New York, Feb 18 : Sylvester Stallone narrowly avoided hitting a man crossing a street in Beverly Hills while he was driving a `totally pimped, all-black VW Phaeton.'

The 62-year-old actor was driving when a man `listening to his iPod started crossing Bedford Street with the light in his favour,' a witness said.

"The car skidded into the crosswalk, stopping just short of my buddy, who dove to the ground," the New York Post quoted a source, as saying.

Washington, Feb. 19 : The United States will have to remain "heavily engaged" in Afghanistan for the next three to four years, a senior U. S. commander said Wednesday, suggesting that the insurgency may not be contained until the end of President Barack Obama's first term.

The day after Obama ordered 17,000 additional U. S. troops to Afghanistan, General Daviid McKiernan said the reinforcements will be sent to southern Afghanistan, where the fight against Taliban insurgents is "at best stalemated."

Washington, Feb 19 : Scientists from University of Zurich have come up with new MRI design that will not only improve scanning but also be less claustrophic.

They described a simple change to MRI machines that may provide better coverage at higher powers while also leaving more room for the patient.

Traditional MRI scans require patients to be placed closer to the radio frequency coils, which deliver the magnetic waves, in the scanning tube that also results in a claustrophobic feel for patients.

In the new study, David Brunner, a physicist at the University of Zurich, have replaced the coils with an antenna placed up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) away from a patient, thus making more room.

Sacramento (California, US), Feb. 19 : Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong''s time-trial bike that was stolen from the Team Astana truck before the first stage of the Tour of California has been found.

Police said a local resident brought the custom bike, worth about 10,000 dollars, to a police station in the city of Sacramento on Wednesday.

Police said the investigation of the theft is continuing, and added that they will return the bicycle to Armstrong, who is competing in the Tour of California.

Washington, Feb 19 : Too much self-control can sometimes do more harm than good to an individual, according to a new study.

In the study, lead researchers Evan Apfelbaum and Samuel Sommers from Tufts University showed that effortful self-control might actually cause both unease and guarded behaviour, which could in turn be misinterpreted as racial prejudice.

However, relinquishing some power might paradoxically work in favour for both for individuals and for society.

During the study, the researchers ran a group of white volunteers through a series of computer-based mental exercises that are so challenging that they temporarily deplete the cognitive reserves needed for discipline

Washington, Feb 19 : High-fat diets, even if consumed for a short time, can inflame fat tissue surrounding blood vessels, which could lead to cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the University of Cincinnati.

For the study, Neal Weintraub, MD, and colleagues examined adipose tissue, or fat, surrounding the coronary arteries of humans.

And it was found that these fat cells were highly inflamed, indicating that they could trigger inflammation of the blood vessels, an important component of atherosclerosis.