Islamabad, Nov 12 : The inclusion of two new ministers, who in the past faced charges of exhibiting brutal attitude towards women, has drawn huge criticism in Pakistani political circles. The critics say that they would not have been inducted into the cabinet, had slain PPP chairperson and former premier Benazir Bhutto been alive and running the present day government.

London, Nov 12: While it has been known that some species of birds use the alarm calls of other bird species to flee danger, how they develop this ability has been unknown. Now, a team of Australian researchers has found that birds develop this multilingual ability by learning the alarm calls of other birds on the job.

In the study, associate Professor Robert Magrath and colleagues of the School of Botany and Zoology at the Australian National University in Canberra found that fairy-wrens have the ability to learn the alarm calls of other species, giving them the edge when it comes to escaping predators.

For the study, the researchers played recordings of calls of different bird species to fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) and monitored their response.

Washington, November 12 : An Indian-origin researcher has found that the neck arteries of obese children and teenagers look more like those of 45-year-olds.

London, Nov 12: The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning to offer zero-gravity rides to passengers on an airplane, giving a boost to the fledging space-tourism market.

According to a report in New Scientist, the airplane would fly in a cycle of steep 45 degree climbs and shallower 30 degree dives, providing snatches of weightlessness as it goes over the top and starts each descent.

This parabolic technique has been used for decades to train astronauts, test equipment for space programmes and for scientific research, with planes taking part in NASA’s programme being dubbed “vomit comets”.

Sydney - A 60-year-old Australian woman was sentenced Wednesday for her part in the mercy killing of the 71-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer who had been her partner for 18 years.

In sentencing Shirley Justins to spend her weekends in jail for the next two years for the manslaughter of former Qantas pilot Graeme Wylie, Judge Roderick Howie said "the calculated and unlawful taking of human life is an affront to every aspect of civilized life."

Wylie had been rejected for a legally assisted suicide in Switzerland because Alzheimer's had robbed him of his cognitive powers.

Peshawar, Nov 12: The tribesmen in Pakistan living in villages along the Afghan border are caught between the devil and the deep sea, as, one the one hand, the Government wants them to form Lashkars to fight back the Taliban, and, on the other hand, they continuously run the risk of being beheaded by the Taliban, as happened around three weeks ago when a couple of tribal leaders beheaded and their bodies tossed on the roads setting an example for others.