Month: December 2009

Washington, December 02: As the US announced deepening of its involvement in Afghanistan by dispatching 30,000 more troops, President Barack Obama has quietly authorised an expansion of war against terrorism in Pakistan under which CIA would widen its campaign of strikes against militants by unmanned drones.

The expanded operations by the CIA could include drone strikes in the southern province of Baluchistan, where senior Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding, New York Times reported today quoting officials.

Berlin, December 02: Germany is still paying World War I reparations, more than 90 years after that conflict ended with a peace treaty at Versailles in 1919.

The country is expected to pay off the remaining 56 million euros (84 million dollars) in interest and repayments by October 3, 2010, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported Wednesday, citing a spokesman of the German Finance Agency, which manages the government’s debts and borrowing.

Washington, December 02: Female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes.

These findings provide the first evidence that sperm genes may have a detrimental effect on the lifespan of mammals.

The research found that mice created from two female genomes (bi-maternal (BM) mice) lived an average of 186 days longer than control mice created from the normal combination of a male and female genome.

London, December 02: Two researchers have developed a method to help forensic experts lift data from crime scenes using just a single photograph.
“We have studied an unprecedented and original line of research in the field of criminology and forensic engineering, which makes it possible to derive metric data from a single image,” says Diego González-Aguilera, study co-author.

González-Aguilera is a researcher in cartography and soil engineering at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

London, December 02: The Beckham family has designed T-shirts for next year’s Sport Relief, which raises money for vulnerable people in Britain and developing countries.

Soccer star David Beckham along with wife Victoria and sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz have produced tops for the charity, reported thesun.co.uk

Initially, only Victoria was going to be involved, but she persuaded David to sketch the men’s shirt. The boys’ ideas will be turned into kids’ clothes.

—Agencies

Manila, December 02: Two typhoons which struck the Philippines’ main island of Luzon in recent months will probably dampen growth in the near term, stretch state finances and push 480,000 people into poverty, a post-disaster report showed on Wednesday.

Damages and losses to crops, property, and infrastructure from typhoons Ketsana and Parma reached nearly $4.4 billion, or 2.7 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s gross domestic product, according to the post-disaster needs assessment report issued by the World Bank.

Washington, December 02: US President Barack Obama’s new strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan has drawn sharp criticism from both opposition Republicans and within the ranks of his own Democrats.

Obama unveiled the plan – anchored by the deployment of 30,000 more troops to the war zone – in a national address Tuesday evening.

The reinforcements are to surge into Afghanistan by July – with a timeframe a year later for the beginning of withdrawals and the transfer of security responsibility to the Kabul government, depending on conditions on the ground.