London, Feb.

Melbourne, Feb. 4 : Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises may baulk at signing Australian stars at this week''s auction because of uncertainty over their availability.

The IPL is scheduled for April-May and the Australian players may be available for only the final two weeks, because of a one-day series against Pakistan, reports news. com. au.

London, Feb. 4 : British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to be questioned over allegations that British security services colluded in the torture of terrorism suspects and operated under a "James Bond-style get-out clause".

The allegations, first reported in the Guardian last year, relate to a number of suspects arrested in Pakistan at the request of British authorities between 2003 and 2007.

The men say agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) repeatedly tortured them before being questioned by MI5.

Lahore, Feb. 4 : A private TV channel has claimed that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) have finalized a power-sharing deal in Punjab that will be disclosed at an appropriate time.

The channel quoted PML-Q sources as saying that the Party has decided to form an alliance with the PPP `if the need arises', after its efforts for the reunifications with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) failed.

Lahore, Feb. 4 : Pakistani speedster Sohail Tanvir has attributed his return to form to former coach Javed Miandad.

The left arm pacer who was dropped from the third one-day international against Sri Lanka last month because of his poor form, shown signs of getting his rhythm back when he took eight wickets in a domestic Quaid-e-Azam trophy match.

Tanvir said that he contacted Miandad after being dropped from the national squad, who advised him to work on his run-up and accuracy.

"The tips helped me a lot and guided me to overcome my poor form," The News quoted Tanvir, as saying.

Lahore, Feb. 4 : A report has claimed that US led drone strikes have killed eleven out of Al Qaeda's top 20 commanders in Pakistan's Tribal Areas (FATA) during the last six months.

Citing an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency statement, the Daily Times said Pakistan's intelligence services have started to help the Americans track and kill fugitive terrorists in a bid to revamp their global image.

"We may be crazy in Pakistan, but (we're) not completely out of our minds. We know full well that terror is our enemy, not India," ISI Director Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha recently stated.