15 lakh from a businessman outside the CBI headquarters in New

London, May 18 (ANI): Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has revealed that the search engine is in talks to acquire Tumblr for a billion dollars, and enter the premier league of social media.

Mayer said she is in talks with Tumblr's David Karp about the deal that would potentially add 15 billion page views a month to Mayer's hoard and restore Yahoo's popularity.

CNN reports, the biggest problem of Yahoo is having advertisers. To lure cool companies tops the priority list for Mayer.

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): The coming provincial government was ready to hold talks with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) senior leader has said.

Pervez Khattak, who is soon-to-be Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that they have no enmity with the Taliban.

The PTI central Secretary General said the Taliban were also Pakistanis and requested the militant group to hold peace talks and work for peace in the region,

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter have together launched apps specifically designed for Google Glass.

Erick Tseng, the head of mobile products at Facebook, said that the app allows you to upload photos form Google Glass directly to the Facebook timeline. You can also add description to the photograph by speaking it.

Twitter app, according to its engineer manager Shiv Ramamurthi, allows the user to send and share pictures using Google Glass and

London, May 18 (ANI): Justin Bieber has been hit with a hefty bill by the quarantine centre caring for his pet monkey.

The 19-year-old singer has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds for care, food and vet visits to the baby primate- Mally, the Sun reported.

Bieber has until midnight to claim the monkey, which was detained by German customs on March 28 when the singer failed to produce the necessary paperwork for it.

According to the Munich Animal Protection Centre, the

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted an invitation from President Barack Obama to visit the United States later this year.

Singh was given Obama's invitation by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns during his recent visit to New Delhi.

The Prime Minister's visit to Washington could be clubbed with his tour to New York when he travels there to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September, official sources were quoted by

London, May 18 (ANI): People in Britain spent a record-breaking 49.4 billion hours at work last year.

A new study has found that UK workers put in an average of 950.3 million hours a week in just the first three months of this year, the Sun reported.

The data collected by the Department for Work and Pensions is the highest quarterly figure since records began, and 20million hours more a week than the same in 2012 quarter.

It was found that full-time employees clocked up 37.4

Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), May 17 (ANI): Despite government's claim to provide better healthcare, 6.4 million people in India suffer from cancer and bronchial diseases.

Workers who are employed by the Beedi industry, the Indian version of cigar, are the main victims of bronchial diseases.

Samsad, a factory worker elaborated on the spread of disease in the district and said: As you can see it is very harmful. The disease is spreading in other houses as well. Every house

Jind (Haryana), May 17 (ANI): Situation in Narwana town of Haryana turned grim, as locals demanded enquiry into the rape of a school girl by the teacher.

Teacher of a government school in Narwana town of Jind district has been accused of raping a class nine student. As soon as the news spread , angry villagers gathered in the school campus and began thrashing the teacher and the principal of the school. The irate villagers later locked the duo in a room.

When the police

Tokyo, May 17 (ANI): The meeting between H.E. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India and H.E. Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan was held today in Tokyo considered the enhancement of the infrastructure in the region of the Chennai Bangalore Infrastructure Corridor(CBIC).

At the meeting, India and Japan acknowledged the progress made in the CBIC project and the finalization of the preliminary report for enhancing the quality of infrastructure

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): According to the latest statistics released by the Government, rice has so far been planted in 2.4 lakh hectares in the country. . This is 52 thousand hectare more than that reported a week ago (1.88 lakh ).

The sown area this week is less as compared to rice planting at this time last year (2.53 lakh), mainly because of late sowing in Assam and Orissa.

Sugarcane has been planted in 40.74 lakh hectare as compared to 45.74 lakh hectare at

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Delhi's Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on Friday said former Test fast bowler S.Sreesanth is cooperating with investigators with regard to an Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing probe

Media quoted Kumar, as saying that he had visited the Special Cell office of the Delhi Police, but had not met with Sreesanth.

I met my officers in special cell this morning...Sreesanth is cooperating with investigations, Kumar was quoted by CNN-IBN, as saying.

Kumar

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Delhi Police has reportedly indicated that it could widen the probe of an ongoing case of spot fixing in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to include questioning of the owners of the Rajasthan Royals and the team's captain.

Television reports said that Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Raj Kundra, two of the owners of the Rajasthan Royals, and skipper Rahul Dravid, could be called in for questioning on the spot fixing case involving former Test fast

Peshawar, May 17 (ANI): Ten persons were killed and 20 others injured when two bombs exploded near two separate mosques in Malakand Division's Bazdara.

Deputy Commissioner Malakand Amjad Ali confirmed that the deaths, adding that the number of casualties was expected to increase, reports The Dawn.

Emergency and rescue teams reached the site of incident where security forces cordoned off the area as investigations into the incident went underway. (ANI)

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Afghanistan's Ambassador to India Shaida M. Abdali has said his copuntry is keen on creating a tripartite mechanism with India and Pakistan that would enhance cooperation between the three nations in the short and long term.

Speaking ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to India next week, Abdali said the proposed mechanism could also include a tripartite no-war pact.

President Karzai is visitng India from May 20 to 22, and Abdali said there

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the decision taken by the Government to allow incorporation of 'call' and 'put' options in shareholders' agreement.

The proposal to remove restrictions on using options in shareholders' pact for MandA and PE transactions would encourage inflow of foreign investment into the country, said CII President Chandrajit Banerjee in a statement.

This was one of the key impediments to FDI

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Former Indian fast bowler S.Sreesanth has reportedly confessed to being involved in spot-fixing during the ongoing Indian Premiere League.

According to television channel reports quoting sources, Sreesanth is said to have told the Delhi Police that he was not being framed and that he had committed a massive mistake.

He further revealed that he took to spot-fixing with the help of his friend Jiju alias 'Jupiter'.

Earlier, in a statement issued

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A resident of Ohio Brandon Ashmore has won the jackpot prize of 10000 dollars by downloading Apple's 50 billionth application.

Apple had earlier announced that it had come close to 50 billion iPhone and iPad app downloads since the firm's launch in 2008 and declared 10000 dollars worth gift card for the person who reaches the milestone, ABC News reports.

According to the report, Apple had started off with its app store in 2008 with 500 apps, which

Tokyo, May 17 (ANI): Fujitsu, one of Japan's leading global brands offering IT products and services, launched new services based on cloud computing at the Fujitsu annual forum in Tokyo.

The company aims to target the Japanese domestic market worth 3 billion US $ in this financial year.

Fujitsu's Tsuneo Kawatsuma made a conceptual presentation to indicate the shift of Cloud computing from private space to public space and the mid- area which facilitates both private and

Berlin, May 17 (ANI): Amazon and Apple will enclose their e-book formats in the proprietary e-book formats as they currently use formats incompatible with the formats most independent retailers use at their e-book stores, a recent study has revealed.

A research conducted by Professor Dr. Christoph Blasi and Professor Dr. Franz Rothlauf of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) on the current interoperability of e-book formats emphasizes on the fact that the format standard proposal

London, May 17(ANI): Kelly Brook was handed a cake in the shape of a pair of breasts to celebrate her final day of filming on 'Celebrity Juice'.

Host Keith Lemon gave Brook the boob shaped cake and her co-star Holly Willoughby, 32, saucily bit into one of the lifelike nipples after giving her a full-on snog, the Daily Star reported.

The 33-year-old star, expressing her dismay on leaving the crazy ITV2 quiz show tweeted: Today's the day P45 #sacked :( #celebjuice.

After

Washington, May 17(ANI): Emma Watson has said that she is proud of her work in 'Harry Potter' and is even happier that she is now getting opportunities to explore new roles.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, she said that she is not trying to run away from discussing about the record-breaking series on the adventures of the boy wizard as she is very proud of the work that she did, Contactmusic reported.

