ABU DHABI,The first of the two Twenty20 Internationals between Pakistan and South Africa will be played here tomorrow.

Income from the first T20 International, to be played here at the Sheikh Zayad Stadium, will be given to the flood affected people in Pakistan.

The trophy launching ceremony for T20Is and One-day Internationals will be held today at a local hotel of Abu Dhabi during which Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will also hold a press conference.

On the other hand, T20 captain Johan Botha and ODI captain Graeme Smith for South Africa will also address a press conference.

MUMBAI: Katrina Kaif might have been mum on Salman while they were dating, but now that the couple has gone separate ways she is coming out with all kinds of clarifications about their relationship. The stunner has refuted all reports that Salman chose to cast Sonakshi and not her in ‘Dabangg’.

In fact, if reports are to be believed, then Kat was the first choice for the super-hit but she turned it down as she felt she wouldn’t be able to do justice to the role.

Being her modest self, Katrina refused to confirm these reports, but told a news daily, "It is unfair to talk about a professional offer because someone else is finalised for it. Salman and I had a disaster in our last romantic film Yuvraaj. We had mutually decided then that when we do our next film, it has to be something different. Not a routine love story."

Talking about their relationship after the much hyped split, Katrina maintained that she is still very close to Salman and often takes career advices from him. "Salman and I talk or message each other at least once a day. He is my 4 am friend. When I was hospitalised, Salman was very much around. If I`m missing for something important that Salman has organised, there has to be a solid reason for it. Like at this blood donation drive he organised in Mumbai when I had been diagonised with a blood condition myself and advised against giving blood.

KARACHI: The number of people affected with the Dengue virus is on the rise in Sindh and Punjab, as there are at least 1,640 patients hospitalized in Sindh and 853 others in Punjab, Geo News reported Monday.

At least 1640 people were tested positive for Dengue out of 2974 from January to date in Sindh, with number of deaths at 15 in the province.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed said the Dengue Surveillance Cell is being expanded and liaised with Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority.

According to Punjab Health Department, at least 63 new cases, enhanced the number of affected people to 690 in Lahore. Also, three Dengue patients were found in Faisalabad as well, which totaled 853 the number of Dengue victims in Punjab.

Secretary Health Punjab Fawwad Hasan Fawwad said the dengue situation is on the mend in Rawalpindi and Chakwal.

NEW YORK, they sit next to each other in a Toronto hotel, Robert De Niro and Edward Norton make an odd pair. A few hours before the premiere of their movie "Stone" at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, Norton sports a dress shirt and slacks, De Niro a blazer paired with cargo shorts and open-toed sandals, like a news anchor whose business attire ends at the waist. Norton is voluble, a self-styled intellectual ready to clarify his answers with citations from De Tocqueville, where De Niro's conversation is riddled with gray areas and no-go zones.

Although De Niro is notoriously reluctant to do interviews, and often tight-lipped when he does, he's relatively loose in Norton's company. At times, their exchanges are playfully barbed, as when Norton addresses the subject of his own reputation for sharing his opinion on set.

"I battle sometimes," Norton allows. "Sometimes, I'm probably a little bit compulsive."

De Niro smiles, his eyes softening. "They had a couple of two-hour conversations while I was waiting," De Niro says of his co-star and director John Curran.

Norton shoots back, quickly enough to suggest they've kidded on the subject many times before. "Sometimes we'd have a two-hour conversation because Bob would be on the phone, and we'd have nothing to do but talk about where to put the camera."

In "Stone," which opens Friday and reunites Norton with his "The Painted Veil" director, De Niro plays a prison counselor assigned to interview Norton's convict and determine whether he's ready to be paroled, meaning that he accepts responsibility and feels remorse for his crime. The natural thing, the expected thing, would be for Norton to claim he's learned the error of his ways, whether or not he truly has, but instead their sessions are verbal sparring matches, confrontations with the sustained intensity of a stage play.

Although he affects an air of moral rectitude, De Niro's character is at least as compromised as Norton's felon. In the film's opening sequence, where a young De Niro is played by "Dollhouse's" Enver Gjokaj, he responds to his wife's threat to leave him by holding their daughter out a second-story window. The tension is amplified by the furious buzzing of a bee along the sill, an introduction to a movie in which sound plays a key role.

The score by Jon Brion, who added the anxious drums to "Punch Drunk Love," is enhanced by ambient rumbles contributed by " Radiohead's" Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood (the latter also contributed the screeching glissandi to "There Will Be Blood") and ominous sound design by veteran Skip Lievsay, who worked on "No Country for Old Men's" unsettling soundscape. Late in the game, Norton's character claims to have experienced a religious conversion courtesy of an invented religion called Zokangor, in which the spirit enters the body through sound. It's easy enough to imagine, since by that point the movie's aggressive sonics have all but drilled holes in your skull.

"Stone" marks the first time Norton and De Niro have collaborated since 2001's "The Score," but they kept in touch between the two films, and in a more serious moment, it's clear that De Niro prizes his younger colleague's polymath talents.

"One thing with Ed that I've liked when we've worked together, he always has a lot of ideas," De Niro says. "He'll rewrite stuff and that's always great because he's very much committed to the project and involved. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it easier for me in some ways."

"For me, the second time around with anybody is better," Norton says. "Even if you already know somebody, everybody's got a different rhythm, the way they work. When you go through that once with someone, it's just easier to go, 'Yeah, I know how we roll.' You get an unconscious shorthand going. I felt that definitely, even in some ways more, with John. Bob's worked with many directors multiple times, and to be honest, I've always looked at that relationship from afar and thought how nice that would be, given how much work it is each time you start on a film with someone you've never worked with. I really liked doing it a second time with John, because I know everything about how this guy works. There's so much less debate."

That's not to say the production was free of disagreement. Although he was intrigued by his character, De Niro harbored unanswered questions about him that he is still unsure the film answers. (At the time, he had yet to see the final cut.) "It was like a puzzle," he says. "I wasn't sure about certain things because I didn't know whether it was clear enough, whether it was visceral enough. I didn't know whether an audience could feel why just because of that beginning scene. It was all for me very muted and subtle in a certain way, which is what it was. It's OK. It's just I thought because it's like a morality tale that it had to have a real biblical payoff. But it was a director's choice, and in a certain way Ed's choice."

