Kabul, Sep 27 : US-led coalition troops backed by warplanes have killed about 170 Taliban militants in two major battles in southern Afghanistan. A US-led coalition soldier has also died in the operation.

Fighting with the insurgents erupted on Tuesday in Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, and continued till Wednesday, a statement from the US-led coalition said.

"The initial estimate by a ground forces commander assessed that more than 104 insurgents were killed thus far in the engagement," it said. The figures could not be verified independently.

Sydney, September 25 : Scientists from Australia, Europe and the US have found that a Chinese herb, which has been used to treat snakebites and boils for centuries, has the potential to fight HIV/AIDS.

The researchers say that an Asian violet known as Viola yedoensis contains tiny proteins that appear to kill off infected cells. Such anti-HIV and anti-bacterial qualities, say the researchers, make the plant a target for new drug therapies to treat the HIV virus.

A health functionary stated that the Beijing municipal administration recorded 563 new HIV/AIDS cases in the first six months of 2007, which is 50% up from the corresponding period of the last year.

Zhao Tao, head of the disease control and prevention section of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, said among the new cases were 11 aliens, 120 Beijing occupants and 432 migrant Chinese from outside the city.

A new research has discovered that repeated doses of corticoids in pregnancy could lessen the risk of neonatal death.

The newest study carried out by scientists from Adelaide University has discovered that regular intake of steroids by a pregnant woman, who was at risk of premature delivery, to lessen body inflammation, had benefits for the unborn child.

Washington, Sept 23 : An international team of scientists have demonstrated the dramatic effects of quantum mechanics on a simple magnet.

As part of their study, the team focussed on a square of spins, the tiny bar magnets associated with the electrons in the copper atoms in the organometallic material.

At the nano scale, magnetism arises from atoms behaving like little magnets called ‘spins’.

In ferromagnets – the kind that sticks to fridge doors – all of these atomic magnets point in the same direction.

New Delhi, Sept.22 : China has called for greater international cooperation to prevent hackers' attacks.

According to Wang Xinjun, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, countries should stop accusing each other for hacking crimes and conceive a joint plan to tackle the menace.

"Countries should strengthen exchanges of information on hackers' attacks and make it easier for other countries to track down on the hackers," he said.