t's official! Marriage is bad for your sex life...... be careful before you want to marriage.

Here's why tying the knot may strangle your performance in the bedroom.

Marriage takes a toll on your sex life, reveals a survey, which found that one-third of married people no longer fancy their partner as much as they did in the early days, with 43 per cent claiming their loved one has let themselves go.

Researchers found before walking down the aisle, couples can expect to have sex more than four times a week.

But after three years of life as man and wife most couples are lucky to have sex just once every seven days.

It also emerged six out of ten couples believe marriage has completely ruined the excitement of having sex.

Astonishingly, just under half of all married people say their relationship with their partner is more like friends than lovers.

Extra-marital dating service www.lovinglinks.co.uk conducted the poll of 3,000 married people.

"Unfortunately, while you can be deeply in love with someone and want to spend the rest of your life with them, it is also possible to want more from the relationship," the Daily Mail quoted a spokesman of the service as saying.

"A partner might be supportive, funny, intelligent, and kind, but if they don't inspire confidence in the bedroom or don't meet expectations, sexually life can be frustrating."

"And it is at times like this when eyes start to wander, and folk start to think about having a no-strings affair with someone else."

"After 14 years of providing a service where married people can look for sex elsewhere, we have good reason to believe many relationships are strengthened by a little out-of-marriage activity," added the spokesman.

The poll shows 59 per cent of couples believe their sex life has worsened since marriage because they no longer make an effort with each other anymore.

And a third no longer fancy their partner as much as they did in the early days, with 43 per cent claiming their loved ones have let themselves go.

Unfortunately, eight in ten couples are in a bit of a sexual rut -- having sex at the same time, in the same place and in the same positions every time they sleep together.

In fact, 79 per cent of people are happier getting a good night's sleep than making the effort to have spontaneous sex in the middle of the night.

But when it comes to having an affair, two thirds of those who have dabbled admit the sex was mind-blowing compared to the once-a-week missionary with their husband or wife.

And even a fifth of those who haven't yet played away from home would have a one-night stand if the opportunity presented itself or if their sex life with their partner doesn't improve.

The same percentage even said they would understand if their partner suddenly confessed to sleeping with someone else.

Unsurprisingly, a quarter of those polled admit to having had a one night stand to satisfy their craving for good sex.

And 14 per cent have even embarked on a hot-blooded affair.

"Modern marriages are becoming a little more open where sex is concerned, and these days we are quicker to forgive if someone has a little one night stand," said the Loving Links spokesman.

"It is never nice to learn that our partners aren't satisfied in the bedroom department, but if sleeping with someone else spurs couples on to make more of an effort with each other that can only be a good thing," he added.

vTwo-thirds of couples blame their hectic lifestyle for their terrible sex life, and 80 per cent are often too tired to bother once the day is over.

Seven in ten people reckon they might be inclined make love more if their partner made more of an effort romantically.

Gujarat girl wins mental maths world cup

An eleven-year-old girl from Surat , Gujarat has set a world record by winning the Mental Mathematical Calculation World Cup 2010 held in Germany .Priyanshi Somani was the overall winner for the fastest calculations and was awarded a medal and a trophy with a certificate.

The competition was held from June 5 to 7 in Germany.

Priyanshi, who is the youngest contestant in the event, won the competition and managed to make difficult calculations faster than the calculator.

"I was very happy when I came to know that I won the competition and it was a wonderful experience to be in the competition," said Priyanshi.

Around 37 contestants from 16 countries across the world participated.

The competition had different categories of exams like addition, subtraction, multiplication, extraction of square roots and even calculating the day of the week for a given date.

"I am very proud that at eleven she has won the competition. It is a very big achievement for her to be in the competition with such big mathematicians from all over the world and her representing India . I am happy that she has won the contest," said Anju Somani, Priyanshi's mother.

Priyanshi was followed by Spaniards Marc Jornet Sanz (16) and Alberto Coto (40) at second and third position.

