London, Oct 23 : The Pakistan unit of the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has expressed willingness to lay down arms if the government assured it of ending the ongoing military operat

Washington, Oct 23 : A team of scientists has unearthed crystalline magnetic fossils of a previously unknown species of microorganism that lived at the boundary of the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, some 55 million years ago.

The team comprised of researchers from McGill University, along with colleagues from the California Institute of Technology, the Curie Institute in Paris, Princeton University and other institutions.

Though they are only some four microns long, these newly discovered, spear-shaped magnetite crystals (magnetofossils) – unearthed at a dig in New Jersey – are up to eight times larger than previously known magnetofossils.

Islamabad - At least eight people were killed and six injured on Thursday in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's restive tribal region along the border with Afghanistan, security officials and residents said.

Two missiles targeted an Islamic seminary, Sirajul Uloom, in Dandai Darpakhel village, located some 3 kilometres from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, at around 
2:30 am (2030 GMT).

Wellington - The New Zealand stock market fell by more than 3 per cent Thursday, following the downward trend on markets worldwide, despite an unprecedented 1-percentage-point cut in the central bank's benchmark interest rate.

The NZX50 index ended the day down 92 points to 2,807, a fall of 3.18 per cent from Wednesday's close.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point to 6.5 per cent, the third cut in 13 weeks after five years with no reductions.

Islamabad, Oct 23 : Pakistan and Afghanistan have reportedly agreed on not holding talks with armed Taliban. Foreign ministers of the two countries announced this at a joint press conference last evening, saying that talks would be held “only with those who lay down arms”.

“Talks will be held with only those who are willing to lay down arms and those who live within the constitution,” the Daily Times quoted Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta as saying.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said other nations were coming around to Pakistan’s multi-pronged counterterrorism strategy that said “no talks with militants, but political dialogue with those who agree to live as peaceful citizens”.

Beijing - International activist groups urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday to raise the issue of Tibet during her visit to China.

"At this critical juncture in relations between Europe and China, Chancellor Merkel must press Chinese President Hu Jintao for tangible results from the dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Chinese officials," said Kate Saunders of the London-based International Campaign for Tibet.