Kabul - The deputy of the Afghan Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Omar announced Wednesday that the militants would launch a new "strong and robust" operation in Afghanistan to counter more than 25,000 additional US and NATO forces due to arrive in the country this year. "As the US and NATO wants to send more troops to Afghanistan, the Afghans too sense the need for a strong and robust operation to counter the new forces," Mullah Brodar Akhund, the Taliban movement's number two leader, said in a statement posted on their website.

Washington, Apr 29 : US researchers claim that a brain protein involved in fear behavior and anxiety may represent a new target for depression therapies.

The study, by researchers at the University of Iowa and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has appeared in the April 29 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Depression can be severely disabling. However, the causes of depression are not well understood.

Washington, April 29 : NASA has developed a flash on-line game about telescopes, featuring its next-generation spacecraft, the James Webb Space Telescope.

The game, called "Scope it Out!" includes an introduction to telescopes and four matching games where you can compare simple telescopes to both Webb and the Hubble Space Telescope.

It was created at NASA Goddard by Maggie Masetti, with Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi providing oversight on the project.

Washington, Apr. 29 : Pennsylvania's Republican Senator Arlen Specter has decided to quit the GOP to join the Democrats.

The five-term senator''s stunning defection puts the Democratic Party one vote from being able to crush any stalling tactics in the Senate, giving the White House a virtual E-ZPass through Capitol Hill.

Washington, Apr 29 : In a new study, Rush University Medical Center scientists have shown that depression is linked with the accumulation of visceral fat - the kind of fat packed between internal organs at the waistline.

Visceral fat has long been known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The latest study will be published in the May issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Washington, Apr 29 : Researchers have found a potential target for developing new treatment for acute migraine attacks.

The new research by Addex Pharmaceuticals showed that targeting glutamate receptor ''mGluR5'', the most common neurotransmitter in the brain, could prevent migraines.

The research team suggest that mGluR5 could play a role in the "migraine circuit," a positive feedback loop that generates the symptoms of a migraine attack.