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Los Angeles Hollywood's hottest couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie enjoyed a romantic night out to celebrate their five-year anniversary as a couple while their kids stayed at home. The superstars planned a military-style operation to make sure their low-key night at the Chateau Marmont stayed top secret and they did such a good job that news of the November 28 rendezvous has only just leaked, Life & Style magazine. "They checked in around 4pm and were ushered straight to their poolside bungalow. They were holding hands when they arrived, and Angie was really excited," a source at the famous Los Angeles hotel told the magazine. "They looked like they were on a date. They had no security with them, and they were incredibly relaxed," the source added. According to the source, the evening was planned meticulously by Pitt, who insisted on dealing only with top-level hotel staff members to make sure the night was not ruined by fans or photographers. "They ...

BEIRUT: Lebanon television channel says Iran's defense minister has warned that his country will strike Israel's nuclear sites if the Jewish state attacks Iranian nuclear facilities.The Wednesday report says Gen. Ahmad Vahidi made his comments to reporters while visiting Damascus, capital of neighboring Syria. Lebanon television is the mouthpiece of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese guerrilla group and political party. Iran's English language Press TV also carried Vahidi's comments.Israel has not ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel, the United States and other Western nations say Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.Iran denies the charge. It says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Thursday, December 10, 2009 NEW DELHI: Israeli chief of defence staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi Wednesday met the top brass of the Indian armed forces and discussed boosting cooperation in the field of counter terrorism besides talking about the delivery schedule of weapons and equipment purchased by India.“The Israeli chief of defence staff today (Wednesday) met chiefs of the Indian Army, air force and navy,” said a defence official.“He discussed the delivery schedule of AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems) with the Indian Air Force chief (Air Chief Marshall P.V. Naik). The Israeli chief is also seeking to expand the counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries especially post 26/11,” the official added speaking strictly on condition of anonymity.This is the first visit of an Israeli chief of defence staff to India. Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor, during his Tel Aviv visit last month, had invited Ashkenazi.India is Israel’s biggest customer for weapons ...

Thursday, December 10, 2009 COPENHAGEN: The European Union (EU) put pressure on the US and China to do more with their emission cut targets and called on the two countries to take a leadership role as the Copenhagen climate talks continued on the second day."The US and China have not offered to go far enough to combat climate change," CNN quoted a top EU official as saying Monday.Final negotiations at the conference "will be mostly about what will be delivered from the US and China," said Andreas Carlgren, Sweden's environment minister, who pressed US President Barack Obama to do more than he promised in a statement before the conference.The so-called "G2" concept, frequently mentioned in G20 summits this year, reappeared in many media to refer to the responsibility the two countries should assume.China and the US together cover half of the world's emissions so what they can deliver is very decisive, Carlgren said.Jin Canrong, a professor from Renm...

Thursday, December 10, 2009 COPENHAGEN: China on Wednesday criticized the lack of action by developed nations in fulfilling their commitments on carbon emissions reduction and financial support to developing nations in coping with climate change. "You will find a huge gap if you make a comparison between their pledges and the actions they have so far taken," Yu Qingtai, China's special representative in the UN climate talks, said at a press conference during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Developing nations are asking for at least 300 billion U.S. dollars in financial support to help them deal with the impacts of climate change. Developed nations' financial commitments have fallen far short of that goal, and no money has actually been provided. Financial support for developing nations is not "charity work" of the rich nations, but their "legal obligations" under international conventions, Yu said. On emission cuts, the United State...

Thursday, December 10, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States issued a new strategy Wednesday for dealing with a rising threat from biological weapons but stopped short of measures to give teeth to an existing international convention. Instead, the White House said it would step up protections against biological attacks by increasing vigilance and global access to information on disease outbreaks and strengthening norms of scientific conduct. "We will continue to face new and emerging biological threats that will require the coordinated and concerted efforts of a broad range of domestic and international partners," President Barack Obama said in releasing the strategy. The White House paper said risks traditionally associated with state-run germ warfare programs have spread in recent years to extremist groups as technological advances have made it easier and cheaper to produce biological agents. While the United States has made strides over the past eight years in recognizing and...