Although Norton is credited only as an actor, he describes being involved from pre-production through scoring sessions, enough to take an evident sense of ownership in the final product. He doesn't interrupt as De Niro voices his reservations, but he coughs sharply during one of the elder actor's pointed critiques, the rest of the time staring out the window and brushing his fingers over his eyebrows. Once De Niro has finished, he jumps into the fray.

MIAMI, Working in a consistently noisy environment such as a factory more than doubles the risk of serious heart problems, research suggests.

In the under-50s, the risk increases to fourfold, the study warns, and young male smokers are also particularly affected by noise.

The U.S. team studied more than 6,000 employees over a five-year period, dividing them into those who endured persistent loud noise at work for at least three months and those who did not.

They found those in noisy environments tended to weigh and smoke more than those who worked in quiet offices, reports the British Medical Journal.

Among workers under 50 the link with noise was particularly strong. They were between three and four times as likely to have angina or coronary artery disease or to have had a heart attack.

The authors say: ‘Loud noise day after day may be as strong an external stressor as sudden strong emotion or physical exertion, the effect of which is to prompt various chemical messengers to constrict blood flow through the coronary arteries.

‘This study suggests that excess noise exposure in the workplace is an important occupational health issue.’

June Davison of the British Heart Foundation said: ‘Some people find sustained noise very taxing and stressful and that could explain this link between noisy workplaces and an increased risk of heart disease.

‘If you’re stressed you are more likely to snack on unhealthy foods, smoke and miss out on your 30 minutes of physical activity a day – a sure-fire recipe for an unhealthy heart.

ISLAMABAD, Unidentified gunmen killed at least three people and set 28 Nato oil tankers on fire carrying fuel for Nato and US forces in Afghanistan in Islamabad on Monday.

Many tankers caught fire during the attack. Rescue sources said at least three people died. The sources added that seven others were injured in the attack.

A vital land route for Nato supplies for Afghanistan that has been blocked for three days will reopen "relatively quickly," Pakistan's ambassador to Washington told a US news channel on Sunday.

Pakistan halted the Nato convoys on Thursday after Nato helicopters killed three Pakistani soldiers.

"I think the supply line will be open relatively quickly," he said, adding that he expected it would take "less than a week."

"It's not a blockade. It's just a temporary suspension of the convoys moving through," Haqqani added.

PESHAWAR, The Nato supply through Pak-Afghan border of Torkham lay suspended for five days now, Geo News reported Monday.

According to the sources of Torkham border, the containers packed with Nato supplies are not being allowed to cross the border; their clearance is hitherto suspended, as around 200 Nato containers are standing in the area to cross the border into Afghanistan.

It should be mentioned here that Pakistan suspended the supply line after the martyrdom of Pak security forces in the incident of shelling from helicopters of the allied forces, which violated the country’s airspace.

A high-level team of Pak Army was sent to Afghanistan for probe into the violations of Pakistani airspace by Nato forces. The Pak team is probing the incident in sync with Nato officials.

Meantime, the incidents of attacks on Nato containers are on the rise in Pakistan.

Some days back, the Nato oil containers were attacked in Shikarpur, where several oil tankers were destroyed. Nato supply oil tankers were attacked in Islamabad during Monday night.

Pakistan held these attacks as the public reaction.

PORT BLAIR, Indian Navy's only floating dock, a place on the waves where Navy's ships come for regular maintenance and repair, is based in Port Blair. Most docks for repairing ships are land based but in the earthquake prone Andaman and Nicobar Islands the floating option was considered safe.

Commander AK Sharma, Officer-in-charge of the floating dock says, "Here we carry out docking of war ships, which are positioned here and carry out their maintenance, related to underwater portion. That's how, keeps them float worthy."

The dock is situated just off Port Blair in the beautiful Andaman and Nicobar islands. It length is more than 188 metres and its width is over 40 metres.

This floating dock is second only to an aircraft carrier in size - in fact the only things it cannot dock are aircraft carriers and oil tankers.

When a ship comes for repair or maintenance, the dock's portion is sunk beneath the water. The ship to be repaired floats onto it and then the dock is raised again - leaving the hull of the ship in the open air, making it much, much easier to repair.

Commander Sharma adds, "We ballast the water into those tanks and this dock goes down into the water and thereafter ships are positioned onboard wherein precision is of the order of about 3mm."

BRUSSELS, European and Asian leaders begin three days of talks Monday centred on trade, IMF reform and climate change but under the cloud of a territorial spat between Japan and China.

Leaders will meet at the royal palace in Brussels for the 48-member Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for two days, followed by separate European Union summits with South Korea and China on Wednesday.

The Japan-China row could steal the show, however, as observers watch whether Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan meet face-to-face to ease tensions over a maritime incident near disputed islands.

The diplomatic standoff was sparked by Japan's arrest on September 8 of a Chinese trawler captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

Japan has released the captain, but tensions remain with Beijing freezing high-level talks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara sought Sunday to put a lid on anti-Beijing sentiment in Japan, insisting the two countries were "good neighbours."

For the EU, the summits are a chance for the 27-nation bloc to tighten its links with Asia and reassert itself as a major world player, analysts say.

"The EU must use the meeting to give a signal that it is not becoming 'irrelevant' on the global stage as some in Asia claim," said Shada Islam, senior programme executive at the European Policy Centre think tank.

The 27-nation EU will sign a major free trade deal with South Korea, hoping it will be the first in a series of similar pacts with Asian countries.

But the meeting with China could prove more contentious following European and US charges that Beijing deliberately keeps its yuan currency undervalued to gain a trade advantage.

The EU is also expected to raise concerns about human rights in China.

In Athens before heading to Brussels, Wen told Greek lawmakers he was committed to improving EU-China relations.

