Cruise to cheer up Beckham
Hollywood star Tom Cruise is making plans to cheer up friend David Beckham, upset after his team Los Angeles Galaxy failed to make it to the playoffs in the US soccer league, by taking him for some outdoor fun, IANS reports from London.

Cruise was quoted as saying: “We will go out and fly some airplanes or race some cars or something like that. I’ll talk to Victoria and see if she’s all right with that. But we’ll have some fun.”

11,000-year-old artefacts in Syria
Deep in the heart of northern Syria, close to the banks of the Euphrates River, archaeologists have uncovered a series of startling 11,000-year-old wall paintings and artefacts, AFP reports from Damascus.

“The wall paintings date back to the 9th millennium BC. They were discovered last month on the wall of a house standing two metres high at Dja’de,” said Frenchman Eric Coqueugniot, who has been leading the excavations on the west bank of the river at Dja’de, in an area famous for its rich tradition of prehistoric treasures.

Spice Girls don’t gel backstage
Spice Girls are working on a reunion music video but things are not going smoothly and there are rumours of backstage tension, IANS reports from London. “Emma Bunton was crying as the shoot just went on and on. Geri Halliwell kept slowing things down by meditating and doing strange spiritual stuff,” said a source.

Kids below 10 get legal powers

Children as young as 10 have been given legal powers in Britain to punish their guilty peers. The first children’s court opened in Preston. It will deal with offenders under 17, guilty of spraying graffiti, vandalism, anti-social behaviour and under-age drinking.