LONDON

If rumors are to be believed, North London-based Premiership heavyweights Arsenal and fellow league rivals Newcastle United are preparing a hefty summer bid to lure away Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax's Belgian defender and skipper Jan Vertonghen when the transfer window opens.

Forget rumors, this has come straight from the horse's mouth. Samsung's upcoming Galaxy smartphone, aka Galaxy S3, is all set to get Exynos 4 Quad boost up, the South Korean tech giant revealed Wednesday.

Britain's economy contracted in the first quarter, its second such consecutive decline, sending Europe's third-largest economy into a double-dip recession and giving ammunition to critics of Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity measures.

At a time when many airlines are going bankrupt, tacking on high baggage fees and having massive layoffs and merging, Virgin Atlantic is not following the trends and is offering luxury suites ranging in price from $4,000 to $10,000.

Prince William and Kate Middleton stunned onlookers when they walked the red carpet Wednesday for the film premiere of Disney's 'African Cats.'

Here are some quick facts about German high jumper Ariane Friedrich, who has stirred national debate about privacy leading up to the Olympics after posting public information on Facebook about an alleged Facebook stalker.

German high-jumper Ariane Friedrich has publicly revealed the identity of the man she says harassed her and e-mailed her pictures of his genitals. The 28-year old athlete, who is the midst of training for London's Summer 2012 Olympics, posted the alleged stalker's name, e-mail address, his hometown, and excerpts from the e-mails she received, reported MSN news. She has also filed a criminal complaint with authorities, who are now investigating the matter.

The United Kingdom, Europe's third-largest economy, fell into recession in the first quarter when its gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent, a contraction that followed the fourth-quarter's 0.3 percent decline.

German high jumper Ariane Friedrich recently posted the personal details of a stalker who was sending her explicit photographs over a social networking site.

Chelsea, however, are in danger of losing out in the race for the young Brazilian as it was revealed by the player?s agent that he took the player?s parents to meet Real Madrid?s president Florentino Perez last week.

Jacqueline Traide, a social sculpture student at Oxford Brookes University, volunteered to be manhandled, smothered, chocked, injected and ill-treated in front of hundreds of onlookers at Regent Street, London, one of the busiest streets of the city.

The Gunners are alerted by the player?s wish to move and may be keen to place yet another bid to lure away the player to the Emirates Stadium.

Samsung enthusiasts have been so distracted by event announcements and teasers for the Galaxy S3 that they have lost sight of the fact they probably won't get their hands on the device until at least June.

Karrueche may be worried that RiRi will try to steal Chris Brown away again, leading her to post the picture of their romantic kiss as a not-so-friendly reminder to Rihanna.

Claire Squires, a London Marathon runner who suddenly collapsed and died near the end of the race on Sunday, has inspired an outpouring of charitable donations that have now surpassed £600,000, which amounts to nearly $1 million USD.

Jason Statham has proven to be one of the most alluring action stars of his generation. After notable roles in such films as Lock Stock and Two Smokin Barrels and The Transporter, the British actor has managed to appeal to male and female audiences alike, a rare quality in a cinematic hero. In his new film Safe, Statham displays a gentler side of himself.

Julia Quinn is the author of A Night Like This.

B. Robert Williamson, portfolio manager at Chilton Investment Co., was found dead in his car Sunday in North Carolina. He was 55.

Britain's Cove Energy PLC, which owns part of a massive natural gas field off the coast of Mozambique, said Tuesday it accepted a sweetened takeover offer of £1.12 billion ($1.8 billion) from a unit of Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Florence Colgate is the girl with the perfect face, according to the scientific formula for beauty. Colgate, 18, has been chosen from more than 8,000 entrants in a competition organized by ITV's Lorraine program and has been named Britain's most beautiful face.

James Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, testified on Tuesday in a London courtroom that he had no idea of the illegal practices at the News of the World newspaper - but would have ended them if he had.