ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said transparent disbursement of funds among the poor under Benazir Income Support Fund (BISF) has received international praise.

The Prime Minister said this during a meeting with MNAs here Friday.

He said various development projects for rural areas are under consideration for economic well being of the people and expediting the pace of progress there.

“Many development works could not be initiated in the country due to the ongoing war on terror,” he admitted, adding this further contributed to the problem of unemployment.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – One of the heaviest rainfalls since Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake swamped homeless camps Friday, sweeping screaming residents into eddies of water, overflowing latrines and panicking thousands.

The overnight downpour sent water coursing down the slopes of a former golf course that now serves as a temporary home for about 45,000 people.

There were no reports of deaths in the camp, a town-size maze of blue, orange and silver tarps located behind the country club used by the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne as a forward-operating base.

FAIRFAX, Va. – President Barack Obama described the stakes of this weekend's health care vote in stark terms Friday, using words uttered so rarely out of the White House that they seem all but banned: "If this vote fails."

With the emergence of Ranbir Kapoor as the new face of Pepsi and John Players, the brands’ trusted ambassadors Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan have been elbowed aside. But Ranbir, who has immense respect for his seniors in the film industry, sees it differently.

LAHORE: New coach of the national cricket team Waqar Younis said that the team performance would be affected by bans and fines on senior players but he hoped that the remaining experienced players in the team would provide support to new players.

He said this while talking with media on Friday here at the Allama Iqbal Airport after arriving from Sydney.

He said that he was not consulted regarding the action taken against the players.

Waqar Younis said that the team’s performance would be raised by injecting discipline and confidence into the team.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said youth wings of some political parties provoked protestors in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Talking to media outside Parliament House here on Friday, Interior Minister said stern action will be taken against those involved in violent incidents. Government is in touch with administration, student leaders and transporters. Strict measures will be taken to restore law and order, he added.

KARACHI: The World Water Day would be observed on March 22. This was announced by an official of the Mass Awareness for Water Conservation and Development Project (MAWCD) here on Friday.

He said that the MAWCD would mark the occasion in collaboration with University of Karachi's Department of Geology and the Institute of Environmental Studies as well as the Society of Economic Geologists and Mineral Technologists (SEGMITE).

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Dr Fahmida Mirza urged the fellow parliamentarians to attach more importance to the issues of public importance, saying people upset over price hike were looking toward the Parliament.

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the lower house that he had ordered the police not to open fire on protestors. However, he regretted that fire was opened on the Bhara Kahu demonstrators in retaliation of a policeman kidnap.

SEOUL, South Korea – The North Korean's note, scrawled in pen, was simple: "I want to go to South Korea. Why? To find freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom of life."

The ex-logger, on the run from North Korean authorities, handed the note over to a South Korean missionary in the Russian city of Vladivostok last week in hopes it would lead to political asylum.

BAGHDAD – Almost seven years after the first bombs in the war to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraqis went about their business Friday with little observance of the anniversary, looking to the future with a mixture of trepidation and hope.

The seven-year anniversary comes as Iraqis await results from the country's second nationwide parliamentary election, a key milestone that will determine who will oversee Iraq as U.S. forces go home.

MADRID – The wreckage of Spain's economic growth model stands neatly aligned on the roads leading out of Madrid — row after row of unsold houses, windows dark, for-sale signs out front.

Spain and other countries on Europe's financially stricken fringe are groping for a new basis from economic growth to put people to work and pay down crushing deficits and debts. In Spain's case, something to start generating jobs for 4 million unemployed people amid the rubble of an unsustainable construction and housing boom.

FAIRFAX, Va. – President Barack Obama says Congress should ignore the politics around his health care overhaul and remember that the unpopular proposals that created Medicare and Social Security passed with lawmakers' courage.

Obama on Friday made a final push for legislation that Congress was set to vote on during a high-profile Sunday session. Obama says the health proposal is similar to Social Security and Medicare, which were widely criticized when they were debated but ultimately passed.

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has awarded central contracts to 37 players but it ignored five senior cricketers Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and former captains Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik while announcing the central contracts here on Friday.

The PCB has placed 18 players in three categories while 19 cricketers have succeeded in getting special monthly stipends.

Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Abdul Razzaq, Mohamamd Asif and Danish Kaneria were placed in "A" category and they will earn Rs250,000 a month.