Briefly World

A NATO helicopter was shot down in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday,killing four troops,the alliance said....

NATO copter shot down in Afghanistan,4 killed

KABUL: A NATO helicopter was shot down in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday,killing four troops,the alliance said. The helicopter was brought down by hostile fire in the volatile Helmand province,NATO said in a statement. It gave no other details. Taliban spokes-person Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack,saying militants shot down the helicopter with two rockets.

N Korea denies sinking South ship in letter to UN

SEOUL: North Korea has sent a letter to the UN Security Council rejecting accusations from South Korea that it was behind the sinking of one of its neighbours navy ships,saying it was the victim of a US-led conspiracy. The letter,addressed to the UN Security Council president from the Norths permanent representative to the body,followed the filing of a complaint by the South last week demanding action by the international community to deter further aggression.

Iran woman journalist gets 30-year ban

Tehran: Iran has sentenced award-winning woman journalist Jila Baniyaghoob to jail for one year and banned her from writing for 30 years over post-election unrest,a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Baniyaghoob,39,has been sentenced to one year in jail and banned from journalistic work for 30 years, daily Shargh said. Baniyaghoob was charged with propaganda against the Islamic regime over her reports on last years disputed presidential poll.

Benigno Aquino new Philippines President

MANILA: The Philippines Congress proclaimed Benigno Aquino III the countrys new President on Wednesday. A joint session by the Senate and House of Representatives voted to formalise the landslide victory of Aquino. Aquino will take his oath as the countrys 15th president on June 30,succeeding Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

NRI-owned jewellery firm ransacked in UK

London: A prominent jewellery shop owned by an Indian origin businessman in the east Midlands town of Leicester has been robbed and ransacked after robbers drove a van into the front of the shop in a daring daylight robbery. Local media reports said that shocked staff and customers at Alankar Jewellers on Gelgrave Road cowered as the balaclava-clad men carried out the raid on Tuesday. The family-owned company has been on Leicesters Golden Mile for almost 40 years.

Data from Pak PMs secretariat stolen

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Official data of the Pakistan PMs secretariat,including some classified documents,has been stolen by persons employed on short-term contracts who accessed a computer system. The kind of information stolen was not immediately clear though Dawn quoted a source as saying that the head of a multi-million rupee project to computerise and safeguard data had run away with classified data.

Pak Army highly motivated,says Gen Kayani

The Pakistan Army is well equipped,highly motivated and fully capable of defeating conventional and unconventional threats to the country,Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said while addressing officers at the Command and Staff College in Quetta. The harmonisation of socio-political,administrative and military strategies will usher in an environment of peace and stability in Pakistan,he said.