The 23-year-old actress insisted that she is just really enjoying having

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): Australia's education minister Peter Collier has apologized for an embarrassing Facebook indiscretion which revealed that he had liked a picture of a

Young Liberal showing his genitals.

The minister was aged 16 at the time and had participated in a trend called 'sneaky nuts', which is termed as a practice to secretly show both testicles while standing in the background of a photo, News.com.au reports.

According to the report, the trend had been

Washington, May 17(ANI): Demi Moore wants Ashton Kutcher to pay for renovations to her apartment in New York as part of their divorce settlement.

Sources told TMZ that the apartment is worth somewhere between 25 - 40 million dollars.

This comes after it was revealed that the couple - who announced their split in November 2011 - are locked in a battle over 10 million dollars, with Demi asking for the eight-figure sum due to Ashton's involvement in a venture capital fund worth 100

Chennai, May 17 (ANI): Chennai police are conducting searches at various places in Chennai, a day after three Rajasthan Royals players were arrested for allegedly spot fixing matches in exchange for money. The raids are taking place at Sowcarpet, Triplicane, Purushwalkkam and four other places.

We have raided eight to ten places here and have secured six cricket bookies involved in betting. It is not match fixing but betting. The investigation

is in a preliminary stage, said

Washington, May 17(ANI): Jennifer Hudson graced the stage of singing reality TV show 'American Idol' in the finale episode on Thursday night.

The 31-year-old Oscar and Grammy winning singer, who looked super slim in a black top and black jeans, rocked the stage by singing Inseparable with finalist Candice Glover, People magazine reported.

Hudson, whose elimination from the top seven of season 3 left everyone shocked, belted out high note after glorious high note.

She

Washington, May 17(ANI): Emma Watson has revealed that she took inspiration from the Kardashian sisters for her role in the upcoming movie 'The Bling Ring'.

The actress, who plays an L.A. teenager who becomes part of a criminal gang in the movie, told People magazine that she is looking forward to thank Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and a few other reality TV stars for helping her perfecting the role.

She said that she watched a lot of 'Keeping up with the Kardashians' and 'The

Wellington, May 17 (ANI): Miranda Kerr is the latest celebrity to be revealed as a target of the Hollywood Bling Ring.

The Bling Ring was a group of teenagers with a penchant for breaking into celebrity homes and stealing expensive and exclusive belongings.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, writer Nancy Jo Sales, who first immortalized the fame-crazed teens in a magazine story, reveals that the fresh-faced robbers were obsessed with stars' lingerie, Stuff.co.nz reported.

They

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): An Australian man has been sentenced to 45 years of imprisonment on grounds of raping and murdering Indian student Tosha Thakkar whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase.

Daniel Stani-Reginald is said to have exchanged places with his father who has been arrested on charges of bashing his mother and was released weeks ago, News.com.au reports.

According to the report, Justice Derek Price said that Stani-Reginald's 'terrible' crimes stopped short of

Washington, May 17(ANI): Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, has rubbished Wade Robson's allegations that the late singer sexually assaulted him and has branded him a liar.

The mother of the late singer's children Prince Michael, 16 and Paris, 15, asserted that the latest accuser will not put a stain on the memory of

The King of Pop, TMZ reported.

She told the publication that she was angered that Robson reversed his sworn testimony from court in 2005, and is

Washington, May 17(ANI): Miley Cyrus, who topped Maxim's 2013 Hot 100 list, thinks Rihanna should have been given the accolade.

The 20-year-old admitted to HollywoodLife.com that if she had a choice, she would have given Rihanna, 25, the number one position, Contactmusic reported.

Miley, who leaked the results early via her Twitter page before the official announcement, confessed that she was so excited about the title that she found it impossible to keep the secret.

Miley

New York, May 17 (ANI): only one in 10 Americans are keen in wearing Google Glass, as some find it 'socially awkward' and others find it is 'too irritating to wear' according to a survey conducted by YouGov.

The report, entitled the 'Google Glass Adoption Forecast' commissioned by BiTE Interactive, found that even though Google Glass was competitively priced, 38 percent of respondents still wouldn't wear them, the New York Daily News reports.

According to the

Washington, May 17(ANI): Jennifer Lopez has been appointed the chief creative officer of an independent U.S. Latino network.

The 'Dance Again' singer, who became a minority shareholder in the English-language 'NuvoTv' channel last year, has now taken the charge of programming and marketing as the company prepares to be re-launched in July, Contactmusic reported.

She told Billboard.com that: a network that reflects the modern Latino experience, but in English, must have

Peshawar, May 17 (ANI): Ten persons were killed and 20 others injured when two bombs exploded near two separate mosques in Malakand Division's Bazdara.

Deputy Commissioner Malakand Amjad Ali confirmed that the deaths, adding that the number of casualties was expected to increase, reports The Dawn.

Emergency and rescue teams reached the site of incident where security forces cordoned off the area as investigations into the incident went underway. (ANI)

London, May 17 (ANI): Rihanna, who recently split from Chris Brown, was recently spotted out and about wearing a provocative T-shirt.

The Barbadian recording artist made a bold statement about the state of her love live when she stepped out wearing a T-shirt printed with a sexually explicit image alongside the slogan D.I.Y., the Sun reported.

The jibe could well be directed at her ex, who recently told an Australian radio station that he was gonna do it solo as he confirmed the couple

Tokyo, May 17 (ANI): Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, addressing the India Investment Roundtable jointly organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of Ministry of Commerce and Confederation of Indian Industry in Tokyo today, invited leading Japanese companies to invest in India and become partner in the growth story of India for mutual benefit.

India and Japan share a warm and close relationship and Japan is an important partner in India's

Washington, May 17(ANI): Nicki Minaj has opened up about her turbulent home life and struggle to fit in at school as a kid.

Minaj told the June/July issue of Teen Vogue magazine that every time her parents fought, her mother used to move them and then she had to go to a new school, which meant she had to face the task of making new friends, Contactmusic reported.

The 30- year- old singer further explained that she dreaded it and feared if people would like her or not.

She said

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A professor from Scotland has created a pizza that offers the correct balance of all the nutrients required through the day.

Dr. Mike Lean, professor of nutrition at the University of Glasgow and working physician, designed the Eat Balanced brand pizzas.

According to Lean, in theory, three pizzas a day is going to give the daily recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals based on the UK guidelines, ABC reported.

Lean got the inspiration to make

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Kanye West has apparently decided to distance himself from the term celebrity.

The 35-year-old hip hop artist took to the stage at the Adult Swim upfront at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on Wednesday and rapped, I don't know if you know, [but] there's one thing about me, but I'm not a celebrity.

I don't know if you know there's one thing about me, but I'm a terrible, terrible celebrity, Us magazine quoted him as singing.

I

Washington, May 17 (ANI): For people whose math abilities are not so good, a mild form of brain stimulation may help improve their proficiency.

Researchers from University of Oxford have discovered a harmless form of brain stimulation that can be applied to an area known to be important for math ability.

With just five days of cognitive training and noninvasive, painless brain stimulation, we were able to bring about long-lasting improvements in cognitive and brain functions, Roi

Johannesburg, May 17 (ANI): A Parliamentary debate on the unauthorised landing of a chartered plane at the Waterkloof Air Force Base by Indian High Commissioner in South Africa Virendra Gupta has been moved forward.

The plane was carrying guests for Gupta's niece's wedding. Gupta, however, said that special permission to land a chartered jet at Waterkloof - a national key point - was obtained for security reasons.

