Washington  - It was a little more than two months ago that US financial institutions convinced Congress to approve a 700- billion-dollar package to rescue them from the brink of collapse, arguing that the banking sector's survival was critical to the country's wider economy.

This week, the United States' three iconic carmakers failed to convince legislators that their industry deserved the same treatment. Senate talks on a 14-billion-dollar bail-out for the industry collapsed Thursday night.

Kampala - Ugandan legislators have drafted a bill that will allow those who practise female genital mutilation to be sentenced to seven years in prison, reports said Friday.

Bangkok  - Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday pledged to try to host the 14th ASEAN summit in early February if he is elected prime minister next week.

Thailand, which was scheduled to host the 14th summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations on December 15-18, had to postpone the annual event until March because of political chaos in Bangkok.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks fell almost 5.5 per cent Friday as markets across the Asian region reacted to the collapse of a US car industry bail-out plan.

Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares led the declines with losses approaching 7 per cent, spurred by disappointment over the lack of further stimulus measures from Beijing at a key annual economic conference that ended Wednesday.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index closed down 855.51 points, or 5.48 per cent, at 14,758.39. Turnover was 58.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.57 billion US dollars).

Lahore/Islamabad, Dec 12 : The crackdown against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) is still continuing in Punjab after the Interior Ministry imposed a ban on the outfit.

The government placed JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed under house arrest and the offices of the JuD have been sealed by the police.

According to police sources, the central office of the Dawa Jamia Alqadsia have been sealed in Lahore.

Besides, many activists have been nabbed in several cities. Police have arrested three persons in Lahore and sealed two centers of the Dawa Ayesha Siddiqua and the Mubarak Masjid.