Washington, Aug 30: The Bush administration has cleared the transfer of 227 million dollars of foreign military funds (FMF) to Pakistan for its F-16s mid-life update programme, despite opposition to it from two Congressional leaders.

According to the Daily Times, the upgraded F-16s and additional funds will be used as a counter insurgency measure in Pakistan's volatile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA). Earlier, two senior House Members, Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Nita M Lowey, expressed concern that the proposal would "divert funds from more effective counter-terrorism tools."

Islamabad, August 30 : French and Afghan archaeologists have unearthed the head of a Buddha statue and a precious coin in the province of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

The statue’s head belongs to the period when Buddhism thrived in the central province and the coin dates back to the time of Alexander and the Greek empire, according to Najeebullah Ahrar, the director of the information and culture department in the province.

According to a report in Pak Tribune, the team of Afghan and French archaeologists is working under the supervision of Professor Zemaryalai Tarzi, an Afghan archaeologist.

Islamabad - Pakistan's army claimed on Saturday it had killed more than 30 militants in overnight aerial strike in the restive Swat district of North-Western Frontier province.

"Jet plans targeted a militant hideout in Matta sub-district on Friday late afternoon," a military spokesman Major Murad Khan said.

More than 30 insurgents, including their local commander Mufti Saeedur Rehman, were killed and over 40 were injured, he added.

London, Aug. 30 : Every tenth baby born in UK is of Pakistani or Indian descent, according to statistics provided by the Office of National Statistics.

According to The Telegraph, Of the 649,371 babies born in England and Wales in 2005, 8.6 per cent were recorded as Asian or Asian British, and of Pakistani or Indian descent.

The ONS statistics also revealed that over a third of new babies are foreign or from an ethnic minority, a sign of the changing face of Britain.

Peshawar, Aug 30 : Pakistan tops the list of South Asian countries having the worst law and order situation, according to statistics collected by a website.

At least 355 people were killed in 183 blasts during the first three months of 2008, while another 108 were killed in 112 blasts in the second quarter. Around 129 bombs went off during the months of July and August, claiming around 156 lives, The News reports.

Washington, Aug 30: Assuring that the United States is there to support Pakistan to further consolidate its democracy, the State Department has said that it will stay out of Pakistan's internal affairs.

"Our policy is to stay out of Pakistan's internal affairs. We have repeated that over and over again," the Daily Times quoted State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood, as saying.

Terming Pakistan as a "close ally", Robert said that the US would continue to co-operate with Islamabad in the fight against extremism.