'India's youth is our biggest asset'..................... Is it real

Prasanna D Zore 

Dr Rekha Shetty, author of the recently publishedInnovate! 90 Days To Transform Your Business,wants to become immortal. And it's not too difficult, she claims.

"I think writing is the ultimate immortality that everybody seeks. If you want your footsteps on the sands of time you must write," she insists. To become immortal, she has been writing since she was a kid.

Innovate is her third book after The Way To A Healthy Heart and Corporate Strategy: Mindspower Innovation. Her fourth book The Happiness Quotientis due in September.

With over 22 years of work experience in the corporate sector -- Nine years in United India Insurance, then for seven years in Apollo Hospitals as group vice president since its inception and as the co-founder and managing director of Farstar Distribution Network since 1993 which focuses on companies becoming more innovative and develop the culture of innovation Dr Shetty has a postgraduate degree in medical and psychiatric social work and PhD in management from Madras University.

In an interview with Prasanna D Zore, Dr Shetty discusses her book, success mantras and how India's youth can improve their creativity and productivity.

Did your academics help you in your career?

I started my career like anybody else at United India Insurance. My education really focused on what I did because I was for many years in the field of marketing and building company brands from scratch. I don't think my education was directly connected to what I am doing today except that education always helps you to think logically and gives you the tools of creativity.

And education doesn't stop at graduation, post graduation or PhD. Education is a matter of investing everyday in learning new things and developing your mind and making it better till the day you die.

What is your latest book about?

Innovate: 90 Days to Transform your Business offers a time bound map to transform one's business in a given time period. And this transformation happens by involving everybody in the culture of innovation. This book is for everybody who's looking for transformation.

If someone were starting a new business, s/he would find this book very useful.

The book works on the premise that innovation, like aerobics, fitness, depends on daily practice of looking at the world with a different attitude. This works on a very simple, day-to-day activity chart. Basically, this book looks at innovation and transformation in a new, doable way.

What inspired you to write this book?

I have been involved in practicing and consulting on new product development, innovation and turn around of companies using out-of-the-box thinking for the last 23 years. I have always been preaching a method, which should be easily replicable, which everybody could learn and practice together.

For innovation to reflect and impact the bottom line of a company we need the whole company to practice it. I was looking for a formula to think out of the box. And that's how I came to create 47 thinking tools, a formula by which anybody can think differently from the way they have been thinking so far.

This book clearly is an essence of my last 23 years of practice on innovation including my PhD thesis. The book really works for a company where thousands of workers can think likewise on innovation. The book is the offshoot of my years of practice and involvement.

Is your book meant only for innovating companies? Does it help students to think innovatively?

My book basically focuses on a different way of thinking. For instance, how do you frame a wild idea like zero cost or zero rejection, doubling profit and productivity or achieving your goal in 50 per cent of the time originally allocated?

My book talks about thinking tools that affect all four quadrants of your life. And these are: Personal, professional, social and family. All these four are affected by your attitude and by the way you think.

These thinking tools are transformative in nature at the very basic level. You can become a much more inspired human being with a much more interesting life when you use these thinking tools.

This is your fourth book? How do you manage to pen so many books?

I have been writing since I was a kid. And many of my books that I am publishing now have been the result of my writing for many, many years. My next book The Happiness Quotient is due this September. I love to write and read. I think writing is the ultimate immortality that everybody seeks. If you want your footsteps on the sands of time you must write.

How can India's youth transform their lives, enhance their creativity and inspire other fellow Indians?

I would request every fellow Indian to be aware of the fact that today India is on the brink of world leadership. And to further enhance this leadership position the minds of 1.2 billion Indians is our biggest asset.