"I am convinced that a strong Europe is irreplaceable," he said. "China wants to promote and strengthen strategic links with the European Union."

Wen, whose country holds the world's biggest foreign exchange reserves, pledged to support the euro and facilitate investments in China, but he also urged Europeans to "limit protectionism."

Economic issues will likely dominate the meeting of ASEM nations, which represent 60 percent of the world population and global trade.

ASEM, which meets every two years, groups the EU, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Mongolia, and new members Australia, New Zealand and Russia.

Reform of the IMF will likely feature high on the agenda after the EU signalled Friday its willingness to cede some power at the international lender to emerging powers, which say Europe is over-represented.

On climate change, ASEM leaders will share the goal "of reaching urgently a fair, effective and comprehensive legally binding outcome," according to a draft statement obtained by a French news agency.

"Deep cuts in global emissions are required" to ensure the increase in global temperature remains below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit), it says.

The ASEM summit coincides with a final preparatory meeting in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for UN climate talks opening in November in Cancun, Mexico.

LONDON, The chairman of a football club caught up in the Pakistan match-fixing scandal, David Le Cluse, is thought to have taken his own life.

Mr Le Cluse, 44, was found dead on Saturday with gunshot wounds in a garage near his home in Surrey.

He was chairman of Croydon Athletic, whose owner Mazhar Majeed was arrested in August following allegations that members of the Pakistan cricket team were involved in match fixing during their recent tour of England.

Mr Le Cluse, who was married with two children, was said to be devastated when the Ryman League club became embroiled in the scandal.

A statement posted on the club's website said: "Croydon Athletic are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden tragic death of their chairman, David Le Cluse, on Saturday October 2.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with David's wife and children, and we would ask everyone to respect their privacy at this devastating time for them."

Croydon Athletic's former manager Tim O'Shea told The Times: "He was very upset at the allegations and the club getting involved.

"It probably hit him harder than most because of his personal friendship with Majeed.

"He wanted nothing more than for the club to succeed and he was probably upset and affected by it more than anybody else."

Majeed was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers and released on bail.

The match-fixing allegations centred on the timing of no-balls delivered during the Test match.

Undercover reporters from the News of the World allegedly paid a middleman £150,000 and in return were told exact details relating to play during the following day.

In video footage released by the paper, Majeed was apparently seen with a pile of money in front of him.

Mr Le Cluse's body was found at 10.40am on Saturday in a garage in Park Gate Road, Sutton, following reports of a man with gunshot wounds.

The Metropolitan Police said: "A 44-year-old man suffered what is believed to have been a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"The circumstances of his death are being treated as unexplained. Inquiries are ongoing."

A post-mortem examination is due to take place.

He was brought to the club in November 2009 by owner Mazhar Majeed, as a replacement for previous chairman Dean Fisher who was under investigation for defrauding his employers at the time. In July, Fisher was convicted of the crime and jailed for three years.

LAHORE, A new film of Lollywood Bhai Log is in the last stages of its completion, Geo News reported Monday.

A song was filmed in Lahore for the movie being made under the directions of Faisal Bukhari.

This is a heavy-budget movie that would showcase some new faces as well along with the senior actors in the lineup.

A romantic number was recorded in a Lahore college with actress Sila Hussain and actor Babrak Shah.

WASHINGTON,Some dinosaurs may have been at least 10 percent taller than previously thought, US paleontologists said in a study that found the creatures had large amounts of cartilage.

The dinosaurs had thick layers of cartilage in their joints that may have added more than a foot (30 centimeters) to their height, according to researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) and Ohio University, who said this may have changed their speed and posture.

"Our study of the limbs of modern-day relatives of dinosaurs shows that dinosaurs were significantly taller than original estimates," said study lead author Casey Holliday, an anatomy professor at the MU School of Medicine.

She explained that many dinosaurs' long bones, such as the femur or tibia, lack major articulations and have rounded ends with rough surfaces.

"This indicated that very thick cartilages formed these structures, and therefore the joints themselves, and would have added significant height to certain dinosaurs," Holliday added.

In contrast, mammal bones have small protrusions at their ends that help them connect with other bones at a joint. The bones are then linked with a very thin layer of cartilage.

The study, which was published in the Public Library of Science's journal PLoS-ONE, shed further light on how reptiles and mammals such as humans build their joints with different amounts of cartilage and bone.

The researchers compared articulations of ostriches and alligators -- the closest living relatives to dinosaurs -- to fossilized limbs of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops.

They found that alligators' and ostriches' limbs included six to 10 percent cartilage.

By applying a "cartilage correction factor," Holliday found that many theropod dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus, were only modestly taller, while ornthischian and sauropod dinosaurs like Triceratops and Brachiosaurus, may have been 10 percent taller or more.

Brachiosaurus, which was previously thought to be 42 feet (13 meters) tall, may actually have been more than a foot taller with the additional joint cartilages, according to the researchers.

"This study is significant because it shows that bones can't always speak for themselves," said Lawrence Witmer, a professor of anatomy at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

"To understand how dinosaurs moved, we need to analyze the bones as they were inside their bodies, including their cartilage."

ISLAMABAD, The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a plea on behalf of Federation regarding implementation of its orders of Dec 16, 2009, on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and fixed Oct 13 for hearing of a review plea first which has been pending with it.

It also directed the Attorney General for Pakistan and the Deputy Prosecutor General NAB to submit comprehensive reports about implementation of all other orders on NRO before next date of hearing.

Meanwhile, the three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani resumed hearing on a suo motu case taken on appointment of former managing director OGDCL Adnan A. Khawja, a beneficiary of NRO.

Attorney General for Pakistan Molvi Anwarul Haq submitted an adjournment plea and said that he was instructed by the prime minister to request on behalf of the Federation for adjournment of the pending proceedings till a decision on its review petition.

He said the prime minister had been very busy in state affairs and inter alia, with the flood situation and international commitments and wished to further consider and discuss the legal aspects of the matter.

The chief justice said that the court understood the implications and complications of the case and would fix hearing of the review petition as it was their due right.

