London, Aug. 29 : Knife crimes across the United Kingdom could take a turn for the worse if the government does not alter and control the way stop and search tactics are done, a former head of the Metropolitan Police Force’s murder prevention unit, has warned.

Psychologist Laura Richards, who ran the Homicide Prevention Unit, said stop and search is no better than a “sticking plaster”, and feared the policy could “further alienate marginalized young men” and drive them into the arms of gangs.

“We are seeing that a number of guys committing murders are already excluded. I fear we just make the problem worse,” The Telegraph quoted her, as saying.

Beijing, Aug. 29: Shanghai will open the world's third-tallest skyscraper to the public tomorrow, 14 years after the project began.

Total investment in the 101-story, 492-meter-high landmark project, located in Pudong's Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, amounts to over eight billion Yuan (1.16 billion U. S. dollars).

According to Xinhua, its owner, Minoru Mori, Japan's biggest private real estate developer, has said that the building has been completed on time and will be called the Shanghai World Financial Center.

London, Aug 29: A trendy range of boxer shorts featuring a large image of presidential hopeful Barack Obama has gone on sale ahead of his key speech to the Democratic convention.

The tight-fitting briefs, which have “08” printed on the rear, have been produced by trendy underwear designer Andrew Christian.

He has pledged to donate 1 dollar to the Obama campaign for every 29 dollars boxer short he sells.

They are available in navy blue, royal blue and red.

Port-au-Prince/Jamaica - The number of victims of tropical storm Gustav climbed Thursday, as the storm moved from Haiti and Cuba south to Jamaica.

In Haiti, the death toll rose to 59, the country's civil defence authorities said Thursday evening.

Then hurricane-strength Gustav hit the island near the city Jacqmel two days ago with wind speeds topping 150 kilometres per hour. Regions in the affected south-west were cut off from the rest of the country by mudslides and floods.

Eight people were killed in neighbouring Dominican Republic, authorities said.

Singapore - The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has reached tentative free trade agreements with three major trading partners - India, Australia, and New Zealand - after years of negotiations.

Though the full terms the agreements reached Thursday in Singapore during a meeting of ASEAN ministers would not be made public until the signing in December, they cover more than 400 goods with India and goods, investment, services and intellectual property with Australia and New Zealand.

"This is the most comprehensive free trade agreement that ASEAN has ever entered. It is the largest free trade agreement that Australia has ever negotiated," Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean told reporters in Singapore.

Beijing  - Two Chinese paramilitary police were killed in a clash with Uighurs in the restive Central Asian region of Xinjiang, leading to the arrest of at least 20 people, Uighur activists said Thursday.

Two officers were seriously injured and several others were hurt in the clash that occurred Wednesday in Xinjiang's Jiashi city, about 100 kilometres east of China's westernmost city of Kashgar, Dilxat Raxit of the German-based World Uyghur Congress said in a statement.

More than 20 Uighurs were detained after the clash, Raxit quoted witnesses as saying.

A hospital employee in Jiashi county confirmed the clash had taken place but declined to give details on the number of casualties while local police refused to comment.