According to news 24, the African National Congress said that

London, May 17(ANI): 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe' has been named as the most popular classic kids' cartoon.

The show emerged as the clear winner in a poll conducted by the Sun, which asked the viewers about the series they want to see back on the screens.

After going through some of the most popular kids' shows of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, a shortlist of 18 animated favorites - including 'SuperTed', 'Danger Mouse', 'The Raccoons and Count Duckula'

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Researchers have come a step closer towards limiting arterioscelorosis disease - an illness in which hardening of arteries occurs and the supply of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body is squeezed off.

Scientists at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have described the molecular and cellular pathway that leads to this hardening of the arteries-and zeroed in on a particularly destructive protein called Dkk1.

Dwight A. Towler, senior author of

Mumbai, May 17 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the suspension of Gujarat Ranji Trophy player-turned-bookie Amit Singh on Friday, after it was established that he had a hand in the latest spot fixing controversy in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

In a statement issued here, BCCI Honorary Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said: Mr. Amit Singh, a registered player with the Gujarat Cricket Association, who has also been arrested by the Delhi Police, has been suspended

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn were spotted soaking up the sun on the golfer's yacht in Florida on Tuesday.

Woods, 37, was photographed shirtless as he fished off the back of the boat named Solitude in a baseball cap, shorts and sneakers, People Magazine reported.

Woods' daughter Sam from his marriage to his ex-wife Elin Nordegren was also hanging out on the boat, People magazine reported.

Meanwhile, clad in a colorful strapless bikini, Vonn,

London, May 17 (ANI): The London police are investigating complaints against UK-based Pakistani politician, Altaf Hussain, to see if he has violated UK law.

Hussain, leader of the MQM party that controls Karachi, addressed supporters from London last Sunday after Pakistan's general elections. In response to accusations of electoral fraud, he is alleged to have threatened his accusers with violence, reports the BBC.

London's Metropolitan Police said that an investigation had

Islamabad, May 17 (ANI): Former Pakistan military chief and president, Pervez Musharraf, has decided to launch a 'peoples' movement in order to clear his name and stay politically relevant as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz comes to power next week.

The movement called Tehreek-e-Muhibban-e-Pervez Musharraf (TMPM) will fight against political victimisation of Musharraf and his supporters, and will make efforts to get the former army chief released from the 'sub-jail'- his farmhouse

New York, May 17 (ANI): HIIT or high-intensity interval training is one of the biggest buzzwords in fitness right now.

A new study has now outlined 12 HIIT exercises that can get you into scientifically proven good shape in as little as seven minutes.

The principle of HIIT is short, intense workouts that can give you maximum benefits but in less time.

There's very good evidence that high-intensity interval training provides many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance

New York, May 17 (ANI): Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper on Thursday, after fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls.

After years of economic dysfunction, the country has gotten used to shortages of medicines and basic food items like milk and sugar but the scarcity of bathroom tissue has caused unusual alarm.

70-year-old Maria Rojas said that she had been looking for toilet paper for two weeks,

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A waitress in Indiana was in for a surprise when she received 446 dollars tip on a 6-dollar meal by one of her regular customers.

According to NBC affiliate WTHR, CeCe Bruce, a part-time student at Martin University in Indianapolis, has been employed by a local Steak 'n Shake restaurant as a waitress for two years.

When Bruce first collected Miss Jo's credit card receipt on Wednesday morning, she thought that the tip was of 46 dollars but she saw

Washington, May 17 (ANI): It was only a few months ago that David Beckham had decided to join Paris Saint-Germain, and now he has already decided to retire.

A pop star wife, an estimated annual salary of 46 million dollars and the most iconic player of this generation-but to those who know the real David Beckham, he is just a normal guy and a devoted dad.

When Beckham announced his decision to retire from football Thursday, there was one man who had already anticipated such an event.

Paul

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Scientists have created a cocktail-making robot that can be controlled by smartphones.

Party attendees at the Google I/O Conference were invited to send a drink recipe via a smartphone app to a three-armed robot Makr Shakr.

They could then interact with attendees having similar taste to collaboratively design the perfect drink via social media.

MIT's Senseable City Lab wanted to see what happened when a lot people take control of an industrial

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A new video has emerged on the Internet showing a Syrian rebel leader summarily executing a line of kneeling soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad regime with bullets.

The video comes on the heels of another one that appeared to show a rebel leader biting into the heart of a slain Assad loyalist.

The video was shot in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, and the systematic killing was done by a member of the al-Nursa Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra, a branch

Washington, May 17 (ANI): 51 percent of people in relationships are likely to watch TV shows alone on Netflix despite promising their partners that they would view it together, a new survey has found.

According to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive, over 28 million Americans have already done it, the Huffington Post reported.

14 percent of people, who cheated, felt guilty enough to confess, while 32 percent re-watched the episodes without speaking up.

Twelve percent

Imphal, May 17 (ANI): A two-day EduFest 2013 at the GP Women's College in Imphal attracted a large number of students and parents seeking career guidance.

Organised by the Lynchpin Group, it was attended by about 40 reputed colleges from across the country.

Major institutions like Sharda University and Amity University set up stalls to assist students in choosing the right academic courses, including MBBS, MBA, Engineering, and MCA.

Programme coordinator Chanam Sarat Singh

Tripura, May 17 (ANI): Tripura's Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who heads the State Literacy Mission Authority (SLMA), recently announced that the state is likely to be declared fully literate by September this year.

We have actually achieved a lot but we are not yet satisfied. Our target is to achieve the real 100 per cent. Keeping that in mind, we are trying our level best. And on that count, we have already chalked out a plan of action, Sarkar added.

According to the 2011 census,

London, May 17 (ANI): Iran's constitutional body, the Guardian Council, has ruled out women's participation in presidential elections as candidates.

The final list of candidates will be announced on Tuesday, with only few names expected on the ballot, the BBC News reports.

A clerical member of the Guardian Council Mohammad Yazdi has said that the constitution rules out any participation of women in elections, adding that a woman on the ballot is 'not allowed' as the 'law

Guwahati, May 17 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Asom Ratna Award for 2012 on writer late Mamoni Raisom Goswami and Sharmila Tagare for thier contribution towards the society, especially for the upliftment of women during the closing ceremony of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Pandu College in Guwahati.

President said: I am very happy for being invited here to confer the Asom Ratna Award and Srimanta Sankaradeva Award to the eminent ladies, Sharmila Tagore and Mamoni

London, May 17 (ANI): British MPs have branded Google 'devious, calculating and unethical', accusing the search giant of deliberately subverting its motto, 'don't be evil', in order to pay less tax.

Infuriated members of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) lashed out at the company as one of its most senior executives insisted it was not selling advertising in the UK, but in low-tax Ireland instead.

According to the Independent, the arrangement allowed

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Middle-aged women suffering from depression are more than twice as likely to have a stroke, a new study has warned.

In a 12-year Australian study of 10,547 women 47-52 years old, researchers found that depressed women had a 2.4 times increased risk of stroke compared to those who weren't depressed. Even after researchers eliminated several factors that increase stroke risks, depressed women were still 1.9 times more likely to have a stroke.

When treating

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): Professional networking site LinkedIn's user agreement has outlawed sex workers from using the platform for promoting escort services or prostitution.

LinkedIn has advised its 225 million members to view changes to its service terms and conditions on the site, News.com.au reports.

Prostitution and escort services promotions have become rarely discoverable since the agreement rules have explicitly 'clarified' that even legal prostitution is not allowed

Islamabad, May 17 (ANI): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will begin the process of verifying votes by matching thumbprints with the NADRA database within two weeks, an official has said.

