Thursday, September 10, 2009 LONDON: Prince Harry hasn't had the easiest of summers, and his next challenge doesn't promise to be any easier.It all began when Harry lost the "love of his life," Chelsea Davy, a sting from which he hasn't fully recovered. Then the endless headlines about his hard-partying lifestyle made him decide to "knuckle down" and start taking his life and career seriously.Apart from a recent glitch that saw the media uncover his questionable taste in evening attire, it's been pretty plain sailing.But there's one thing still bothering the Prince. He's angry with himself for returning to the evil weed. Cigarettes have played a part in Harry's life since his early school days. He says he wishes he'd never started the foul habit, but alas, it's back, with a vengeance.His father, Prince Charles, who has never smoked, is stunned at Harry's recent return to smoking and is appalled that his son was recaptured by nicotine addiction so easily.He had pretty much given it up, so why is Prince Harry now a steady 10 to 20 per day smoker - "more when he's out partying, of course"?It's largely down to the pressure of his new role in the military and the various tests he has undergone over the summer to complete his training with the Royal Air Force."He has been putting himself under extreme pressure, and when that happens he turns back to cigs," a source close to the prince tells me.Many past attempts have failed, but now, Harry feels he may at last have found a way to kick the habit for good.Paul McKenna - the man with a "guru-like trance" over his millions of fans, may be the Prince's knight in shining, smoke-free armour.Harry has been given a copy of McKenna's book "Quit Smoking Now" by a friend.The book has been a best seller for the one-time stage hypnotist and has received many endorsements from celebrities and ordinary people around the world.My source says McKenna's program appeals to Harry because it's supposed to help you "retrain your mind"."He knows that he doesn't set a great example to people around him and younger fans who look up to him, and he does try hard to quit, but he'd be the first to admit that he now needs to try harder," added my source.Harry is apparently going to try and give up cigarettes cold-turkey, as he wants to be at peak fitness for his coming months of helicopter training.The Prince knows, however, that McKenna's book is just an aid - in the end, it's all down to his own royal will power.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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