Peshawar, Sep 12: Pakistani troops killed up to 100 militants in a restive northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border after the rebels ambushed a security patrol, a security official has said.

“We launched strikes against militant hideouts in Bajaur and destroyed several compounds they were using,” the official told reporters.

“According to the latest information from the area, between 80 and 100 militants were killed,” the Daily Times quoted the official, as saying.

London, Sept. 10 : New immigration laws in Britain are likely to create many hurdles for skilled workers from other countries, especially for skilled general physicians, midwives and teachers of Asian origin.

They will have to pass a number of points based hurdles before coming to the UK, including speaking English, a job offer paying more than 24,000 pounds a year and a sponsoring employer.

Under the points based system, foreigners need 70 points to enter the UK. Speaking English is worth 10 points while other points come from skill and salary levels. If the job is on the shortage list, it is worth an extra 50 points.

London - A highly-sensitive row over alleged racial discrimination in Britain's top police force escalated Tuesday with the suspension of Tarique Ghaffur, Scotland Yard's most senior Muslim officer.

Ghaffur, a Ugandan Asian who joined the force at 16 and is an Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (Met), has accused the force of racial discrimination and is taking his case to an industrial tribunal.

Scotland Yard chief Ian Blair, the chief target of Ghaffur's allegations, said Tuesday that the officer's "temporary suspension" had "nothing to do" with the employment tribunal case.

Kathmandu, Sept 9: Nepali Congress has urged the government to set a national agenda to be taken up during Prime Minister Prachanda's India visit scheduled early next week through comprehensive discussions.

Kantipur quoted Nepali Congress leader Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat as saying that the government should call an all-party meeting to decide the national agenda. The Prime Minister during his bilateral talks with India should take up issues finalized through the all-party consensus.

Beijing, Sept. 9: China hopes the waiver of nuclear trade ban against India would be conducive to global cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation.

"China has always advocated that all countries are entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Monday.

"But, at the same time, international cooperation should help maintain the integrity and validity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime," the China Daily quoted her as saying further.

Lahore, Sep 9: Civilian deaths in US and NATO air strikes in Afghanistan have nearly tripled between 2006 and 2007 with new deadly strikes fuelling a public backlash, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

According to AAJ TV, foreign forces were guilty of causing civilian deaths by using civilians as ‘human shields’, by deploying troops in villages, the rights group said in a report.

“Mistakes by the US and NATO have dramatically decreased public support for the Afghan government and the international forces (in the country),” a statement accompanying the report said.