Lahore, Oct 31: A petition filed in Pakistan’s Supreme Court has asked the court to cancel the land allotted to former president Pervez Musharraf at Chak Shahzad.

The petition filed on Thursday by Jamil Akhtar stated that the land could only be used to grow vegetables and poultry but Musharraf’s farmhouse had a swimming pool and a jogging track, among other facilities.

Washington, Oct 31: Pakistani Ambassador to the US has questioned as to why foreign governments can bail out banks in their own countries but ignore the economic meltdown in Pakistan where a financial collapse could encourage extremists and undermine the global war against terrorism.

Haqqani told the World Affairs Council this week that “ Pakistan needs the support of the international community in rebuilding its economy and providing hope to its people, because hope is what will help country’s elected government to defeat the extremists and terrorists that pose a threat to the future of all of us.”

Tokyo - Mizuho Financial Group Inc cut its earnings projections for fiscal 2008 that runs through March 31 due to the impact of the global financial crisis, the group said Friday.

Japan's mega banking group lowered its net profit by more than half to 250 billion yen (2.55 billion dollars) from an initial projection of 560 billion yen.

Mizuho Financial expected revenues of 3.8 trillion yen for the full year, down from an earlier forecast of 4.3 trillion yen.

Conducted from October 22 to October 26, the Associated Press/GfK's Obama vs McCain CO poll shows Obama leading McCain by 9 % points — 50 % to 41 % among the likely voters of Colorado.

Conducted from October on 26, the Rasmussen Reports/Fox News' Obama vs McCain CO poll shows Obama leading McCain by 4 % points — 50 % to 46 % among the likely voters of Colorado. According to the poll, Obama holds 84.5 % chance of carrying Colorado on Election Day.

Conducted from October on 26, the Politico/InsiderAdvantage's McCain vs Obama CO poll shows Obama leading McCain by 8 % points — 53 % to 45 % among the likely voters of Colorado.

British telecom firm Vodafone has clinched a strategic partnership with Russia-based Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) OJSC, which includes collaboration on future technological developments.

According to the sources, the non-equity partnership agreement has been signed to offer clientele with high quality communication services.

The pact would also offer Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) access to products, services and devices from Vodafone for its markets of operation in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Armenia.

New Delhi, Oct 31 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will begin his three-day visit to Iran from today to discuss ways to push the proposed trilateral gas pipeline project.

During his visit, Mukherjee will attend the Joint Commission meeting during which the two sides are expected to discuss various other initiatives to enhance their ties.

The two sides will also hold talks on several issues, including trade and business to enhance the bilateral ties.