UNITED STATES
1. Four US nationals were detained when they were found loitering around the Peshawar Cantonment and refused to show their documents. (Khabrain, Nawa-i- Waqt)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Irfan Siddiqui in his Jang column says that current leadership has no ability or wish to restore peace in Karachi. (Jang)   

2. Arif Bahar writes in his Jasarat column that Anna Hazare has exposed the real shining India to the world at large by showing them its real face of corruption. Pakistan and other neighbouring countries can open up similar debates on the siphoning of foreign aid. Pakistan has a powerful and independent judiciary and a civil society that has been raising issues related to corruption since 1990. (Jasarat)

3. Ibrat editorial:  raising voice against corruption is also a form of jihad. When will an Anna Hazare be born in Pakistan to raise his voice against the evil of corruption in the country? It would be dangerous to even think of creating Tehelka type report on Pakistan as the army is like a ‘sacred cow’.  (Ibrat Edit)

4. Khabrain EDIT: If corruption and violence continue in Karachi then people will stand against the government emulating the example of Anna Hazare. (Khabrain Edit)

5. Naved Masood Hashmi writes in Al Qalam Weekly that like in 1971 now once again insiders and outsiders are conspiring to break the country into pieces. People must establish Islamic rule in Pakistan to protect it from American slavery and other crises. (Al Qalam Weekly, 19-25 Aug.)

6. In his address at a function organized by Nazariy-e-Pakistan Trust, the Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani, as per suggestions from Nazariye-Pakistan-Trust, has issued instructions to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to set up Media Studies Centres that will counter baseless propaganda from anti-Pakistan elements.  (Nawa-i-Waqt)

7. Former President Pervez Musharraf said that he would return to Pakistan regardless of the circumstances on 23rd March next year. (Daily Dharti)

8. 105 security vans were deployed for a high level meeting with the PM in Karachi yesterday even as other parts of the city are rocked by violence.  PM had security cover of 24 vehicles, the Sindh CM and governor had a security convoy of 18 vehicles each, Rehman Malik had security cover of 8 security vehicles, the Sindh Interior Minister had security cover of 10 vehicles while Zulfikar Mirza had security cover of 12 vehicles and for the others the security cover constituted three-to-four vehicles each. (Kawish)

9. Members of the business community, including some important industrialists, had come to meet the PM and tell him about the situation in Karachi but they went back without meeting him as he did not arrive at the time scheduled for the meeting. PM turned up at 3pm when he was supposed to be there at 2pm. (Ibrat)

10. Sindh political veteran Pir Pagaro said that if the army is brought into Karachi it will be followed by martial law. (Ibrat, Khabrain, Nawa-i-Waqt, Daily Pak)

ECONOMY/ENERGY
1.Foreign currency outflows reached 5.58 crore Rupees  this month as foreign investors are pulling out of the Pakistani market due to the poor law and order situation. (Jasarat)

2. Ministry of Economic Affairs has said that Pakistan will receive $1.1 billion under the Kerry Lugar bill this year. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
3. In view of the increasing energy crisis, the government has decided to merge the petroleum and water and electricity ministries under the setup of the Energy Ministry. (Nawa-i-Waqt)

4. Tarbela Dam is filling up rapidly and it is just 7.6 feet short off its full capacity. (Kawish)
Asian Development Bank has decided to give Pakistan aid worth $36.8 million to build wind energy units in order to overcome the energy crises. (Baad-e-Shimal, Nawa-i-Waqt)

PUNJAB
1. Daily Pak Editorial: ‘Mining and blasts near UNESCO’s World Heritage site – the Taxila Museum – have damaged the historical building. (Daily Pak Edit)

SINDH
1. SC has taken suo moto notice of the unrest in Karachi and has sought TV footage of the unrest from television channels. (Ibrat)

2. Sindh cabinet ministers have lodged protests with the PM for not initiating operations against militants in Karachi and have criticized the PPP’s reconciliation policy stating that the time for talks is over and now action must be taken against the guilty. (Ibrat)

3. Nationalist groups in Sindh held rallies to protest the killing of Sindhis and demanded licenses for arms to protect themselves. (Ibrat)

4. PM has given his consent for a surgical strike by police and rangers in and around nine riot-affected areas in Karachi. (Ibrat)

5. SCBA head Asma Jehangir said that setting up ‘peace committees’ by political parties and later using them for political purposes is setting a dangerous precedent. (Ibrat)  

6. Police and Rangers had to be rushed to riot hit pockets of Hyderabad which police believe was a reaction to a call by MQM for a strike. (Ibrat)

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWAH (NWFP/FATA)
1. Unidentified armed men attacked a Peshawar TV Channel team. (Kawish)

2. Pakistan army’s Lahore Garrison sent 14 trucks full of aid articles for IDPS of the Kurram Agency. (Daily Pak)

POK NEWS
1. A cold war has started between the Legislative Assembly speaker and the GB Chief Minister over the Aliabad incident and the arrest of 17 people under the Anti-Terrorism Act yesterday. Government sources said both are holding each other responsible for negligence on the part of the police department and mismanagement in various other departments. Aliabad protests were against police brutality at the funeral for people who died in Hunza valley. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. In spite of the ban on the illegal use of government vehicles this practice is continuing in Gilgit-Baltistan and government officials are using vehicles for their personal use. (Ausaf, 22 Aug.)

3. Commanding officer for the ISI in the Baltistan region attended an Iftar dinner for journalists in Ghanche and stressed that they keep the integrity of Pakistan intact during his speech to them. (Ausaf, 22 Aug.)

4.People of Ashkoman complained that their village lacks the basic facilities of a dispensary and a school and that the women have to travel for half an hour in order to fetch drinking water. (Baad-e-Shimal)

5. Baad-e-Shimal editorial said; the large scale arrests under Anti-Terrorism Act after the Aliabad incident will antagonize people once again and incite them to come out on street. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)