He said," what you considered or did, it was you internal matter. A request for the review petition was never made as the federation counsel barrister Kamal Azfar was on general adjournment till Oct 10."

Deputy Prosecutor general NAB Raja Aamir Abbas submitted a list of 36 NRO beneficiaries and the current status of their cases.

He said that they had requested the Establishment Division to identify such people, who were holding government posts but the reply was still awaited.

He said similar requests were made to DG Operation NAB and deputy chairman but he got no replies.

About revival of NAB cases, he apprised that there were two categories, including the one in which accused did not appear before courts while in others the original trials were held but the appeals were pending.

The chief justice maintained that the deputy chairman NAB whose authority to work as acting chairman NAB was declared illegal by this Court, had passed illegal orders.

He asked the Deputy Prosecutor General to submit details of all such orders and hinted that if those orders were not reverted, they would issue him a notice.

The chief justice said that there were cases in Sindh too.

He said that the court was not insisting on any particular case but saying that all its orders on NRO must be implemented in letter and spirit.

He also told the Attorney General that so far new NAB chairman was not appointed though he had recorded the statement in Bank of Punjab case that the process was underway and his appointment was a matter of few days.

Justice Ghulam Rabbani questioned why prosecutors were not appointed in Sindh.

There were five accountability courts with single prosecutor. Moreover, there were no proper rooms for accountability judges, he added.

The AG said that only LHC chief justice had sent him a letter for establishment of accountability courts, and two courts in Islamabad and one in Multan were established.

The CJ also asked the NAB official to provide details of those persons who were tried under Section 31-a (conviction in absentia) of the National Accountability Ordinance.

He observed that it was a good sign that such people had surrendered and filed appeals which was their right.

He also questioned the details of cases pending in foreign countries including Switzerland to which government of Pakistan was pleaded as a civil party.

The chief justice said that the former attorney general who made requests for the withdrawal of Swiss cases was equally responsible.

To bench's query, the Attorney General replied that only inquires were held in Swiss cases and the authorities there withdrew their own people's names.

He said about 24 claimants belonging to foreign countries appeared and became parties to the alleged amount.

PARIS, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Monday called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to re-impose a settlement freeze, saying it was the only way for peace talks to succeed, his spokesman said.

President Abbas "wants to continue the negotiations but Netanyahu must take a decision to freeze the settlements in order to create an appropriate atmosphere to proceed with the peace talks," Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in the French capital.

KARACHI, The Pakistani rupee fell to a record low on Monday because of increased dollar demand for import payments.

A currency dealer said the rupee traded as low as 86.07,beating the previous record low on Sept 24 of 86.03.

The rupee ended at 86.10/14 to the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 86.04/09. Dealers expect the local unit to weaken further.

"The rupee is traded at 86.12 in TOM (one-day forward)market," said another dealer.

LAHORE, The manager of Pakistan's cricket tour of England resigned on Monday, just days after the players flew home following controversies over spot fixing.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt relieved Yawar Saeed of his duties at Saeed's own request, the board said.

The 75-year-old Saeed had hinted about stepping down before the tour began in June and denied that his decision to go was connected to the allegations that marred the team's tour of England.

The allegations surfaced after British newspaper News of the World claimed that alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed paid several Pakistani players to deliberately bowl no-balls during last month's Lord's Test against England.

Scotland Yard raided the team's hotel in London, and interrogated Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir and Wahab Riaz.

So far no charges have been brought against Pakistani players.

The International Cricket Council has provisionally suspended Salman, Asif and Aamir.

"I had requested the PCB chairman to relieve me of the duties before the England tour... nor it is linked to the tour of England," Saeed told reporters.

Saeed is the son of Mian Mohammad Saeed, who led Pakistan in their first unofficial Test in 1948, and brother-in-law to the late fast bowler Fazal Mahmood.

Pakistan's next assignment is a neutral venue series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates, starting next month.

MUMBAI, That ‘Dabangg’ is the biggest grosser ever in Hindi cinema is a known fact by now and those associated with the film didn’t miss a chance to party hard to celebrate the success of the film.

The who’s who of Bollywood attended the grand ‘Dabangg’ party where everyone was seen enjoying themselves. The leading lady of the film, Sonakshi Sinha reveals, “What an amazing party last night! Every single person associated with the film celebrated the success as one unit, one family - the ‘Dabangg’ family!”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh who was also on the guest list shares, “Attended 'Dabangg' success party. Bonding between Salman and Aamir was amazing. The industry attendance was terrific.”


The Dabangg success party was full of A-list Bollywood stars. Aamir Khan chatted away with Subhash Ghai, Salman kept Vidhu Vinod Chopra company and the ladies Malaika Arora Khan and Sonakshi Sinha were dressed to kill.

LONDON, Treatment with vitamin C rapidly improves the emotional state of acutely hospitalized patients, according to a study carried out by researchers at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH) and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI).

In a double-blind clinical trial, patients admitted to the JGH were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin C or vitamin D supplements for seven to ten days. Patients administered vitamin C had a rapid and statistically and clinically significant improvement in mood state, but no significant change in mood occurred with vitamin D, the researchers discovered. Their results were published recently in the journal Nutrition.

"Earlier studies, both in our hospital and in other centres, demonstrated that the majority of acutely hospitalized patients have subnormal levels of vitamins C and D in their blood," said Dr. L. John Hoffer, MD, PhD, an investigator at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research.

"About one in five acute-care patients in our hospital have vitamin C levels so low as to be compatible with scurvy," added Hoffer, also a Senior Physician in the Divisions of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, and a professor of medicine at McGill University. "But patients are rarely given vitamin supplements. Most physicians are simply unaware of the problem. Subclinical deficiencies of vitamin C and D have each been linked to psychological abnormalities, so we examined that aspect in our clinical trial."

LAHORE, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif said his party was behind the Supreme Court and only the court can rule over the issue of presidential immunity, Geo News reported Friday.

He was addressing a press conference here today.

He advised the government to abide by the verdicts of the SC and not to confront with the judiciary.

