Islamabad - Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday tried to lessen military tensions with Pakistan as he met the country's senior military and civilian leadership.

During his visit, Pakistani helicopter gunships and artillery pounded Taliban militant positions in the country's lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border, killing at least 19 rebels, the army said.

The US pursuit of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants inside Pakistan's tribal belt has strained relations between the two allies and the officials of the two countries have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks.

Islamabad - Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday tried to lessen military tensions with Pakistan as he met the senior military and civilian leadership in Islamabad.

The US pursuit of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants inside Pakistan's tribal regions has strained relations between the two allies and the officials of the two countries have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks.

Mullen met Pakistan's military chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in the garrison town of Rawalipindi and later held a meeting with the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the capital city.

Frankfurt - German stocks regained some ground Wednesday, with nervous investors encouraged that Washington had agreed to bail out the insurance giant American International Group (AIG) with 85 billion dollars.

By mid-morning, the DAX index was running at 6,017, up 0.9 per cent, with investors piling into German bank stocks despite continuing concern Wednesday in London about the outlook for a British bank, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

Deutsche Bank pulled 2.1 per cent higher to 52.83 euros and Commerzbank, which had slumped 22 per cent in the past few days, rebounded 3.4 per cent to 14.44 euros.

Berlin - Berlin demanded an inquiry Wednesday into why Germany's federal-government bank KfW handed over a reported 300 million euros (420 million dollars) to Lehman Brothers, only hours before the US bank failed.

Financial sources said KfW could only hope to recover about half the sum, with Lehman expected to pay 40 to 50 cents in the dollar to its creditors as it is wound up.

Other sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the bank board would ask KfW chief executive Ulrich Schroeder at a meeting Thursday to explain the blunder. Lehman's impending crash had been world news all Sunday.

Seoul - South Korean companies and financial markets will feel the after-effect of the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in the short term, but officials and analysts are confident that the economy can cope with the turmoil in the long term.

Finance Minister Kang Man Soo told the parliament's financial committee on Wednesday he expected that foreign investors would continue to abandon their interests in the country for the time being.

But it would be unlikely that South Korea will suffer serious repercussions from the current US financial woes, despite the flight of foreign investors, Kang was quoted by the public broadcast station KBS as saying.

Washington, Sept 17 : English comedian Russell Brand gave out sex tips to pop princess Britney Spears, but was left stumped when he tried to demonstrate a bedroom technique.