If you look at our mind then every human mind has the capacity to store the equivalent of 7,550 volumes of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

I would urge every young Indian to furnish that mind-computer and use it freely. I request every individual to unleash their time, effort and energy in developing their minds. Today the pace of change is so swift that the companies that develop problem-solving manuals become obsolete in no time. But if you equip every individual with a very fast thinking, flexible and innovative mind India can solve any problem as it arises. We wouldn't have to look at manuals to solve problems.

Your success mantras...

• Think out of the box or altogether eliminate the box
• Learn new skills and develop new talents every year
• Co-operation and collaboration and not conflict should be your formula while resolving problems
• Think big and stick your neck out to achieve your ideas
• Read and learn from everything that happens to you
• Don't wait for opportunities; walk out into the street and grab opportunities by the collar
• Enjoy life as much as you can.

Aziz Haniffa spoke to Dr Pat Basu soon after he was chosen as a White House Fellow about his achievement and what he hopes to gain from the experience.

That a first-generation American could make it this far is testament to the ideals of this great nation," said Dr Pat Basu, one of two Indian-Americans to be named White House Fellows this year.

Hailing from Naperville, Illinois (USA), Basu is a radiologist at Stanford University and the Palo Alto [ Images ] Veteran Affairs.

He co-founded ExtendMD, a web portal designed to enhance outpatient care and is also the founder of STARS Luncheon, a non-profit organisation designed to support lower socio-economic children for future college and career success.

In an interview with Aziz Haniffa, he talks about being chosen for the prestigious programme and more.

How do you feel about being selected as a White House Fellow and what do you hope to bring to the table and in the government agency that you serve?

It is a simultaneous feeling of pride and humility. I am proud to represent the educators, physicians, business leaders and mentors who helped me attain this position. At the same time, I am humbled to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of America's finest citizens who represent military leaders, captains of industry, legal scholars and physicians.

I feel very grateful to have been chosen from such a truly incredible group of peers. Simply to make it to the national finals and be interviewed by senators, generals and other leading citizens was a once in a lifetime experience. To actually receive this Presidential appointment is unbelievable -- to think that a first-generation American from the midwest could make it this far is a testament to the freedoms, opportunities and ideals that defines this great nation.

I hope to bring a versatile professional and personal background to the agency I serve. I have received degrees in medicine, engineering and business, which I hope gives me a well-rounded professional background. However, I am more proud of my versatile personal background. I believe that the people we meet are akin to the books that make up our lives. I always look to have a conversation and learn from everyone I meet, irrespective of their background or positions. This has given me a tremendous perspective and empathy, which I hope will continue to allow me to find humanistic solutions to future problems.

What do you hope this experience will help you achieve in terms of your goals and objectives in life?

I believe there is no greater calling than to make a positive difference in our society and in the lives of others. As a physician and faculty member at Stanford, I am thrilled to be able to influence a patient or a student one at a time. I value this tremendously but someday I would love to be able to improve the healthcare, education or economic status of hundreds or thousands of people.

This type of macro-level change can only be accomplished through powerful, innovative and effective policy formulation and implementation. This, of course, is a challenging task that requires a deep set of skills and experiences. I hope learning and participating in the highest levels of the federal government will eventually help me accomplish the goal of improving people's lives on a large scale.

Where were you born and raised and where in India [ Images ] did your parents hail from? Do you have any siblings?

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but was raised in Chicago, where I moved at the age of one. My father Arunabha Basu is a chemical engineer and my mother Kabita, whose maiden name is Ray, is a teacher. They are Bengali but my mom was raised in Orissa. My older brother Anupam is a physician in Chicago. My younger sister Joy is a management consultant at Mckinsey & Co in Chicago.

My parents have been my source of inspiration, and just to tell you about my mother, she was one of 13 children raised in a small town in eastern India, and her father died at a young age. She eventually left her family and the country she loved to move across the world to give her yet-to-be children a better future. The fact that a few decades later, her son became a White House Fellow is another incredible testament to the freedoms, ideals and opportunities that this programme and this nation embody.

I couldn't be more excited to dedicate my energy and experience to serve these ideals.