The Express Tribune quoted ECP Secretary Ishtiaque Ahmed as saying, that following an appeal by the poll supervisory body, NADRA had agreed to boost the capacity of its verification system. The system has been introduced in an effort to curb the possibility of vote-rigging.

In all, the

London, May 17 (ANI): McLaren team boss Jonathan Neale has said that he hoped that ace driver Jenson Button will remain with the team beyond this season following the announcement of a new engine deal with Honda.

Neale also refused to rule out a Woking comeback for Lewis Hamilton as one of the greatest names in world motor sport prepared for a return to F1 in 2015, the Mirror reports.

Praising the 2009 Formula One champion, Neale said that Button can continue to stay on with the

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A mathematical model can disrupt flow of information in a terrorist organization using minimal resources, a new research has revealed.

The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) has published a paper in the journal where authors Anthony Bonato, Dieter Mitsche, and Pawel Pralat say that the structure of terror networks can be compared to hierarchical organization in companies and certain online social networks where information flows in one direction

Islamabad, May 17 (Xinhua-ANI): Pakistan interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds in a goodwill gesture, the prime minister's office said Friday.

These prisoners have already served their sentences, the office said in a statement.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the Indian government will reciprocate the gesture and release the Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.

Pakistan and India routinely

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A team of scientists in China has produced the lightest material ever made.

Zhejiang University in China announced in a statement that the ultra-light substance, called carbon aerogel, has a density of 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimetre, CBS News reported.

The substance, which is made of granite and carbon nanotubes, can absorb up to 900 times its own body weight.

Carbon aerogel is similar to carbon sponge in structure, professor Gao Chao, who headed

Washington, May 17 (ANI): 'Star Trek Into Darkness' star Zoe Saldana has sparked rumours that she has a new man in her life, after being regularly spotted out and about with an Italian artist, Marco Perego.

A source close to Saldana told People magazine that the two are hanging out for sure, but it's very new and there is nothing serious yet.

Meanwhile, one source told the New York Post that at the 'Star Trek' afterparty, the duo looked very close and were later seen

Bhopal, May 17 (ANI): A day after Indian pacer Sreesanth and his IPL teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Friday said that the Centre and BCCI should take strict action against those guilty.

Talking to reporters here, he said that BCCI should act to make the system of IPL clean while the Centre should take strong action against spot fixing.

He said that

New York, May 17 (ANI): A newlywed husband, who solicited sex from a prostitute while he was on honeymoon with his new wife, has been booked on charges of soliciting prostitution.

According to authorities, Mohammed Ahmed, 21, left his new bride in their luxury suite in order to meet up with the hooker he had spotted online, but she turned out to be an undercover cop, the New York Daily News reported.

Ahmed was busted alongside 92 other alleged johns, pimps and hookers as part of

Tokyo, May 17 (ANI): Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, who is on a two-day visit to Tokyo for a comprehensive review of bilateral economic engagement with Japan, today called upon Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

During the meeting, Sharma apprised the Japanese prime minister of the progress made in the implementation of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, which was conceptualised in the 2007 visit of Abe to India.

Abe expressed satisfaction

Wellington, May 17 (ANI): Emma Watson, who rose to international stardom after her role in the Harry Potter film series, has revealed that looking sensual has never been her priority.

Watson told W magazine she has never wanted to grow up too fast and was keen to wear a sports bra until she was 22, Stuff.co.nz reported.

The 23-year-old actress insisted that the allure of being sexy never really held any excitement for her.

She added that she has never been in a terrible rush

London, May 17 (ANI): The literary editions collected by an English teacher from Stirling were sold for a total of 226,000 pounds at an auction in Edinburgh.

Bruce Ritchie, who died in October 2012, owned first editions of classic works such as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol -1843.

The lot also contained Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows- 1908 and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, the BBC reported.

A first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great

New York, May 17 (ANI): Kim Kardashian is furious that Kanye West is planning to go on an international tour shortly after their baby's born.

West's new album is expected to drop on June 18, and the 35-year-old rapper will be launching a worldwide tour later this fall or early next year, the New York Post reported.

A source told RadarOnline that Kardashian is giving birth in July, and the baby will only be a few months old when West goes out on the road.

The source said

New York, May 17 (ANI): Beyonce defied doctors' orders and returned to the stage in Antwerp, Belgium, on Thursday, after postponing her concert the day before.

The 31-year-old addressed her cancellation during the show, telling the audience that: I just have to say, I feel so good to be on this stage. I have the best fans in the world, the New York Post reported.

The visibly emotional pop singer said that her doctors told her not to perform but there was no way in the world she

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a critical role in the proper function of the circadian clock, according to Northwestern University scientists.

In a study of the common fruit fly, the researchers found the gene, called Ataxin-2, keeps the clock responsible for sleeping and waking on a 24-hour rhythm. Without the gene, the rhythm of the fruit fly's sleep-wake cycle is disturbed, making waking up on a regular schedule difficult for the

New York, May 17 (ANI): Vladimir Doronin, who has not confirmed his split with Naomi Campbell yet, was seen getting intimate on his yacht with a new bikini babe- Jazzma Kendrick.

Kendrick has long brunette locks and has striking similarity with the 42-year-old British supermodel, the New York Post reported.

The 23-year-old Miami native, who has catwalked for Diane Von Furstenberg and Tracy Reese, was spotted wearing a purple two-piece as she enjoyed her time with the Russian tycoon.

Later,

Washington, May 17 (ANI): An important advance in the race to develop carbon-neutral renewable energy sources has been achieved.

Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have reported the first fully integrated nanosystem for artificial photosynthesis. While artificial leaf is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an artificial forest.

Similar to the chloroplasts in green plants that carry

Lahore, May 17 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan will be discharged from Shaukat Khanum Cancer Memorial Hospital next week.

Doctors said Khan is recovering at a quick pace and is all set to be discharged, adding that they are expecting him to make a complete recovery in the next few weeks, reports the Daily Times.

Khan was injured on May 7 during his party's election campaign at Ghalib Market in Lahore when he fell off a lifter and received two injuries on

London, May 17 (ANI): Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has insisted that he will be staying on at the club and will not be joining the list of high-profile changes following the retirements of David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Dismissing rumours of a summer move, Wenger said that he has always respected his contract at the club and will continue to do so in the future.

The report further said that the Frenchman, who took charge in 1996, would become the longest-serving Premier boss

London, May 17 (ANI): Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has confirmed it will profit from videos uploaded by fans that feature its games.

Clips posted to YouTube will now display advertising, with income going directly to Nintendo.

According to the BBC, in a statement, the gaming firm said the move was part of an on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media.

Some fans have reacted angrily, saying they would no longer play the Nintendo titles, nor upload

London, May 17 (ANI): Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) formed by the government will work towards giving functional autonomy to CBI, but at the same time asserted that accountability is important.

The government will give CBI functional autonomy and will ensure a large degree of functional autonomy to the agency in the matters of investigation, Chidambaram, who is on an official visit to UK told NDTV.

Chidambaram's comments came three days

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Exiled Tibetans and monks offered prayers here today on the occasion of the 'International Tibet Solidarity Day' to express solidarity with the self-immolators, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet.

Exiled Tibetans and monks gathered at Rajghat, the memorial of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to show support to the self-immolators.

A member of Tibetan parliament in-exile, C Wangchuk said that the prayer session was held to pay

London, May 17 (ANI): Boston marathon bombings suspect wrote a message in a boat where he hid after the blasts, describing victims of the attack as 'collateral damage'.

US media reported that in the note, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also reportedly also wrote that his brother was a martyr, adding that when one Muslim is attacked, all Muslims are attacked.

