Washington, Jan 7 : President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Indian origin doctor Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, sources have said.

The Obama transition team approached Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, about becoming US surgeon general, according to sources inside the transition team.

Kabul, Jan 7: Afghanistan and Pakistan have a `new relationship' and have expressed a determination to defeat terrorism and extremism jointly, President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said after talks in Kabul.

Zardari is making his first official visit to Afghanistan since assuming office in September 2008.

"We intend to work towards a better tomorrow," he told a joint press conference.

"Afghanistan and Pakistan have a new relationship," Karzai added.

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Manila - Four gunmen were killed in a pre-dawn shootout with police officers in the Philippine capital Manila, a police official said.

The men refused to stop their vehicle at a police checkpoint in the Manila suburban city of Quezon, triggering a chase, said Chief Superintendent Orlando Mabutas.

When the suspects' vehicle hit a wall, the gunmen alighted and shot it out with police officers, Mabutas said.

Three of the suspects died on the spot, while the fourth gunman was declared dead on arrival in hospital.

Washington, Jan 7 : Researchers at Baylor University have developed a new way to transform coconut husks into automotive interiors.

They say that it is possible to make trunk liners, floorboards and car-door interior covers using fibers from the outer husks of coconuts, replacing the synthetic polyester fibers typically used in composite materials.

"Why coconuts? That''s the first thing people ask," The Washington Times quoted engineering professor Walter Bradley, who is leading the research, as saying.

Wellington - The New Zealand government, which has been reluctant so far to speak out on the conflict in the Middle East, issued a statement Wednesday saying it was "deeply worried by the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of the continuing Israeli ground offensive."

Foreign Minister Murray McCully said that attacks on United Nations facilities, including schools, in the Gaza Strip were of grave concern and underlined the need for both sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire.