MIRANSHAH (March 18, 2010): US missile strikes killed at least 10 militants on Wednesday. The first attack struck Hamzoni, a village in North Waziristan, where five missiles slammed into two vehicles at around 7:15 am (0215 GMT), a senior security official told AFP. "Five militants were killed in the missile strike," the official said.

PESHAWAR (March 18, 2010): Suspected militants armed with rockets and petrol bombs ambushed a security checkpoint in north-west Pakistan, killing five policemen before dawn on Wednesday, officials said. The attack took place at Speen Qabar checkpoint, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) south-west of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, where militants routinely attack security forces.

WASHINGTON (March 18, 2010): Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao discussed regional issues with US officials over the last two days and briefed them about last month's talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir. "Discussions (with American officials) also focused on regional issues including India's neighbourhood. Foreign Secretary briefed the US side about her talks with the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan last month," the Indian embassy said here on Tuesday.

VASCO (March 18, 2010): India on Wednesday said 42 militant training camps were operating in Pakistan and accused the country's government of making little effort to close them. The accusation came after the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met last month for the first official talks since the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which India blames on Pakistani militants.

WASHINGTON (March 18, 2010): US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake will meet with Pakistani leaders from wide ranging fields when he visits the country as part of South Asian tour which will also take him to India and Afghanistan. "In Pakistan, he will meet with federal and provincial officials, civil society representatives, religious leaders, and business representatives in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore," a State Department spokesman said Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2010): President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday became the first President to donate all his body organs, after signing a landmark bill to regulate transplant of human organs in the country. The President made the announcement of "donating his whole body" after his life, as he inked the document in a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, also attended among others by federal ministers and health experts.

ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2010): Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has reiterated "not to be in a rush" in launching new offensives in the country's border areas, and said focus will be on first holding the territory captured from the militants. "We have to hold areas first and we should not be in a rush. We have to consolidate," the Prime Minister said in response to a question regarding the next steps in war against terrorism, in an interview with daily Financial Times.

ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2010): Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan on Wednesday said a summary for the establishment of Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been sent to the President and Prime Minister. Addressing a function of Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA).

ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2010): Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik on Wednesday said the defunct Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) were behind 90 percent terrorist strikes in Punjab. "They are operating on the instructions of their foreign masters with the ulterior motives to destabilise Pakistan," Malik said while briefing media about the special meeting of Federal Cabinet on law and order held here on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2010): The Interior Ministry has failed to pay any attention to the biggest challenge in the security of Islamabad, Margalla Hills, and thereby to ensure a proper security set up to avert any possible terrorist infiltration from the hills.