Are, Sweden  - Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway clinched the overall World Cup title on Saturday when his Austrian Benjamin Raich of Austria crashed out in the season-ending slalom race.

The Austrian Raich trailed had cut the deficit on Svindal to two points with a giant slalom win on Friday. But he then straddled a gate around 35 seconds into the slalom.

Svindal won the World Cup for the second time, his first title being in 2007.

Beijing - Troops in full battle dress patrolled Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, on Saturday as the anniversary of last year's anti-Chinese protests and rioting in the city was marked largely with silence amid the heavy security.

The semi-official China News Service showed a photograph of two schoolchildren walking past a dozen soldiers in combat gear in the deserted Barkhor market street in the centre of Lhasa.

"Anniversary of the 'March 14' sacrifice: behind every statistic is grief and terror," said the agency's headline above a story that reflected the government's focus on the 18 Chinese civilian deaths in last year's rioting.

Islamabad, Mar. 14 : Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sherry Rehman's resignation has surprised President Asif Ali Zardari.

On receiving the resignation, worried Zardari told Rehman that she had left him in difficult times.

In reply, Sherry Rehman said that she has resigned on principle that of late Benazir Bhutto.

Several sources, confirmed that Rehman had sent her resignation to the Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani who also expressed surprise over the decision.

Melbourne, Mar 14: Australian trade unions want Prime Minster Kevin Rudd to stop banking jobs going offshore, after his government rejected calls to have the deposit guarantee withdrawn from banks that move jobs out of Australia.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has sought an urgent meeting with Rudd after ANZ Bank announced it was shifting 500 jobs to India.

Washington, March 14: A new study has determined that human-generated sounds significantly affect the lives of aquatic animals, from the individual animal's well-being, right through to its reproduction, migration and even death of some species.

The study, led by Dr. Arthur Popper from the University of Maryland, US, suggests that marine animals could suffer detrimental effects ranging from a loss of hearing to increased stressed levels as a result of environmental noise - in ways not dissimilar to humans and land animals.

The study also describes some recent well-controlled experimental studies while highlighting areas for future study.

Lahore, Mar. 14 : The Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) has put in place several plans to avoid arrests of its leaders, and foil any attempt by the government to clamp down on the protest march participants.

According to sources, the party leaders held a meeting at an undisclosed location to discuss its strategy and future course of action, and to thwart the highhandedness of the Zardari administration.

Kathmandu  - Police shot and killed two demonstrators Saturday in south-western Nepal as members of the Tharu ethnic group defied a curfew and attacked officers and vehicles, government officials said.

The fresh violence came on the 13th day of a general strike by the Tharu across the southern plains known as the Terai.

The clash occurred in Dang district, about 420 kilometres south-west of Kathmandu, when protestors attacked dozens of passenger buses being escorted by police.

Washington, March 14 : The U. S. Army is developing an `e-bomb' that would use electromagnetic radiation to destroy and disable electronic systems and their operators in one blast.

The key is a magnet that blows up and spontaneously demagnetizes, releasing energy as a pulse of power.

Previous e-bomb designs were based on explosively driven magnetic flux compression generators. They used a series of tightly wound, current-carrying metal coils that are rapidly compressed by an explosion.

The new technology is much more compact.

It's based on research showing that some magnets will spontaneously demagnetize when hit by a powerful enough shock wave, releasing a pulse of energy, in the process.

London, March 14: Apple has landed in legal trouble after a mother alleged her son endured second-degree burns when the company’s iPod touch music players exploded in his pocket.

Lynette Antrobus, from Cincinnati, is claiming 75,000 dollars plus punitive damage after accusing the multinational corporation of “gross negligence and recklessness” and of behaving “maliciously and fraudulently”.

After seeing India's brilliant performance in one-day cricket, former skipper and prolific right hand batsman Kevin Pietersen believes that the IPL is the reason behind men in blue's success and said if English players were to lift their game, they too must play in the Twenty20 tournament.

Speaking with BBC, Pietersen said, “I think the reason why India has gone through the roof is because of the Indian Premier League (IPL).”