Nawaz Sharif pointed out that his party blocked the presentation of NRO in the Parliament. He also demanded resignations from all NRO beneficiaries.

‘Corruption can not be tolerated in the name of democracy.’ He noted that implementing the verdicts of the Supreme Court could only stop the change.
The change would occur if it had to and nobody then could forestall it, he added. ‘We are against any martial law.’

ISLAMABAD, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has directed NRO-benefited government officials to quit voluntarily with immediate effect, Geo News reported.

The government would take up Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's case with US political leadership, he said.

He was addressing to the Senate here today.

PM Gilani pointed out that the president was the supreme commander of armed forces adding that only the Parliament can review the immunity President of Pakistan enjoys under the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the premier asked Interior Minister Abdul Rehman Malik, to initiate prisoner exchange process for release of Dr. Aafia.

Talking about NRO cases, PM Gilani directed NRO-benefited government officials to quit their posts with immediate effect.

WASHINGTON: India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Thursday asked Pakistan to "vacate" its "illegal occupation of certain parts of Jammu and Kashmi" before advising New Delhi "how to go about doing things in Kashmir," after Pakistan sought US intervention on the issue and questioned the state's accession to India. "As far as Pakistan is concerned, they are in illegal occupation of certain parts of J&K. I think that it is desirable that they vacate that first and then start advising India about how to go about doing things in Kashmir," he told a Indian television news channel. He also sought to portray the civil unrest in the valley as an example of domestic strife rather than a separatist insurgency. "The government of India is fully conscious about its responsibilities. There are institutional mechanisms and individual mechanisms, which will be put in place so that the genuine grievances of the people of Kashmir will be addressed. It happens in other parts of the country also. Whenever such strife is there we do the same mechanism so we will follow that," he said.

ISLAMABAD, Sugar millers oppose a government decision to allow unlimited imports of raw sugar after massive sugarcane crop losses, an industry official said on Friday, adding the shortfall would be smaller than expected.

The price, he said, expected to be between Rs 60 to Rs 65 per kilogramme.

The government this week waived a 25 percent regulatory duty and allowed millers and traders to import raw sugar at will after estimates the 2010/11 crop would produce about 3 million tonnes of refined sugar against an annual demand of 4.2 million tonnes.

Millers estimate output at 3.6 million tonnes and say the government should set a limit in line with total demand.

"We are telling the government that there should be a limit on the import of raw sugar. It should not be more than 500,000 tonnes," Iskandar Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), said.

"We are expecting 3.6 million tonnes of sugar output after flood damage and together with raw sugar import and purchases being made by the TCP, the availability will be according to our consumption," he said referring to the state-run trading agency.

While Khan frames the issue in terms of protecting local farmers and even health issues surrounding unprocessed sugar, unlimited sugar imports would drive down domestic prices and cut into industry profits.

Pakistan aims for a sugarcane harvest of 54.8 million tonnes for 2010/11 -- which could produce roughly 3.8 million tonnes of white sugar -- before August floods destroyed millions of acres of cropland.

Khan said the government should specify a limit and it should be channeled through the Industry Ministry to millers according to their production last year.

The government said the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) would have no role and importers would decide the quantity and timing of purchases.

Khan said raw sugar should reach the country within three months to enable millers to refine it by the end of February, the end of the crushing season, which starts in late November this year.

Pakistan produced a little over 3 million tonnes of sugar from the 2009/10 crop and issued a series of tenders this year to import 1.2 million tonnes to make up the shortfall.

The TCP said this week it had so far received 478,155 tonnes and more was in the pipeline.

NEW DELHI, New Delhi welcomed the first athletes to its crisis-hit Commonwealth Games on Friday as organisers raced against time to rescue the event amid claims the city should never have been chosen.

The Commonwealth Games Federation signalled that conditions were finally improving, but that there was still work to do after the athletes' village was described as "uninhabitable" earlier in the week.

The showpiece multi-sport event, set to begin in nine days, had teetered on the brink of collapse on Tuesday when some nations threatened to pull out amid worries about security, a bridge collapse and the state of the facilities.

"It is vital that all remedial work that has already started continues with the greatest urgency," Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell said in a statement before inspecting the village.

"We must ensure that a suitable environment is provided to ensure the welfare of the athletes and their support staff."

The Games won a much-needed boost from England and New Zealand, which said they would send their athletes after an earlier warning from England that the competition was on a "knife-edge" as worries grew about Delhi's readiness.

High-profile athletes continued to pull out, however, including Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas, an Olympic gold medal winner.

The first contingent of English athletes arrived at the airport in red and white tracksuits, but they moved into a hotel rather than the village, where thousands of cleaners have been pressed into urgent action.

"There are still issues with the residences, electrical issues, plumbing issues..." said Team England's spokesperson Caroline Searle after a tour of the rooms allocated to the 560 English athletes and support staff.

"I can't say when it might be ready for us to move in. We're taking it day by day, hour by hour," Searle said.

Australia's Olympic chief John Coates said that the Indian capital should never have been awarded the Games in the first place, adding that the Commonwealth Games Federation was also to blame for the shambolic organisation.

"The Games shouldn't have been awarded to New Delhi, in hindsight," Coates told reporters in Sydney.

"I think the problem is the Commonwealth Games Federation is under-resourced. It doesn't have the ability... to monitor the progress of cities in the way that the Olympic committee does," Coates said.

Late on Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a crisis meeting with senior ministers, and Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit oversaw the deployment of hundreds of staff to clean the athletes' village.

"We are now working on a war footing," said Ashok Kapoor, the chief administrator in the village which comprises 34 six-storey towers.

"More than 2,000 people are on the job, everywhere, round the clock, cleaning and re-fitting fixtures that do not work or are missing," Kapoor said.

Wales said it was sending its team as planned after receiving assurances
that the facilities were up to scratch, and Scotland said it had been "heartened" by Dikshit's involvement with the clean-up.

Canada, which had delayed sending its athletes, also welcomed the intervention by the Indian government.

