Washington, Feb 17: People with a family history of melanoma are two times more likely to develop Parkinson''s disease, according to a new study.

During the study, researchers recruited nearly 157,000 people who did not have Parkinson''s disease. They were asked if their parents or siblings had been diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The participants were tracked for a period of 14 to 20 years. During that time, 616 of the people were diagnosed with Parkinson''s disease.

Washington, Feb 17 : A new study has found that shedding extra pounds can significantly help patients reverse fatty liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

The research team from Saint Louis University Liver Centre has suggested that weight loss of at least 9 percent can help improve condition of patients with fatty liver disease.

"It's a helpful study because we can now give patients a benchmark, a line they need to cross to see improvement," said Dr Brent Neuschwander-Tetri, a hepatologist at Saint Louis University Liver Centre.

Karachi, Feb 17 : Leaders of the ruling coalition parties in Pakistan have expressed their anger towards terrorists and also on the violation of Pakistani territory by the United States.

Leaders of the Pakistan People's Party, Muttahidda Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party said that the sovereignty of Pakistani territory should be observed, while strongly condemning the terrorists who have destroyed Pakistan.

Washington, Feb 17: Traffic-related air pollution affects asthma severity in kids, resulting in repeated hospital encounters, says a new study.

The research has been published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

To reach the conclusion, Ralph J. Delfino, M. D., Ph. D., from the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues, studied records for 2,768 children from two hospitals in northern Orange County, California.

Beijing  - A Chinese car maker has held talks over buying General Motors' Hummer-brand sports utility vehicle unit, an official of the Chinese firm said on Tuesday in response to a report by Bloomberg News.

"We should keep it a secret for the time being," the official from the Sichuan Auto Industry Group said when asked about talks with GM over the Hummer unit.

Bloomberg quoted unidentified sources as saying Sichuan Auto, one of China's smaller auto makers, could pay up to 500 million dollars for Hummer.

New York, Feb 17: Despite being pulled off from the shelves, controversial Malia and Sasha dolls are selling like hot cakes at popular auction site eBay.

"Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha," dolls, renamed by the Ty toy company as "Marvelous Mariah" and "Sweet Sydney," were withdrawn from the market after US First Lady Michelle Obama complained.

They are still being sold on eBay and elsewhere for as much as 3,000 dollars.