Peshawar, April 24: In the wake of reports emanating from Pakistan that the North West Frontier Province government has made up its mind to launch a military operation in case the “intransigent” Taliban does not agree to vacate Buner district, cease patrolling in Swat and stop moving to other districts, the Taliban has started its withdrawal from Buner, which is located 62 miles from Islamabad.

London - Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was charged on Friday with improper conduct, following accusations he spat at Hull City assistant manager Brian Horton.

There were angry scenes after the end of Hull's 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final on March 17.

Fabregas was not playing in the game as he recovered from a knee injury, but left the stand to celebrate with his team-mates.

"Fabregas has been charged for improper conduct on the night," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told journalists.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday the government had drawn up a plan that earmarks 1.3 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) to aid jobless under the age of 26.

In a speech in the town of Jouy-le-Moutier, north of Paris, Sarkozy said his plan would lead to the recruitment of 320,000 apprentices by June 2010.

Barcelona - Russian Nikolay Davydenko checked in for another successful work day on the clay Friday while Rafael Nadal took advantage of a quarter-final walkover as the pair prepared for a Saturday semi-final clash at the Barcelona Open.

Top-seeded world number one Nadal put in some practise time after learning the day before that seventh-seeded Argentine opponent David Nalbandian would not be fronting up for their match due to hip problems which intensified during the previous round.

Mumbai, Apr 24: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday climbed to a six-month high at 11,329.05.

The Sensex, which touched the high level of 11,362.88 during the day, ended with a gain of 194.06 points at 11,329.05.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty also rose by 57.05 points to 3,480.75.

Daily trading on the BSE increased to 5,723 crore rupees from 4,743 crore rupees in the previous session.

Ahmedabad, April 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Shourie on Friday said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister after party’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani.

“In my personal opinion, the next Prime Minister should also be elected from Gujarat after Advani becomes the Prime Minister after ongoing general elections,” Shourie told a press conference here.

Arun Shourie further said that Gujarat has made rapid development under Modi’s leadership, which made him the best candidate for PM’s post.