Islamabad - Pakistan Wednesday assured Sri Lanka of a crackdown on the gunmen who attacked the Lankan cricket team, as investigators grilled at least a dozen suspects to try to determine who was behind the attack that left seven dead.

Seven members of the Sri Lankan squad and their British coach were wounded, none of them seriously, when up to 14 gunmen ambushed their bus Tuesday at a roundabout near Gaddafi Stadium in the heart of Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab on Tuesday.

Helsinki - The Finnish parliament Wednesday approved controversial legislation allowing employers to track e-mails sent by employees.

The legislation was adopted 96 to 56 while 47 parliamentarians were absent at the final reading of the bill.

The so-called data protection law does not allow employers to read e-mails, but e-mails and the size of attachments can be tracked on suspicion of corporate espionage.

Until a few years ago, political analysts argued that coalition governments are an aberration and that single-party rule was the preferred form. That thinking has since changed as it becomes obvious that coalition politics is here to stay. None of the parties are in a position to get an absolute majority on their own, and any government that is likely to come to power in the coming election or even in the next election, is most likely to be a coalition government. The number of seats won by Congress and the BJP has declined to less than 300 seats between them and around 50 per cent of the vote while that of the regional and state parties increased to 159 and 28 per cent of the vote in 2004.

Closed-door meet for 20 minutes on Pune's outskirts

All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar held a 20-minute closed-door meeting, on the outskirts of Pune on Tuesday.

The unscheduled meeting between the two leaders came as relations are strained between the two parties over an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in April.

Dhariwal says working of govt depts will be transparent

Shanti Dhariwal has been entrusted with two powerful portfolios in the Gehlot government—Home and UDH departments. DNA talks to the minister on wide ranging issues like state’s law and order situation, fake encounters and the challenges ahead. Excerpts:  

You were entrusted with powerful and plum portfolios in the cabinet expansion. Were you expecting the elevation in government?

What can I say? It is the chief minister’s prerogative. I will try and live up to his and the public’s expectation.

The home and UDH departments became the nemesis for the previous government. Both are with you now. What’s your take on the functioning of these departments?

Paris  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and several other conservative politicians have in recent days been the targets of letters threatening their lives, French media reported on Tuesday.

Sarkozy, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, Justice Minister Rachida Dati, Culture Minister Christine Albanel and the mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppe, have all received letters containing implicit threats to their lives and 9mm bullets.