DUBAI - DUBAI'S shock alert of possible debt default will send Gulf markets plunging when they reopen this week after a four-day break, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi worst hit, economists predicted on Sunday.

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates said it is providing banks with extra liquidity, stressing its support to the banking sector after state-owned conglomerate Dubai World asked to suspend debt payments.

LONDON - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Pakistan on Sunday to step up its action against Al-Qaeda and hunt down leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.

'We have got to ask the Pakistani security forces, army and politicians to join us in the major effort that the world is committing resources to, not only to isolate Al-Qaeda but to break them in Pakistan,' Mr Brown told BBC television.

THE declining productivity of Singapore's workers is likely to be a key issue tackled by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) when it releases its recommendations in January.

This will be a problem the government-led panel - chaired by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and set up to find new ways for Singapore to grow over the medium term - should address, say economists.

PHOTOS of a radiant Ms Lo Hwei Yen on her wedding day greet you as soon as the lift door opens to Mr Michael Puhaindran's condominium apartment in Marine Parade.

Stepping inside the two-bedroom unit, it is clear Ms Lo, his wife, is still mistress of the house.