Islamabad, Oct. 21 : Lawmakers in Pakistan, it seems, don''t have the stomach for battling militants.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is reported to have sent a letter on Monday to Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, calling for dialogue with militants.

The letter suggested a halt in military operations while negotiations were given a chance, according to Ahsan Iqbal, an aide to Sharif.

Sharif, according to the New York Times, believes that there is no harm in talking with the militants, though he has sought to differentiate between them and the Taliban, and Al Qaeda.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Photo electoral rolls will be used all over the country, except in the north eastern states, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said.

Addressing the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Gopalaswami said that though the process of issuing electoral photo identity cards started in 1995, 100 per cent success has never been achieved for several reasons.

He said a list of missing voters was also being prepared in each polling station to ensure the eligible persons did not lose their voting right.

The CEC said multi-level checking of electoral rolls was being undertaken to compare the 18-plus population as per census data with the number of registered voters.

Kiev  - Relatives of a mostly-Ukrainian crew held hostage aboard a ship off the Somali coast are preparing to pay a ransom demanded by pirates, a crew spokeswoman told the Ukrainian Fakty newspaper

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 21 : Armed pirates in speedboats have hijacked an Indian dhow with 13 crew members off the northern coast of Somalia, a maritime official has said.

The cargo-laden vessel was en route to Somalia when it was seized over the weekend, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

London, Oct 21 : Iranian security forces have arrested two pigeons for apparently spying near its Natanz nuclear facility.

According to the Etemad Melli newspaper, one of the pigeons captured near rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province had metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it.

It is believed that the bird might have been communicating what it had seen with the equipment it was carrying.

Washington, Oct 21 : Laser hair removal therapy can be effective only when used separately than when used as a combination treatment, according to a new study.

During the past decade, laser hair removal has become a popular and accepted method used to reduce the growth of unwanted hair that have profound psychological effects and also appear to be safer.

The research team led by Dr Seyyed Masoud Davoudi, of the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, analysed the results of the participants who underwent treatment at a private laser skin centre and received a total of four treatment sessions at eight-week intervals.