Mar 4, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) In a bid to impart a major impetus to the military growth of the country, China has decided to increase the budget for military spending by a whopping 12.7 per cent this year. As expected, China’s announcement that has it taken the decision to upgrade its military budget, has triggered a concern among countries across the world although Chinese officials have insisted that the raise in its military spending in no way poses any kind of threat to its rival nations.

According to National People’s Congress spokesperson Li Zhaoxing, the  the annual budget for the People’s Liberation Army, which is the largest in the world, will be accentuated by 12.7 per cent to 601.1bn yuan (£56.2bn) in order to fund the ‘appropriate’ hardware spending as well as take care of the wage raises of the nations’ military. Despite the extensive world-wide concern about China’s increasing investment to empower its military, the spokesperson emphasized that it is a defensive force which ‘will not pose a threat to any country.’ The figures about the increase in the defense budget now awaits approval from China’s National People’s Congress, which is dominated by the Communist Party, when its ten-day session kicks off on Saturday.

While talking to reporters, Li said, “China’s defence spending is relatively low by world standards. China has always paid attention to controlling the size of defence spending.” However, many analysts believe the total amount that the country spends on its military is much more than what China discloses publicly. Although Beijing continues to insist that its military improvement programme only aims to empower its defence against external forces, the impetus to the People’s Liberation Army is surely all set to spark a widespread regional unease.

Mar 3, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) There are surely no brownie points for guessing that all the ardent female fans of Canadian teenage sensation Justin Bieber are not very fond of his girlfriend Selena Gomez. However, now it seems that the Bieber aficionados have taken their craziness for the ‘Baby’ singer a step further by physically assaulting his lady love! If recent reports are anything to go by, then the Disney star supposedly had to face the ire of Bieber fans recently when she was supposedly punched really hard by one of her beau’s ardent followers.

The rumors claiming that Gomez was punched on her face by one of Bieber’s fans were sparked after the 18-year-old star was seen hiding her face while exiting a LA restaurant after celebrating her boyfriend’s 17th birthday. The Canadian singing sensation turned 17 last Tuesday and the lovebirds were spotted spending some quality time with each other at a gala birthday bash that was thrown at the Italian restaurant Maggiano’s Little Italy in Los Angeles. However, when the couple exited the restaurant, they were in for a harrowing time as a chaotic media frenzy followed in which the starlet was seen covering her face for what appeared to be a fat lip.

Gomez’s attempt to hide her face soon triggered the rumors that she had been hit by one of Bieber’s fans which resulted in the swollen lip. However, a representative of Gomez has brushed away the rumors that the Disney star has been punched by one of Bieber’s followers, emphasizing that there is ‘absolutely no truth’ to the rumors.

Mar 2, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Pop diva Christina Aguilera has been hitting headlines for reasons her fans can hardly be proud of. The ‘Beautiful’ singer was taken into custody on the wee hours of Tuesday morning in Hollywood after police officials comprehended that she was way too high on booze and so ‘was not capable of taking care of herself.’ However, the songstress was not alone during the incident and was accompanied by her boyfriend, Matthew Rutler who was behind the wheels of the vehicle which was stopped by the cops at Subset Strip in West Hollywood.

According to Steve Whitmore, who is a spokesperson of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the 30-year-old musical artist had to be taken into custody as she was a ‘public safety issue’ and when the cops pulled over the car, the singer was in such an inebriated condition that she had no idea what exactly was happening. “She was cooperative. She was not belligerent in any way whatsoever. She was just intoxicated,” the police spokesperson went on to add. Moreover, police sources have revealed that although, the ‘Dirrty’ singer would not be prosecuted over any of the charges, her beau, Rutler would be facing charges of drunken driving considering the fact that the 25-year-old’s breathalyser test was found out to be way above the legal limit of .08.

Close friends of the pop diva have expressed concern about Aguilera’s mental condition and heavy drinking since her separation from husband of five years, Jordan Bratman last year. Just about two months after she parted ways from her music executive husband, the singer got romantically involved with Rutler.

