New York [USA], Nov. 19 : China desperately needs the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it will help in pushing Beijing to the next stage of globalization, but since the project passes through regions claimed by India, China therefore needs to make peace with New Delhi.

A report in Forbes states that Beijing is committed to the USD 46 billion project as it will eventually serve as the express link between Western China, the Middle East, and Africa.

But with the corridor passing through 'Indian' territory, it has raised several hackles in New Delhi and a vociferous protest has erupted from the Indian Government against the project.

China, however, seems oblivious to India's objections and has charged ahead with it plans.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : Hollywood Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has been bestowed GQ magazine's highest honor in its December issue.

The "proud Aussie, talented surfer, doting dad" and "charitable, grounded, funny and successful" actor has been announced as GQ 'Man Of The Year' at the Australian award ceremony in Sydney, reports gq.com.au.

His colleagues also find it hard to say a bad word about the 'Ghosbusters' star, who was once named People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive'.

In the issue, Hemsworth's 'Thor' co-star Tom Hiddleston sums up the actor appeal.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : According to a recent research published in the Contraception Journal, concerns about weight gain may be driving contraception choices in women.

Women who are overweight or obese, are less likely to use birth control pill and other hormonal contraceptive methods.

"Weight gain is one of the most commonly cited reasons why women stop using hormonal contraception, and therefore may play a role in the risk of unintended pregnancies," said researcher Cynthia Chuang.

Although oral contraception does not likely cause weight gain, many women attribute increasing weight with the birth control pill.

The birth control shot has been associated with weight gain in younger women.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : A recent research cited in an academic journal titled Nature Medicine suggests that the virus that causes hepatitis C protects itself by blocking signals that call up immune defenses in liver cells.

"The finding helps explain why many patients fail certain drug treatments, and should help develop more effective alternate treatment protocols," said Ram Savan, the study's corresponding author.

Hepatitis C virus, the most common cause of chronic hepatitis and the leading cause of liver cancer, is primarily spread through contact with infected blood.

Each year, more than 30,000 Americans become infected and as many as 85 percent develop life-long chronic infections.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : According to a recent research published in the Chest journal, an irregular lack of air, experienced by people with sleep apnea, can increase tumor growth by promoting the release of circulating exosomes.

Obstructive sleep apnea has been associated with increased incidence of cancer and mortality.

In order to better understand the connection between the two, researchers took a detailed look at lung cancer tumor cell growth in mice.

Half of the mice experienced regular breathing patterns, while the other half was exposed to intermittent hypoxia (IH) to simulate sleep apnea.

The team found that exosomes released in the mice exposed to IH enhanced the malignant properties of the lung cancer cells.

WashingtonD.C. [US], Nov. 18 : A recent research published in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care indicates that e-cigarette smoking can lay substantial effect on young smokers' health even if they do not later become tobacco smokers.

The lead author of the research Rob McConnell along with his team reported an association between e-cigarette use and persistent cough, bronchitis and congestion or phlegm in the Southern California Children's Health Study.

"E-cigarettes are known to deliver chemicals toxic to the lungs, including oxidant metals, glycerol vapor, diketone flavoring compounds and nicotine," McConnell said.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : Leonardo DiCaprio's love for the world and humanity and is no stranger to anyone.

The 42-year-old Oscar-winning actor arrived at restaurant 'Home' for lunch with a smitten fan, Elise Lovell, who had won a raffle to dine with him in aid of the ' Social Bite' homeless charity, reports the Guardian.

The 'Titanic' star had a broad smile but few words for several hundred fans who braved near-freezing temperatures and rain outside the central Edinburgh restaurant that runs a chain of sandwich shops to train and employ homeless staff.

Reportedly, part of his meal at ' Home' was prepared by Biffy Mackay, a previously homeless trainee chef who said it was the most nerve-racking thing she had ever done.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : American heavy metal band Metallica is letting its reign loose by toning down one of its ferocious hits 'Enter Sandman' into a joyous number.

The band turned the 1991 hit into a ramshackle jam, performing the track with toy instruments alongside Jimmy Fallon and 'The Roots' on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon', reports rolingstone.com.

Lead Vocalist James Hetfield could not help grinning all the way as he belted the song over the joyous ruckus.

Meanwhile, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett wailed away on a melodica and bandmate Lars Ulrich pounded on a colourful microscopic drum and smashed together a pair of tiny cymbals.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 18 : A large uninvited bat literally crashed Adele's concert in Mexico while she hilariously freaked out in the middle of a thank you speech.

The 28-year-old songstress was performing at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes when she noticed a large, black, uninvited bat flying above the audience, reports HollywoodLife.com.

The 'Hello' singer was in the middle of a speech when she noticed the nocturnal creature flapping around, and immediately freaked out.

"Oh my god there's a f**cking bat," she yelled, "Welcome to Mexico! I'm happy to be here but f**cking mad Jesus Christ!"

Before she noticed the mammal and went about the stage running, the English beauty was gracefully thanking her fans for welcoming her to the country.

Washington, D.C. [United States], Nov. 18 : With the tensions between India and Pakistan at the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) refusing to die down and has resulted in killing of soldiers on both sides, the United States (U.S.) has urged both India and Pakistan "to work bilaterally to try to reduce tensions".

