Award-winning journalist killed in Los Angeles car crash

Hastings won a 2010 George Polk Award for magazine reporting for his Rolling Stone cover story “The Runaway General”. His story was credited with ending General Stanley McChrystal’s career after it revealed the military’s candid criticisms of the Obama administration. AP

Over 6,000 evacuated after blasts at Russian arms depot

Moscow: More than six thousand people were evacuated overnight in central Russia after a series of massive explosions at an arms depot blew out windows and sparked a fire,the emergency situations ministry said Wednesday. The blasts began Tuesday night and continued for hours after being sparked by efforts to dispose of munitions at an arms depot close to the town of Chapayevsk in the Samara region. The depot contained around 18 million shells,the regional Investigative Committee said in a statement. A total of 48 people needed medical treatment and 11 were hospitalised,the regional Investigative Committee said,without specifying the nature of their injuries. The emergency situations ministry used aircraft to drop water on the fire. The situation stabilised Wednesday,it said,with explosions ceasing around 6 am,while a fire continued to blaze. PTI

Can’t revive laundering cases against Zardari: Swiss govt

Islamabad: The Swiss government has officially informed Pakistan that it cannot revive cases of alleged money laundering against President Asif Ali Zardari as the matter is time-barred,Law Minister Zahid Hamid has said.

The Swiss government conveyed its position in a letter sent to Islamabad in February. The letter,however,was opened only Tuesday by Hamid. The “Public Ministry of Geneva has decided not to review the closure order dated August 25,2008 on the ground that the statutory limitation period of 15 years has expired”,an official statement from the Law Ministry said.

Zardari had been accused of laundering $60 million through Swiss banks. AP