"What you are seeing is now, for the first time, the injection or projection of significant political leadership in the organisation of the Games," said the president of Commonwealth Games Canada, Andrew Pipe.

LOS ANGELES, Actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver turned up at the premiere of their latest film 'You Again' in Los Angeles last night sporting exactly the same dress. The Daily Mail reports that the pair posed together on the red carpet in identical teal dresses. However it turns out that the choice for the stars was deliberate and they were actually referencing a scene in their movie 'You Again' in which their characters arrive at a wedding in the same pink dress. However the pair pretended to waiting photographers that they were stunned by the coincidence and then went on to happily pose for them. The film is the first time the actresses have worked together and it tells the story of a woman (Marni) who returns home to meet her brother's fiancee to discover she is her former enemy from high school (Joanna). Curtis plays Marni's mother while Weaver is Joanna's wealthy aunt. Also attending last night's red carpet event were Kirsten Bell and Betty White.

MOSCOW: Moscow registered nearly 11,000 deaths due to an unprecedented heatwave this summer, a city official said, as the mortality rate more than doubled in the Russian capital. In August alone, 15,016 deaths were registered in the city of more than 10 million people, compared with 8,905 for the same period last year -- an increase of 6,111 deaths, city official Evegenya Smirnova said. The month earlier, Moscow saw 4,824 deaths more compared with the same period in July 2009, she said by telephone. Overall, the city experienced 10,935 deaths linked to the extreme temperatures and stifling smog over the two months from July to August, which represents a 60 percent rise in the mortality rate. The Russian authorities have faced searing criticism for downplaying the health risks amid the country's worst ever heatwave when a toxic mix of smog and smoke from nearby wildfires engulfed the city. The health ministry only acknowledged on August 30 that the country had seen a surge in deaths in the affected regions -- up by 50 percent in Moscow in July -- despite media reports this summer describing morgues overflowing. Federal authorities had earlier refused to give details of the Moscow death toll and there was no public announcement of the figures on Friday. The authorities have partially attributed the rise in deaths to a spike in the number of drownings as Russians rushed to escape the sweltering temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 Farenheit) over several weeks.

LONDON, Swimming in indoor chlorinated pools may induce genotoxicity (DNA damage that may lead to cancer) as well as respiratory effects, but the positive health effects of swimming can be maintained by reducing pool levels of the chemicals behind these potential health risks, according to a new study published in a set of three articles online September 12 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

This study is the first to provide a comprehensive characterization of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in an indoor pool environment and the first to study the genotoxicity of exposure to these chemicals among swimmers in an indoor chlorinated pool.

DBPs form in pool water from reactions between disinfectants such as chlorine and organic matter that is either present naturally or is introduced by swimmers, such as sweat, skin cells, and urine.

Previous epidemiologic studies have found an association between exposure to DBPs in drinking water and risk of bladder cancer, and one such study has found this association for dermal/inhalational exposure such as occurs during showering, bathing, or swimming.

The new study details a comprehensive investigation of DBPs and mutagenicity of water samples collected from two indoor pools, one disinfected with chlorine, the other with bromine.

In addition, short-term changes in biomarkers of genotoxicity and respiratory effects were studied in swimmers who swam in the chlorinated pool. No previous studies have combined investigations of the mutagenicity (ability to cause permanent DNA mutations) of pool water with a comprehensive chemical characterization of the water and studies of human exposures, the authors stated.

Evidence of genotoxic effects were seen in 49 healthy adults after they swam for 40 minutes in the chlorinated pool. Specifically, researchers found increases in two genotoxicity biomarkers relative to the concentration of the most common types of DBPs in exhaled breath, which were used as a measure of the swimmers' exposures.

The biomarkers that increased were micronuclei in blood lymphocytes, which have been associated with cancer risk in healthy subjects, and urine mutagenicity, which is a biomarker of exposure to genotoxic agents.

Detailed measurements were also made of the most common exhaled DBPs (trihalomethanes) in air around the pool and in exhaled breath of the swimmers before and after swimming. Researchers measured several biomarkers of respiratory effects after swimming and found changes in only one-a slight increase in serum CC16, which suggests an increase in lung epithelium permeability. This result was explained by the effects of exercise itself as well as exposure to DBPs. Further research is needed to sort out the clinical relevance of this acute change, the researchers stated.

MUMBAI, Kareena Kapoor, soon to be seen as a spy, a la Mata Haari, in the forth coming flick ‘Agent Vinod’, is turning 30 years old on the 21st of September. However, she is in distress, as she has to be in Latvia for Saif’s home production, ‘Agent Vinod’, and will not be able to return to Mumbai to be with her family and friends.

Yet, the gal is lucky, as she will have Saif by her side, as even he is required for the shooting, as he plays the role of a CID Agent, a la James Bond, in the flick,

Kareena who was in Mumbai for a couple of days, after a 25 day nonstop shoot, has to leave for Latvia, and guess what?? Her beau Saif has plans to fly Bebo’s mom, Babita to Latvia, for her birthday celebrations. Karisma Kapoor, Bebo’s loving sis, will not be able to make it as her son Kian is too small.

LONDON, Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said that efforts are being made to destroy his country’s team; but, the Pak nation would emerge with as much resilience as it is suppressed.

While talking in a Geo News programme Captain’s Corner, allrounder Shahid Afridi said that a police case could have been filed against Jonathon Trott for his misbehaving with Wahab Riaz.

He said that he was asked not to go for toss after a dispute between Trott and Wahab; but, the Pakistan team showed its greatness despite Trott’s misbehavior,

Praising his team, Afridi said that the Pakistani players are mentally stronger than the English cricketers.

KARACHI, Stocks ended lower on Tuesday as cautious investors booked profits on fears of a hike in the key policy rate when the monetary policy is unveiled next week, dealers said.

The monetary policy for the subsequent two months is due to be announced on Sept. 29. The central bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 13 percent in July.

The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index ended 0.71 percent, or 71.08 points, lower at 9.992.50 Turnover rose to 88.44 million shares, compared with 65.05 million shares traded on Monday.

