Johannesburg - At least six people were believed to have died in a plane crash near Johannesburg Tuesday.

Islamabad, Oct 21: US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher has said that the “Friends of Pakistan” will not offer hard cash to the strife-torn country to fight terror, because in the past it had been witnessed that the agreements (between Pakistan government and the militants) were not enforced properly and timely and “this helped the terrorists”.

“This will not be a cash advance. It is a strategic group to combine efforts being made by Pakistan and its friends. The goal is not to put money on the table, but to look as to how to supplement Pakistan’s efforts,” said Boucher after attending the “Friends of Pakistan” meet in Islamabad.

Frankfurt - Hanover RE Group issued a profit warning Tuesday as the round of market turmoil and hurricanes undercut the world's fourth biggest reinsurer's earnings.

German-based Hanover said in a statement a sharp fall in equity prices and an above-average burden of catastrophe losses led to a decline in profit to 30 September.

With the capital market crisis intensifying as the year has unfolded, Hanover said its profit forecast for the full 2008 financial year was "no longer attainable".

Alexandria (US), Oct 21: After former US secretary of state endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in the Nov 4 elections, the White House said last evening that US President George W. Bush has “greatly respects” for Colin Powell.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that every American had the right to decide whom to support in an election.

Jakarta - Indonesian police detained one man believed to be linked to terrorist activities Tuesday and seized bomb-making materials at a house in suburban Jakarta, the country's police chief said.

General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said counterterrorism police conducted the raid at a rented house in the northern suburb of Plumpang, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

The officers seized dozens of bullets, 3 kilograms of explosive material believed to be TNT, bomb-making manuals, pipes and cables.

Paris - Ministers and representatives from 18 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) began meeting in Paris on Tuesday to tackle international tax havens.

Convened by France and Germany, the participants will attempt to force tax havens to open their accounts to investigators looking for depositors who avoid paying taxes on their incomes.

The issue has been made more pressing because of the global finance crisis.

Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD official in charge of the fight against tax havens, told the daily Le Figaro, "How can we pretend to rebuild a healthy financial system if we do not put an end to these dark pockets?"