PHC chief justice to take fresh oath today :

PESHAWAR: The deposed chief justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC), Justice Tariq Pervez Thursday said he would take fresh oath of his office on Friday.

Talking to Geo News here he said: “I am taking oath of the office of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court on Friday”.However, he expressed ignorance about oath taking of other judges of Peshawar High Court.Governor NWFP Owais Ahmed Ghani will administer the oath at a ceremony to be held here at Governor House at 11:00 AM today.Four PHC judges had refused to take fresh oath under Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) after the imposition of emergency by former president Pervez Musharraf on November 3. These judges included Justice Tariq Pervez, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, Justice Shah Jehan Khan and Justice Aijaz Afzal.According to sources, Dost Muhammad and Shah Jehan Yousuf Zai will also be taking fresh oath as judges of PHC.

The new Chief Justice PHC, Tariq Pervez will administer oath to them.

Govt. to sell assets to meet budget deficit: Shamshad

KARACHI: Governor State Bank Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said late Wednesday that World Bank has promised to provide Pakistan with one billion U.S. dollar aid.

In a statement issued from Karachi, the Governor SBP Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said that government has decided to sell assets to meet the current budget deficit and the World Bank has promised to provide one billion U.S. dollar aid to Pakistan. Governor SBP said that government is taking steps on war-footing basis to stabilize microeconomic indicators of the country.

She also suggested that Islamic banks should mobilize their deposits.

Terrorists to be pursued everywhere: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: Pentagon says US is going to pursue terrorists wherever they operate, plan their operations, try to seek safe harbor," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

U.S. commandos attacked an al-Qaeda target in Pakistan this week in an operation that could signal more intense American efforts to thwart militant attacks in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The raid follows growing frustration among U.S. officials, who said Pakistan has not done enough to combat militants operating in the shared border area despite a recent increase in Pakistani operations that have drawn violent reprisals.

While U.S. officials would not comment on either the commando raid or the missile strike, which occurred as Pakistan prepared to elect a new president on Saturday, the Pentagon said the United States would pursue its enemies. By hitting militants in Pakistan, officials and analysts said the United States hopes to inhibit their activities by subjecting them to an atmosphere of constant threat. "You get a change in behavior because they have to move constantly, there's no security. The sanctuary aspects of Pakistan are very sharply reduced," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office in four months, both of his would-be successors, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, have stressed the need for Pakistan to focus on security.

Pakistan raid may signal more U.S. attacks :

WASHINGTON: U.S. commandos attacked an al-Qaeda target in Pakistan this week in an operation that could signal more intense American efforts to thwart militant attacks in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The raid follows growing frustration among U.S. officials, who said Pakistan has not done enough to combat militants operating in the shared border area despite a recent increase in Pakistani operations that have drawn violent reprisals. While U.S. officials would not comment on either the commando raid or the missile strike, which occurred as Pakistan prepared to elect a new president on Saturday, the Pentagon said the United States would pursue its enemies. "We are going to pursue terrorists wherever they operate, plan their operations, try to seek safe harbor," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. By hitting militants in Pakistan, officials and analysts said the United States hopes to inhibit their activities by subjecting them to an atmosphere of constant threat.

"You get a change in behavior because they have to move constantly, there's no security. The sanctuary aspects of Pakistan are very sharply reduced," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office in four months, both of his would-be successors, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, have stressed the need for Pakistan to focus on security.

Grooverider released from prison :

Radio 1 DJ Grooverider has been released from prison in Dubai after serving 10 months for possessing drugs.
The DJ, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, was in the middle of a four-year sentence.
But he has been let out early after being pardoned by the Dubai Royal Family. He has flown back to the UK to spend time with family and friends.
The DJ was originally arrested on 23 November 2007 after being caught with 2.16 grams of cannabis at the airport.
At the time Bingham said the drugs were in the pocket of a pair of trousers and he had forgotten about them. He was handed a four year sentence in February.
Grooverider co-presented a weekend drum & bass show on the station.

Google tweaks Chrome licence text :

Google has rescinded an article of the user agreement for its new browser, Chrome, released on Tuesday.
The initial agreement claimed rights over "any Content which you submit, post or display on or through" the browser.
Google reworded the agreement on Wednesday, leaving those rights in the hands of Chrome's users.
A spokesperson for Google said its user agreements were re-used and the initial claim was an oversight.
The initial End User Licence Agreement (EULA) claimed "a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

Sony recalls 440,000 Vaio laptops :

Sony is recalling 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide because of wiring faults that could cause overheating.
The recall concerns 19 Vaio models in the TZ series manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 - but does not include models sold in the UK.
Sony said wires have been put in the wrong position near the hinge, while a flaw in the circuit board that controls the screen also may cause overheating.
The company said that a number of people had been burnt by the fault.
According to the company 373,000 of the Vaio laptops were sold worldwide in some 48 countries, with 67,000 sold in Japan.

Bumblebees outwit robotic spiders :

Scientists have found that bumblebees learn from their "near-death" encounters with crab spiders and adapt their future foraging strategies.
They watched real bees in an artificial meadow - containing yellow "flowers" and robotic crab spiders.
Bees that had been "captured" spent longer inspecting flowers during subsequent foraging trips.
They may outwit the spiders - but at the expense of valuable foraging time, Current Biology reports.
Crab spiders lie in wait on flowers, ready to ambush their "most prized prey" - the bumblebee.

Mammoths moved 'out of America' :

Scientists have discovered that the last Siberian woolly mammoths may have originated in North America.
Their research in the journal Current Biology represents the largest study of ancient woolly mammoth DNA.
The scientists also question the direct role of climate change in the eventual demise of these large beasts.
They believe that woolly mammoths survived through the period when the ice sheets were at their maximum, while other Ice Age mammals "crashed out".

Sea level rise by 2100 'below 2m' :

Sea levels globally are very unlikely to rise by more than 2m (7ft) this century, scientists conclude.
Major increases would have to be fuelled by a faster flow of glaciers on the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets.
But writing in the journal Science, a US team concludes that a rise of 2m would need glaciers to reach speeds that are "physically untenable".
However, even increases substantially less than 2m would cause major issues for many societies, they say.
"Even a sea level rise of 20cm (8in) in a century will have quite dramatic implications," said Shad O'Neel from the US Geological Service (USGS).

US lobbyist jailed for corruption :

Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.
Abramoff had pleaded guilty in a Washington court to charges of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favours.
The case caused a scandal in Washington and sparked off a wide-ranging public corruption probe.
Abramoff is already serving a six-year term for his role in an unrelated fraudulent Florida casino deal.

McCain vows to fight to change US :

John McCain has accepted the Republican Party's candidacy for the White House in a speech to cheering supporters at the party's national convention.
He vowed to bring change to government, restore the people's trust in the party and to fight for a better nation.
Praising his running mate Sarah Palin, he said she was the right person to help him bring change to Washington.
The Arizona senator said he respected Democratic rival Barack Obama and would seek a bipartisan approach to politics.
Presenting himself once again as a maverick, he pledged to fight corruption, whether Democratic or Republican, and make sure that he worked for the good of the American people.
"Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming," Mr McCain told the crowds in St Paul, Minnesota.