New York, U.S.: Here comes a selfie straight from the space.

While replacing a dead primary computer outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, two astronauts did not mind taking a selfie which is now giving the earth dwellers goosebumps.

After finishing their repair job, Rick Mastracchio and Steven Swanson took some time off to take some pictures.

Within hours, Mastracchio posted a picture to Twitter, telling followers "the space suit makes it very difficult to get a good selfie".

"My arms are too short for a selfie," Mastracchio posted who asked fellow Swanson to take his picture.

Washington,U.S.:  US Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday called on the Israelis and Palestinians to make compromises so as to forward the stalled peace talks.

The fresh appeal from the top American envoy came as Israel's security cabinet decided to suspend the negotiations in response to ongoing reconciliation efforts between rival Palestinian factions of Fatah and Hamas, Xinhua reported.

"There's always a way forward, but leaders have to make the compromises necessary to do that," Kerry told reporters before meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende at the State Department.

"We may see a way forward, but

New York, U.S.:Replacing red meat portions in your diet with vegetables may be a good recipe for your heart as scientists have now discovered a strong association between heme iron, found only in meat, and potentially deadly coronary heart disease.

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and non-heme.

The study found no association between non-heme iron, which is found in plants and other non-meat sources, and coronary heart disease.

Heme iron consumption increased the risk for coronary heart disease by 57 percent, the study warned.

"Heme iron is absorbed at a much greater rate in comparison to non-heme iron (37 percent vs. f

London, U.K :  Parents need to closely monitor the TV time of their kids as research has bolstered the link between TV habits and obesity in kids.

“There was also a link between TV viewing and obesity and the likelihood of increases in BMI (body mass index) and the waist-to-height ratio,” said Steingerdur Olafsdottir from University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

The study explored how food is portrayed in TV programmes meant for children as well as the link between their TV viewing, dietary habits and weight status.

The study focused on the presence of food in the popular Swedish children’s TV show Bolibompa.

Fruit

Vienna, Austria: The basket of 12 crude oils of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stood at $105.19 a barrel Tuesday, against $105.34 Monday, according to the OPEC Secretariat.

The new OPEC reference basket comprises Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (United Arab Emirates) and Merey (Venezuela). A barrel is equal to 159 litres.(IANS/WAM)

New York, U.S.:  A US federal court has permanently barred Ramesh Sarva, an Indian-American certified public accountant in New York, from promoting and selling an alleged illegal nationwide tax scheme.

Judge Josephine L. Staton of the US District Court for the Central District of California, entered the permanent injunction order, to which Sarva of Little Neck, New York, consented, Westmorelandtimes.com reported citing the Justice Department.

According to the complaint, Sarva has been promoting illegal life insurance welfare benefit plans.

These allegedly illegally permitted his customers to both claim substantial tax deductions for their pla

Mumbai, India : Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday said it has raised $550 million as loan from Japanese banks for part-funding expansion of its petrochemical plant and new gasification unit.

"In continuation of the fund raising programme initiated in 2012-13, RIL has tied up Export Credit Agency (ECA) facility of up to USD 550 million co-financed by JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) and a group of other Japanese banks," the company said in a statement.

"This is RIL’s eighth ECA facility for the largest capital expenditure programme it has undertaken. This is the first time that JBIC is extending credi

Los Angeles,California: Actress Cameron Diaz said that she hasn't used a deodorant for almost 20 years and added that people would smell better if they stop using antiperspirant because it keeps the scent in.

"I don't believe in antiperspirant. It's really bad for you. I haven't used it for almost 20 years. You're stinky, because you use antiperspirant. It keeps all the stink in," femalefirst.co.uk quoted "The Other Woman" actress as saying.

The 40-year-old thinks that men should also refrain from using it as long as they are well groomed.

"Let it go and just trim your armpit hair so it doesn't hold

Los Angeles,California: Actress Laura Prepon has rubbished reports that she is dating Tom Cruise, but admits that she thinks the actor is “hot”.

Though the “Orange is the New Black” actress insists dating rumours are untrue, but she is flattered by the speculation, reports contactmusic.com

“I'm flattered because I think he's hot, so I'm like, 'Oh, that's nice,' and apparently he's very gentlemanly with me,” she told website The Daily Beast.

“Apparently we get along great and he knows that I have a favourite bottle of wine that I didn't even know I had,” added the 34-ye

  Los Angeles,California: Singer Justin Bieber has apologised to fans for having his picture taken at a controversial shrine in Japan.

Bieber paid a visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan's war dead, including former military leaders who committed mass atrocities across Asia, and the Pacific during World War II, reports contactmusic.com.

The incident prompted a backlash from some Bieber fans who lambasted him for his historical ignorance.