Inflation rose to a four-month high in August as the country's devastating floods forced food prices higher. The consumer price index rose a higher-than expected 13.23 percent from a year earlier and it was up 2.5 percent from July.

Earlier analysts expected the central bank to wait and see till the release of damages assessment report, which is due to be released in mid October, but with inflation higher than expected, there are fears that the central bank may hike the policy rate.

In the currency market, the rupee eased to 85.77/87 to the dollar, down from 85.77/87 on Monday amid higher payments for imports and dealers expect pressure to continue.

The rupee has been supported last week by remittances from overseas Pakistanis, which, according to the central bank, was a record $933.06 million in August. The last highest amount of remittances was $841.44 million in June.

In the money market, overnight rates ended higher at 12.00 percent, compared with Monday's close of between 10.10 and 10.25 percent after the State Bank of Pakistan conducted a three day repo and mopped up 18.5 billion rupees worth of treasury bills.

KABUL, Nine foreign troops were killed in a NATO helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the military alliance said, taking the overall death toll among foreign forces to an annual record.

Two NATO troops, an Afghan soldier and a US civilian, were also injured, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation," it said. There are no reports of enemy fire in the area.

It gave no details on the nationalities of those killed or the exact location of the crash.

The four injured people had been taken to an ISAF medical facility, the statement said.

The crash has raised the death toll among foreign troops in Afghanistan this year to 529, according to a toll based on the icasualties website, surpassing the figure of 521 for 2009.

A total of 2,097 coalition troops have now died since the US-led invasion of 2001 which ousted the Taliban regime.

MUZAFFARABAD, A school bus carrying at least 25 students skidded into a river near Garhi Dopatta area of Muzaffarabad; bodies of 14 children have been recovered from the river, Geo News reported Tuesday.

There are reports that at least five children have been rescued.

Today, an Eid Milan Party was being convened at the school; therefore, the children were taking along their younger siblings to attend the party. The van was carrying at least 36 children from Garhi Dopatta and other areas to Hatian, when it careened off into the river, going out of control over a turn.

The local people jump-started relief efforts on self-help basis and van driver and five children were recovered from the river in injured state. However, the bodies of 14 children have been recovered.

The ages of wounded and deceased children range from ten to 12. The relief efforts are still in progress on the spot.

According to school sources, the most of the children were orphaned in 2005 earthquake.

According to preliminary reports, the accident occurred owing to the negligence of the driver, as a school guard was driving the van and was busy on his phone when the accident happened.....

ISLAMABAD: Brig. Imtiaz (rtd) and Adnan Khawja of the OGDCL have been arrested from the courtroom today and were being shifted to Adiala Jail, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Both of them have been arrested from the court on orders by Supreme Court (SC) during the hearing of a case relating the implementation of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

A SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the NRO implementation case today.

The Chief Justice said the judicial orders were being disparaged.

Later on, the CJ ordered the arrest of both the accused from the courtroom.

The apex court said the accused may submit the bail challans within three days.

It should be mentioned here that a three-member Supreme Court bench, Friday, issued notices to Adnan A Khawaja asking him to explain why he assumed two posts - Managing Director Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Chairman NAVTEC - despite the fact that he, as NAB convict, was disqualified to assume such a post.

It is pertinent to mention here that in the wake of the suo motu notice taken by the apex court and the subsequent revelations in the media, the government annulled the appointment of Adnan Khawaja as OGDCL Chairman, only a day after he assumed the charge.

SEHWAN: The breaches in Manchhar Lake bunds of RD-95, 96 and 97 widened to one kilometer, inundating over several acres of crops and 190 villages of Dal, Chana and Union Council Bobak of Tehsil Sehwan, Geo News reported Saturday.

The floodwater amassed on inundated places mounted 9 to 12 feet, as 42-km important link road between Bhan Saeedabad and Chhani lay sunk under water, cutting off the link between the two cities.

The flood torrent has raged near Bhan Saeedabad’s last defence line of Indus Link, where work is fast in progress to buttress the feeble dykes by plugging the fissures.

In a bid to save Bhan Saeedabad, people from Shehar Bachao Action Committee and officials from Irrigation Department are busy with strengthening Indus Link.

According to Irrigation Department, the persistent outflow from the Lake has contributed to water level to go down by over two feet.

The residents of Mehar city has started to come back home; however, Tehsil Juhi is still cut off with other provinces thanks to besieging floodwater present all around.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said called within two days the lists of officers who benefited from National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Geo News reported Saturday.

According to the spokesman Prime Minister House, the premier directed Establishment Division to provide him the lists of all such officers who got benefited from the NRO and they are still working in various offices.

The Supreme Court (SC) declared the NRO as opposed to national interest and the Constitution and restored all abolished cases to position before October 5, 2007.

The bureaucrats that elicited benefit from the Ordinance include 146 officers from Punjab and 66 from Sindh; while, Balochistan has lineup of at least 11 officers and Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw has one officer on the list.

These officers include President Asif Ali Zardari’s Secretary General Salman Farooqui, Pak Ambassador in US Hussain Haqqani, Saeed Mehdi and Brig. (rtd) Imtiaz Ahmed.

Saeed Mehdi voluntarily resigned from his office of adviser of Punjab Chief Minister after the NRO was annulled; however, Hussain is currently working as ambassador and Salman Farooqui is currently in his office at Presidency.

LONDON: Pakistan's embattled cricket team were embroiled in allegations of match-fixing on Sunday after British police arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

The controversy erupted after the News of the World alleged some members of the Pakistan team were involved in a betting scam in the ongoing fourth and final Test against England at Lord's.

Britain's biggest-selling newspaper claimed several blatant no-balls had been delivered by Pakistan bowlers.

The weekly tabloid said it gave 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) to a middle man who correctly told them in advance precisely when those deliveries would be bowled.

"Following information received from the News of the World we have arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers," a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said.

Despite the latest controversy swirling around the game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) insisted the fourth Test would continue as scheduled on Sunday, adding that no "players nor team officials have been arrested in relation to this incident".

