Washington, Sept 23: After last Saturday’s devastating suicide attack on a five-star hotel in Islamabad killing 60 people, US intelligence officials have said that Pakistan was in a “downward security spiral”, as militants were taking advantage of a new civilian government in exploiting the growing anti-American sentiment in the country.

They said that the Pakistan government was caught in a dilemma, as their inaction was giving al Qaeda “power”, and if they react too forcefully it could generate a “backlash from the people”.

New York, Sept 23: In the aftermath of the Saturday’s hotel blast in Islamabad killing 60 persons, the US State Department has said that Washington needed to carry on working with Pakistan and Afghanistan in combating terrorism.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that the massive blast showed why all the three – the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan – needed to work together in fighting out terrorism.

“If you look at what happened on Saturday, this is an example of why we, the Pakistanis, the Afghans, need to work and redouble our efforts to counter extremism in this region. We’ll continue to work with the Pakistanis on trying to deal with the Taliban and Al Qaeda threat,” the Daily Times quoted Wood as saying.

The Asian operations of US bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers is acquired by Japanese financial services major Nomura. 

The agreement was signed by the executives of both groups as per the reports of UK daily, Financial Times. Nomura is a leading Tokyo-based company and the largest security firm of Japan.

The financial operations would include investment banking, fixed income and equities of entire Asian region franchise. The South Korean operations of Lehmans would not be covered under the plan on some technical grounds. 

Congress started challenging a 700-billion-dollar White House plan to rescue the US financial system Monday as US stocks plunged more than 3 per cent and industrialized countries pledged action to ensure global economic stability.

On Wall Street, the last two remaining major investment banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, left the high-wire world of risk to become bank-holding companies with the approval of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve.

Washington - The next US president could soon be headed on a tour of Asia, if advisors to major-party candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have their way.

At a debate between foreign policy aides to the candidates, sponsored by the National Bureau of Asian Research, advisors to both the Democrat and Republican nominees said they would encourage their candidates to travel to Asia on their first international trip after the November 4 elections.

New York - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Monday at the United Nations in New York in the face of protests, amid the US presidential election fray.

Jewish-American groups held a rally Monday morning outside UN headquarters in New York and planned another major demonstration on Tuesday, when Ahmadinejad is to give his formal address to the General Assembly.

The rally was catapulted into the US political limelight last week after it emerged that Sarah Palin, vice presidential running mate of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, was scheduled to speak.