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SRINAGAR: Three protesters were killed by security forces Friday in a day of violence in Indian-administered Kashmir that also left 75 people injured, police and witnesses said.

The fatalities added to a string of deaths that have fuelled a rolling series of angry protests across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley in the past two months.

At least 20 people are known to have died in the latest burst of violence which erupted when a 17-year-old boy was killed after being hit by a police tear gas shell in early June. Many of those killed have been teenagers.

Witnesses said two men were shot on Friday when security forces opened fire on a demonstration in Sopore town, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Srinagar. Both died on the way to hospital.

“Both men had bullet wounds and were dead by the time they reached us,” a doctor in Srinagar's main hospital told AFP.

Police said the demonstrators tried to damage a railway track and also attacked paramilitary forces with stones.

However, locals said they were holding a peaceful protest after Friday prayers when troops fired at them.

The deaths brought thousands of people out onto the streets of Sopore and adjoining villages, residents said.

In neighbouring Patan town, angry protesters ransacked a police station and set part of it on fire. One person died when police opened fire on the crowd, a witness said.

Earlier in the day authorities imposed a strict curfew in Srinagar after security forces opened fire at stone-throwing protesters, injuring three people. One of the injured is in critical condition in hospital.

No prayers were held at the region's main mosque, the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, for the fifth consecutive Friday as security forces had sealed off entrances to the Mughal-built mosque with coils of barbed wire.

However, residents were able to attend prayers in smaller local mosques.

More than 75 people, including ten policemen, were injured during Friday clashes between protesters and security forces across the Kashmir valley, police said, adding 10 protesters were hospitalised with bullet wounds. Separatists had called for protests on Friday. -AFP

Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said that the Indus River is flowing in very high flood at Kalabagh and high flood with rising trend at Tarbela and Chashma.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Executive of Air Blue Airline Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the bodies of 102 passengers, killed in the Wednesday’s plane crash in Margalla Hills, have been handed over to their heirs, while samples for DNA tests of 62 individuals have been sent to the laboratory. Talking to media-persons here on Friday he said that the airline would pay insurance money to heirs of the plane crash victims, for which registration has begun. He asked the relatives of victims to get themselves registered with the airline through internet or report to the nearest Air Blue office. Abbasi said that search for the black box of the plane was underway. "At the time of the crash, the plane was flying at a height of 1000 feet. The black box has not yet been found because the wreckage spread far and wide", he said. He said that six personnel of Air Blue were also members of the investigation team tasked to find the causes of the incident, adding "We want to make public the details of the investigative report." Brushing aside the rumours that the pilot of the airliner was suffering from fatigue, he said the pilot had rested for 36 hours before the flight. He said Pervaiz Iqbal Chaudhry, the pilot of the ill-fated plane was a seasoned pilot, who had 25000 hours experience to hi credit. The chief executive said that the pilot was 61- year- old, while the standard at the international level is 65 years. Abbasi said that Flying Officer Mujttahid Chughtai was 34-year- old and he had served in Pakistan Air Force as a F-16 jetfighter pilot. He had 1700 hours experience including the 300 hours in the crashed plane. He did not agree that there was any technical problem that resulted in airliner''s crash and added there was also no report of any terrorist act. Even, the Interior Minister Rehman A. Malik hadalready ruled out the possibility of any act of terrorism, he said. To a question he said that rules and laws of the Civil Aviation Authority were very strict and it was evident from the six years'' record of Air Blue that it strictly followed those rules and never committed a violation. He claimed that the Air Blue was the first airline in Pakistan, which started issuing boarding cards to passengers after checking their ID Cards.

