Pop diva Mariah Carey has broken her silence over her sudden marriage to Nick Cannon, confirming she tied the knot with the rapper-actor last week, People magazine has reported. News of Carey's nuptials last week following a whirlwind two-month romance was shrouded in mystery after representatives of the couple did not comment. However, in excerpts of an exclusive interview published on People's website, Carey confirmed she had wed for a second time on April 30. "We really do feel we are soulmates," Carey, 39, told People . "I never felt a love like this was on the cards for me."

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was asked to choose between his media commitments and role as the Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee, has relinquished his job with the game's world governing body. Gavaskar conveyed his decision to the ICC , a day after chairing the Cricket Committee meeting . The ICC had put Gavaskar on notice after discussing the potential for a conflict of interest for a person chairing the ICC Cricket Committee while, at the same time, working for a media outlet in its meeting in March in Dubai. Gavaskar said with more and more cricket it was not possible for him to do justice with the two jobs. "I have thoroughly enjoyed the eight years I have held the role (of ICC Cricket Committee Chairman), which is an honorary position, and it has been extremely fulfilling to be able to give back to the game through that role", Gavaskar said. "However, with more and more cricket being played it has become clear that it is not possible for me to do justice to two jobs, the chairmanship of the ICC Cricket Committee and my media commitments," he said.

Myanmar's military government came under pressure to open its borders to more international help after a devastating cyclone that a US diplomat said may have killed more than 100,000 people. The United States, a vocal critic of the military junta that has ruled the former Burma for more than four decades, said humanitarian access should not be a political matter. "What remains is for the Burmese government to allow the international community to help its people. It should be a simple matter. It is not a matter of politics," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in Washington. The top UN humanitarian official urged Myanmar to waive visa restrictions for aid workers, which he said were slowing efforts to bring in disaster relief experts and supplies to help an estimated one million people affected by Cyclone Nargis. The cyclone slammed into coastal towns and villages in the rice-growing Irrawaddy delta southwest of Yangon. Witnesses reported entire villages destroyed and people clinging to trees in a desperate fight for survival. Limited international aid has trickled in and the military junta's own aid operation has moved up a gear with some helicopter drops into the region, but land convoys were nowhere to be seen, said a Reuters witness in the delta.

For a country crowing about its cracking growth rate, here is a fact that should make its head hang in shame. Over 53% children in India under five years - that is, 67 million - live without basic healthcare facilities. This means that India alone accounts for about one-third of all children in the world aged below five who don't have basic healthcare. In turn, it also means that poor children in India, along with those in Brazil and Egypt, are three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than children in other parts of the world. According to the latest global report card, which examined 55 countries that together account for 59% of the world’s under-five population and 83% of the deaths among these children, India ranks 27th along with Ghana and Eritrea when it comes to providing basic healthcare to its children, which includes life-saving interventions like prenatal care, skilled childbirth, immunization and treatment for diarrhoea and pneumonia. The report - 'State of the World’s Mothers' - brought out by global humanitarian organisation Save the Children, says India is seeing alarming inequalities with respect to health services reaching the poorest child and the wealthiest. The report's says that while 66% of the poorest children in India receive no or minimal healthcare, the number stands at 31% of well-off children, who are not covered.

Over the next decade, the number of dollar millionaires in India is expected to touch 4,11,000 from a negligible number currently. According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of Barclays Wealth, these households are expected to be worth $1.7 trillion, or over the country's current market capitalization of about $1.3 trillion. But as a percentage of the population these households will comprise just 0.2%. In comparison, smaller countries like Singapore and Hong Kong will have the highest concentration of millionaires with about 40% of the households in each country having wealth in excess of $1 million. In absolute terms, however, India is projected to have one of the fastest-growing affluent markets in the world, making it the eighth largest wealth centre by 2017. The numbers of mass affluent, with wealth over $500,000, is expected to rise from a negligible figure in 2007 to 1.9 million by 2017. The five-year bull run has contributed significantly to the rising fortunes, with many corporates and entrepreneurs tapping the markets to raise funds. Inherited wealth and rising corporate salaries are also key drivers. As in many emerging markets, the wealthy in India have kept much of their wealth in tangible goods. Recent research by McKinsey reveals that Indian households hold over half their savings in physical assets like land, houses, cattle and gold.