Lib Dems to unveil Election Pledge

The Liberal Democrat's manifesto will include a pledge to hand drugs policy from the Home Office to the Department of Health, Nick Clegg is to say. His party would also shift resources away from prosecuting drug-users.

Mr Clegg's comments are expected at a joint appearance with Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, who has long called for reforms to the drug laws. The two men said the UK seemed "oblivious" to the "tectonic shift" in the West on drugs policy.

The Lib Dems have long argued for changes to Britain's drug laws. At his party conference in October, Mr Clegg described the current approach as "idiotic". The deputy prime minister will renew his attack in a speech in London alongside Sir Richard. He will pledge to end the "nonsense" of jailing people for possessing small amount of drugs for their personal use, and say young people should not be penalised in later life because of a criminal record.

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Maharashtra bans Beef

The Indian president has approved a bill which bans the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef in the western state of Maharashtra.

Anyone found breaking the law will face a fine and up to five years in prison. Hindus, who comprise 80% of India's 1.2 bn population, revere cows and the sale and consumption of beef is banned or restricted in many states.

Correspondents say most beef sold in India is actually from water buffaloes which are not considered sacred at all. But in Maharashtra, buffalo meat, generally seen to be of inferior quality, makes up only 25% of the market and the ban is likely to be felt more keenly there.

The state includes India's commercial capital and biggest city Mumbai. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill took 19 years to become law - it was first passed by the state's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena government in 1995 and was sent to the president for approval in January 1996.

Beef is more popular with the poor in India as it is typically cheaper than other meats such as chicken or mutton. But because of religious sentiments and bans in various states, most of India's beef is exported - with a 20% share of the global market and exports worth more than $4bn (£2.6bn) a year, it is now the country's top agricultural export, beating the more famous basmati rice.

Buffalo meat, however, accounts for 80% of the exports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has in the past complained about India's "pink revolution" of rising meat exports, and expressed hope of bringing in a national ban on cow slaughter.

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Weasel riding a Woodpecker

This photo of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker has gone viral after it was posted on social media. It has been picked up by media outlets worldwide.

The photographer Martin Le-May said he was "taken aback" by how many people were sharing the photo. The weasel was not using the woodpecker for transport, but was actually after a tasty meal.

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Secret power of Peacock tails

Peacock tails are one of the most beautiful sights in the animal kingdom. But they're not just pretty to look at. The birds also use their huge tails to make a loud noise – which humans are utterly incapable of hearing.

When a peacock shakes his tail, it produces a sound that is so low-pitched, humans can't hear it. That's despite the noise being about as loud as a car going past a few metres away.

Angela Freeman and James Hare of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada have shown that peacocks can make these "infrasound" noises with their tails. The birds can also sense and respond to the noise.

"Humans don't often think about infrasound as a potential signal, because we don't perceive it," says Freeman. "I think it's more common than we think."

The pair's results are published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

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Scientists produce TB-resistant cows

Scientists in China have produced a herd of genetically engineered cows that are better able to ward off bovine TB infection.

The long-term goal of the research is to avoid the need to cull livestock by breeding disease resistant cattle. Bovine TB is a risk in many areas, including New Zealand, England and Wales, and parts of Africa and Asia. In the UK over 26,000 cattle were slaughtered in 2013 at a cost to taxpayers of £100m.

However, whether this approach protects cows against TB infection when exposed to high doses of the pathogen remains to be determined, says Prof Heiner Niemann, of  Institute of Farm Animal Genetics .

Researchers at the Ministry of Agriculture in Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China, used hi-tech genetic technology to insert a mouse gene into Holstein-Friesian cattle. The gene protected the animals against low levels of TB infection.

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