London, Dec 22 : Italian authorities have beefed up security around the remains of St Nicholas, the saint who inspired Father Christmas, fearing that Mafia may try to steal it.

Police in Bari have received information that a Mafia crime gang is planning to nick relics from the tomb of the saint.

"Our police are watching the St Nicholas Church in our city every day," the Daily Star quoted Vincenzo Speranza, chief of police in Bari, as saying.

The cops have also installed a new 600,000 pounds security system with more than 100 CCTV cameras.

London, Dec 22 : Troubled musician Pete Doherty is again back to his haphazard se

London, Dec 22 : Owing to her laziness to make public appearances, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, has been dubbed as the "Duchess of Dolittle" by Palace staff.

The lady's appointment chart boasts a measly 137 engagements last year, almost dozens less than the previous year.

And Camilla might turn out to be the Royal Family's biggest ever loafer, attending least number of public functions out of all the Royals, for the third time since she married into the family.

London, Dec 22 : A language watchdog insists that much of the Christmas food is dolled up with "pointless and meaningless waffle", making it difficult for shoppers to decide what to buy.

Plain English Campaign examined the descriptions of supermarket chickens and eggs and other foods, which showed that many of them gave shoppers no help in deciding what to buy.

"The language used to describe food has become comical and the consumer pays for it," the Telegraph quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

London, Dec 22 : Hollywood actress Gemma Atkinson has reportedly split up with her footballer fiance Marcus Bent because both of them have too many work commitments.

One of her friends revealed that the two of them had been so busy since their engagement in January that could not devote ample time to one another.

"They barely saw each other since getting engaged... they have been working non-stop," British tabloid The Sun quoted the source as saying.

London, Dec 22 : Japan had asked the United States to use nuclear
missiles against China in the event of a conflict breaking out in the
region, according to documents declassified by the Japanese Government.

The
Japanese prime minister secretly pleaded in 1965 with Washington to use
nuclear missiles against China, The Telegraph reported.

According
to the declassified documents then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato asked the
US to retaliate immediately with nuclear weapons in the event of war.
Sato made the plea during talks with then US Secretary of Defence
Robert McNamara in Washington in January 1965.

China had