Lahore, Feb. 27 : Former Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram has urged the women's cricket team to perform to their potential in the forthcoming ICC Women's World Cup.

"I want to see the Pakistan team go out there and give its best. It has nothing to lose as it is not amongst the top-ranked teams. This should lessen the pressure on the players and when you have nothing to lose and nothing to fear, you tend to give up your best," Akram said.

Expressing his happiness over the women's team qualification for playing in the World Cup, he said that the team has the talent to match the best teams in the world.

Lahore, Feb. 27 : Fearing large scale protests by the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) activists against Supreme Court's verdict to disqualify the Sharif brothers', the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stepped-up security arrangements for the touring Sri Lankan cricket team.

The Nation reports that the security of Sri Lanka team has been intensified after the Lankan management expressed its concern over the political crisis.

Washington, Feb. 27 : Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani is the key to US strategy in the region, the National Public Radio has claimed.

The radio recalled that when Kayani became chief of staff just over a year ago, the appointment was met with high praise from US officials, the Daily Times reports.

The US considers its relations with Pakistani military extremely important because of the insurgency of Taliban and Al Qaeda along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Lahore, Feb. 27 : Perturbed by Nawaz Sharif's verbal attack on President Asif Ali Zardari, and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz's (PML-N) decision to stage nation-wide protests against Sharif's disqualification, Pakistan Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said that such a step will lead to further deteriorate-on the political scenario of the country.

Islamabad, Feb. 27 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that he imposed governor's rule in Punjab because he was left with no other constitutional alternative after the Sharif brothers declared "war on the Presidency".

Zardari told members of Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), that Nawaz had declared war following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify the Sharif brothers from elected office, the Daily Times reports.

Islamabad  - Gunmen attacked a minivan transporting children to school in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province on Friday, killing its driver and leaving two students wounded, police said.

Five other students were kidnapped by the attackers who ambushed the vehicle on the periphery of Hangu, a remote town adjoining the lawless tribal region along the Afghan border.

"The driver was fatally shot while two students also received bullet injuries but they survived," police officer Ashfaq Khan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on the phone.