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US intelligence agency CIA has decided to undertake major reforms and structural changes, including setting up an exclusive university for training spies, to meet the challenges of 21st-century like those posed by non-state actors.

CIA Director John Brennan, while giving message to the agency's workforce, said the initiatives are taken keeping in mind two fundamental shifts in the national security landscape.

He released an unclassified version of the CIA's Blueprint for the future and said that the fundamental shift is the marked increase in the range, diversity and complexity of issues confronting policymakers, and the second is the extraordinary pace and impact of technological advancements.

On March 20, stargazers will have a chance to witness a stunning event in the sky. According to reports, the moon will cover the sun and block about 98% of its light. It will be the biggest solar eclipse in Britain since 1999. The reports also stated that the night before the solar eclipse, there will be a Supermoon.

The occurrence of the solar eclipse and Supermoon will make the 2015 Spring Equinox eclipse a Supermoon eclipse. It means that a Supermoon, equinox and eclipse will fall on the same day. According to the reports, stargazers across Northern Africa, Europe and Northern Asia will be able to see the partial eclipse. There will be a total solar eclipse in March 2015 close to the United Kingdom, the reports stated.

According to scientists at a British museum, they have determined the weight of Sophie, which is among the world's most complete Stegosaurus skeletons. The scientists had used a new 3-D scanning technique to weigh Sophie.

Before putting Sophie on display at the Natural History Museum of London in 2014, researchers scanned all 360 bones of the Stegosaurus stenops' skeleton. According to reports, Sophie's skeleton is about 80% of the skeleton Sophie had in life. The reports stated that the researchers measured the bones by volume, which could be translated into mass.

A new study found that missing only 30 minutes of sleep on weekdays might lead to weight gain. According to researchers, it could cause long-term metabolic disruption that possibly encourage or exacerbate type 2 diabetes.

“Our findings suggest that avoiding sleep debt could have positive benefits for waistlines and metabolism, and that incorporating sleep into lifestyle interventions for weight loss and diabetes might improve their success”, said Shahrad Taheri, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar.

For the study, about 522 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes were examined by the researchers. The patients were randomly assigned to normal care, physical activity involvement or diet and exercise.

Washington’s Makah Indian tribe seeks to resume its traditional practice of hunting gray whales of eastern North Pacific. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is inviting public comments on a new Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that evaluates the Makah Tribe's request to resume whale hunting.

The Makah wants to hunt whales for ceremonial and subsistence purposes, which is also their legal right under the tribe's 1855 treaty with the US government.

The tribe also hunted a gray whale off Washington’s Olympic Peninsula in 1999 and drew international criticism from animal rights groups.

Good news for employees of the global telecommunications Vodafone Group, as the company on Friday announced a global policy on maternity benefits.

As per the new policy, the company will offer at least 16 weeks of paid maternity leaves to all new mothers. And as per terms of the policy the company will allow new mothers to work slightly for reduced hours on full pay for the first six months.

Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said in a statement that several talented women had to leave their jobs because they face difficulty to make a choice between caring for a newborn baby and their careers.

He further said that over 1,000 women working for Vodafone in countries, which offer less or no statutory maternity care, will benefit from the company’s new policy.