Six skills hiring managers look for in YOU

Always wondered what hiring managers wished you knew?

Vikas Shirodkar, vice-president, Human Resource Development, General Motors, India, spells out the six qualities he always looks for in prospective candidates.

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1. The need for in-depth functional knowledge

Today a lot of young professionals want to be generalists and dabble in everything. The fact of the matter is people who have in-depth knowledge in specific areas of functioning are bound to last longer and be sought after more than a jack of all trades.

What any industry today needs is someone who is a specialist in a certain subject and has total in-depth knowledge and the required skills within that specialisation.

If you are a fresh-out-of-college graduate you need to choose one functional area and own it.

Go in-depth and over a period learn what is there to learn in that area before you move on to another function.

It's only when you have a handful of skill sets under your belt that you can become a generalist.

You cannot be a generalist from day one.

2. The ability to work in teams

Because of the nature of today's organisations, it is not possible to achieve results in isolation. You are always dependent on someone else.

If you are into Marketing, you will have to depend on the Sales and Operations departments. The folks at Operations fall back on the guys in the Purchase department and so on.

So the success of an individual's job is dependant on the cooperation and support of other functional areas.

Being able to achieve results by working together is a critical skill.

In most organisations processes are fairly well defined and standardised. You cannot go to work every morning and want to create new processes.

Success lies not so much in re-inventing the wheel but rather in getting everyone to cooperate and achieve a particular result.

A single person's non-cooperation can delay the achievement of your results. So it becomes important for you to get everyone to collaborate with you.

Conversely, it is equally important for you to do things for them, which they will expect for the success of their goals.

Unfortunately, most educational institutions today focus on harnessing their students' technical skills rather than enhancing their ability to develop inter-personal relations.

How one develops an ability to work along with others and achieve organisational goal is another critical skill today

3. The willingness to push the envelope

Most people can and will follow instructions. But the true value of an employee is realised when s/he is willing to go beyond what is defined.

The ability to breach the boundary is important.

The question you should ask yourself is how you can go beyond what is explicitly mentioned by the company and do something in a way it is not necessarily laid out by the organisation.

You should be willing to put the pieces of the jigsaw together and have the willingness to think differently and innovate.

Ask yourself how you can expand the scope of what you were supposed to do and see how you can add value to the organisation rather than simply follow orders.

4. The willingness to take risks and innovate

Change is the only constant and at various points we must take risks and skate on some thin ice.

Organisations will always be resistant to change, but the truth is that the market is changing and so are customer demands and support functions.

You must be ready to explore new areas, think of new solutions and be willing to take decisions without waiting for all the data to come in.

I've often felt that with risk taking comes the readiness to be flexible.

If something isn't working, you must be willing to take a re-look at your decision.

Decisions in themselves are never right or wrong. It is how you implement them that make them successful or unsuccessful.

So with risk taking comes the readiness to be flexible.

If something isn't working, you must be willing to take a re-look at your decision.

With so much churning happening in the economy today, risk taking and innovation will be critical for success.

5. The ablility to research and analyse data

Every organisation is a living entity and problems often have historical information that needs to be collected, collated, organised and analysed so as to be able to address the problem accordingly.

You cannot have a 'plain vanilla' approach to addressing issues and for this you must be able to back up your solution with data to support it.

At the same time you must remember that the analysis is not for its own sake but rather for the sake of driving a decision.

A good example of this is (my former company) Johnson & Johnson's foray into skincare.

For at least 10 years there was talk of the need to get into the field. From time to time we would introduce a solitary product.

It was when we had a new marketing head that things really changed. She conducted extensive research and analysed the success of the skincare market in the Asia-Pacific region.

One of the main reasons we weren't making a mark was because skincare is always about a bouquet of products and not a stray lotion here or a shampoo there.

That was how Neutrogena was launched with a big bang. We learnt that it was a research-based product capable of delivering results.