ISLAMABAD: Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Chief Junaid Amin on Friday brushed aside all speculations about possibility of terrorism in Airblue plane crash, saying that the age of pilot of the unfortunate airbus was legitimate allowed while he was medically fit. "We have recorded all the details. The log book, radar picture, ATC tape and all other relevant information was secured to facilitate the safety investigation board. Moreover, the controllers of the ATC were fully qualified. The communication of the pilot with the control room was absolutely normal," said Director General, CAA, Junaid Amin while addressing a press conference here. He also ruled out questions over the rest period of the pilot, saying that the rest period was "strictly according to the book". He had gone for flying on July 26 while the accident took place on July 28, he added. "The pilot was slightly under 62 years which is allowed under laws. We, at CAA, have stringent rules which are even better than the international protocols. We conduct a medical board every six months to fully examine the pilots'' health," he added.

KARACHI: Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan has directed the relevant authorities to take safety measures in view of expected floods in Sindh province. He directed to keep on standby all necessary machinery to cope with the emergency situation in view of expected floods. Ebad said people from localities feared to be affected by floods should be shifted to safe places. The people in these areas should also be informed about floods, he said. The governor instructed Sindh Health Department and all administrators to activate health centers and ensure availability of staff and medicines.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is actively participating in the ongoing rescue/relief operation being conducted in the flood affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.

KABUL: Six US soldiers were killed in bombing and insurgent attacks in Afghanistan's volatile south, making July the deadliest month of the war for American forces, officers said Friday.

Three were killed on Thursday and three more on Friday, Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

A US defense official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the six soldiers were Americans.

The casualties brought the death toll for US soldiers in July to 66, an all-time high that surpassed the record toll of 60 for the previous month, according to the icasualties.org website.

US and Nato commanders have warned that an influx of foreign troops and a push against insurgents in the south would trigger a spike in casualties.

The mounting death toll for foreign troops has piled political pressure on the United States and its allies amid growing public doubts about the war, now in its ninth year.

Five of the six soldiers died in attacks using homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices, ISAF said.

Homemade bombs, cheap and easy to make and plant, are the Taliban's main weapon in the war in Afghanistan.

NATO and the United States have close to 150,000 troops in the country, with 30,000 deployed to the southern Taliban heartland in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. -AFP

LAHORE: Former Amir Jamat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed Friday demanded of the government to declare emergency in the flood-hit areas and take all necessary steps towards protecting the life and property of the victims. Addressing an emergency press conference here at Mansoora, Qazi Hussain said the stranded people are awaiting help on the rooftops of houses and mosques. If emergency rescue and relief work is not carried out with the help of helicopters their lives and properties could be put at serious risk of damage, he feared. He said when he tried to contact the high ups, he was told that the President, Prime Minister, governors and chief ministers were all taking rest after holding a high level meeting and that they could not be put through.

LAHORE: Pakistan Army has been called in for meeting an eventuality on war footings arising out of flash flood and torrential rains in Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab and Rajanpur districts besides forthwith evacuation of marooned and stranded affectees by army helicopters. Provincial Relief Commissioner, Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar said that on the special directive of the Chief Minister Punjab, the services of troops of Pakistan Army have been acquired for effectively carrying out rescue and relief operations in the affected areas. He said that entire relevant staff of different provincial departments including Divisional Commissioners and DCOs have been put on high alert to fully ensure the prompt relief to affectees. When contacted Inspector General of Police Punjab, Tariq Saleem Dogar said that all Regional and District Police Officers of the affected areas had already been directed to deploy armed police contingents in flood and rain affected areas for security and protection to the aggrieved people and ensure round the clock patrolling in and around the river embankments and riverine areas.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force is actively participating in the ongoing rescue/relief operation being conducted in the flood affected areas of Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa. In this regard, C-130 aircraft of PAF have transported 30 small/medium size boats from PAF Base Faisal (Karachi) to PAF Academy Risalpur to be used in flood affected areas of the province. Around 1000 IDPs have been rescued from adjacent areas of Risalpur and are sheltered inside PAF Academy wherein they are being provided shelter, food and complete medical assistance. The entire PAF fleet of C-130 aircraft is on high alert for carrying out immediate relief sorties whenever required. In addition, two helicopters of PAF have been handed over to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to participate in the rescue/relief operations in the affected areas. Additionally an MI-17 helicopter of PAF has also been dispatched from Karachi to Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa to participate in the ongoing relief operations.