Pakistan tour manager Yawar Saeed added: "I can confirm we are aware of the allegations. Scotland Yard (Metropolitan) police are with us now at our hotel and we are helping them with their enquiries.

"This is as much as I can say at the moment."

The News of the World published images and dialogue from the encounter and a picture of what it said was one of the promised no-balls delivered on Friday.

It also ran a photograph of Pakistan captain Salman Butt standing with the man they claimed was the middleman, and one of their reporters.

The News of the World claimed their reporters had posed as front men for an Asian gambling cartel, paying 10,000 pounds to the alleged fixer as an upfront deposit.

They met again on Wednesday in a west London hotel room to hand over the rest of the money as their "entry ticket" into what they claimed was a "huge betting syndicate".

They claimed the middle man then correctly predicted when the no-balls would be bowled.

The newspaper showed the alleged fixer with piles of cash on a table.

Meanwhile, the ICC said the match would continue as planned on Sunday at Lord's, the spiritual home of the game.

"The International Cricket Council, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have been informed by the Metropolitan Police that a 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers," said an ICC statement.

"The Metropolitan Police have informed the ICC, ECB and PCB that their investigations continue and ICC, ECB and PCB, with the involvement of the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit, are fully assisting those enquiries.

"No players nor team officials have been arrested in relation to this incident and the fourth Test match will continue as scheduled on Sunday.

"As this is now subject to a police investigation neither ICC, ECB, PCB nor the ground authority, MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), will make any further comment," it added.

Pakistan, who have been dogged by 'fixing' allegations since the 1990s, collapsed spectacularly yet again Saturday to leave England closing in on an innings victory.

At stumps, Pakistan, following on, were 41 for four in their second innings, having been dismissed for just 74 first time around.

That left them still 331 runs adrift of England's first innings 446 as the home team eyed a victory that would give them a 3-1 win in their final series before they begin the defence of the Ashes in Australia in November.

There was also a controversial finish to Pakistan's 2006 Test series in England.

They forfeited the final match at The Oval in south London, having refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day because they'd been penalised for ball-tampering.

Pakistan have been unable to play matches at home since an armed attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March last year effectively turned the country into a 'no-go area' for international cricket.

Lady Gaga waxed The Madame Tussauds museums

LONDON: The queen of 'Twitter' and 'Pop singer Lady Gaga will stand out unique this time too as she will be the first star to have her waxworks launched at all 10 Madame Tussauds’ museums at the same time. As per source ,it is said that the gross amount of the 24 year old singer statues will cost $1.5 million. There will be different models of the pop sensation which will be put up at the museums. ‘This is definitely one of the most ambitious projects in our history,’ said a source. Lady Gaga has thus proved it again that she can be more than creative. Fans can weigh in on what the Lady Gaga wax figure outfit or hairstyle will look like. "We're open to hearing from fans about which looks they want," a spokesperson for New York's Madame Tussauds told MTV News. UK tabloid the Daily Star reported that Tussauds spent more than $1.5 million for the wax figures to be made. “This is definitely one of the most ambitious projects in our history,” a source from Tussauds told the Daily Star. MTV said Tussauds would not comment on the price tag for the wax figures. It is also unclear whether all nine Tussauds venues will get Lady Gaga wax figures and whether she will wear different outfits at each location.

England reach 346-7 after Aamer demolishes England's top order

LONDON: Hundreds from Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad saw England enjoy an extraordinary reversal of fortune in the fourth and final Test against Pakistan at Lord's on Friday. England, who had slumped to 47 for five in the face of fine swing bowling from left-armer Mohammad Aamer, ended the second day on 346 for seven as they looked to finish the series 3-1 winners. Trott was 149 not out and Broad, whose century was his first in Test cricket, 125 not out. Their unbroken stand of 244 -- made after they'd come together at 102 for seven -- was an England record for the eighth wicket against Pakistan. Previous record was 167 made by David Gower and Vick Marks at Faisalabad in 1983-84. Earlier, Aamer ripped through England's top order on his way to career-best figures of six wickets for 73 runs in 23 overs. That saw the 18-year-old, in his 14th match at this level, become the youngest bowler to take 50 Test wickets. England resumed on 39 for one, with Trott eight not out, in overcast conditions after bad weather meant only 12.3 overs were possible Thursday. Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan -- England's Nos 4, 5 and 6 respectively --were all dismissed by Aamer for nought. England were 97 for five at lunch but they were soon 102 for seven as Aamer took two wickets in three balls to dismiss Matt Prior and Graeme Swann. But Broad, who like his father Chris, the former England opener, is a left-handed batsman, gave stylish support to Trott. Trott, 77 not out at tea, completed his third Test century, with a quick single that became a five after four overthrows from Imran Farhat, after facing 195 balls with 13 boundaries in nearly five hours at the crease. Broad, in his 32nd Test, followed him to a century with a three off left-arm quick Wahab Riaz, having faced 159 balls with a six and nine fours. Pakistan did not have long to wait for a breakthrough on Friday. Aamer squared up Oval centurion Alastair Cook off the day's third ball and the left-handed opener was caught behind for 10. Pietersen then saw his run without a Test century extended to 26 innings when he was out for a first ball nought, caught behind chasing a ball well outside off-stump. And when Collingwood was lbw to a late inswinger, England were in dire straits at 39 for four.

PESHAWAR: Some unidentified armed men opened fire at a government premises near US Consulate in Peshawar’s cantonment area, News reported Saturday.

Before long, the heavy contingents of security forces arrived in the area and cordoned off the affected area.

The exchange of fire is intermittently in progress for past some hours now in Peshawar’s sensitive area, as US Consulate is situated near the affected site.

According to sources, the attackers are holed up in nearby premises, which the law-enforcers have taken in their siege.

Also, the security forces have arrested three suspected people.

All the roads leading to the Cantonment area including Jamrud Road, Cantt and Airport Road, have been blocked for traffic.

Ambulances have been called in for any potential casualties. Following the incident, more contingents of the security personnel turned up in the area.