Washington, Nov 18 : A new study of Australian soils has indicated that as the climate warns, soils may not release as much carbon dioxide (CO2) as predictions have suggested.

According to a report in Discovery News, the study was done by Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Dirt releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when microbes in the soil digest organic matter from things like decaying plants.

Islamabad  - Five people were killed in hours-long clashes between Taliban militants and pro-government tribesmen in north-western Pakistan's restive tribal district of Bajaur, an official said Tuesday.

The firefight started Monday afternoon when the militants ambushed several tribal elders who were on their way to the district's main town, Khar, to attend a meeting of a local jirga, or tribal council, against the Taliban.

In its ongoing struggle to steady itself after suffering massive losses from deteriorating debt, the New York-based banking giant, Citigroup Inc., announced Monday that it would cut another 24,000 jobs, bringing its total reductions to 52,000 in the coming months.

CEO Vikram Pandit discussed the plans - posted on the company’s web site – with the employees at the company’s town hall meeting in New York. The move comes after the company posted four straight quarterly losses, including a loss of $2.8 billion during the third quarter.

Melbourne, Nov. 18: A cocktail party on Monday helped heal Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds strained friendship with teammate and vice-captain Michael Clarke.

A leadership group featuring Clarke sensationally sent Symonds home from a one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin in September after he skipped a team meeting to go fishing. Symonds later admitted that he had gone on a drinking binge after last year’s hostile series against India and was prone to aggravated behavior.

London, Nov 18: Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has expressed shock and confusion over Lindsay Lohan’s alleged vulgar remark about her, insisting that she barely knows her.

Apparently, the ‘Mean Girls’ actress scribbled "Scarlett is a bloody c**t" with a permanent marker on a New York City bathroom hall before exiting the place in 2006.

The ‘Manny & Lo’ actress is still baffled by the lewd remark, as Lohan has met her only thrice.

Melbourne, Nov. 18: New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori has described his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting, all-rounder Andrew Symonds and opener Matthew Hayden as world cricket''s most aggressive nigglers.

Vettori also ruffled more feathers when he claimed Ponting was often "spoiling for a fight".

He also insisted that he was not surprised that last summer''s volatile battle between Australia and India had descended into a bitter slanging match.