US ignores Pak demands, says aid will be with strings

September 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reading a book by Franz Kafka, or watching a film by director David Lynch, could make you smarter, a new study suggests. Exposure to surrealism in, say, Kafka's "The Country Doctor" or Lynch's "Blue Velvet" enhances the cognitive mechanisms that oversee implicit learning functions, say researchers from the universities of California-Santa Barbara (UC-SB) and British Columbia (UBC).

September 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reading a book written by Franz Kafka or watching a film by director David Lynch can enhance your learning power, suggest researchers. Psychologists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of British Columbia revealed that exposure to the surrealism in, say, Kafka's "The Country Doctor" or Lynch's "Blue Velvet" enhances the cognitive mechanisms that oversee implicit learning functions.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, a team of scientists has for the first time observed magnetic monopoles and how they emerge in a real material. The research was done by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie, Germany, in cooperation with colleagues from Dresden, St.

July 19th, 2009 GOP leader: Health care overhaul too drasticWASHINGTON — The Senate's top Republican says the U.S. has the best health care in the world and the system doesn't need to be scrapped.

June 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has claimed to have solved a century-old problem involving the proper understanding of tiny metal crystals in steel, by finding a 'touch of glass' in the crystals. The research team, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has recently found evidence of an important similarity between the behavior of polycrystalline materials, such as metals and ceramics, and glasses.

June 4th, 2009 Human rights group condemns how China gives aidWASHINGTON — A joint report by a human rights group and U.S.-funded broadcast services accuses China of deceptively distributing billions of dollars in aid to Africa and other regions in no-strings-attached packages that promote Chinese power while subverting human rights. The report on the use of aid by foreign governments also accuses Russia, Iran and Venezuela of using oil wealth to build foreign alliances and bankroll developing states without pressing them to avoid corruption and cultivate democracy.

May 6th, 2009 AGRA - He has great plans for Agra city if voted to power, but Chandra Pal, a former bureaucrat who is contesting the polls as an Independent, rues that well-meaning people like him get no support from the political system, the voters and even the media. 'They say there are no decent, honest and educated candidates in the electoral fray, but when people like me choose to present an alternative, we get no support ...

May 5th, 2009 TEL AVIV/NEW YORK - Israel Tuesday rejected a UN report that held it responsible for civilian deaths and damages in Gaza earlier this year, saying it did not 'intentionally fire' at UN installations and charging that Hamas used civilians as shields. A summary of the report, delivered by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, said investigators found that Israeli missiles killed 30 to 40 Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the Jabalia school in Gaza Strip, where hundreds of others had taken refuge during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

April 29th, 2009 Aide says Gov. Palin will OK most stimulus fundsANCHORAGE, Alaska — A spokeswoman for Sarah Palin says the Alaska governor is going to accept most federal stimulus funds.

April 24th, 2009 LONDON - Tracking something as elusive as a single molecule has been made possible by minute strings that resonate in characteristic fashion. If a molecule docks onto one of the strings, then it becomes heavier, and its oscillations become measurably slower.

April 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - By using nanotechnology- or more specifically "nano-electromechanical systems", or NEMS-scientists have taken a major step towards creating 'artificial noses'. In a bid to track down single molecules, nano researchers have developed NEMS, which are actually minute strings that resonate in characteristic fashion.

March 24th, 2009 RANCHI - Unhappy with their payscales and working conditions, temporary teachers in Jharkhand have decided to either field their own candidates for the elections or support those who will fulfil their demands. The two associations of temporary teachers in Jharkhand are set to meet March 27 to decide their election plans, said Rishikesh Patak, president of the Jharkhand Rajya Shiksha Mitra (temporary teachers) Association.

March 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has accepted at least two PML-N demands, "and modalities are being finalised to launch the reconciliation process", Awami National Party (ANP) Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan claimed on Thursday. Zardari, however, refused to give a timeframe for fulfilling the demands; Khan was quoted by the Daily Times, as saying.

February 6th, 2009 LONDON - The Catholic church in Britain is attempting to lure would-be monks and nuns into the monastic life with 'taster' weekends in the cloisters, the BBC reported Saturday. The move is a bid to reverse the sharp decline in those taking up religious orders.

December 31st, 2008 KARACHI - Pakistan's hastly-arranged home series against Sri Lanka has fallen into scheduling problems because of Indian cricket board's interference, according to media reports here. A report in the daily 'Jang' claimed Thursday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has forced Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to make tough demands regarding the tour.