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ISLAMABAD: Inspector General Police Balochistan Malik Muhammad Iqbal has been appointed Director General of Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) after Waseem Ahmed resigned from the post, Geo News reported.

Earlier, Waseem Ahmad sent his resignation to the prime minister who was in London on a private visit.

Waseem Ahmed has come under severe criticism from the Supreme Court over his performance. In his resignation letter he said: "Some very unusual circumstances emerged between the two state situations, the SC was asking me to quit while the government was insisting to continue".

TUNIS: The U.S. actress Angelina Jolie on Tuesday visited the Choucha camp on the Tunisian-Libyan border as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the official TAP news agency reported.

She was warmly greeted by refugees of various nationalities when walking through the camp, said TAP.

The actress thanked the Tunisian authorities for their generosity towards the refugees, saying that the current situation calls for the intervention of all parties with a view to alleviate their suffering and make this tragedy known throughout the world.

LONDON: Scientists have shown how an "artificial pancreas" can help pregnant women with type 1 diabetes and say their finding could significantly reduce cases of stillbirth and death among diabetic expectant mothers.

British researchers used a so-called "closed-loop insulin delivery system" or artificial pancreas, in 10 pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes and found it provided the right amount of insulin at the right time, maintained near normal blood sugar, and prevented dangerous drops in blood sugar levels at night.

"To discover an artificial pancreas can help maintain near-normal glucose levels in these women is very promising," said Helen Murphy of Cambridge University, who led the study.

The experimental artificial pancreas was created by combining a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, with an insulin pump, both of which are already used separately by many people with type 1 diabetes.

Previous trials in children with the condition found that using an artificial pancreas system at night improved blood glucose control and reduced hypoglycaemia -- when the level of glucose in the blood falls too low.

The bodies of type 1 diabetes sufferers become unable to properly break down sugar and if untreated, bloodvessels and nerves are destroyed, organs fail and patients can die.

Pregnancy can be particularly risky for women with diabetes as hormonal changes make it very difficult to keep blood glucose levels within a safe range, especially at night.

As a result of high blood glucose levels, babies of women with diabetes are five times as likely to be stillborn, three times as likely to die in their first months of life and twice as likely to have a major deformity, the researchers said.

Data from previous studies suggest that pregnant women with type 1 diabetes spend an average of ten hours a day with glucose levels outside recommended targets, said Murphy, whose findings were published in thejournal Diabetes Care.

This increases the risk of birth defects, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, oversized babies and other complications.

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys its own ability to make insulin, accounts for around 10 percent of all people with diabetes. The more common type 2 diabetes is often linked to bad diet and lack of exercise.

Iain Frame, director of research at the charity Diabetes UK, which part-funded the study, said that although it was a small and early stage trial, the results were encouraging.

"It's a fantastic example of how existing technologies...can be adapted and developed to benefit as many people with diabetes as possible," he said in a statement.

The researchers said more studies were now needed on larger numbers of women to validate their findings, and to see if the system could be developed for use outside of a hospital.