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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will address the nation for the first time on July 7 after completion of first 100-day in government.

His address will be telecasted live on radio and TV.

The prime minister will express his views on the issues of country’s prevailing political and economic condition, causes of price hike and other important issues. Gilani will talk about defence budget in his speech.

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush on Saturday urged Americans to be proud of their country and hailed the role played by the US military in various parts of the world.

"We live in a nation founded on the power of an idea, a nation where opportunity is limited only by imagination, and a nation that has done more than any other to spread the light of liberty throughout the world," the president said in his weekly radio address one day after the nation celebrated Independence Day.

"Today, that light shines as brightly as it did in 1776," Bush added.

The president pointed out that today, members of the US armed forces continued the "proud tradition of defending liberty."

"In places like Afghanistan and Iraq, many risk their lives every day to protect America and uphold the principle that human freedom is the birthright of all people and a gift from the Almighty," he said. "These brave Americans make it possible for America to endure as a free society."

NEW YORK - The nation's largest fireworks display exploded in a spectrum of color over the East River, temporarily stealing the spotlight from New York's world-famous skyline and helping to create a brilliant end to a day of July Fourth celebrations nationwide.

More than 3 million people had been expected to attend the New York display, though no crowd estimates were immediately given. It had been moved south along the river this year so onlookers could get a better view of the skyline.

Spectators thronged the riverfront in a light rain, some holding red, white and blue umbrellas.

Edwin Aleman staked out his viewing spot in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn hours before the show.

"These are million-dollar views," he told WNYW-TV. "This is what New York City is all about: the views, the skyline."

More than 35,000 shells sparkled, arched, spiked and fanned over the river during the half-hour show, launched from barges in two areas. It was televised on NBC to songs including "Give My Regards to Broadway," the "Tennessee Waltz" and, of course, "Yankee Doodle."

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Gunmen in a dangerous part of southern Afghanistan assassinated an Afghan lawmaker, while a roadside bomb militants were planting detonated prematurely, killing 10 Taliban, officials said Saturday.

The gunmen killed parliament member and former military commander Habibullah Jan after he visited an Afghan army compound in the Zhari district of Kandahar late Friday, said Kandahar provincial council member Bismillih Afghanmul.

Zhari is a volatile part of Kandahar contested heavily by militants and Canadian forces over the last two years.

Taliban fighters have frequently targeted Afghan officials, but Jan's death was the first of a parliamentarian in months.

In neighboring Helmand province, militants planting a roadside bomb detonated the device prematurely, killing 10 Taliban, said police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

The fact one bomb killed so many men appears to reflect the increased size of explosives Taliban fighters have been using in recent months. The bigger bombs — long used in Iraq but a fairly new phenomenon in Afghanistan — are shredding through heavily armored U.S. and NATO vehicles and killing multiple soldiers in one attack.

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BERLIN: A wax figure of Adolf Hitler had its head ripped off soon after the opening of a new branch of Madame Tussauds in Berlin, police said Saturday.

A 41-year-old Berliner had been arrested and faced charges of causing criminal damage and bodily harm, after he pushed away a security guard and a museum official who tried to stop him, spokesman Uwe Kozelnik said.

"He wanted to protest against Hitler's figure being on show," Kozelnik said, adding that the model had been withdrawn from display for repairs.

Kizelnik said the man had been questioned and was expected to be released later. The museum official, aged 32, had suffered a slight leg injury in the scuffle.

The decision to portray the Nazi dictator among the 70 famous figures in German history in the museum has proved controversial in the country.

In order not to give the impression that Hitler was in any way a figure to be revered, he appears as a broken man in a mock-up of his bunker just before final defeat at the end of World War II.

Ironically he is behind a table, with the aim of preventing visitors to the museum in central Berlin from damaging the waxwork, or posing for photographs with it.

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