Answering a question at a daily press briefing on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said, "We remain in close communication with our counterparts in both countries, and again, as we've said before, urge them both to work bilaterally to try to reduce tensions."

Washington D.C. [United States], Nov. 18 : United States (U.S.) president-elect Donald Trump has reportedly offered the role of national security advisor to Army retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; however, it was not immediately clear whether Flynn accepted.

Flynn, 57, who was a top adviser and high-profile surrogate to Trump during his campaign, enjoys tremendous access and credibility with Trump, especially because he's had several tours of duty on the battlefield.

He has, however, a long history of controversial remarks and was fired as President Barack Obama's director of the Defence Intelligence Agency in 2014, reports the CNN.

WashingtonD.C [US], Nov. 17 : The Science Translational Medicine journal recently reported about development of a universal shear-thinning biomaterial that may provide an alternative for treating vascular bleeding.

Developed by the researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the biomaterial has potential to protect patients at high risk for bleeding in surgery.

Endovascular embolization is a minimally invasive procedure that treats abnormal blood vessels in the brain and other parts of the body beginning with a pinhole puncture in the femoral artery.

This procedure is accomplished by inserting metallic coils through a catheter into a vessel, which induces clotting to prevent further bleeding.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 17 : The next celebrity passenger on James Corden's 'Carpool Karaoke' is none other than Madonna, the queen of pop.

The 58-year-old songstress took to social media to share a selfie from her ride with ' The Late Late Show' host in New York City.

"Riding around Manhattan with this Hunk of Burning Love @latelateshow carpool karaoke," she captioned the Instagram photo.

' Carpool Karaoke' is a segment, shown in the American late-night talk show, where Corden and the musical guest sing along to their songs whilst driving, usually in Los Angeles.

The 'Vogue' crooner is the latest pop diva to ride shotgun with Corden who previously drove around with stars like Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Adele, Britney Spears and Sia.

Washington D.C [US] Nov. 17 : According to a recent research published in the Target journal, electronic cigarettes are equally damaging to gums and teeth as conventional cigarettes.

Led by Irfan Rahman, it is claimed to be the first scientific study to address e-cigarettes and their detrimental effect on oral health on cellular and molecular levels.

Electronic cigarettes are often perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes.

In previous researches, scientists thought that the chemicals found in cigarette smoke were the culprits behind adverse health effects, but a growing body of scientific data, including this study, suggests otherwise.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov.17 : It's better to deal with your ankle sprains on your own at home than to visit a physiotherapist.

A study published byThe BMJ reveals that physiotherapy does not benefit recovery when compared to basic self management of the injury at home.

Fewer than half of patients had not reached 'excellent recovery' by six months after injury, and there was little clinical difference between those who had received physiotherapy versus usual standard care.

Experts say the finding is important because management of ankle sprains has substantial financial costs, and alternative treatments should be sought to help recovery.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov.17 : Scientists have discovered two new species of lizards in the Andean highlands of Southern Chile.

The two reptiles, collected from areas of heroic past, were named after courageous tribal chiefs who have once fought against colonial Spaniards in the Arauco war. The study, conducted by a team of Chilean scientists, is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Jaime Troncoso-Palacios from Universidad de Chile and his team found both new species near a lake in a pre-Andean zone among deciduous vegetation. Following the examination of the collected specimens and further analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, performed by Dr. Alvaro A. Elorza from Universidad Andres Bello, Chile, the scientists concluded that they belong to species unknown to science.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov. 16 : While sleeping at night, electrical waves of brain activity circle around each side of your brain and are responsible for forming associations between different aspects of a day's memories, found The Salk Institute scientists.

The circular on the surface of your head might look like the twin hair buns of Star Wars' Princess Leia, says a study published in journal eLife.

"The scale and speed of Princess Leia waves in the cortex is unprecedented, a discovery that advances the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative," says Terrence Sejnowski, THE head of Salk's Computational Neurobiology Laboratory.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov.17 : Red wine helps prevent cardiovascular disease and drinking a glass or two of it, before lighting up a cigarette, can counteract some of the short-term negative effects of smoking on blood vessels, says a study published in The American Journal of Medicine.

Cigarette smoke causes acute endothelial damage, vascular and systemic inflammation, and cellular aging. Red wine stimulates the formation of endothelium-dependent relaxation factors such as nitric oxide, which improve endothelial function in coronary arteries possibly because of the high phenol concentration in red wine.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov.17 : A recent study published in journal BMC Public Health has found that pessimism is associated with risk of death from coronary heart disease (CHD).

People with high levels of pessimism seemed to have a higher risk of CHD-induced mortality, even after adjusting for known physiological risk factors whereas optimism did not seem to have any effect on that risk, found the researchers at the Department of Psychiatry, Paijat-Hame Central Hospital, Finland.

Optimism and pessimism in the scientific sense focus on people's attitude towards their future, whether or not they generally expect a greater number of desirable or undesirable things to happen.

Washington D C [United States], Nov.17 : The media is fuming. President-elect Donald Trump and his family gave his shadow media a slip and went for a family dinner on Tuesday night at New York's famed 21 Club restaurant. On Wednesday, he launched a Twitter storm against the media, saying his transition process was on schedule and the media speculation that the Trump team was in a tizzy trying to fill cabinet posts was just that: baseless speculation.