ISLAMABAD (Pakistan) - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday pledged more technical support and funding to help Pakistan and India battle terrorism in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people.

Mr Brown made the offers as he made whirlwind visits to both nations' capitals and tried to calm tensions following the assaults, which India has blamed on a Pakistani-based Islamist group.

BANGKOK - THAILAND was wracked by tensions on Sunday on the eve of a vote for a new prime minister, after former leader Thaksin Shinawatra weighed in from exile to demand an end to army interference in politics.

MPs are due on Monday to choose Thailand's third premier in four months, with opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva set to win after the pro-Thaksin government was toppled by a court order and then hit by a series of defections.

FROM next month, needy elderly Singaporeans can be treated by private general practitioners for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol - at prices subsidised by the Government.

This means savings of up to $240 a year for those with one of the conditions, and up to $360 a year for those with two or more conditions.

SINGAPORE'S paddlers finished the season in style after lifting both the women's and men's doubles titles at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in Macau.

Top-seeds Li Jiawei and Sun Beibei scorched South Koreans Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young 11-5 ,6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 in the women's final, before compatriots Gao Ning and Yang Zi gave cause for a double celebration.