This wouldn't have been possible had it not been for her research and analysis.

Have you this Skills .......................?

Try To Learn that things before you Join in organization. 

Don't fear a natural disaster, prepare

 We have all seen the footage of natural disasters splashed across our television screens. Many of us have experienced first hand the worst Mother Nature has to offer.

And yet, somehow, it can still be difficult to make the time toprepare for such catastrophic events. The following steps are 4 simple measures you can take now to prepare for the unpredictable.

Get an emergency supply kit

If you were forced to evacuate your home due to a natural disaster, how quickly could you leave your home? Having a disaster supply kit ready could enable you and your loved ones to get out of harm's way much more quickly. 

A standard emergency supply kit includes items like bottled water, cash, non-perishable food, manual can openers, spare batteries, a flashlight, a first-aid kit, local maps and more.

Make a family emergency plan

Nothing has the potential to cause more panic in the face of a disaster than worrying about loved ones. Though the widespread use of cellular phones and wireless devices have made communication easier than ever, these technologies can often be rendered useless by a catastrophic event.

Make a detailed family emergency plan to help keep your loved ones safe in the face of a severe storm. Design an escape route from every major area of your home in case of fire, and consider establishing an out-of-town family member to contact in case local phone lines are tied up.

Be informed

Visit your state and local government Web sites to learn about the particular emergency plans that have been established in your area. Knowing this information will better prepare your family for a disaster.

Keep copies of important documents handy

In the scramble to escape an incoming storm, many homeowners tend to forget items that will make the recovery process much easier. Make copies of important documents, like insurance policies, identification and bank account information. Keep the original documents in a fireproof safe in a secure location inside your home. Consider enlisting the help of professional content claim inventory service to assist with a comprehensive preloss list. Content inventory lists can speed up the process in the event you need to file a claim.

"We have seen some of the worst natural disasters of the last decade," says Don Turner, manager of SERVPRO's Storm Response Team. "Families who are prepared inevitably recover more quickly when catastrophic events strike their communities."

You can have peace of mind and protect your family from natural disasters by taking steps to be prepared. For more information regarding natural disaster planning or clean up, go to servpro.com.

Muscle building miracle discovered: Reports

Are you looking to get more out of your workouts? Are you just starting a strength training program? While it may be tempting, using steroids and illegal substances is not the way to build muscle. You can get ripped, get stronger pumps and achieve better workouts naturally.

Derrick Rose, the 2009 basketball rookie of the year, knows this first hand. Rose uses Force Factor, a cutting-edge natural supplement that helps unlock his body's raw power. "Force Factor keeps me ahead of the competition," comments Rose.

Vernon Davis, pro football player and San Francisco team captain, agrees. "I'm proud to represent the most effective new sports supplement on the market. Force Factor has proven results. I believe in results."

The L-Arginine enhancement in Force Factor, along with the proprietary blend of naturally occurring ingredients:

• Helps you gain muscle drastically
• Increases the blood flow and oxygen delivery to your muscles
• Transforms your body
• Boosts your strength, endurance and power
• Improves your overall health

Force Factor stimulates the body's natural production of nitric oxide, which forms an essential basis for muscle growth and performance in the body, enhancing blood flow and metabolic adaptation.

As a vasodilator, nitric oxide helps move oxygen into your muscles when they need it most, sparking powerful strength gains and ripped pumps. Although it occurs naturally in your body, you don't make enough of it to cause dramatic changes in your body, so special blends of amino acids that increase nitric oxide are recommended.

Force Factor is a safe, legal and effective tool to help develop a stronger and healthier body, increasing both the rewards and results of your workout. You'll have more fulfilling workouts, increased blood flow and oxygen exchange with muscle tissue, strength, endurance and power. To see if you qualify for a free bottle, click here.

While the Force Factor free trial offer is available only on ForceFactor.com, Force Factor brand products are available in GNC stores nationwide. Both Force Factor and the company's extremely effective fat burner, Ramp Up, may be purchased from your local GNC. You can either pick up both Force Factor products from GNC or order your free trial today.

