PAKISTAN

The sixteenth international Dubai Shopping (DSF) Festival is all set to kick start at the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Creek Park, Global Village, and the Dubai Outlet Mall on Thursday.

Twenty Afghan civilians, including 13 children, were killed by a roadside bomb in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, a senior official said, in the country's deadliest insurgent attack in nearly six months.

A powerful earthquake rattled Pakistan early Wednesday with enough energy that that it was felt as far away as the Gulf of India.

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 shook southwestern Pakistan early on Wednesday, jolting residents of cities as far apart as Delhi and Dubai, but the epicentre was far from major population centres.

A major earthquake (magnitude 7.4) has struck southwestern Pakistan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Former president Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that Pakistan's blasphemy laws could not be changed, but that the man who killed the governor of Punjab province over his opposition to them must be punished.

President Barack Obama stressed U.S. support for Pakistan during a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday and reiterated plans to visit Pakistan later this year, the White House said.

The subcontinent will be ready in time to host the World Cup though five venues were still undergoing work, the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat said on Saturday.

China has angered India by issuing unorthodox visas to two Indians from a border state claimed by Beijing, the latest flare-up of a territorial dispute festering between the Asian giants.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday focussing on long-term economic ties and Iraqi officials said the idea of delaying a U.S. military pullout did not come up.

China dumped plans to import several million tonnes of expensive corn and South Korea unveiled cuts in import tariffs on some products, underscoring the dilemma over how to tackle rising food prices.

UK-based oil and gas explorer Premier Oil sees lower average production in 2010 as it saw increased maintenance activity in the North Sea, particularly during the second half of the year.

The government may ban wheat product exports in a series of measures to tame spiralling food prices that have fuelled rapid inflation and increased pressure on an embattled ruling Congress party, local media said.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden tried to dispel what he called common anti-American misperceptions in Pakistan while urging the government on Wednesday to fight growing religious extremism.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-NY, is the new chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and, in that capacity, is planning hearings into, as he said, the radicalization of the American Muslim community and homegrown terrorism.

Global aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, has once again partnered with Qatar Airways and the non-profit global health and disaster relief organization AmeriCares to deliver a second consignment of relief supplies to the flood-stricken areas in Pakistan.

India grinded through the final day of the third test against South Africa making 166-3 at Cape Town to level the three-match series at 1-1.

Persisting political crisis in Pakistan, which got worse with the withdrawal of support to the government by two key allies and the assassination of a popular provincial governor, point to a serious governance failure and can further halt the strained IMF standby program aimed at restoring fiscal health, an analyst has said.

The two houses of the 112th Congress commence business today at noon and both veteran lawmakers and newcomers are going to find many important national issues on their collective plates – jobs and the economy, healthcare, last fiscal year’s unattended budget, this fiscal year’s developing budget, immigration, Afghanistan, Pakistan and energy, to name some of the bigger ones.

India’s well-known cricketer Anil Kumble is now turning a sports entrepreneur and is floating his own start-up venture called Tenvic that will focus on providing for sports education and training in mainstream schools across the country.

Perhaps the surprising good health of Pakistan’s equity market shows how disconnected financial trading markets can be from the state of the society they reside in.