''After missing out last year, there is no way we can get up there if we don't play,'' he said.

Sydney, Mar 14 : The Indian women's cricket team beat Australia by 16 runs in a Super Six game with the help of a fine knock of 76 by Anjum Chopra, seriously denting the Australian defence of the World Cup at North Sydney Oval.

Australia is left with two points with a couple of Super Six matches to go, and they must win both and hope that two of England (6) New Zealand (4) and India (4) falter. There are no semi-finals and Australia will be out of the competition if eight points are needed to reach next Sunday''s decider.

Washington, Mar 14: Hollywood actor Tom Hanks was so desperate to team up with his son Colin on the big screen that he actually forced his way into his son''s new movie.

The Oscar winner actor revealed that he was so impressed with the script for ''The Great Buck Howard'' that he decided he wanted to play his son’s dad whether he liked it or not, reports China Daily

Washington, Mar 14: While alcohol consumption has always been attributed to devastating effects on health, a new study has revealed that moderate consumption might make bones stronger in older adults.

An international team of experts headed by Katherine Tucker studied a cohort of older adults in the Framingham Offspring Study to determine an association between alcohol consumption and bone mineral density.

“Moderate alcohol consumption was shown to contribute to stronger bones (measured as hip and spine bone mineral density),” said ASN Spokesperson Stephanie Atkinson, PhD.

A phone helpline, named ‘Manasu’ has been launched in Tamil Nadu for transgenders on Friday.

The helpline number '044-25990505' will assist transgenders, whose population is about 50,000 in the state.

The Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative is being administered by Voluntary Health Service (VHS).

Dr. Lakshmi Bai, Project Director, TAI –VHS, said, “For those who want to understand the issues related to transgenders, this helpline will serve as a gateway of information and counselling.”

London, March 14: Victoria Beckham has put many minds at work after being spotted looking a little bony.

The former Spice Girl allegedly had her muscles protruding out of her neck as she stepped out of London’s Claridge’s hotel.

The fashion icon was seen sporting a chic navy outfit and cap that was drawn to a close with strange goat leather shoes, reports the Sun.

The 34-year-old designer maintained her balance on the five-inch Louis Vuitton heels that were roofed in buttons.

Jerusalem, Mar 14 : A senior US official has expressed strong disagreement with the British decision to begin contacts with Lebanese terror group Hizbullah.

The British Government hold an opposing view of the terror group, and this is their basis for dealing with the political organization.

President Barack Obama's Administration does not view Hizbullah as an entity with separate military, political and social wings, according to a top US official.

Washington, March 14: A group of scientists have discovered a new way to sensitively detect explosives based on the physical properties of their vapors.

"Certain classes of explosives have unique thermal characteristics that help to identify explosive vapors in presence of other vapors," said Thomas Thundat, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, who conducted the research with his colleagues at ORNL and the Technical University of Denmark.

Islamabad  - Pakistan's beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari is seeking negotiations with opponents to end anti-government protests, his spokesman said Saturday as authorities intensified efforts to block a march for an independent judiciary.

Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the government had decided after a meeting lasting several hours to pursue efforts to defuse tensions through dialogue, reconciliation and respect for the constitution.

New Delhi, Mar. 14: Home Minister P Chidambaram has issued a legal notice against CPI MLA Gunasekaran for alleging that he had supported allocation of 500 acres of government land to a private company in his constituency Sivaganga.

“It is a total lie to say that 500 acres of land has been gifted to a private company. Some political parties are accustomed to reeling out lies and false charges for the sake of politics. My name has been dragged unnecessarily over an issue between the government and a private firm,” said Chidambaram.

London, Mar 14: The life of singer Marianne Faithfull, the real wild girl of rock, is to be told in a film.

At a time of her life, Faithfull, who once dated Mick Jagger, sank into heroin addiction and homelessness.

She published an autobiography in 1994.

And, now she has agreed to have her life transformed into a film.

"It won''t happen right away but we have found a director who I trust who wants to make a film of the book," The BBC quoted her, as saying.