Lahore, Mar. 14: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif has opened the door for reconciliation with President Asif Ali Zardari, by saying that he was ready to give Zardari “the next five years if he delivers on his pledges”.

“There is no need for back channel diplomacy or private and secret dialogue. I have not slammed my doors on dialogue. If Zardari showed sincerity, I am ready to give him another five years (after his tenure expires),” The Daily times quoted Sharif, as saying.

Islamabad, Mar 14: Pakistan’s Information Minister Sherry Rehman resigned following differences over government’s handling of the electronic media and insistence by President Asif Zardari and his close aides to impose further restrictions on private news channels.

Rehman was against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)’s blocking of a private TV channel without taking her into confidence

Washington  - The US government is urging Brazil to return an 8-year-old boy to his father in the United States in a case that could come up when US President Barack Obama holds his first meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Saturday.

The boy lives with his stepfather in Brazil. A New Jersey court has ruled in favour of his father, David Goldman, and decided the boy, Sean, should be returned to the United States. But a Brazilian court has granted custody to his stepfather.

The Hague  - Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo has appealed against the decision by the ICC not to charge acting Sudanese President Mohammed al-Bashir with genocide, it emerged Friday.

On March 4, The Hague-based court decided to charge al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and war crimes, but excluding genocide, and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Lima  - Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was taken out of jail and to hospital in the early hours of Friday, following a week of colic and diarrhea.

Fujimori, 70, was to remain at the National Institute of Neoplastic Illnesses (INEN) in Lima, for doctors to determine the cause of his troubles.

In nearly 18 months in prison, the former Peruvian president has been admitted to the INEN several times, including one for removal of a carcinogenic tumour in his tongue and another to remove a benign cyst from his pancreas.