Washington, September 20: A team of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) geographers has uncovered fresh evidence from satellite imagery that last year''s U. S. troop surge in Iraq may not have been as effective at improving security as some U. S. officials have maintained.

The effectiveness of the February 2007 deployment of 30,000 additional U. S. troops has been a subject of debate.

In a report to Congress in September of that year, General David Petraeus claimed that "the military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met."

Washington, Sept 20 : Physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public will now be able to conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, all thanks to the efforts of a leading scientist, who is using new "lab on a chip" technology to make the hand-held device.

James Landers wants to create a hand-held device that may allow quick and inexpensive DNA tests, which can be conducted without the need for a complex and expensive central laboratory.

Other than simplifying genetic testing, and reducing the costs of such tests, the new device could help pave the way toward routine delivery of such personalized care based on an individual''s genetic profile.

Sterling (Virginia, US), Sept. 20: Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Friday that he wanted to end the cowboy mentality of the Bush-McCain era”.

"These guys have worshipped at the shrine of deregulation,” Bidentold about 1,000 supporters at a women's issues rally at Claude Moore Park.

Biden called for short-term, immediate intervention to “staunch the bleeding” in the financial markets and that in the long term, “we have to have a major, major overhaul of how the financial system works.”

New York, Sep 20 : A delegation of Pakistani women parliamentarians, now visiting the United States, has pleaded with US lawmakers and the Bush Administration to stop American attacks inside Pakistan and provide free trade opportunities to women.

MNA Azra Pechuho of the Pakistan People’s Party said the US-sponsored “Reconstruction Opportunity Zones” in the tribal areas were specifically discussed during their meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers.

These zones would play a major role in promoting long-term economic development in the region; Dawn quoted Pechuho, as saying.

“We believe ROZs will provide the crucial economic component that complements our military and political strategies.”

Washington, Sept. 20: The Rajdhani Mandir (temple) in Virginia’s suburban Fairfax County, is in the eye of the storm, not because of religion, race or immigration, but parking.

The temple has attracted the negative attention of county zoning officials following complaints by people in the neighbourhood regarding parking problems caused by rituals performed twice a day from Monday to Saturday, and thrice on Sunday.

The 2008 presidential campaign has stimulated a great deal of interest among American voters all year, but according to the New York Times, the campaign is at an interesting phase, and is now even more focused on the process of electing a new president.

In the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, 63 percent of voters said they were paying a lot of attention to the campaign, up from 51 percent before the parties held their conventions.

In September 2004, 52 percent said they were concentrating a lot on Senator John Kerry’s campaign to defeat President Bush.