Mar 2, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Although many of his ardent followers might have presumed that the cancellation of the smash hit sitcom ‘Two and a Half Men‘ was the lowest point in the career of it’s star Charlie Sheen, it seems that the worst is not yet over for the actor. Just days after his outrageous radio rant against the show’s creator Chuck Lorre lead to the termination of the popular sitcom for the rest of the season, Sheen is back hogging the spotlight for all the wrong reasons once again. His estranged wife Brooke Mueller filed a restraining order against him on Tuesday, alleging that the troubled television star had threatened her on numerous occasions while adding that he was also physically and verbally abusive to her.

However, things turned out to be all the more grim for Sheen as soon after his estranged wife won the restraining order at the Los Angeles Superior Court, the actor’s twin sons were removed from his custody. The ruling that was given by judge Hank M. Goldberg said that the kids should not be kept under his custody while adding that the actor should not be seen within 100 yards of his soon-to-be former wife as well as the two children.

As per the documents that have been filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by Mueller, Sheen barged into his residence during the last week of February and took away the 23-month-old twins, Bob and Max. In the documents, Mueller further alleges that although she made repeated attempts to get the kids back, the troubled actor never allowed her to get near the children and also threatened to kill her.

Mar 1, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Canadian songstress Nelly Furtado has revealed that she received a whopping $1 million from Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to perform for some of his family members at a hotel in Italy. The pop singer took to Twitter to divulge that she intends to donate the entire amount that she got from Colonel Gaddafi in the wake of the Libyan’s leader’s brutal crackdown of the anti-regime protests that has rocked Libya recently.

The noted Canadian singer wrote in her post on Twitter, “In 2007, I received 1 million$ from the Qaddafi clan to perform a 45 min. Show for guests at a hotel in Italy. I am going to donate the $.” Although the Grammy award-winning musical artist has unveiled her plans of giving away the staggering amount of money for charity, information about where she wants to donate the money continues to remain sketchy. With Furtado’s revelation that she was paid to perform for some of the family members of the Libyan leader, the songstress joins the bandwagon of many such celebrities who have been appointed by Colonel’s Gaddafi’s family members to perform at such events.

According to reports, Beyonce and Usher are some of the musical artists who have delivered performances for the Gaddafi clan in lieu of huge amount of money. Both the R$B stars are reported to have performed at the New Year’s eve bash at the Caribbean island of St. Barts while singer Mariah Carey was one of the celebrities who performed at the same venue the previous year.

Mar 1, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Despite the fact that there is more than a year to go by before the 2012 Olympics kick off in London, the much-anticipated event is already dominating the headlines. However, as one would expect, this time it is not the sporting extravaganza that is seizing all the attention as the event is hitting headlines for a different kind of controversy altogether. On Monday, Iran threatened to boycott next year’s Olympics if the logo that has been selected to represent the event is not changed. According to Iranian authorities, the logo of 2012 Olympics refers to the term ‘Zion’, a biblical word which is widely used to denote the city of Jerusalem.

Iran’s National Olympic Committee’s secretary general Bahram Afsharzadeh has expressed his nation’s dissatisfaction with the emblem in a letter to Jacques Rogge, the president of International Olympic Committee. “There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the Games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles,” the letter said. Moreover, in the letter, Afsharzadeh also made an appeal to the rest of the Muslim nations to boycott the sporting event if the ‘racist logo’ is not altered.

In the meanwhile, an official of the International Olympic Committee has confirmed that the the letter has indeed been received by the organization while emphasizing that the logo represented only the figure 2012 and nothing else. While talking about the controversy, a London organizing committee official added, “It was launched in 2007 following testing and consultation. We are surprised that this complaint has been made now.”

Mar 1, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Actress Jane Russell who enthralled movie-goers during the 1940′s and 50′s with her super hot looks that sizzled onscreen, has passed away at the age of 89. The veteran actress who attained fame as one of the leading sex symbols of Hollywood, breathed her last on Monday morning at her home in Santa Monica, in the state of California. The news of the Hollywood star’s unfortunate demise has been confirmed by her daughter-in-law Etta Waterfield who revealed in a statement that Russell passed away owing to respiratory difficulties.

While divulging details about the cause of the actress’ death, her daughter-in-law added that Russell was ‘pillar of health’ even during the last few years of her life but unfortunately caught a bad cold few days earlier that ultimately lead to her death. During the last few moments of her life, Russell was surrounded by her family members which included her children, Thomas K. Waterfield, Tracy Foundas and Robert “Buck” Waterfield.

