Washington, Mar. 27 : In a bid to strengthen Pakistan's civilian government, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry has vowed to increase economic aid to Pakistan.

"Our strategy must also reflect the interconnectedness of the region's challenges. This requires redoubling our efforts to strengthen Pakistan's civilian government and support its activities against militants in the Tribal Areas," the Daily Times quoted Kerry, as saying.

Washington, March 27: In a new report, scientists have determined that nanoparticles in cosmetics, sunscreens, and hundreds of other personal care products may be harmful to the environment.

Their report was part of symposia that included almost two dozen papers at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society where scientists grappled to understand the environmental and human health effects of nanotechnology.

Islamabad, Mar. 27 : Pakistan has asked the United States to stop launching unilateral drone attacks in the country's tribal areas, as the strikes are damaging Islamabad's plan to defeat terrorism through popular support.

"We have raised the issue very forcefully with the US and conveyed the sentiments of the Pakistani people, and especially that these (drone attacks) are counter-productive," the Daily Times quoted Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit, as saying.

Washington, March 27: University of Barcelona researchers say that the brain extracts important information for face recognition principally from the eyes, and secondly from the mouth and nose.

The research team obtained this result by analysing 868 male and 868 female face images in a way similar to that of the brain.

They observed that the most useful information is obtained from the images if their size is around 30 x 30 pixels.

Washington, March 27 : Braunschweig Helmholtz researchers have found that an excessive immune response is responsible for the fatal outcome of influenza illnesses in mice.

The researchers have also found that this overreaction has genetic roots.

"Where there are many scientific works dealing solely with the flu virus, we have investigated how the host reacts to an infection," says Klaus Schughart, head of the Experimental Mouse Genetics research group.

Washington, March 27: American scientists have made a significant advance in finding a way to endow human skin cells with embryonic stem cell-like properties without inserting potentially problematic new genes into their DNA.