Washington, Apr. 23 : US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has accused the Government of Pakistan of "abdicating" to the Taliban and other extremist groups by ceding large tracts of territory.

She said that the country's instability is a "mortal threat" to world peace.

"I think that the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists," the New York Times quoted Clinton as telling the House Foreign Affairs Committee as she responded to questions on an array of topics.

Washington, Apr 23 : A new study has given students the perfect excuse to chew gum in classrooms: the "mouth-exerciser" can boost academic performance of teenagers.

That's the conclusion of a new research from Baylor College of Medicine.

The study examined whether chewing Wrigley sugar-free gum can lead to better academic performance in a "real life" classroom setting.

Washington, Apr 23 : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has mocked former vice president Dick Cheney at a Capitol Hill review of her first three months in office.

"It won't surprise you that I don't consider him a particularly reliable source," Clinton said, dismissing Cheney's claim that classified documents prove that harsh interrogations of terror suspects yielded vital intelligence.

Washington, April 23 : Researchers at University of British Columbia have identified a `molecular key' that has the potential to increase the success of blood stem cell transplants.

Blood stem cell transplants are currently used to treat diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin''s lymphoma and aplastic anemia.

During the procedure, donor blood stem cells - which can produce red and white blood cells and platelets - are injected into the recipient to produce new blood.

Washington, April 23 : A new study in rats has suggested that eating grapes could help in fighting high blood pressure and could also reduce other cardiovascular risks and heart muscle damage.

University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center researchers, who conducted the study, said that the benefits may be the result of the phytochemicals - naturally occurring antioxidants - turning on a protective process in the genes that reduces damage to the heart muscle.

Washington  - The US Armenian community plans to open the Armenian Genocide Museum of America just a block and a half from the White House in less than two years.

In the pecking order of specially themed museums in Washington, the building will be far closer to the seat of US executive power than those dedicated to the Jewish Holocaust, African Art or the American Indian.

Whether that will bring Armenian-Americans any closer to presidential recognition of what they regard as genocide remains to be seen.