The veteran actress dazzled the silver screen for the very first time after she was cast by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes in her controversial 1943 flick “The Outlaw.” Certain sequences in the movie were so steamy that it was delayed by the censor board for as long as three years before it finally saw the light of the day in 1943 with a limited release. Soon after the movie was released, Russell with her signature oomph factor and sultry looks was turned into an overnight star and attained huge fan-following. During the later part of her career, Russell starred in a number of other much acclaimed flicks alongside Bob Hope, Clark Cable as well as Frank Sinatra.

Muscat, Oman, Feb 28, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Oman seems to be the latest nation to be swept by the winds of change after a number of pro-democracy supporters clashed with police forces over the weekend in the seaside town of Sohar, located at a distance of 120 miles from the capital city of Muscat. Although multiple reports have indicated that as many as six people have lost their lives in the unrest that has sparked in the nation, the state officials have reiterated that the death toll owing to the violence is just one.

A state official has revealed that the protesters torched a supermarket in Sohar while the roads to an export port and refinery in the seaside town has also been blocked by the demonstrators. According to eye-witnesses, after the supermarket was set ablaze by the pro-democracy protesters, large number of demonstrators gathered at the town’s epi-center demanding key changes in the government, jobs for the unemployed youngsters as well as better salaries. While talking to reporters, one of the protesters said, “We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly to the population. We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis.”

With the aim of pacifying the growing unrest among the people of the country, the government in Oman has emphasized that it will be taking all the initiatives necessary for creating more job opportunities while adding that the government is also considering providing benefits to job seekers. The protest against the rule of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has been reigning for more than four decades, is a rather unusual event in the Arab nation, who is hardly ever in the news for any kind of discontent.

Los Angeles, Feb 28, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Royal drama ‘The King’s Speech’ starring Colin Firth as England’s King George VI, who tries his best to overcame his stammer, proved yet again that it has all the ingredients to reign supreme at this year’s movie awards season. The Tom Hooper directed flick ruled the roost at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards which was held with much elan at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater on Sunday night. Although the stupendous success that the movie received at this year’s Oscars hardly came as a bolt from the blue considering the wide accolades that the royal drama had managed to garner in the rest of the  award ceremony, its triumph at the prestigious Academy Awards has surely been an icing on the cake for the flick and its makers.

The Colin Firth starer was surely the toast of the awards night which took home not only the honor for the best actor for the 50-year-old star but it also reserved three other awards in the category of Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay for David Seidler as well as Best Director for Tom Hooper. After the winner of the best actor category was announced, a visibly delighted Firth went up the stage to be bestowed with the honor and told everyone present that he intended to exit the stage as soon as possible before he embarrassed himself by dancing with joy.

“I have a feeling my career has just peaked. My deepest thanks to the academy,” the much-acclaimed actor said in his acceptance speech. At the same time, ‘The King’s Speech’ star expressed gratitude for ‘all the people who have been routing for me back home,’ while also thanking his wife, ‘Livia, for putting up with my fleeting delusions of royalty.’

Washington, Feb 26, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) Its history in the making at the White House. For the very first time, a man has been selected to assume responsibilities as the social secretary of the White House. Jeremy Bernard, an openly gay man would be the third White House social secretary of U.S. President Barack Obama and he would be succeeding Julianna Smoot, who has been in the position for less than a year.

A statement released by President Obama on Friday read, “Jeremy shares our vision for the White House as the People’s House, one that celebrates our history and culture in dynamic and inclusive ways.” During his role as the White House social secretary, Bernard, who presently serves as the senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to France, would be responsible for taking care of an eclectic array of social functions at the White House. His appointment at the White House surely adds a new feather to the cap of the Texas man although it is a well-known fact that carrying out the responsibility of the high-profile job is no cakewalk.

After it was officially confirmed that Bernard has been hired as the social secretary of White House, the gay rights activist beamingly added that he was ‘deeply humbled’ by the appointment. “I have long admired the arts and education programs that have become hallmarks of the Obama White House and I am eager to continue these efforts in the years ahead,” the new social secretary went on to add. In his new job, Bernard would be responsible for coordinating and carrying out official social functions at the White House.