Paris - Mexican-born actress Salma Hayek has married French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, the online edition of the weekly Le Point reported on Monday.

According to the report, the 42-year old Hayek, who is a naturalized US citizen, and Pinault, 46, were married on Saturday in the city hall of the Sixth Arrondissement in central Paris.

The news, if confirmed, comes as a something as a surprise, because the star of the films Frida and Bandidas and Pinault had announced the end of their engagement in July of last year.

Geneva - Nearly 60 per cent of all full-time employees in Iraq work for the government, a UN report said, warning that this level of public sector employment was "unsustainable."

Growing unemployment in Iraq officially stood at about 18 percent, but was 10 per cent higher among men under the age of 30. Additionally, less than 1 in 5 women participated in the labour force.

"Iraq's growing jobless population is a socio-economic challenge for a country in transition," the UN report said. "This unemployed or disenchanted pool of young men and women is critical to Iraq's future socio-economic health."

Hamburg - American Serena Williams remains top of an unchanged women's tennis rankings issued Monday by the WTA ruling body.

Williams, who withdrew from the semi-finals of the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris with an injury, giving Elena Dementieva a walk- over into the final, leads the rankings by 482 points from Russian Dinara Safina.

WTA top 10 as of February 16 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

Beijing - China on Monday criticized a clause in the 787-billion-dollar stimulus package passed by the US Senate which requires the use of US goods and warned against trade protectionism.

"We believe that protectionist measures will make a bad situation in the financial crisis even worse," Trade Ministry spokesman Yao Jian told journalists.

Without naming the US directly, he said China was "deeply concerned" that countries had included the demand to buy domestic goods in their measures to boost their economies.

The so-called Buy American passage in the stimulus package approved by the US Senate on Friday asks for the use of US iron, steel and manufactured goods in public works projects funded by the bill.

Washington, Feb 16 : A new research facility opening later this year at the Diamond synchrotron in the UK is set to revolutionize world heritage science, by uncovering ancient secrets that have been locked away for centuries.

For the first time ever, cultural heritage scientists will be able to scan and image large relics and artifacts up to two tonnes in weight in incredible precision.

They will no longer be restricted to examining small items.

According to Dr Jen Hiller, Diamond's resident archaeologist, the UK synchrotron will open a powerful new experimental station this autumn.

Washington, Feb. 16: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated back-channel intelligence exchanges between India and Pakistan, allowing them to quietly share highly sensitive evidence.

According to the Washington Post, the Americans served as neutral arbiters in the arrangement.