Health experts fighting the killer Marburg virus in northern Angola said Monday they were facing denial from families who are refusing to send their sick to hospitals or are taking them out of the city, worsening the risk of contamination. A massive publi

Sudan sought $2.6 billion from donors on Monday to help its south recover after Africa's longest civil war amid UN warnings of mounting hunger and calls for Khartoum to end violence in its Darfur region. Former rebels and Sudan's government vowed to stick

Kyrgyzstan's parliament has ended days of uncertainty by accepting ousted president Askar Akayev's resignation and setting July 10 as the date for presidential elections in this mountainous Central Asian country. The former Soviet republic's parliament ap

Three suicide car bombers blew themselves up outside a US military base in a volatile area of Iraq near the Syrian border on Monday, as a US contractor was feared to have been kidnapped near Baghdad. The renewed violence came as Iraq moved closer to formi

Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas flew an unmanned surveillance drone over northern Israel on Monday, the guerrilla group and the Israeli army said. "In response to repeated and continuous enemy violations of Lebanese airspace, the surveillance plane Mersad

Top Lebanese officials agreed on Monday on the make-up of a new pro-Syrian government that had been threatened by last-minute squabbling over the electoral law and key cabinet portfolios, a senior political source said. The line-up would include 30 mainly

India on Monday began an eight-year project to build an aircraft carrier in its most ambitious military programme to date, officials said. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched the construction of the 37,500-tonne carrier at the state-run Cochin Ship

At least 65 Hindu pilgrims in central India who had come for a dip in a holy river were drowned and dozens were missing after a dam upstream released water for power generation, officials said on Monday. The incident occurred early on Saturday in Dharaji

John Bolton, the hawkish administration candidate to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, vowed Monday to work with other countries to make a success of the world body that he frequently has dismissed as corrupt and irrelevant. "If confirmed, I ple

Twelve suspected Taleban militants died Monday in air strikes by US helicopter gunships and tankbuster jets in south-eastern Afghanistan, officials said. Two members of the US-led coalition were also injured after fighting broke out early Monday in Paktia

Up to 200 workers are believed trapped in the rubble of an eight-storey factory building that collapsed in Bangladesh Monday, killing at least 20 people, officials said. The concrete building, packed with night-shift workers, caved in soon after midnight

The Palestinian Authority on Monday accused US President George W. Bush of "legitimising" Israeli settlement activity after he said it was unrealistic to expect a full return to borders set in 1949. "What is needed now is to start to apply the roadmap. Th

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday reaffirmed his support for a Palestinian state with contiguous territory in the West Bank after meeting here with US President George W. Bush. "We would like the Palestinians to govern themselves in their own

Thousands of villagers rioted in eastern China, injuring dozens of police, after two of about 200 elderly women protesting over factory pollution died during efforts to disperse them, residents and officials said on Monday. The rioting on Sunday in Huanka

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz will meet US President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch this month with the fight against terrorism set to be high on the agenda. Abdullah will hold talks with Bush on April 24 during

Police took precautionary measures at the US Capitol on Monday after a man in dark clothing was spotted outside the building with a pair of suitcases. Police moved people away from windows on the west side of the building, near where the man was being wat

Sterling hit its highest level against the dollar in over a week on Monday, cheered by data showing an improvement in Britain's trade position and a pick-up in producer and house price inflation. Britain's global goods deficit narrowed to 4.8 billion poun

The dollar turned tail from last week's multi-month highs on Monday as investors fretted data this week could put the spotlight back on the United States' external deficit problems. US trade figures due on Tuesday and forecast to show the deficit widened

US stocks were little changed on Monday as a profit warning from Ford Motor Co weighed on the auto sector while crude oil prices rebounded late in the session. Ford, the No 2 US automaker, slid nearly 6 percent to $10.37 after it slashed its 2005 earnings

Further woes in the auto bond sector and persistent take-over speculation dragged European corporate bonds lower on Monday, but Ericsson and Alcatel outperformed the market after rating upgrades. Moody's Investors Service upgraded Sweden's Ericsson to inv

Further woes in the auto bond sector and persistent take-over speculation dragged European corporate bonds lower on Monday, but Ericsson and Alcatel outperformed the market after rating upgrades. Moody's Investors Service upgraded Sweden's Ericsson to inv

Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Monday.