The note said that the blasts were retribution for the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the BBC reports.

Tsarnaev was captured

Islamabad, May 17 (ANI): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has invited Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to join its government at the Centre while turning down the latter's offer to form a coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where its rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the largest party in May 11 polls.

PML-N's central leader Shahbaz Sharif extended the offer to JUI-F chief Fazlur Rahman. The PML-N has secured 124 seats in the National Assembly, whereas

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Stanford engineers have created a wearable heart monitor thinner than a dollar bill and no wider than a postage stamp.

The flexible skin-like monitor, worn under an adhesive bandage on the wrist, is sensitive enough to help doctors detect stiff arteries and cardiovascular problems.

The devices could one day be used to continuously track heart health and provide doctors a safer method of measuring a key vital sign for newborn and other high-risk surgery patients.

The

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Most scientists agree that human activity is causing global climate change, according to an extensive analysis of the abstracts or summaries of scientific papers published over the past 20 years.

But the public perception tends to be that climate scientists disagree over the fundamental cause of climate change.

To help put a stop to the squabbling, two dozen scientists and citizen-scientists from three continents-including Sarah Green, professor and chair

Washington, May 17 (ANI): To ensure paternity, male reed warblers aggressively try to chase off competitors and to keep potentially double-dealing females in line, a new study has found.

But whether or not they manage, they turn out to be caring fathers once the babies are born, the researchers said.

Herbert Hoi and colleagues of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, together with scientists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, carried out experiments with

London, May 17 (ANI): Bradley Cooper, who has been linked to a number of hot Hollywood beauties, has admitted that he considers himself to be a romantic.

The 'Silver Linings Playbook' star said that he loves the company of a great woman, and thinks a relationship works best when both partners have a certain ease in the way they relate to each other, the Mirror reported.

He said that there's a level of harmony that goes beyond just physical attraction.

There's nothing

London, May 17 (ANI): Veteran Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand has thrown down the gauntlet to the club's rivals, saying that it is now up to them to try and catch them to the Premier League title challenge.

United are poised to start a new era under David Moyes following Sir Alex Ferguson's shock decision to retire, the Daily Star reports.

However, Ferdinand has claimed that United will not let-up and be complacent on their glory despite the upheaval at Old Trafford

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Award-winning director Sofia Coppola sought Paris Hilton's help when filming her latest movie 'Bling Ring,' it has been revealed.

The flick tells the tale of a ring of thieves who stole millions from Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom, and others in the 2008-09 Hollywood nightlife scene, Fox News reported.

Using stars' own social media updates and the then-new phenomenon of Internet GPS systems, the ring hit their subjects again and again

New York, May 17 (ANI): A British designer duo has used proteins extracted from a woman's donated breast milk to create tiny, hardened baby shoes.

Designer Nick Gant said in a statement that turning waste material such as breast milk that couldn't otherwise be used, into something new, gives the products created greater meaning and value.

He and his wife Tanya Dean made baby shoes in honour of World Breast Milk Donation Day, this Sunday, the New York Daily News reported.

Gant

New York, May 17 (ANI): A 1991 painting depicting actress Bea Arthur - best known for her roles in 70s and 80s shows 'Maude' and 'Golden Girls'- nude from the waist up was sold for nearly 2 million dollars at an auction in Manhattan on Wednesday.

According to Christie's, the John Currin portrait aptly named 'Bea Arthur Naked' was imagined from an image of the sitcom star with her clothes on, the New York Daily News reported.

The painting was described by Christie's

Lahore, May 17 (ANI): The Lahore High Court has initiated judicial inquiry into the killing of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh by his fellow prisoners in Kot Lakhpat jail and has appointed Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi as the inquiry judge.

According to a report in The Express Tribune, Justice Naqvi is expected to start his inquiry from Friday.

Punjab caretaker chief minister Najam Sethi had earlier sent a letter to LHC chief justice Umar Ata Bandial with a request to appoint

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in Inida's (BCCI) Working Committee is likely to meet on May 19, and may consider after deliberation, the imposition of a life ban on Test player S.Sreesanth and two Rajasthan Royal players-Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila-for their alleged role in spot-fixing three of Rajasthan Royals' Indian Premier League matches this season, television reports said Friday.

With all three players pleading guilty to the spot fixing charge

Washington, May 17 (ANI): President Barack Obama has warned a spate of sexual assaults in the military is endangering US national security and vowed to do everything possible to fix the problem.

Obama huddled with his top military leaders at the White House to find a way to put an end to the problem.

According to Politico, flanked by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, Obama convened the meeting in the Cabinet Room.

Vice

London, May 17 (ANI): Kelly Brook managed to keep smiling after getting slapped with four parking fines and being sacked as a team captain on 'Celebrity Juice', on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old model left her car unattended and returned to find a whopping array of parking tickets whacked on the windscreen, the Mirror reported.

Brook, who didn't seem too bothered, took over to Twitter and after wrapping the season, she wrote: Today's the day P45 sacked :( celebjuice).

The

Lahore, May 17 (ANI): The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is all set to form government in Islamabad as it has acquired majority in the National Assembly after as many as 17 independent winners of NA seats joined the Nawaz Sharif-led party.

The News quoted sources as saying that a party meeting would be convened during the next two days to discuss formation of cabinet.

Nawaz's brother Shahbaz Sharif met Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and invited him

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A Chinese blogger aged nearly 20 has attracted the regime attention for appealing to President Barack Obama to help save China's environment.

On May 7 the blogger, who goes by the initials B.Y., posted an online petition on the White House website 'We the People', a free forum that promises any petition to receive 100,000 signatures in 30 days will qualify for a White House response.

According to ABC News, the petition asked for support against

Karachi, May 17 (ANI): The Pakistani media has said that the key to the success of the team lies in getting the correct combination for the team before they head into serious cricket, including the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.

According to The Dawn, in the recent past, the lack of a fast bowling all-rounder has at times made it difficult for the team to find the right balance, adding that although a unbalanced spin bowling arsenal might do wonders but Pakistan will have to make sure

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): A day after Indian pacer Sreesanth and his IPL teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing case, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday congratulated Delhi Police for busting the racket.

I congratulate the Delhi Police. Whenever they did good work, I appreciate, Shinde told media here.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth and 13 others, including two cricketers of the Rajasthan Royals franchise, were sent to police

London, May 17 (ANI): Tottenham Hotspurs is confident that winger Gareth Bale will agree to stay on at the club at 170,000-pounds-a week deal, as Real Madrid and Manchester United eye the in-demand triple Player of the Year.

Bale has scored 25 goals in all tournaments and will extend his contract with Spurs till 2017 ahead of the Champions League next season, the Mirror reports.

According to the report, both Real and United are chasing the 60-million-pounds rated Bale who plans to

Sukma, May 17 (ANI): Two security personnel were today injured in a Naxal attack in Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.

According to reports, the incident took place when the joint party of district force, Chhattisgarh Armed Force and Special Task Force was on a combing operation in the jungles of Chintagufa Police Station area of the district early this morning.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Guwahati, May 17 (ANI): A woman Maoist leader and wife of recently arrested senior CPI(Maoist) leader Anukul Chandra Naskar alias 'Pareshda' has been arrested here.

Kabita Rabha was arrested by a team led by Superintendent of Police-Operations, Ranjan Bhuyan along with officials from the 175 CRPF battalion and army Gajraj intelligence from rented premises in Odalbakra area yesterday.

Kabita Rabha was arrested from Odalbakra area of Guwahati by a team led by Superintendent of

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Friday sought the cooperation of industry, trade unions and state governments to help encourage enterprise and business sentiment in the country.

