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Washington, Feb 26 - A new study has challenged the widely held view that communities of rats pushed plague to Europe in 14th century by suggesting that rodent with a much cuddlier reputation, the gerbil, may have played host to the fleas carrying the disease for hundreds of years.

A team of scientists from Norway and Switzerland say that they think the plague bacteria could have sprung from populations of the great gerbil and other rodent species in Central Asia, the CNN reported.

Researcher Nils Christian Stenseth of the University of Oslo said that if they're right, they'll have to rewrite that part of history.

Washington, Feb 26 - Scientists have successfully grown leg muscle from engineered cells in a dish.

Researchers from Italy, Israel and the United Kingdom teamed up to generate mature, functional skeletal muscles in mice using a new approach for tissue engineering to produce a graft. The subsequent graft was implanted close to a normal, contracting skeletal muscle where the new muscle was nurtured and grown. In time, the method could allow for patient-specific treatments for a large number of muscle disorders.

New Delhi: The national capital today reported 115 fresh cases of swine flu, taking the total number of cases so far this year to 2,571.

According to the health department of Delhi government on Wednesday, 594 tests were carried out, of which 115 were tested positive.

No deaths were reported on Wednesday.

On Friday, three people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman, died of swine flu in the national capital, taking the number of deaths due to H1N1 influenza virus to nine.

The woman, a resident of east Delhi's Krishna Nagar, was admitted to Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash (LNJP) Hospital on February 5 and succumbed to the disease on February 12.

San Francisco: Google is releasing a set of tools designed for businesses and employees who want to get work done on smartphones running on the company's Android software.

The technology unveiled today launches Google's attempt to turn Android phones into the digital hub of people's personal and professional lives. The expansion will pit Google Inc against Microsoft Corp and BlackBerry Inc, which have been focusing on the corporate market for years.

Google will also be battling its biggest rival in mobile computing, Apple Inc, which forged a partnership with IBM Corp last year to build more iPhone and iPad applications tailored for businesses and government agencies.

Jerusalem : In his sharpest criticism yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that world powers "have given up" on stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons in ongoing negotiations.

Netanyahu's comments, at a meeting of his Likud Party outside of Jerusalem, come as he plans to address the US Congress on the nuclear negotiations.

The West fears Iran could build an atomic bomb with its nuclear program. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes. The Islamic Republic is now negotiating a final deal with the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, with hopes of on a preliminary deal in March and a follow-up pact in June.

New Delhi, Feb 25 : Farmers of the country are hopeful of getting more funds and adequate insurance for their crops in the upcoming Budget to be presented to Parliament.

The farmers in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir said that the successive governments have taken some policy decisions to improve the farm output but the benefits have failed to trickle down at the lower level.

"I want to appeal to the federal government that this time they should focus on farmers while preparing the budget. It should cover the insurance of the farmers and their families. It should also include risk coverage for the farmers because farmers suffer badly due to weather," said Sidhu Lal, a farmer.