Here's how Force Factor works:

• Natural enzymes immediately get to work by converting Force Factor's signature L-Arginine complex into powerful nitric oxide, raising the NO levels in your blood.
• The endothelium, or inner lining of your blood vessels, begins to signal the smooth muscle surrounding your veins to relax, causing the blood vessels to expand.
• While exerting the muscles during a workout, the vascular dilation allows an increased blood flow.
• In this state, the veins are primed to increase nutrient delivery to the muscles throughout the period of physical activity.
• The body will begin to feel invigorated, refreshed, and motivated to push the normal exercise limits.
• You walk away from your workout with confidence and the sense of accomplishment that only comes from the boost provided by Force Factor's unique formulation.

"After the first workout, I felt a pump in 10 minutes that would normally take me 45 minutes to get. It felt amazing," says Force Factor devotee John Lee. "Once you feel that pump so soon, it makes you feel like you are making great progress that day, rather than just in the long run. After a week on Force Factor, my biceps were getting defined, my chest was finally growing and my obliques and lower abs were showing the best definition they ever have in my life."

How to restore your PC to like-new performance

Does your PC have the same blazing speed and smooth performance as when you first took it out of the box? Chances are, it doesn't. But don't blame your computer. There are hundreds of "bugs" lurking out there, waiting to leave a trail of debris and clutter in your PC.

One of the culprits may be something called a "registry error" and it can be responsible for a host of performance problems, including frustrating slow downs, application errors, system crashes and more.

Where do these damaging registry errors come from? A few of the most common causes actually come from things most of us do every day: install or remove software, play online games and upgrade software programs. So even if you're careful, you're still likely at some point to unintentionally invite one of these problems into your computer. What can you do about it?

Help restore your PC to clean, quick, like-new performance with a single click

With new hazards popping up potentially every day, a reliable fix-it solution is recommended for every computer user. One such solution is Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010, a newly released version of the highly acclaimed system maintenance utility from Sammsoft. 

New tweaks, new look make it easier, more powerful

With more robust scanning, the new version of this powerful program automatically scans 14 critical parts of the registry, identifies problems and repairs 100 registry errors free. Sammsoft indicates the new version has been thoroughly tested with more than 1,200 commonly used software products. They also highlight a new, easy-to-navigate interface and one-click optimization in addition to powerful tweaks. 

Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010:

• Improves efficiency - streamlines the processing of large files of photos, music, video and more by eliminating the resource-draining (and unnecessary) updating of time and date.
• Optimizes RAM - information not being used is stored on the hard disk, freeing available RAM for active applications.
• Gives application priority - devotes more power to the application being used rather than dividing it among all open applications.
• Maximizes CPU performance - increases PC performance during peak usage.
• Delivers faster startup - All startup files are moved into a contiguous cluster on the hard disk, greatly accelerating the time it takes Windows to launch.

Plus, Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 allows you to schedule automatic maintenance, export results for greater detail and analysis and backup the registry to its original settings if there should be a problem while scanning. 

Highly recommended by experts

Recently CNET Download.com gave Advanced Registry Optimizer 4.5 out of 5.0 stars, saying that Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 was easy to use, had a "smart-looking" interface and praised it for being able to "clean your computer's clock and keep it ticking."

Why anti-virus, anti-spyware software alone isn't enough

Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 finds and fixes bugs that anti-virus and anti-spyware software can't. So, if you want to help complete your PC optimization and restore your computer to like-new performance, Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010 could be what you're looking for.

Should India just be called 'Bharat'?

Shantaram Naik, Congress MP from Goa [ Images], on Friday sought a Constitution amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha to call the country simply 'Bharat' and not 'India'. 

His private member bill seeks to amend the Preamble and Article 1 of the Constitution of India [Images ] to drop India and use 'Bharat'. It says the words 'India, that is Bharat' in sub-clause 1 of Article be replaced with just 'Bharat'.