BEIRUT: The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad stepped off the plane together after traveling from Damascus.

It was a strong public show of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, which for years vied for influence over Lebanon.

The men held a series of meetings with officials including Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain statesman, and President Michel Suleiman.

Few details about the discussions emerged, although Assad gave reporters a thumbs-up and said ''it was an excellent summit'' as he left Lebanon's presidential palace.

The visit underscored the depth of Arab concern that new violence between Lebanon's Shia and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri's death implicates the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria's main ally in Lebanon.

In May 2008, Hezbollah gunmen swept through Sunni pro-government neighborhoods of Beirut, raising fears the country could fall into a new civil war. That crisis was resolved only after fellow Arab countries mediated a truce and political compromise between the two sides that has tenuously held since.

Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia. The international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.

The summit was unusual on multiple levels, a sign of the depth of concern over the potential for violence. Assad rarely goes to Beirut, his last trip was in 2002, which at the time was the first visit by a Syrian leader to the Lebanese capital in nearly three decades.

Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the truck bombing on Valentine's Day 2005 that killed Hariri, charges that Damascus denies.

The blast deepened a rift between Assad and Saudi King Abdullah, who each backed rival sides in the ensuing power struggle that nearly tore Lebanon apart since 2005: Syria backing a Hezbollah-led coalition and Saudi Arabia and the United States supporting a Sunni-led coalition.

In recent years, however, Assad and Abdullah have repaired ties, and the joint visit was a sign of how far the rift has healed.

It also showed how dramatically the political landscape has changed since Hariri's death sparked massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, dubbed the ''Cedar Revolution.''

That helped lead to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination. -AP

Flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed more than 400 people in Pakistan in three days and affected at least 600,000, a minister said Friday.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld decisions against three legislators, two among them belonging to Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and declared them disqualified for possessing fake degrees and concealing facts and showing corrupt practices during 2008 general elections. The Election Commission of Pakistan was directed to proceed against the disqualified legislators under the law laid down in its decision on Rizwan Gill and for violating Representation of Peoples Act 1976. The ECP was also asked to make arrangements for holding by-elections on these constituencies under relevant election provisions. However, the Higher Education Commission was ordered to verify the educational qualifications and authenticity of his Sanad of Molvi Mohammad Sarwar of JUI-F Balochistan minister for labour and manpower and submit a report till August 13. Those whose appeals were dismissed by the apex Court included Haji Mudassar Qayyum Nehra of PML-N who was elected from NA-100 Gujranwala, Malik Yasir Raza PML-N MPA from PP-13 Rawalpindi and Mir Zahoor Hussain Khan Khoso, MPA elect from PB-26 Jaffarabad-II Balochistan. A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalil ur Rehman Ramday heard separate pleas filed by these ex-members against verdicts of election tribunals. In June, an election tribunal, comprising Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh of the Lahore High Court had disqualified PML-N MNA from NA-100 Gujranwala, Haji Mudassar Qayyum Nahra, for obtaining a graduation degree by concealing facts. Nahra had won the MNA seat in 2008 general election as an independent candidate but later he had joined the PML-N. His credentials were challenged by Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz, a runner up candidate of the PML-Q. Malik Yasir Raza had filed appeal against a decision of LHC Rawalpindi Bench over issue of possession of fake degree. On June 30, Justice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmed of LHC''s Rawalpindi bench in a short order had declared him disqualified on a petition filed by Ishtiaq Mirza, a PPP candidate. The petition had challenged the validity of Raza''s Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) obtained from the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in 1995 and graduation degree and matriculation certificate. The HEC had submitted its report with the apex court over the Sanad obtained by Zahoor Hussain Khosa, MPA from Balochistan which was not recognized by it. The same bench also remanded election pleas on NA: 263 Loralai-cum-Mashkhal-cum-Barkhan, PB-17 Barkhan, PB-20 Killa Saifullah and PB-60 to concerned election tribunals of the province.

