Washington, April 14 : A new research has shown that chemicals commonly used to clean up oil spills make oil far more toxic to fish, particularly for eggs and young fish.

According to a report by Discovery News, the research was done by Fish toxicologist Professor Peter Hodson of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and colleagues.

Scientists already debate about how best to clean up spills. The new work makes those decisions even more complicated and controversial.

Kabul, Apr. 14 : The Taliban has publicly executed a young unmarried couple in the southwestern province of Nimroz.

Confirming the incident, provincial governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad said couple was shot dead by extremists in front of a mosque after they were caught eloping.

“An unmarried young boy and an unmarried girl who loved each other and wanted to get married eloped because their families would not approve the marriage,” The News quoted Azad, as saying.

Berlin - Germany has decided to ban genetically modified maize, Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday. The decision affects MON 810 seeds produced by US agriculture giant Monsanto, which is the only genetically modified seed currently allowed on German soil.

Monsanto's seed was due to be planted on 3600 hectares of German farm land this year, predominantly in the east of the country.

MON 810 includes a gene which protects it against a pest, the European corn borer butterfly. The seed has been approved for commercial use in the European Union since 1998.

New Delhi, Apr. 14 : Government officials from South Asian countries, the European Union and the United States are participating in a conference this week in New Delhi on Countering Terrorist Financing in the Charitable Sector.

The conference, hosted by the U. S. Embassy and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, is promoting government action to prevent terrorist organizations from exploiting humanitarian or religious charities as a way to conceal the illegal international movement of funds.

Sydney, Apr 14 : Bitter melon may not seem a very appetising name, but experts say that this vegetable may help protect the world''s population from malnutrition and disease.

Dr. Dyno Keatinge, the head of a not-for-profit research institute which uses horticulture to fight poverty and malnutrition, says that Bitter melon is rich in vitamins and offers protection against diabetes.

"It''s not a sweet vegetable, and that''s why I like it in salad and a whole range of things," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying.