News brief: Big stories of the day

Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar reached Lahore in early hours of Wednesday after they were released from Adiala Jail Rawalpindi on a 12-hour parole to attend the funeral of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

Kulsoom, Sharif's wife, died Tuesday in London after a long battle with cancer. She was 68. Her body will be brought back to Lahore and buried at the Sharifs' Jati Umra residence. 

Defeated India skipper Virat Kohli took some comfort from a 4-1 drubbing in England, saying the series had revived test cricket.

The final scoreline was harsh on the world`s top-ranked test nation who played a full part in an unpredictable series full of twists and turns, right up to the final day.

A US regulator said on Tuesday it would launch an investigation into an off-road utility vehicle produced by Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd following a complaint by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV that it infringed upon the intellectual property rights of its Jeep design.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said in a statement that it was launching a patent-related investigation into the Indian automaker's Roxor vehicle.

Russia launched Tuesday what it called its largest-ever military drills, with hundreds of thousands of troops taking part along with Chinese soldiers in a show of force NATO condemned as a rehearsal for "large-scale conflict."

President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the games after hosting an economic forum in Russia's far eastern city Vladivostok where his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is one of the prominent guests.

The US State Department on Tuesday expressed deep concern over China's "worsening crackdown" on minority Muslims in the Xinjiang region, as the Trump administration considered sanctions against Chinese senior officials and companies linked to allegations of human rights abuses.

Discussions have gained momentum within the US government over possible economic penalties in response to reports of mass detentions of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, which has prompted a growing international outcry, US congressional sources said.