London, September 18 : University of Calgary researchers say that it is possible to simplify the process of mining extremely viscous oil sands.

Oil sands are naturally occurring mixtures of clay, sand, water and extremely viscous bitumen.

Steve Carter and his colleagues at the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy at the university say that oil sands can be upgraded while they are still in the ground by starting the refining process early, and making them flow more easily.

Varanasi, Sept 18 : Children of seers'' families in Varanasi along with school children took to the banks of river Ganga today to save the river.

On the call of the yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, these child- priests have pledged to save the river.

As part of the campaign, pressure groups across India have decided to hold rallies on to submit charters listing the demands of the ''Ganga Raksha Manch'', a committee that is spearheading the save Ganges campaign.

"Under the leadership of Baba Ramdev, we are taking out this march. All of us who love Ganga have got together to save this river," said Swami Abhimukteshwaranand, a seer.

Islamabad - Pakistan on Thursday denied that the United States forewarned it of the overnight missile strike in its north-west tribal region that was carried out hours after US assurances of enhanced coordination on critical security issues.

"No Sir! We were not informed," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told journalists in Islamabad a day after the US aerial attack killed six suspected Taliban militants in Baghar Cheena village of South Waziristan tribal district.

Wednesday's strike came shortly after Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, met Pakistani leadership during his unannounced visit and reaffirmed "the US commitment to respect Pakistan's sovereignty."

Islamabad, Sept 18 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the US didn’t inform Pakistan about today’s fresh attack inside Pakistan’s territory.

All countries should respect each other sovereignty. The cross border violations will not benefit US on long-term basis, The News quoted Quereshi as saying.

During talks with Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Kayani on Tuesday, top US defence man Admiral Michael Mullen had assured us that Pakistan’s sovereignty would be respected.

However, US launched a fresh attack inside Pakistan today.

Paris - The first EU-Central Asia Forum on security issues opened Thursday in Paris.

The forum has brought together ministers from the 27 EU member nations, the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan and EU member candidate nations, such as Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia.

Representatives from Russia, China and Japan are also taking part. Afghanistan is attending as an observer country because of its geographical proximity and the problems it shares with regional neighbours.

Discussions at the one-day meeting will focus on three main issues: the threat of terrorism, the fight against human and drug trafficking, and energy and environmental security.

London, Sept. 18: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that his country may unilaterally stake a claim to a part of the energy rich Arctic region.

"We must finalise and adopt a federal law on the southern border of Russia's Arctic zone," The Telegraph quoted Medvedev as telling a meeting of his country’s Security Council.

"This is our responsibility, and simply our direct duty, to our descendents. We must surely, and for the long-term future, secure Russia's interests in the Arctic," he added.