ISLAMABAD: The US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, Friday announced that as an initial response to the floods in Pakistan, the US government is immediately making seven helicopters available to assist the government in its relief efforts. "The heavy monsoon rains have caused much suffering," said Ambassador Patterson, adding "we are working with Pakistan''s government to review urgent humanitarian needs and hope to announce additional assistance very soon."

KARACHI: Sindh Government has dispatched ten boats to Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa for the shifting of flood affected people to safer places. According to an announcement here Friday, these boats have been despatched on the instructions of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

ISLAMABAD: Head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Manuel Bessler said that after launching relief efforts in seven districts of Balochistan, the UN has started relief operations in 29 flood affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Bassler said that there is no need for international help; however, the final decision will be taken after a complete scenario of the issue.

“There is flood situation in 36 districts which affected 5.5 lacs peoples,” he added.

Bassler said that the Pakistan Army is transferring peoples to safer places by boats and helicopters, however, more efforts are also needed. Different UN agencies are making every effort to provide food, medicines and shelters to homeless peoples.

Bassler said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is worst affected from rains and floods. Four lacs peoples from Peshawar, Charsadda, Noshehra, Swat and from other 25 districts are severely hit by the rains and floods. The UN is making all efforts for the relief of the affected people. -DawnNews

UNITED NATIONS: Five Taliban have been struck off a UN Security Council list of people subject to sanctions, a UN diplomat said on Friday.

The move followed a review of the list of Taliban and al Qaeda members maintained by a Security Council committee. Two of the five were delisted because they were dead, the diplomat said.

Investigators cut through the debris of Pakistan's worst aviation disaster as the airline's chairman said he was confident the crucial black box would be found in the wreckage on Saturday.

Over 408 people have fallen prey to the merciless floods and continuous rains lashing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Kashmir making the calamity hard to tackle, report said on Friday. Information Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mian Inftikhar Hussain has confirmed that 408 people have been killed in rain-related incidents. Water of Jinnah…

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Eighteen people died in forest fires in Russia's worst heatwave in decades, officials said Friday, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited one of the worst hit areas to reassure local residents. Angry residents of a village in the central Nizhny Novgorod region where all 341 houses burnt down confronted Putin…

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MIANWALI: High flood in Indus River has broken the embankment of Jinnah Barrage, Geo News reported Friday. 700000 cusecs of water was expected to pass through later in the day. 96 MW Jinnah hydropower project is located on right side of Jinnah Barrage, on Indus River about 5 km downstream of Kalabagh Town, 234 km from Islamabad. 163 Chinese engineers working on the project have been shifted to safe area.

PESHAWAR: The death toll from rain/flood-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has mounted to 408, said the provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain here on Friday.

MIANWALI: Flood water entered into the power room of the Jinnah hydropower project and inundated large area after the authorities broke the embankment of Jinnah Barrage Geo News reported Friday. Local administration has declared emergency in the area. The Punjab government said the embankment was broken to save Mianwali city. According to the Met office, 1000000 cusecs of water was expected to pass through the barrage later in the day, which has the capacity of 950000 cusecs. 80000 cusecs of water passed through the barrage in 1976. 96 MW Jinnah hydropower project is located on right side of Jinnah Barrage, on Indus River about 5 km downstream of Kalabagh Town, 234 km from Islamabad. 163 Chinese engineers working on the project have been shifted to safe area.

The central bank tightening the monetary policy Friday ratcheted up the discount rate by 50 basis points or 0.5 percent. Acting Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Yasin Anwar made the announcement while briefing the media men on the monetary measures being taken for the next two months. He said…

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Chief Executive Officer of Airblue Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that registration has been started to give insurance money to the relatives of the victims in the plane crash. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Shahid Abbasi said that all the systems of the plane were right and the plane had…

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Unidentified assailants on Friday blew up a Nato oil tanker near the western by-pass in Quetta, a private television channel reported. The Afghanistan-bound oil tanker that started travelling from Karachi had reached Quetta’s Akhtarabad area early on Friday, police said. The driver pulled up the tanker at a petrol pump…

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The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri — the son of the slain statesman — and President Michel Suleiman were at…

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The US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, Friday announced that as an initial response to the floods in Pakistan, the US government is immediately making seven helicopters available to assist the government in its relief efforts.

