WASHINGTON: The United States slapped Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, with terrorism charges on Wednesday for his alleged role in the murder of seven Americans at a CIA base in Afghanistan.

The Justice Department move came as the State Department added the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to a blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations, which means members face asset freezes and travel bans.

NEW ORLEANS – Engineers don't expect to see another gusher when they delicately remove a cap on the blown-out Gulf of Mexico well that spawned the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The planned removal of the cap Thursday is a prelude to raising the massive blowout preventer that failed to prevent the disaster.

LAS VEGAS – Paris Hilton was banned Wednesday from two Wynn resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, and her boyfriend was dismissed as a nightclub partner following their arrests in a vehicle that police said reeked of marijuana.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne told The Associated Press that Hilton is barred from Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

Meanwhile, boyfriend Cy Waits was "separated" from his job after less than a week as top managing partner of the Tryst Nightclub at Wynn and XS The Nightclub at Encore, Dunne said in a statement.

TAUNTON, England: Pakistan will get the opportunity to test the form and fitness of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul when they take on Somerset in a warm-up match here at the County Ground on Thursday (today).
Shoaib and Gul will be replacing tainted pace duo Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who will miss today’s game because of alleged involvement in a ‘spot-fixing’ scandal. Salman Butt, the Pakistan Test captain, will also miss the warm-up match as he is in London, along with Asif and Amir, to meet PCB and ICC officials.

KARACHI: Local gold surged by Rs400 a tola to touch Rs39,600 following a rise in the international gold prices, dealers said.
Local bullion rates increased by Rs342 to Rs33,942 per 10 grams from Rs33,600 a day earlier. It is the second highest rally in three months, a dealer said.
“Rising prices in the international market pushed up the local rates. The local rates were still shy of record high of Rs39,950 a tola recorded on June 28, 2010,” said a Karachi-based gold dealer, M Hanif.

SIALKOT: Five apprehended policemen, accused in Sialkot’s brother murder case including former DPO Waqar Chauhan, have been sent on judicial remand for 7 days on Wednesday morning, Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, accused DPO Sialkot was not handcuffed while police produced him in an anti-terrorism court through a secret route for sake of judicial remand.

Arrested accused of Sialkot Tragedy were brought to court on a prisoner van as their faces were covered with hands cuffed.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday that a deadly Hamas attack in the West Bank "is not going to stop us" in the quest for Middle East peace as he opened a Washington summit to relaunch face-to-face Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Wading into a new round of Middle East diplomacy in the face of deep skepticism over his chances for success, Obama condemned as "senseless slaughter" the ambush that killed four Israeli settlers on Tuesday in the occupied West Bank.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Backed by the Tea Party Express and Sarah Palin, a little-known conservative lawyer from Alaska became the latest newcomer to the national political stage to take down an incumbent in 2010.

In arguably the biggest political upset of the year, Joe Miller claimed the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate when incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded Tuesday evening. Murkowski gave up after failing to gain much ground in an count of outstanding absentee ballots.