Britain's FTSE 100 ended lower on Monday, breaking a four-day winning streak, with shares in Royal Bank of Scotland among the biggest fallers on talk it might spend 2 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) buying a stake in a Chinese bank. RBS shares ended 1.7 per

Copper ended higher on Monday but was off a new all-time peak of $3,320 a tonne set earlier in the day on the London Metal Exchange (LME). Profit-taking and technical resistance checked the peaks, traders said. "The advances were exaggerated in thin and c

Cotton futures finished marginally higher Monday in activity dominated by switch trade as players transfer their positions out of spot May before it goes into delivery on April 25, brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's key May contract rose 0.06 cen

Gold rose in Europe on Monday, with investors watching a jittery dollar ahead of Tuesday's US trade data, which could re-kindle worries about its deficits and heighten bullion's safe haven allure, dealers said. Silver also vied for the limelight on precio

Oil prices ended a week-long losing streak on Monday, as expectations for high gasoline demand during the summer season countered swelling US crude stockpiles and the specter of Opec hiking supplies again. US light crude settled up 39 cents to $53.71 a ba

Friday's Rotterdam vegetable oil prices at 1700 GMT.

Friday's Rotterdam vegetable oil prices at 1700 GMT.

Raw sugar futures were called flat to 0.03 cent firmer Monday as the market recovers from its sharp fall of late last week, floor sources said. The New York Board of Trade's May raw sugar contract dropped 0.18 cent or 2.08 percent to close Friday at 8.48

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were stable by Monday's mid-session, as traders eyed a market caught between oversold technical signals and a big supply of feed grains world-wide, traders said. May corn was 1/4 cent lower at $2.03-3/4 per bushel by 11

Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade turned higher late Monday on a short-covering bounce after spending most of the session lower, traders said. "The market held support ... buy stops were hit late above $6.10 inn May," said one floor broker. A

Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were narrowly mixed early on Monday, with the market attempting to recover from sharp declines on Friday, traders said. At 10:10 am (1510 GMT), wheat was up 1/2 cent per bushel to down 3/4 cent. May was up 1/2 a

US gold futures were higher Monday morning, hitting a more than two-week peak before paring gains, as dealers tracked a weaker dollar before Tuesday's US data on international trade. Silver scaled a three-week peak, likewise buoyed by the firmer euro and

Hino - from generation to generation, believes in the transfer of technology. With strict quality control and constant supervision of Japanese experts, landmark technologies have been successfully transferred from Hino Japan to Hinopak in the past and wil

Shipbuilding is a highly complex, competitive and capital intensive industry and requires long term planning due to ever increasing thrust of technology and competition in the market. A Shipyard equipped to construct sea going vessels for Merchant Navy, W

The quest for quality goes back long way in history. In earlier Centuries, civilisations relied on craftsmanship Skills were shifted from generation to generation, from parents to children, from masters to apprentice and from teachers to students. With th

The metrology, Standards, Testing and Quality (MSTQ) infrastructure is necessary as an essential building block for industrial development in a country and is the key to industrial progress. The need for standardisation and quality control was realised so

Local press workers and journalist will observe token pen-down strike here on Tuesday (April 12) in protest against the arrest of senior journalist Qari Abdul Khaliq. The decision was taken at a meeting of Faisalabad Union of Journalists (FUJ), which was

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed referring to Pakistan and Arab world has said that media in this region has a responsibility to educate masses and enable them to process the information coming from many sources and particular

An exhibition of ink sketches by Ahmad Bilal titled 'Expression of sub-conscious' will be held at the Coopera Art Gallery here from April 14 to 23. The display will be inaugurated by Secretary Information, Culture and Youth Affairs Punjab, Taimur Azmat Os

Tahreek -e-Istiqlal President Rehmat Khan Wardag has urged upon the political parties and citizens to play their due role for the progress and prosperity of the country. Talking to APP here on Monday, he said the opposition had a definitive role and impor

Minister for Privatisation and Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said that a number of agreements, signed between Chain and Pakistan during the visit of Chines Premier, would prove to be a quantum jump in economic ties between the two countries. Speak