Pakistan bowled England out on the total of 354 in first innings of first Test as Muhammad Asif grabbed five wickets for 77 runs. Muhammad Amir took three wickets and Umar Gul one wicket for the visitors as England batsmen lost six quick wickets on second day morning after the…

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Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while talking to media men, said that if President Zardari goes to UK, he would have a chance to talk to David Cameron directly, which would help clear out misunderstanding. He said that ‘we need each other and such issues should not affect the bilateral…

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PESHAWAR: The destruction being brought about by devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Northern Areas is still afoot as hundreds of people have lost their lives and thousands other have been rendered homeless. The catastrophe in last three decades has claimed lives of over 280 innocent people at isolated places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pinjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir during three-day long showers. Scores of people are missing, many houses, link and main bridges, link roads, tributaries have been either completely washed away by floodwater due to spillover from rivers and incessant spate of rains or have been too inundated for a human life to survive. Lightening in Garkoi village of Asheeray Dara killed at least 17 people and damaged 60 houses, Geo News reported quoting local sources. 20 Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project have also been rescued from Shangla. Chief Minister House in Gilgit-Baltistan has been inundated due to killing floodwater, forcing CM to vacate CM House, who has taken refuge in a local hotel whereas thousands of people have been caught trapped in Nowshera district after River Kabul was seen in high-floods. Unprecedented spree of incessant heavy downpours is continued in Gilgit-Baltistan, rendering adjoining areas cutoff with other parts of country. 14 jawans of rangers are trapped in floodwater in Baseen since last night, which has prompted authorities to carry out rescue operation for their safe and sound release. The situation has turned worst of all times as the floods and rains have wreaked havoc up to the extent of biggest natural disaster and worst human calamity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Spillover from River Swat has entered into River Kabul at Nowshera place resulting in submerging cantonment and other areas in water. Thousands of people, being trapped in floodwater, are waiting for help from government whereas District Headquarter Hospital was also seen flooded by many feet. Many link bridges have been washed away, rendering many areas cutoff from other parts of cities and districts and leaving scores of people trapped at isolated places. Heavy showers have inflicted havoc, devastation in Swat and Shangla districts as furious floodwater, overflowing from River Swat, has played massive destruction in residential areas. Meanwhile, as many as 16 people have been killed by land sliding in Alandar locality in Shangla district. In Shangla district alone, more than 90 people have been killed in separate incidents as a result of two-day long spate of the torrential rains. 25 people have been wiped out by floodwater in Swat alone while Kabal, Matta, Bari Kot, Charbagh, Khwaza Khela, Behrin and Babuzai areas are no longer connected with other parts of country owing to destruction of link bridges. Floodwater has demolished numerous shops and houses in Kalam whereas land sliding, in Surkhel Balabanda locality of Batgram, has killed three brothers and sisters. A central bridge, a main road and dozens of houses have been inundated by floodwater near Thakot and Oralai due to flesh flood in River Indus. On second consecutive day, Sahrah-e-Kaghan remained closed for traffic by dint of incessant spree of cruel downpours and back-to-back incidents of land sliding, trapping thousands of tourists in Shogran, Kaghan and Naran districts. Hundreds of houses have been inundated by floodwater at Kasar place in Kohistan district while the residents of over 10 houses have reportedly gone missing as a result of devastating floods. The link bridge between Palis and Patan districts has been submerged in floodwater. River Kanhar has been feared to be in high-floods soon at Mansehra District, prompting authorities to evict people from areas settled along riverside. Civil Hospital, police station and main bazaar have been evacuated in view of anticipated floods in Balakot District. 12 dead bodies have been pulled out from rubble after the Jurma Bridge in Kohat Division collapsed following the deadliest floods in the history. Four people have been drowned in floodwater in Nowsehra District while over 25 people are still missing. Doctors, paramedical staff and patients trapped in District Headquarter Hospital have climbed on rooftop after floodwater has inundated hospital up to many feet. A total of 780 houses, 34 school buildings, 6 main bridges, 28 link bridges, 11 mosques and thousands acres land, meant for irrigation, have been washed away by floodwater at isolated places in Upper Dir. At least 11 persons including six children have been trampled to death following the collapse of house in Lower Dir while another 21 persons have been lashed out by floodwater. Nearly 9 persons died and 42 others were injured after floodwater, flowing out from River Swat and Jendi, played annihilation in Charsadda District. Several villages and the legislative assembly building have been flooded after River Gilgit was seen in high-flood. Five children have drowned in floodwater in Bannu District while over 40 houses have collapsed in Tehsil Bara in Khyber Agency.

