London- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II marked her 83rd birthday Tuesday with low-key private celebrations at Windsor Castle as gun salute tributes were fired in her honour and flags were flown above government buildings.

The monarch, who became queen on the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952, would spend the day quietly at Windsor Castle, just outside London, with her husband, 87-year-old Prince Philip, the palace said.

The queen, who is head of state, of the armed forces, the Commonwealth and the Church of England, has been married to Prince Philip for more than 61 years.

London - Britain's leading supermarket chain Tesco Tuesday reported annual pre-tax profits of 3.13 billion pounds (4.54 billion dollars) up to the end of February, 2009, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year.

The retail giant posted worldwide sales of 59.34 billion pounds in the 12 months to February 28, ringing up sales of 1 billion pounds a week.

However, the growth in profits was far lower than the 11.8 per cent seen the previous year, the company said.

London, Apr 21 : After becoming one of the world's most read authors courtesy The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown is geared up to release its much-anticipated sequel.

`The Lost Symbol', which Brown describes as "a strange and wonderful journey", will see the main protagonist Robert Langdon's journey through a 12-hour frame.

It will be published on the September 15th 2009.

London, April 21: UK-based charity Oxfam has suggested that the umber of people hit by climate-related disasters is expected to rise by about 50 percent, to reach 375 million a year by 2015.

According to a report by BBC News, the Oxfam study says that current humanitarian systems would be unable to cope with the natural disasters.

It warns that agencies are in danger of being overwhelmed by events such as flooding, storms and drought.

London, Apr 21

Reality TV can do all sorts of crazy things in front of the world- getting married, crocodile tears, fights, giving birth, even funerals now.

Now Britain's Got Talent’s unique finding Susan Boyle, the one with the lovely voice, has been offered $1 million to lose her virginity on camera.

The 47-year-old virgin got the offer from an adult entertainment company, which has even gone ahead and set up a website, SusanBoyleXXX. com, where fans can vote for various possible movie titles.