Imam of Harmain Sharifain will arrive Pakistan to attend an International Ulema Conference here starting from May 4, said Minister for Population Welfare Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain on Monday. Addressing a press conference here, he said ulema and scho

Independent Democratic Group Chairman Syed Fakhar Imam said that southern Punjab should get its financial rights, shares in superior services of province and centre, shares in educational, communication and health facilities first, otherwise it would be a

The government's decision to involve farmers in the irrigation management process will strengthen and sustain the irrigation system in the country. The Managing Director, Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority (PIDA), Aslam Qureshi said this while addre

The Punjab government has decided to re-introduce the inter-city bus service to provide comfortable and sate travelling facilities in the province. Provincial Minister for Tourism Mian Aslam Iqbal said that the bus service would be launched initially for

Hundreds of women and children have taken out a protest procession against continuous price hike and arrests of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leaders and workers. The procession, organised by the (MMA), was led by Najma Khanum, Sidrah Batool, Umat-ul-

Rivers flooding, US soldiers at the border and corrupt militias losing their jobs and weapons - life as a drug smuggler in southern Afghanistan isn't what it used to be for Ahmed January. Getting convoys of 60 or 70 off-road vehicles, each filled with a t

I would like to bring the following to the attention of the concerned authorities, small investors and so also the public at large: The Board of Directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange and SECP have awakened to amending the rules for a future contracts an

In North Korea's decades-long struggle with the United States, it is perhaps the Communist nation's favourite trophy. The USS Pueblo, a 53.8-metre-long (176.5-foot-long) ship the North Koreans seized in 1968 in a move that almost brought the nations to wa

It is not possible to determine the precise amount of revenue loss and size of black money or informal economy in Pakistan. Revenue loss estimated by World Bank because of smuggling in 1992-93 amounted to 5.08 billion dollars. In 2003 its quantum was esti

According to a news report in this newspaper, Brigadier Abid Haider Kazmi, Director General, National Database and Registration Authority, while briefing Sindh Governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan a day earlier, spoke of Nadra's newly developed Vehicle Identif

Last week Islamabad hosted two important events - a high level seminar on "Economic Co-operation in Asia", followed by a ministerial council meeting - to push forward the process of Asian economic integration that was initiated by Thailand in 2002 under t

The food ministry is likely to submit to the federal cabinet by end of this month the draft livestock policy aimed at enhancing the indigenous meat production five percent per annum for next half a decade from its current level of 2 million tonnes a year.

Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and all the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday expressed their heart-felt condolences on the sad demise of Raja Mohammad Anwar, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, who die

Ministry of Women Development will formulate legislation on "domestic violence against women" incorporating recommendations from all stakeholders to make it viable. The civil society organisations, lawyers and parliamentarians will participate in "nationa

US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, along with his team, called on NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani here at Frontier House and agreed to reinforce the existing developmental ties between US and NWFP. The American envoy sought long-term developmental partner

The Economic Affairs Division on Monday approved a major project costing 11.9 million dollars to conserve the wetlands of Pakistan paving the way for the implementation of the first of its kind in South Asia. In this connection an agreement was signed bet

Four polio cases have been reported from the country during first three months of the current calendar year with one each from NWFP and Sindh and two from Punjab. This was stated by a WHO Representative Dr Samiullah, while briefing the journalists on Poli

The Supreme Court on Monday re-fixed for hearing on Wednesday the appeal by Pakistan International Airlines against judgement of Sindh High Court favouring its hostesses. The case was originally listed for Monday but could not be heard due to lack of time

The weather report on Monday (April 11) and the forecast for Tuesday (April 12, 2005).

The programme of President Pervez Musharraf's visit to India from April 16-18 had not been finalised so far, a spokesman of the Foreign Office told newsmen here on Monday. The details of the visit, he said were being discussed with the Indian government a

The latest close of key indices on major world stock exchanges and the London closing values of the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound and gold bullion (previous day's closes in brackets).

The Auditor General of Pakistan, Yunus Khan, has said that auditors of AG Office rarely visit the business premises of registered units as sales tax audit is conducted by the 'internal auditors' of Central Board of Revenue (CBR). He told Business Recor