Kabul  - US-led coalition forces destroyed two Taliban anti-aircraft weapons in southern Afghanistan, while two separate operations conducted by Afghan and international forces in the same region left eight militants dead, officials said Tuesday.

Acting on intelligence information provided by local villagers, the coalition forces destroyed a ZPU-1 anti-aircraft weapon by "precision strike" in Nad Ali district of Helmand province on Tuesday morning, the US military said in a statement.

London, Apr 21 : Hollywood actor Matt Damon turned down the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek, director J. J. Abrams has revealed.

Abrams revealed that Matt was his first choice for the starring role of Kirk - but he is glad to have been given the chance to subsequently hire little known actor Chris Pine.

"I actually approached Matt and we had some discussions, but everything happens for a reason. On the one hand, it would have been great to work with Matt - but at the end of the day, it was such a better move to cast the movie with unknowns,” The Daily Star quoted J. J., as telling Life magazine.

Brussels - World, European and African leaders are set to gather in Brussels on Thursday for a conference to raise funds for Somalia's fledgling security institutions, as the world struggles to come to grips with the piracy epidemic along the country's coast.

London, Apr 21 : Music composer James Newton Howard has been nominated twice in the best soundtrack category at the Classical Brits for his work on films The Dark Knight and I Am Legend. Co-composer Hans Zimmer is also nominated for his work in the Dark Knight, reports The BBC.

On the other hand, conductor Charles Mackerras, who recently won two BBC Music Magazine awards, is up for male artist of the year and the critics award.

Mackerras is nominated for his recording of Mozart Symphonies nos. 38-41.

Berlin, April 21: Scientists have developed a novel reaction scheme by which CO2 can be efficiently converted into methanol under very mild conditions.

The technique was developed by researchers working with Yugen Zhang and Jackie Y. Ying at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore.

As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the scheme is based on an N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst and a silane as the reducing agent.

Salzburg, Austria  - Former PSV Eindhoven coach Huub Stevens is to take charge of Austrian league leaders Red Bull Salzburg from July, the club said Tuesday.

Stevens, 55, has signed a two-year contract and will succeed compatriot Co Adriaanse who is not extending his contract at the club.

Stevens has twice won the UEFA Cup, with PSV Eindhoven in 1978 and Germany's Schalke 04 in 1997.