Lawyers today vowed to defy a ban on public gatherings and protest when Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf files nomination papers tomorrow to formally make his bid for a new five-year term.

Riot police arrested dozens of opposition activists protesting against President General Pervez Musharraf today as Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed two legal challenges to his re-election bid.

A series of bombs in two Bangladesh cities killed at least eight people and injured 66 today in what appeared to be the latest attack by militant Muslims who want to impose harsh Islamic law, officials said.