Anti-incumbency factor, in Mizoram, has worked in the favour of the main opposition Congress, which has surged ahead of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), which has been in power for the last two terms.

According to the reports from Mizoram, Congress has won eight seats in the 40-member state assembly, and the former chief minister and state Congress chief Lal Thanhawla has won South Tuipui seat in Lunglei district.

A new study has disclosed that long talks on cell phones can have adverse effect on memory.

The scientists from the Division of Neurosurgery, Lund University, in Sweden discovered that microwave radiation from mobile phones could have an effect on the so-called blood-brain barrier.

The researchers conducted a study on rats and found that rats exposed to cellphone radiation for two hours every week for more than a year had poorer results on a memory test as compared to the control group that hadn’t been exposed to mobile rays.

Washington, Dec 8 : New estimates by Worldwatch Institute in the US have revealed that genetically modified (GM) crops have reached 9 percent of global primary crop production in 2007, bringing the total GM land area up to 114.3 million hectares.

According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), GM production has been on the rise since the crops were first introduced more than a decade ago, and it now includes 23 countries.

But, controversy over the benefits of genetic modification continues, including questions about the technology’s ability to deliver on promises of enhanced yields and nutrition.

Damascus (Syria), Dec 8 : Archaeologists have announced the discovery of one stretch of the previous wall of Raqqa Palace in Syria, a few days after finding other things that enrich the country’s heritage.

Raqqa city is an old locality built by Alexander the Great in the Four Century (b. c.), but very few is preserved from that glorious period from which highlights Baghdad Door, the walls and Qasr al-Binaat Palace.

According to a report by Prensa Latina, a Latin American news agency, experts from a national mission said that after the wall fragment, they found a lion bronze image and lamps made of pottery, a metal ax, a bottle of crystal and a crystal’s collection.

Washington, Dec. 8 : US President George W. Bush has, for the first time, expressed his “terrible disappointment” over the “disgraceful acts” that took place inside Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison in 2004.

In an interview with an Arabic TV network, Bush said: "Abu Ghraib was a terrible disappointment. And admittedly, I wasn''t there on the site, but I was the Commander-in-Chief of a military where these disgraceful acts took place that sent the absolute wrong image about America and our military."

Taipei  - Taiwan's stocks surged 4.57 per cent on Monday, bolstered by Wall Street's strong rally on Friday, dealers said.

The main Taiex index opened with a bang, tracking strong gains in Wall Street, as semiconductor and financial shares rose sharply. The upward trend continued all the way to the end of trading, with the local index soaring 193.26 points, or 4.57 per cent, to close at 4,418.33.