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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is not considering any proposal to grant extension in service to Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani...

Zardari not considering extension to Kayani

LAHORE: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is not considering any proposal to grant extension in service to Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,said PPP spokesperson and parliamentarian Fauzia Wahab,amid reports that he may get another two years in office. Neither the Army Chief nor anyone from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has forwarded a proposal to the President in this regard, Wahab said on Wednesday. Keeping in view past examples,extensions to army chiefs have not proved beneficial for democracy and the country, she said.

Gates in Saudi Arabia to bolster effort against Iran

RIYADH: US Defence Secretary Robert M Gates told the royal family of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that the US wanted to help build up the kingdoms military defences against the growing threat of Iran,but also needed its help in pressing for new UN sanctions on Tehran. Officials said that Gates told King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Sultan that the US was committed to protecting its allies in the Persian Gulf from Iran.

Cyprus ex-leaders stolen body to be reburied

NICOSIA: The body of former Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos is to be reburied three months to the day after it was dug up from its grave and stolen. The ex-leaders family were to hold a brief reburial ceremony on Thursday at the suburban Nicosia cemetery from where the former Presidents body was snatched on December 11. Officials have said the bizarre theft was a case of body-snatching for financial gain.

Jemima posts passport details on Twitter

ISLAMABAD: Jemima Khan,former wife of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan,put out her passports details on Twitter recently in a desperate bid to prove that she is not a fake. Jemima,currently working on a book on Pakistan and quite active on Twitter,got irked when two Pakistani women tweeted about her being an imposter. She surprised them by replying to their tweets,and when they pondered about her genuineness,she scanned her passport and put it up on Twitter.

Greece paralysed by strike over austerity plan

ATHENS: Savage street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens on Thursday as more than 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped governments austerity measures. The strike brought the country to a virtual standstill,grounding flights and bringing public transport to a halt. State hospitals were left with emergency staff as workers walked off the job for 24 hours to protest spending cuts and tax hikes.

Skin-tight outfit causes Lady Gaga to swell up

LONDON: Lady Gaga is a fashion victim. The eccentric singer had to be undressed by cabin staff on a long flight after her body began to swell up due to the skin-tight outfit she was wearing. The singer boarded a long-haul flight from London to Los Angeles wearing black and yellow duct tape draped like a dress and giant blue shoes designed by the late Alexander Mc Queen,reported Sun online. But her outfit was so uncomfortable it brought on the early stages of the potentially deadly deep vein thrombosis.