Rome - Italian university students and lecturers staged demonstrations Friday in several cities around the country against government plans to streamline Italy's tertiary education sector.

The protests which have the support of two of the four main labour union confederations, and most of Italy's centre-left opposition, included a march through the streets of Rome.

Police strengthened security around parliament's lower house Chamber of Deputies where some protestors threatened to stage an unauthorized rally.

Washington, Nov 14 : Popstar Madonna has taken a break from her ‘Sticky & Sweet’ world tour in order to urge her fans to support her in building an all-girl school in Malawi.

The ‘4 Minute’ hitmaker has filmed a brief video message about the Raising Malawi Academy for girls and posted it on her website for the noble cause.

Nice, France - The European Union and Russia are set to re-launch on December 2 talks on a strategic treaty which EU leaders froze in protest at Russia's August invasion of Georgia, officials said Friday.

The two sides' top negotiators are due to hold a fresh round of talks on December 2 in Brussels, diplomatic sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on the fringes of an EU-Russia summit in the French resort town of Nice.

Washington, Nov 14 : Hollywood comedian Russell Brand has found a unique way of luring women – he pretends to be gay.

While on an American chat show hosted by David Letterman, Brand said that women feel less intimidated by his advances if they believe his flowing locks and flamboyant clothing mark him out as gay.

Nice, France - On Friday, European Union and Russian leaders agreed to re-launch negotiations on a "new EU-Russia agreement" on December 2, with expert meetings due on November 21-22.

The new deal is meant to replace an earlier Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) agreed for 10 years with Boris Yeltsin's Russia in 1997.

The PCA still governs EU-Russia relations, since EU leaders decided to freeze talks on the new deal on September 1 in protest at Russia's August invasion of Georgia.