London, Oct. 4 : Police chiefs in Britain are reported to have approached their superiors through the Association of Chief Police Officers, and told them to keep them free from “unwarranted political pressures”.

The Times quoted Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, as saying that senior officers were extremely concerned that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair’s sudden departure from Scotland Yard had “fundamentally altered the perception of policing independence”.

The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has advised all his cabinet colleagues to refrain from making irresponsible statements. He said that the party and the government are entitled to full fill the aspirations of the people of the state on the basis of which it has come to the power. He said that all ministers and party colleagues must represent the vision and guidelines of party before their personal interests.

London, Oct 2 : Tory leader David Cameron has urged the Gordon Brown Government not to try and overturn a landmark court ruling giving Gurkhas the right to stay in Britain.

In his keynote conference speech, Cameron paid tribute to the bravery of the Gurkhas and pressed ministers not to turn their back on them.

“I know there are difficult questions about pensions and housing but let’s find a way to make it work,” the Daily Star quoted Cameron, as saying after Tuesday’s High Court judgment.

“Don''t appeal this ruling. Let’s give those brave Gurkha soldiers who fought for us the right to come and live with us,” he added.

Washington  - The seizure of a vessel last week off the coast of Somalia reflects the region's rising piracy problem, which could require greater security measures to ensure the safe flow of cargo, the US Defence Department said Tuesday.

"This is a persistent problem, although an increasing one, that has indeed drawn the attention of high-ranking people within this building," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Valletta, Malta  - The German Minister of State for Europe, Gunter Closer, has pledged his country's support to Malta on the problem of illegal immigration at bilateral and European Union levels, the Maltese government said Tuesday.

"The smallest EU member state cannot be left on its own when facing such considerable challenges," the Maltese Home Affairs Ministry quoted the German minister as saying during a meeting he had with minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

Brasilia  - The Brazilian government's agrarian reform programme is among the key factors that have led to a rise in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonia, said the country's Environment Minister Carlos Minc.

The accusation made late Monday in Brasilia caused a crisis in the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.