20 militants killed in Afghanistan Kabul, November 26 (IANS): Up to 20 militants were killed and 33 injured in military operations across Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday. “The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces carried out 12 clean-up operations and 15 special operations in nine provinces in the past 24 hours, killing 20 insurgents and injuring 33 others,” Xinhua reported quoting the Ministry. The Afghan air force also launched airstrikes, destroying four militants’ hideouts over the period, the Ministry statement said, without elaborating about casualties on the side of the security forces. The Afghan troops have beefed up military operations as the Taliban militants and Islamic State terrorists are attempting to capture territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country. South Korea to review anti-abortion law SEOUL, November 26 (Reuters): The South Korean president’s office said on Sunday that it will begin a review on the country’s 64-year-old law to ban abortion. The announcement came after more than 230,000 South Koreans filed a petition calling for the abolishment of the law. South Korea criminalized abortion in 1953 when its leaders wanted to boost the population and build an army powerful enough to fend off its rival North Korea. But in 1973, with population growth strong, the country drew up exceptions to the abortion law, such as where the mother’s health is at risk, the baby is to be born with severe birth defects or the pregnancy was caused by a sexual crime. Many public health experts in South Korea pushed for changes in the abortion law but faced opposition from a strong pro-life lobby in a country with one of Asia’s largest percentages of Christians and a government trying to boost one of the world’s lowest fertility rates. The president’s office said the government will conduct research next year on the country’s abortion cases for the first time since 2010. “Based on the outcome from the research, we expect to move relevant discussions one step forward,” Cho Kuk, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, said in a statement. According to the most recent figures, an estimated 16,900 abortions were performed in 2010, and only 6 percent of them were done legally, he said. US company all set to brew beer on Mars New York, November 26 (IANS): Imagine how it would be if you can enjoy a chilled beer on Mars? US-based brewing company Anheuser-Busch is all set to make “Budweiser” the first brand of beer on the Red Planet. Budweiser is upholding its commitment, announced earlier this year at an event “South by Southwest” that “it would create a beer suitable for drinking in space... and when people get there they will toast on Budweiser...”, the company said in a statement this week. The company also plans to send 20 barley seeds -- a core ingredient in Budweiser’s recipe -- into space. Twenty Budweiser barley seeds will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS), packaged in two Space Tango CubeLabs -- shoebox-sized facilities that host small-scale experiments. They will be sent to space on the upcoming cargo supply mission SpaceX’s CRS-13 scheduled to be launched on December 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The seeds will be in orbit for approximately 30 days to see how they react in a microgravity environment, before being brought back to earth for Budweiser’s innovation team to analyse.The two barley experiments will focus on barley seed exposure and barley germination. Not only will the research offer insights on steps to creating beer on the Red Planet, but it could also provide valuable information on the production of barley and the larger agricultural community here on earth.
