Lahore: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sentenced PML-N leader and a close relative of PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, Sohail Zia Butt, three years in prison, said sources on Friday.

During case hearing, Sohail Zia Butt said that how he would appear in court when he didn’t get any notice.
The court refused to hear any of Butt’s argument and maintained the sentence given to him in the year 2000, i.e after which he was also declared proclaimed offender for not appearing before the court then.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Suhail on …

Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the support of a key independent MP on Thursday, leaving her just two seats from regaining power and within reach of ending a crippling political crisis.

Former Iraq war whistle-blower Andrew Wilkie said Gillard’s centre-left Labor party was best placed to deliver “stable” and “competent” government after the August 21 election returned the first hung parliament in 70 years.
“I have judged that it is the Australian Labor Party that best meets my criteria that the next government must be stable, must be competent and …

Lahore: The death toll from three suicide bombings in Lahore rose to 31 on Thursday as six people succumbed to their injuries, a rescue official said.

Three suicide bombers targeted a Shia mourning procession near Karbala Gamay Shah, made up of thousands of people on Wednesday at the moment of the breaking of the fast in the holy month of Ramazan.
The first blast of a cracker occurred in front of the gate of Lower Mall police station, opposite Karbala Gamay Shah building, at 6:55 pm. It caused panic among the …

London: Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif will meet their country’s High Commissioner later on Thursday to discuss corruption allegations levelled against the team.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt will also attend the meeting which follows British newspaper allegations Amir and Asif were bribed to bowl deliberate no-balls in the fourth test against England at Lord’s which finished on Sunday.
Shahid Afridi will lead the one-day side in a warmup match against Somerset at Taunton on Thursday.
The 50-over match precedes a seven-game, one-day …

Washington: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday publicly demanded a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity at the launch of landmark US-mediated peace talks at the White House.

“We also reiterate our commitment to carry out our obligations and we call on Israelis to carry out their obligations including a freeze on all settlement activities,” Abbas said at the White House.
He said the demand was not a “precondition” to direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which open here on Thursday, but a goal to implement an “agreed obligation.”
Abbas also called for an end …

Washington: The World Bank raised its emergency funding to Pakistan to one billion dollars on Wednesday to help the nation cope with the massive economic impact of catastrophic monsoon flooding.

The hike, an additional 100 million dollars on top of an existing 900 million dollar loan, was announced by World Bank chief Robert Zoellick as he met Pakistan Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh in Washington.
Zoellick’s statement said the money, which will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s arm for low-income countries, was for “immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction.”
“We …