Updated at: 1553 PST, struck deep under the South Pacific Wednesday but no tsunami warning was issued, US monitors said. The quake hit at 0946 GMT at a depth of 89 kilometres (56 miles), 324 kilometres east-south-east of Tadine in New Caledonia, the US Geological Survey said. "No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 LONDON: Tobacco use kills at least 5 million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don't take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.In a new report on tobacco use and control, the U.N. agency said nearly 95 percent of the global population is unprotected by laws banning smoking. WHO said secondhand smoking kills about 600,000 people every year.The report describes countries' various strategies to curb smoking, including protecting people from smoke, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Those were included in a package of six strategies WHO unveiled last year, but less than 10 percent of the world's population is covered by any single measure."People need more than to be told that tobacco is bad for human health," said Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative. "They need their governments to implement the ...

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: This is perhaps the most exclusive smelling stuff on the planet. Imperial Majesty Perfume has produced 10 bottles of this fragrance and are only offering 5 bottles for sale. At $215,000USD, you get more than the odor-laden liquid inside; you get a Baccarat crystal bottle that has five-carat white diamonds on it and is decorated with an 18 carat-gold collar.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: Being lonely could more than treble a woman's odds of developing breast cancer, research suggests. Isolation may also dramatically increase the number of tumours and their size. Although the findings were made in animal tests, the researchers believe they have important implications for human health. With loneliness already linked to a host of other illnesses from dementia to high blood pressure, they say it is important to consider a person's mental health when thinking about their physical health. The University of Chicago team looked at the effects of loneliness or 'social isolation' on female rats genetically predisposed to develop breast cancer. The breed is also one that is ' naturally gregarious', and, like humans, enjoys the company of others. The study found that animals living alone were 3.3 times more likely to develop types of breast cancer common in women than those in cages of five. The tumours were much bi...

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: The details of security procedures at US airports have been mistakenly posted online by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).The document reveals which passengers are exempt from screening and that security can be reduced in peak hours. Information which had been blacked out for security reasons was easily retrievable using ordinary software. The TSA said there was no threat to security as the document was outdated, but that it took the issue seriously. The document was posted on the TSA's Federal Business Opportunity site in March, said the foreign news agency.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: Swine flu damages the entire airway, from the trachea to deep in the lungs, just as the viruses that caused the deadly 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics did, but unlike seasonal flu, a report said Tuesday.Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and New York City's chief medical examiner's office examined microscope slides of tissue from 34 people who died of pandemic swine flu earlier this year.They found "a spectrum of damage in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts," said Jeffery Taubenberger, one of the researchers on the study.In all cases, the upper respiratory tract -- the trachea and bronchial tubes -- were inflamed and sometimes severely damaged.In 18 cases, or more than half, damage was seen lower down, in the finer branches of the bronchial tubes, and in 25 cases, or nearly three-quarters of the study sample, the researchers found damage to the small globular air sacs, or alveoli, of the lungs....

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by the acting architect of the Capitol, members of the Arizona congressional delegation, the governor of Arizona, and 12-year-old Kaitlyn Ferencik of Surprise, Ariz., lit the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree during a ceremony this evening. This year's tree, a 85-foot blue spruce, came from Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. As part of the Capitol's continuing commitment to save energy, strands of energy-efficient LED lights were used to decorate the tree. Below are the Speaker's remarks: "Thank you very much, Architect Ayers. The bad news for me is I don't have much of a voice. The good news for you is I am going to speak very briefly. But that is not any indication of the enthusiasm that I have this evening to welcome this beautiful tree from Arizona. "Senator McCain, Governor Brewer, Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, it is my honor to join you in receiving and welcoming Arizona's gi...