ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told the Supreme Court that the government would comply with a long-standing demand to reopen an old corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari, defusing a conflict that led to the ousting of the last prime minister. Zardari, who is in Switzerland, is likely in little immediate danger from the case. He is recognised as enjoying immunity from prosecution as a foreign head of state. The Pakistani government had refused for months to follow the court's order to write a letter to Swiss authorities asking them to reopen the case. AP
MANILA - The Philippines said it would deport nearly 400 illegal immigrants from mainland China and Taiwan accused of running a multimillion-dollar online and phone scam. Members of the criminal gang allegedly made calls or sent e-mails posing as police officers or state prosecutors to dupe victims in China into believing their bank accounts were being used by terrorists. The scam targeted the elderly and involved persuading them to transfer their savings to a bank account controlled by the gang. AFP