ISLAMABAD: ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha has cancelled his UK visit after Prime Minister David Cameron''s remarks about Pakistan''s role in war against terrorism, Geo News Reported.

ISLAMABAD: Another weather system is likely to develop in next 24 to 36 hours, which may affect eastern parts of the country in the next four to five days. Director General Pakistan Meteorology Department (PMD) Dr. Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said Friday. The weather system that was causing a horrid rainfall across the country is expected to subside in the next 24 hours however; the flood caused by already fallen rain is likely to continue. He said that the devastating rains that caused flood have already started to weaken, due to which heavy rain is not expected in the next few days. "However, there are signs of some scattered rains in some parts of the Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa, Punjab and Kashmir in the next 24 to 48 hours," he added.

LAHORE: A judge has alleged senior Pakistan police officials were negligent on the day terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team bus last year.

Shabbar Raza Rizvi of Lahore High Court has identified more than a dozen senior policemen in a report on attack that is due to be submitted to the International Cricket Council.

Rizvi writes that police officials failed to perform their duties in March 2009 when gunmen killed six policemen and a van driver in the team convoy, and injured several Sri Lanka players and team officials.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is still waiting for permission from the government to submit the report to the ICC despite reminders by the game's governing body.

The judicial commission of Rizvi completed its inquiry last year. —AP

LAHORE (PR) - Maxim PR in collaboration with Nazar Arts has successfully organized a Theatrical Play titled ‘Hum Log’ depicting the lives of people with stunted growth and dwarfism. This verboten subject will be portrayed by dwarf yet prolific artistes with a risible spirit creating an environment where being small…

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LAHORE (PR) - Peek Freans Sooper, one of the most popular brands of English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM), resonated with yet another success story when it recently earned the title of ‘5th Best Brand of Pakistan’ in the first-ever Brand Elections 2010. The event was organized by a Cyprus based research…

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HANOI (AFP) - Ratings agency Fitch on Thursday downgraded Vietnam’s sovereign debt, citing weakness in its external finances and banking system, a highly dollarised economy and inconsistent macroeconomic policy. In a statement, Fitch said it was downgrading Vietnam’s long-term issuer default ratings on both foreign and local currency from BB-…

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NOTTINGHAM: An impressive swing bowling spell from Mohammad Asif helped Pakistan end the England innings for 354 on the second day of the first Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Asif took four wickets in the morning spell on his way to his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Earlier, England resumed their innings on 331-4 with centurion Eoin Morgan and Paul Collingwood at the crease.

This is the first match of the four-Test series.  —Dawn.com Sports Desk

BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing on Thursday denied charges by a US business group that its technology transfer rules for foreign firms constitute “theft” on a massive scale, and defended its policies as meeting global rules. “Countries around the world have taken a lot of measures to encourage technology innovation,” a…

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SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea signed a new accord on economic and technical cooperation with China on Thursday, state media said as the impoverished communist country struggles to recharge its faltering economy. The accord was signed in Pyongyang between the North’s foreign trade minister Ri Ryong-Nam and Chinese ambassador to…

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