London, Sept 15 : One in eight Britons does not eat any fruit and vegetables at all, according to a new research.

The study, titled ''Health of Britain - Perspective on Nutrition 2008, shows that only 12 per cent is meeting the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day target.

It found that a further 12 per cent do not eat any fruit and vegetables at all.

On average, Brits eat two-and-a-half portions a day, but the study found significant differences between age groups, gender and social class.

The research shows that the most likely groups to meet the target are the wealthy and the over 45s, with children and the poor more likely to consume none at all.

Washington, Sept 15 : Amid a series of strong statements emerging from Islamabad that the ongoing US strikes might prove counter-productive and could lead to straining of US-Pak ties, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard A. Boucher Monday said there was “no rift” in relations between Pakistan and US.

Describing Pakistan as a “praiseworthy ally” in war against terrorism, Boucher said that contacts and cooperation would continue between two countries.

Washington, Sept 15: The ongoing US’ military strikes targeting the Taliban and Al Qaeda were “risky” but must continue, as over the past six years the Bush administration’s reliance on Pakistan to combat the militants only “strengthened the Taliban and Al Qaeda networks in FATA”, said an editorial in the Washington Post.

It said that the Pakistan forces alone lacked the capacity to eliminate the extremists.

According to it, the US strikes in Pakistan were necessary and were long overdue. “They must continue,” it added.

Lahore, Sept 15 : A UN official exclusively entrusted the task of monitoring Al Qaeda’s movements has reportedly said that the presence of British forces in Afghanistan was providing “oxygen” for Al Qaeda “by offering the terrorist group a target”.

Richard Barrett, the head of United Nations’ Al Qaeda Monitoring Unit, who reports directly to the UN Security Council, said that the deployments of foreign troops in the country (Afghanistan) was acting as a ‘glue’ with which Al Qaeda network was “bonding support in the region”, reported the Daily Times.

Colombo - The Sri Lankan government on Sunday condemned the series of bomb attacks in New Delhi and declared that it stands in solidarity with India in its efforts to eradicate terrorism.

London, Sept. 13: Russia has described Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August as its 9/11, and claimed that Russia would have attacked Georgia even if it was a member of the NATO.

In a strikingly self-possessed three-hour meeting in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev made clear he would be prepared to defend Russians militarily wherever they were in the world.

Medvedev said he never imagined he would be confronted with such a foreign policy crisis so early in his tenure, but said it had irrevocably changed him and his country.