Washington, Apr 3 : After screening of the porn film `Pirates II: Stagnetti''s Revenge' was cancelled, a member of Maryland University's student union has said that it would have been a good alternative to drinking or other dangerous activities.

The screening was to take place at the University of Maryland, College Park, this weekend.

Washington, Apr. 3 : The chief florist at the White House, Nancy Clarke, is retiring next month after 31 years in the mansion.

"It''s such a hard decision. I''ve been thinking about it for a couple years," reliable source quoted Clarke, as saying.

She''s created bouquets for the Carters, Reagans, Clintons and both Bush administrations (she was especially close to Laura Bush) and the Obamas, but said the timing seemed right to leave -- she''s expecting her first grandchild any day.

Washington, Apr 3 : American actress Tori Spelling's weight loss has brought her into the spotlight after she shed more pregnancy pounds than normal.

Spelling, 35, who was spotted sporting a bony frame, revealed the stressful relationship she has with her estranged mother Candy in her tell-all book "Candyland," which hit bookstores last month.

"I took so much crap for so long; I needed to get the truth out there so I was brutally honest," Fox News quoted her as saying about her controversial publication.

Washington, Apr 3 : A man, who escaped from prison in Florida this week, has revealed that he had been planning on meeting up with a woman for a romantic rendezvous.

Michael Howarth, 41, had sneaked away from Lake Correctional Institution on March 30 while working at the prison''s water-treatment plant, and was captured after a two-day manhunt, walking down a Florida highway about 15 miles from the prison.

Washington, Apr 3 : Barack Obama might be touted as the most powerful man in the world, but when it comes to popularity, the US President's wife Michelle pips him to land the top spot, says a new survey.

In the new survey by Gallup, the First Lady beats her husband with a 72 percent favourable rating, as against his 69 percent.

Chicago (US), Apr. 3 : More than 100 art works, some commissioned by the Obama campaign, are being exhibited at the Chicago Tourism Center here with the aim of depicting the outpouring of enthusiasm for America's first Afro-American Head of State before he took office.

Scott Thomas, former design director for the "Obama for America" campaign; Chicago artist Ray Noland, and Nathan Mason, curator of special projects for, curate the show, "Officially Unofficial -- Inspired Art for Obama,"