Inaugurating the 45th session of the Indian Labour Conference here, Dr. Singh said: The Government of India, industry, trade unions and state governments need to work in partnership to strengthen our society, our economy and our country.

We are all aware that our economy

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Suspected Hizbul militant Liyaqat Shah, arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror attacks in the national capital, was on Friday granted bail by a special NIA court in New Delhi.

District Judge I S Mehta granted Liyaqat bail on him furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with a surety of a similar amount.

The court imposed several conditions on Liyaqat while granting him bail and directed him not to leave the country without

London, May 17 (ANI): Retiring Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he used to always put pressure on referees and played mind games with opposing managers during his 27 years in charge.

As he prepares for his final game at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, the Scot however, hoped that his successor David Moyes will follow his footsteps in overwhelming referees and rival managers with his 'Fergie time' method, the Sun reports.

The report mentioned that the

Peshawar, May 17 (ANI): Two NATO drivers were killed when gunmen opened fire on supply trucks passing through northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, local officials said.

The News quoted local official Asmatullah Wazir as saying, that the first driver was killed in the Jamrud area of Khyber by two motorcycle-borne gunmen.

In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire on another NATO supply truck in a suburb of Peshawar, killing its driver, senior police official Muhammad Faysal Murad

London, May 17 (ANI): Football legend David Beckham is reportedly planning to buy his own club after pulling the curtain on his glittering playing career.

According to the Mirror, after 115 England caps and 19 trophies from his 500-plus games with five top-flight clubs, Beckham estimated to be worth 165 million pounds, is already planning life after his playing career by buying his very own football club, the Mirror reports.

The report further said that the former England footballer

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Bernie Madoff, the American investor accused of ruining countless lives through his bogus pyramid scheme, has said he should be blamed for the suicide of his son in 2010.

Speaking exclusively with CNN Money, Madoff said that he was responsible for Mark's death and that's very, very difficult.

According to the New York Daily News, Mark hanged himself in his trendy Manhattan apartment on the two-year anniversary of his father's arrest.

But after

Islamabad, May 17 (ANI): The Pakistan Foreign Office has said that it is expecting the peace process with India to gain pace after the installation of the new government.

The Dawn quoted Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry as saying that they are hoping that the dialogue process would pick up momentum in all areas.

The peace process has been on a virtual hold since the violations of the Line of Control in Kashmir at the start of this year.

Tensions resurfaced when Indian

Dhar, May 17 (ANI): Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that Naxalism is strong only in those states where Congress is not in power.

Addressing a 'Parivartan Rally' in Bordha village of Dhar district yesterday, Ramesh said: Naxalism is strong only in those states where Congress is not in power like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha among others.

According to television reports, he however said that in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh Naxalism was not becoming strong

London, May 17 (ANI): Cheryl Cole has offered some encouraging words to Kim Kardashian, ahead of the birth of her first baby with boyfriend Kanye West.

Dear @KimKardashian. Hi gorgeous lady! Just wanted to send you a tweet to say you are an incredibly beautiful woman inside and out, the Mirror quoted her as tweeting.

I can only imagine how tough it is to be heavily pregnant and feeling extremely vulnerable on top of some of the daily criticism you take! I admire your tenacity and

London, May 17 (ANI): A woman in Poland is facing jail time after she gave birth to her premature son, who had severe alcohol poisoning at nearly 23 times the drink-drive limit, due to the high liquor levels in his mother's bloodstream.

Surgeons had to perform an emergency c-section after the 24-year-old lady collapsed while buying more alcohol at an off-licence in Tomaszow.

According to hospital spokesman Wojciech Zawalski, the unborn baby was in severe risk of being poisoned

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Indian pacer S Sreesanth and 13 others, including two cricketers of the Rajasthan Royals franchise, were sent to police custody for five days by a Delhi court for being quizzed in connection with the IPL spot-fixing case.

They were produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma at his residence adjacent to the Saket court complex yesterday.

Sreesanth and his IPL teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, who were arrested in Mumbai, were

Washington, May 17 (ANI): The US Government gave witness protection to known and suspected terrorists and the country's Marshals Service even lost track of two of those people, according to a report.

The report from the Justice Department's auditor has exposed the previously hidden side of the witness programme.

According to the Washington Times, the Justice inspector general said that they found that the department did not definitively know how many known or suspected terrorists

Karachi, May 17 (ANI): A Pakistani-American man, who was kidnapped on May 14 has been recovered by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and Karachi police, following a joint operation carried out late night in Defence Phase-II area of Karachi.

The News quoted CPLC chief Ahmed Chenoi as saying, that Amir Hamza was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 20 million.

He said that three kidnappers were killed while two others, including a woman, were arrested during the operation.

The

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has assured a high-level delegation from Arunachal Pradesh that his government will take action through the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) against all those responsible for printing a wrong India map in a class X geography and economics textbook that shows a substantial part, including Tawang, of Arunachal Pradesh, in China.

The MSBSHSE has promised to rectify the mistake

London/Brussels, May 17 (ANI): Condemning the brutal murder of Kashmiri nationalist leader Arif Shahid on May 13 the Kashmir National Party (KNP) will observe a five-day long hunger strike outside Pakistani High Commission in London from May 20 (Monday).

Shahid, who led the All Parties National Alliance (APNA), was killed by unidentified men outside his home in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

In a press release sent to ANI, Dr. Shabir Choudhry of the KNP said, He spoke for the oppressed

London, May 17 (ANI): Retiring Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has joked that he planned to drink all the vineyards dry following his retirement.

The Scot, who will hang up his watch after Sunday's visit to West Bromwich Albion, said that he is planning on imbibing a good amount of alcohol as a part of his relaxation after a hectic 26-year coaching career, the Mirror reports.

Ferguson is also reportedly looking forward to spend time in South France with his family after

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Michael Jackson's choreographer friend Wade Robson, who claimed that the singer sexually abused him for seven years, has now detailed the alleged exploitation.

Robson said on the 'Today' show that he was scared psychologically and emotionally, completely unable and unwilling to realize that he was abused sexually, Contactmusic reported.

The 30-year-old said that the abuse is not a case of repressed memory and he would never forget what the King

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Michael Jackson's nephew Taj has said that the singer helped him cope after an uncle from his mother's side sexually assaulted him when he was young.

Taj, who is the son of Michael's brother Tito, said that he wouldn't have gotten through it if Michael didn't console him at that time.

He tweeted in response to the recent allegations made by Michaels' choreographer friend Wade Robson, What people will $ay and do for money and to $tay relevant

Lahore, May 17 (ANI): Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has said that a Taliban supported government has come into power after strange elections where both the winners and losers have staged protests against rigging.

Qadri said that the Election Commission of Pakistan has held this general election by design. He said super powers needed to see the Taliban's friendly government in ruling as their withdrawal is scheduled in 2014, reports The Express Tribune.

The

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has gave its approval for construction of a 'Rashtriya Smriti', a common memorial site near Ekta Sthal in New Delhi, for performing the last rites of national leaders.

These leaders would include -Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers, former Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers and such other leaders as decided by the Cabinet.

In the past, separate memorials for departed national leaders were created near Rajghat which

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to a new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

For instance, Mozart's jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.

Moreover, people in both the United States and Mexico linked the same pieces of

Washington, May 17 (ANI): The Kepler space telescope - NASA's primary instrument for detecting planets beyond our solar system-had suffered a critical failure and could soon be shut down permanently, the agency's officials announced Wednesday, May 15.