Bieber removed the controversial picture Tuesday and issued an apology, writing: "While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine (sic). I wa

Los Angeles,California: Singer Katy Perry made children cry after crashing a five-year-old's birthday party and staged a fake car accident for a music video.

The singer was dressed up as a clown for her track "Birthday" video and carried out a prank where she attacked a man with a pinata stick and staged a car accident, but the spoof left children in tears, reports tmz.com.

"Katy pranked a five-year-old's birthday party and most guests had no idea they were getting punk'd. Children were crying. One woman stormed away, visibly upset," said a source.

The hidden camera gag was shot at Knollwood Country Club here and a

  Washington, United States: Bomb squad cleared a suspicious package Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport after the buzzing object turned out be an electric toothbrush.

Workers were loading baggage onto a flight at Gate 26 in Terminal 2 when they noticed an object vibrating, Los Angeles Times quoted airport spokesperson Mary Grady as saying.

Police responded to the reports about 11:25 a.m. No evacuations were ordered, but the area around the gate was cleared so officials could investigate.

LAPD bomb squad and Los Angeles Fire Department units responded to the scene and cleared the package at 12:06 p.m.

Airport of

Geneva,Switzerland: World Economic Forum (WEF) in its latest report released on Wednesday said little progress has been witnessed in bridging the digital gap across countries and regions.

Based on Networked Readiness Index, the Global Information Technology Report 2014 assessed the capacity of a record 148 countries and regions to leverage information and communications technologies (ICT) for their growths and well-beings, Xinhua reported.

The annual report showed a dominance of developed economies in the top rankings.

Finland topped the ranking, followed by Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and all the top six places kep

Jaipur, India:  Balloting in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan began on Thursday, marking the second and final round of voting in the state, officials said.

As many as 81 candidates are in the fray.

Over eight million electors, including 3.7 million women, are eligible to vote in 9,113 polling stations where 192,000 poll officials have been deployed.

The first phase saw 20 constituencies going to the polls.(IANS)

Canberra,Australia: The debris found on a beach in Western Australia is not linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) official said Thursday.

"We've carefully examined detailed photographs that were taken for us by the police and we're satisfied that it's not a lead in the search for MH370," ATSB spokesperson Martin Dolan was quoted as saying on ABC radio Thursday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The debris found on a beach 10 km east of Augusta, near Margaret River, on the south-west coast of Western Australia, appeared to be sheet metal with rivets, the spokesperson said.

London,U.K. :You must have witnessed the mushrooming of gym and fitness centres in your neighbourhood in the recent past. This is just like the spread of fast food chains, a study reveals.

With successful gyms now spreading wings to different countries and promoting a typical body ideal, the fitness industry today resembles in many ways the fast food chains, said a study that explored the development of the modern fitness concept.

McDonaldisation of the gym culture is the theme of the article published in 'Sports, Education and Society'.

The study is partly based on interviews with personal trainers and group fitness instructors.

New York,U.S.: If you are longing for a quiet and relaxing meal with your kids, cut up their food as research has found that children are likely to become more rowdy when they need to bite the food with their front teeth.

When 6-10 year old children ate foods they had to bite with their front teeth, such as drumsticks, whole apples, or corn on the cob, they were rowdier than when these foods had been cut, said the study.

"They were twice as likely to disobey adults and twice as aggressive toward other kids," said Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University.

For the study, the researchers observed 12 elementary children for two days.

Los Angeles,U.S.: Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has been accused of being a controlling racist by her former stepmother.

Barbara, ex-wife of Oprah's dad Vernon Winfrey, said on a talk show that Oprah isn't comfortable in her own skin, reports showbizspy.com

In a new interview, Barbara shared an incident about her visit to Oprah's Chicago condo.

"Oprah got on to the intercom and announced, 'Negroes in the house. Negroes in the house.' She thought it was funny. I thought it was insulting. I'm older than her. I know what it means. She was reminding us of our low class," she said.

Barbara even took shot

Dubai, : Chennai Super Kings defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here Wednesday.

Defending their total of 140/6, Super Kings bowled out the Royals for 133 in 19.5 overs with left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja picking up 4/33 from his four overs.

Put in to bat, Super Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals right from the start. It was only opener Dwayne Smith who blazed through the Royals bowling attack with the highest score of the match, hitting 50 off only 28 balls which included six superb boundaries and three sixes.

After West Indian Smith got out it wa

Canberra,Australia: In what could offer huge environmental and cost savings for the energy industry, researchers have now developed a new material that prevents plastic from ageing.

When applied to plastic lining, this new material can clean up exhaust gases from power plants much more effectively than existing methods, said the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Currently, the techniques industry use to separate out raw materials such as gases, liquids and solids are extremely energy-intensive, accounting for 40 percent of the world's energy use each year.

“The new technique offers a solution that will