Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was caught off guard on Tuesday when her press secretary prayed for a possible extension of her term beyond 2010 as lawmakers debated on an impeachment complaint against her.

Arroyo and her cabinet often start their meetings with a prayer, which is led by different officials.

But the prayer by Press Secretary Jesus Dureza shocked Arroyo for touching on a sensitive political issue, with many critics warning of alleged plans for the president to hold on to power beyond the end of her term in 2010.

"We pray for the president, that she may have forbearance, good health and tolerance to lead this nation until 2010, and who knows, perhaps even beyond," Dureza said.

Washington, Nov 18 : Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she will be replacing Tom Cruise in the spy flick ‘Edwin A. Salt’.

While on an interview with BBC Radio, the stunner said, "I''m working on a film called Salt. And it''s with [Bone Collector director] Phillip Noyce. And that''s it."

Peshawar, Nov 18: After Pakistan’s Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan province, Peshawar, the NWFP capital, too has become an off-limit area for foreign journalists working in the country. This was demonstrated by Friday’s incident wherein a couple of armed Taliban men made an unsuccessful bid to kidnap Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, reported the Daily Times.

The scribe is presently recuperating in a hospital with multiple bullet wounds in various parts of his body.

Washington, Nov 18: An international team of scientists has uncovered evidence that supports the idea that oceans once covered about a third of ancient Mars.

The scientists found the evidence by analyzing data from the Gamma Ray Spectrometer onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey.

“We compared Gamma Ray Spectrometer data on potassium, thorium and iron above and below a shoreline believed to mark an ancient ocean that covered a third of Mars’ surface, and an inner shoreline believed to mark a younger, smaller ocean,” said University of Arizona (UA) planetary geologist James M. Dohm, who led the international investigation.

London, Nov 18: Ever wondered why is it easier to re-learn riding a bicycle, even if we haven''t practiced for years? Well, now scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have provided an answer by showing what really goes on in the brain when it learns or forgets something.

They have shown that nerve cell contacts established during a learning process stay even when they are no longer required. The reactivation of this temporarily inactivated ''stock of contacts'' allows a faster learning of things forgotten.

Canadian researchers have said that women, with a family history of breast cancer, who test negative for two genetic mutations commonly linked to breast cancer, could still be at a high risk of developing the disease. The genes in question are BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are linked with particularly aggressive hereditary breast cancer and an increased risk of ovarian cancer as well.