The grounds for changing the name of the country into simply 'Bharat' are many but, more than the grounds or reasons, it is the sense of patriotism that the name generates and electrifies the people of this country that is relevant, Naik noted.

Social Media Websites Attract More Older Adults: Reports

A few years ago it was unfathomable to see anybody over 50 on websites like Friendster and MySpace, but that's becoming a more common sight.

More young people are seeing their parents and grandparents on social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook,reports CNN.

In fact, the rate of people over 50 interacting on social media websites is growing at a startling pace. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that social networking among internet users 50 and older nearly doubled, from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May 2010.

For those ages 65 and older, use of social networking websites grew 100 percent. By comparison, the number of internet users from 18 to 29 who use social networking websites only rose by a dismal 13 percent.

"E-mail is still the primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social-network platforms to help manage their daily communications," explains Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and author of the report.

So internet users should be careful about what they post on Facebook or Twitter. Grandma might be watching.

Russian Spy Anna Chapman Turns Sexy Model for Russian Magazine

NEW YORK (CBS) Following her career in real estate and spying in the U.S. for the Russian government, Anna Chapman is taking advantage of her recent celebrity. 

PICTURES: Anna Chapman

The Russian website lifenews.ru showed a video of her posing provocatively for Zhara, a Russian magazine. 

The 28-year-old redhead became the glamorous face of the group Russian spies who were deported in July from the U.S.following guilty pleas for failing to register with the U.S. government as agents of a foreign country.

In the 1-minute-43-second video clip, Chapman is seen entering and leaving the hotel where the photo shoot occurred and posing in tight dresses. 

Previously, Vivid Entertainment, the world's leading adult film company, offered Russian spy Anna Chapman a movie deal.

"Anna was obviously the hottest spy we've seen in years and she was clearly the media's favorite," Vivid's founder Steven Hirsch said in a letter to Chapman's lawyer. "Though she wasn't very successful as a spy, we think she can be a terrific actress in one of our upcoming feature films."

'Likelihood of US slipping back into recession rises' : Reports

The US economy grew at a 1.6% annual rate in the second quarter, less than previously calculated, as companies reined in inventories and the trade deficit widened. 

The revised gain in gross domestic product was bigger than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and compares with a 2.4% estimate issued last month, figures from the Commerce Department showed on Friday in Washington. Corporate profits grew last quarter at the slowest rate in a year and employee wages in the prior three months were revised lower. 

Recent figures showing slowdowns in housing, business investment and consumer spending are prompting economists to cut second-half growth forecasts. Federal Reserve chairman Ben S Bernanke told global central bankers meeting in Wyoming on Friday that while the recovery has been slow to strengthen, “preconditions” for growth in 2011 are “in place.” 

“The economy has slowed a bit and will probably continue to slow through the second half,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We’re skating on thin ice, and we don’t have a lot of margin for error.” Another report on Friday showed consumer sentiment rose less than forecast in August. 

Recession odds rise 

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of confidence climbed to 68.9 from a July reading of 67.8 that was the weakest since November. 

The Fed “is prepared to provide additional monetary accommodation through unconventional measures if it proves necessary, especially if the outlook were to deteriorate significantly,” Bernanke said on Friday in opening remarks at the Kansa City Fed’s annual monetary symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 

Economists projected a 1.4% rate of growth in the second quarter, according to the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey in which estimates ranged from 0.5 percent to 2.2 percent. The economy grew at a 3.7% pace in the first quarter. Friday’s GDP estimate is the second for the quarter, with the final figures set for release on September 30. 

Spending Rises 

The GDP report showed consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy, rose at a 2% annual rate in the second quarter, compared with a previously reported 1.6% pace. The revision reflected revised electricity and natural gas usage data, the Commerce Department said. Purchases increased at a 1.9% rate from January through March.