Scott Hubbard, a consulting professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford's School of Engineering, served as director of NASA Ames Research Center during much of the building phase of the Kepler space telescope. He also worked

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A new device proposed by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno and Stanford University that would detect elusive gravity waves from the other end of the cosmos, may open a new window into the nature of the universe.

Gravitational waves represent one of the missing pieces of Einstein's theory of general relativity, according to University of Nevada, Reno physics assistant professor Andrew Geraci.

While there is a global effort already out there

London, May 17 (ANI): England national football team manager Roy Hodgson and FA chairman David Bernstein have paid tributes to the football star David Beckham and urged him to stay at the game, saying that he is a charismatic and talented player the football world cannot afford to lose.

The tributes follow Beckham's retirement announcement, the Mirror reports.

Hodgson looks at Beckham as all-time-great talent and said that though he wishes well for Beckham, he personally hopes

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Spanish researchers have studied how job stress affects cardiovascular health.

The results link this situation to dyslipidemia, a disorder that alters the levels of lipids and lipoproteins in the blood.

Experts have been saying for years that emotional stress is linked to the risk of suffering cardiovascular disease as a result of unhealthy habits such as smoking, an unsuitable diet or leading a sedentary lifestyle, among other factors.

Now, a study

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Sports players and athletes with high testosterone levels choose to wear the colour red when they compete, a new study has revealed.

The new study, conducted by psychological scientist Daniel Farrelly of the University of Sunderland and colleagues, demonstrated that males who chose red as their color in a competitive task had higher testosterone levels than other males who chose blue.

The research shows that there is something special about the color red

London, May 17 (ANI): Key football figures have paid their tributes football star David Beckham after he announced his retirement from international football.

Twitter saw tributes to the football legend pouring in globally as Beckham plans to end his playing career, the Mirror reports.

Beckham has also been praised as a great ambassador for his country by UK Prime Minister David Cameron who said that Beckham has helped the country win London Olympics in 2012.

England national

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Planning Commission has approved an annual plan outlay of Rs. 49,000 crore for Maharashtra for the financial year 2013-14.

In addition the PSE plan has been fixed at Rs. 31.500 crore. The aggregate plan thus is Rs 80,500 crore.

The plan size was finalized in a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan here last evening.

In his comments on the plan performance of the

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission with the objective of conserving and restoring the heritage sites associated with 'Father of the Nation'.

The mission would be entrusted with the identification, collation and assessment of information on 'Gandhi Heritage' material for its management and deployment.

Its task would also include the determination of conservation methodology and priorities for

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to allow Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to undertake direct chartering of ships without going through the centralized chartering organization under the Ministry of Shipping and Road Transport, namely TRANSCHART.

This decision will help in meeting the shortfall in the domestic availability of coking coal. SAIL and RINL at present import around 14-15 million tonnes of coking coal

Karachi, May 17 (ANI): Former International Cricketing Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani has urged the governing body to safeguard the sanctity of cricket following the spot-fixing scandals that has surrounded the Indian Premier League tournament.

The spot-fixing scandal involving three Rajasthan Royals players, S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, has added weight to the growing concerns of corruption plaguing the game, the Express Tribune reports.

The report further

London, May 17 (ANI): British actor Paul Shane, best known for his stint with 1980s comedy show 'Hi-de-Hi!,' died after a short illness on Thursday in South Yorkshire. He was 72.

He was surrounded by his family members at the hospice in Rotherham.

Shane's other TV credits includes 'Holby City,' 'A Touch of Frost,' 'Emmerdale' and 'Oh, Doctor Beeching!,' the Sun reported.

His show 'Hi-de-Hi!' - set in a holiday camp - was aired on TV from

Washington, May 17 (ANI): The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), the NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid, passed a confirmation review Wednesday called Key Decision Point (KDP)-C.

The mission is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

NASA officials reviewed a series of detailed project assessments and authorized the spacecraft's continuation into the development phase.

Washington, May 17 (ANI): NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has broken the record for the farthest total distance driven by any NASA vehicle on another world.

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's Moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.21 statute miles or 35.74 kilometers).

That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other

Karachi, May 17 (ANI): Former Pakistan captain Amir Sohail has called the ICC a 'total failure', saying that it has proved its incompetence again in tackling the corruption in the game.

Sohail's comments come in the wake of the spot-fixing controversy surrounding the ongoing lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament in which three Indian cricketers, including Test pacer S.Sreesanth, have been arrested, the Express Tribune reports.

Stating that the ICC and its Anti

London, May 17 (ANI): Christina Aguilera silenced the critics of her body by tweeting an image that shows off her new slimline figure.

The 32-year-old pop diva, who put on weight after giving birth to her son Max 5 years back, was seen hitting the gym in recent times.

The photograph, from the set of the music video for her single 'Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti!' with Mexican singer Alejandro Fernandez, shows her wearing just a small black skirt and bra top, as she leans from a balcony

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Observations from two NASA satellites have helped scientists resolve differences in estimates of how fast glaciers worldwide are disappearing and contributing to sea level rise.

The new research found glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, repositories of 1 percent of all land ice, lost an average of 571 trillion pounds (259 trillion kilograms) of mass every year during the six-year study period, making the oceans rise 0.03 inches (0.7 mm)

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has tasked the Planning Commission to formulate a draft Bill on Dispute Resolution in public contracts in consultation with all stakeholders and Ministries.

Dispute resolution in large public contracts is an area of growing concern and the Prime Minister has initiated the first steps in improving the institutional arrangement for dispute settlement.

Following the rapid expansion of Public Private Partnerships (PPP), which

London, May 17 (ANI): A historian has threatened to lift the veil of secrecy of Coca Cola's recipe this week, as he claims to publish a copy of the original formula in a new book.

Historian Mark Pendergrast said that the recipe was handed down through the family of Frank Robinson, the commercial partner of chemist John Pemberton, who first produced the drink in the summer of 1886, the Independent reported.

In the third edition of his book, 'For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The

London, May 17 (ANI): From Johnny Depp's Barbie collection to Paris Hilton's frog hunt, celebrities have bizarre hobbies that one can never imagine.

Former Oasis member Liam Gallagher has been unveiled as the most unlikely guest at the Chelsea Flower Show in its history.

The former Oasis front-man showed his love for gardening by asking for tickets to a VIP preview day of the show, the Sun reported.

Paris Hilton is a staunch critic of animal hunting - except if it's

New Delhi, May 17 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has given its approval for increase in the present income criterion of Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum for applying the Creamy Layer restriction throughout the country to Rs. 6 lakh per annum.

The increase in the income limit to exclude the Creamy Layer is in keeping with the increase in the Consumer Price Index and would enable more persons to take advantage of reservation benefits extended to OBCs in government services and admission to central educational

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): The five Australian players playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals have reportedly been cleared of any spot-fixing charges, although they will be questioned as part of a major police investigation.

Three Indian Rajasthan Royals players, including Test pacer S.Sreesanth, were arrested on spot-fixing charges on Thursday, with more arrests expected in an operation, which could finally expose the murky underbelly of the billion-dollar IPL,

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): Australian cricketer Shaun Tait is reportedly considering legal action after wrongfully being dragged in to the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal.

Tait was named in social media as the Australian cricketer found with thousands of dollars in bundles of cash in a hotel room after Indian cricket authorities suspended three players - including Test paceman S. Sreesanth - for alleged spot-fixing during the ongoing IPL tournament, News.com.au reports.

The

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): The Australian media has said that the cricket in the country is brewing an 'exotic makeover' by adding to its ranks the likes of South-East Asian origin cricketers like Fawad Ahmed, Usman Khawaja and Gurinder Sandhu.

According to News.com.au, for more than a century, Australian cricket has stood at the pinnacle of world glory with the help of traditional names like Ian Healy, Greg Chappell, Sir Donald Bradman, Matthew Hayden, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist.

However,

Washington, May 17 (ANI): An international group of researchers has confirmed that melting of glaciers caused about one third of the observed sea-level rise, while the ice sheets and thermal expansion of sea water account for one third each.

So far, estimates on the contribution of glaciers have differed substantially. Now 16 scientists from nine countries have compared the data from traditional measurements on the ground with satellite data from the NASA missions ICESat (Ice, Cloud and

London, May 17 (ANI): Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has said that he his life in space was too good to not share on social media.

With nearly 1 million Twitter followers, Cmdr Hadfield, who was on the International Space Station (ISS) since December 2012 and landed on Tuesday, has a following of nearly 1 million people on Twitter.

Hadfield, who was in command of the vessel since March, tweeted about his life at the space station, and shared striking pictures of Earth from space.

He

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Researchers at MIT have developed an injectable nanoparticles that may someday eliminate the need for patients with Type 1 diabetes to constantly monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject themselves with insulin.

The nanoparticles were designed to sense glucose levels in the body and respond by secreting the appropriate amount of insulin, thereby replacing the function of pancreatic islet cells, which are destroyed in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Ultimately,

London, May 17 (ANI): Miranda Kerr stripped for a risque photoshoot in Miami to promote her new range of make-up - part of her Kora Organics cosmetics brand - in the US.

The 30-year-old model flaunted her incredible body in a plunging black swimsuit, the Sun reported.

She recently walked away from her contract with lingerie brand Victoria's Secret in order to spend more time with her family. (ANI)

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Angelina Jolie, who revealed on Tuesday that she had a double mastectomy and reconstruction in February, was determined to keep her family's lives as normal as possible during her difficult phase.

The 37-year-old actress managed to keep her surgeries a secret by refusing to make any changes to her or her six kids' busy schedules, News24 reported.

A source told People magazine that things appeared normal as the kids were in school during the day and

New York, May 17 (ANI): Topless activist Holly Van Voast has filed a lawsuit against New York City Police Department for violating her constitutional right to tour the city without donning a shirt.

The 46-year-old cited 10 arrests, including one near a Hooters restaurant - known for its skimpy clothed waitresses, the New York Daily News reported.

The lawsuit also noted that the state Court of Appeals has ruled women can legally bare their breasts in public. (ANI)

London, May 17 (ANI): Retirement has a harmful impact on mental and physical health, a new study has revealed.

The study, which was conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in combination with the Age Endeavour Fellowship- a charity, suggested that retirement can result in a drastic decline in health in the medium and long term, the BBC reported.

According to IEA, the study found that people should work for a longer span for health and economic reasons.

The study

London, May 17 (ANI): Jenny Colgan's 2012 book 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams' has won the romantic novel of the year award.

According to the Romantic Novelists Association, it was a close competition, but the British author had won by a nose because of her impeccable plotting and structure, the BBC reported.

The RNA judges also praised the element of surprise in the book while describing it as unusual in a romantic novel.

Colgan's novel won over

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organizations.

According to a Viewpoint article in this week's Lancet, data from the 'Global Burden of Disease: 2010' study shows that all of the top ten causes of premature death and disability, and top ten behavioural risk factors driving rates of ill-health around the

London, May 17 (ANI): A new IVF procedure could benefit thousands of infertile couples, dramatically improving the success rate of having a baby through artificial reproduction.

Scientists believe they can double or even triple the proportion of healthy babies born, as a result fertility treatment with a relatively simple technique that takes a series of time-lapse photographs of the developing IVF embryos, the Independent reported.

On average only about 24 percent of IVF embryos

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Reduced IQ may be linked to the risk for developing schizophrenia, a new study suggests.

In the remarkable new study, Dr. Andrew McIntosh and his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh provide new evidence that the genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with lower IQ among people who do not develop this disorder.

The authors analyzed data from 937 individuals in Scotland who first completed IQ testing in 1947, at age 11.

Around age 70, they

London, May 17 (ANI): Football ace David Beckham's endorsements have earned him many millions, with marketing experts dubbing him Brand Beckham.

Here's what he has put his name to over the years, according to the Daily Star.

Georgio Armani: He drove women wild while dressed in only a pair of boxer shorts.

Pepsi: TV adverts in which he took on sumo wrestlers and fought as a gladiator.

Gillette: A reported 40million pounds deal to become the global face of the shaving

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Google through a new project called Ground Truth is becoming an ever more sophisticated virtual mirror of the real world.

Google engineers described their methods at the Google I/O show, telling how they've moved from licensing satellite photos to building 3D version of the world that can be updated in minutes.

According to CBS News, the essence of the Ground Truth project is marrying Google's real-world information with data sets from sources such

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Sean Diddy Combs, who tweeted on Wednesday that he was joining the PBS hit period drama 'Downton Abbey', has revealed that his prank was to promote a new FunnyOrDie.com skit, which he unveiled to fans early on Thursday.

The 43-year-old rapper's earlier tweet said: MY BIG NEWS: So happy to announce that Im a series regular on DOWNTON ABBEY-my favorite show+i'll be debuting a sneak peek tonight 12am PST!

But, PBS spokeswoman Carrie Johnson said

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Russell Brand has been named as the smelliest-looking male celebrity in showbusiness.

The 37-year-old comedian has topped the Panasonic Steam Washing Report poll with 35 per cent of the votes, Contactmusic reported.

In the survey, people from across the UK were asked to name the celebs they felt looked the smelliest.

Brand, who is quite popular among women, finished narrowly above 'X Factor' reject Frankie Cocozza, Beady Eye frontman Liam Gallagher,

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A research team has argued that high ancient shorelines do not necessarily reflect ice sheet collapse millions of years ago.

For decades, scientists have used ancient shorelines to predict the stability of today's largest ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.

Markings of a high shoreline from three million years ago, for example - when Earth was going through a warm period - were thought to be evidence of a high sea level due to ice sheet collapse

Sydney, May 17 (ANI): Researchers from Australia have found that women spend almost twice as much time on housework and childcare than men, even when they increase their time in paid employment.

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, women with children under five spend about 41 hours a week on childcare, 32 hours a week on housework and 14 hours in paid work, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Once their children are in school and they increase their paid work,

Washington, May 17 (ANI): Miley Cyrus has tweeted a photo of her wearing her 3.5 karat engagement ring while defiantly proving that she isn't having problems with her fiance Liam Hemsworth.

In the bold snap, the 20-year-old star and her photographer friend Vijat Mohindra can be seen making funny faces for the camera as Cyrus casually shows off her expensive Neil Lane rock, Contactmusic reported.

A source told HollywoodLife.com that the picture was definitely a message to the haters.

Washington, May 17 (ANI): If you're a left-brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, a new study has found.

The study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit shows a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone.

More than 70 percent of participants held their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand, the study found.

Left-brain dominant people - who account

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A scientist has named an ancient extinct creature with 'scissor hand-like' claws, which he discovered in fossil records, in honour of his favourite movie star Johnny Depp.

The 505 million year old fossil called Kooteninchela deppi (pronounced Koo-ten-ee-che-la depp-eye), which is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, was named after the actor for his starring role as Edward Scissorhands - a movie about an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished

Washington, May 17 (ANI): A new issue of English-language al-Qaeda magazine linked to the Boston terrorist attacks has possibly been hacked by Western intelligence agencies.

The magazine's content posted on the terror group's website earlier this week was scrambled beyond its cover page.

According to the Washington Times, the magazine, produced by al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which regularly includes how-to instructions for followers to