USA war

Now they could realize that trusting them is a job for the fools.Should not Parvez Musharraf be punished?

Pakistan's prime minister warned President Barack Obama on Friday that US attacks on Islamic militants in Pakistani territory are inflaming tensions and undermining efforts to quell the insurgency in Afghanistan.

Under the Bush administration, US officials complained the Pakistani government wasn't doing enough to confront militants that are allied with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. US forces have staged a number of missile strikes, and at least one ground attack, aimed at extremists based in Pakistan.

"As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are successfully isolating the militants from the local tribes, and we are keeping the tribes on the right side," Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said during an event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Obama has pledged to shift the US military's focus away from Iraq and on to Afghanistan and Pakistan, which he calls the central front in the struggle against terrorist groups.

Gilani said Richard Holbrooke, the new US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, will visit Pakistan on Feb. 9.

"The focus of President Obama and our forces and our resolve is the same to fight against extremism and terrorism," he said.

But Gilani said US attacks inside Pakistan are inflaming anti-American sentiment. "Therefore that would not be useful. It would be counterproductive," he said.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb hit a Pakistani army convoy near a Taliban stronghold, killing three soldiers and wounding another six, the army said yesterday.

Assailants detonated the bomb Friday evening as the convoy rolled through a village near the Swat valley, an army spokesman said. He requested anonymity, citing policy.

Pakistan's military has vowed to reinvigorate the efforts of thousands of soldiers stationed in Swat, a formerly peaceful region where Taliban militants have gained ground during 18 months of fighting.

The valley is separate from the tribal regions along the Afghan border where Taliban and al-Qaeda sanctuaries are under attack from Pakistani troops and unmanned US aircraft.

Anti Malarial Kit

To protect people from mosquitoes and its harmful effect, recently used anti mosquito nets are widely used.

Hundreds of millions of mosquito nets and anti-malaria kits are to be distributed by 2010, officials behind a campaign to halt about one million malaria deaths a year said yesterday.

But they urged donors not to ditch the campaign because of the economic crisis, saying there was a real chance the malaria epidemic could be eliminated in coming years.

"The resources to attack this problem -- to eliminate malaria deaths -- is there. We can achieve universal distribution of bed nets, of malaria medicine, of indoor spraying within 2010," said Rajat Kumar Gupta, who chairs the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In sub-Saharan Africa alone, some 600 million people are said to be at risk from the disease. Scott Case, a campaigner, said this means 300 million bed nets are required in the region.

Corporate leaders from Standard Chartered Bank, ExxonMobil and News Corporation have come together to launch a 100-million-dollar (78-million-euro) fund-raising campaign.

"We had a good start ... 40 million dollars of the 100 million dollars has been committed," said Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive officer.

He said he thinks funding can be found despite the economic crisis, if the campaign can "demonstrate to donors that their investment for eradication has a return."

Anti Malarial Kit

To protect people from mosquitoes and its harmfull effect,

Revolusion

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran's Islamic revolution was not limited to its borders, as the country paid tribute to the man who led the overthrow of the shah 30 years ago.

"The revolution is lively and alive after 30 years," Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the return from exile of the father of the revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"We are still at the beginning of the path and greater changes are ahead. This thunderous revolution will continue until justice is implemented," the firebrand president said.

"Although the Islamic revolution happened in Iran it is not limited to Iranian borders."

Ahmadinejad was joined at the ceremony at Khomeini's mausoleum in southern Tehran by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as members of the government and military commanders.

Low Salary

Is low salary ,the only cause for resign?

A Pakistan newspaper has reported that Javed Miandad resigned from his position as director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) because of an insufficient salary. The News, a Karachi-based daily, has carried a handwritten letter from Wasim Bari, the director of HR and administration, to Saleem Altaf, the PCB's chief operating officer, after discussing the contract with Miandad.

The report said Miandad was offered Rs 500,000 (US$6,300) per month in the contract which the former Test captain and coach refused last Wednesday, resigning from the position he had held since November.

"He [Miandad] earns 75,000 rupees/50,000 rupees for a one hour program on TV," Bari's letter read. "As he is a renowned international cricketer therefore he should be paid accordingly as [former India coach] Greg Chappell and [former Pakistan coach] Geoff Lawson."

The letter also said that Miandad wanted to take full charge of all cricketing affairs so that he could bring the desired results.

Indian Premiere League

Pakistan gave permission to the players to participate in the IPL matches. If it is , why not in ICL?

Pakistan's cricketers have been given the green light to participate in this year's IPL by the country's sports ministry, but they were told that their security would be their own and their IPL franchise's responsibility.

"The players can individually decide what they want to do and we have no objections to them going to India for the IPL matches," sports minister Pir Aftab Shah Jillani said. "The [Pakistan Cricket] Board has asked for our comments for individual players and not a national team so we have given our NOC [no objection certificate] and sent it to the President's Secretariat for further action."

He explained that the ministry did not allow the national hockey and squash teams to travel to India for international tournaments earlier because they had to take into consideration the tense relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

The Pakistan players stood to lose all their money from their lucrative IPL contracts if their government had blocked them from participating in the tournament. Some IPL franchises had also expressed uncertainty over the future of Pakistan players on their books, mostly because the current political climate could lead to extended visa restrictions.

Australian Open Tennis

Ya , she got the honor back. Again it is the reign of Williams.

Serena Williams thrashed Russia's Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to win her fourth Australian Open title Saturday, bringing up her 10th Grand Slam and reclaiming the world number one ranking on the way.

In one of the most lop-sided deciders ever, the American utterly dominated third seed Safina, allowing her opponent to win only eight points in the first set and claiming the championship in less than an hour.

"I'm so excited ... I clearly love playing here and I get great support here. I don't get that every place I go," Williams said, after winning the first women's night final played in the Rod Laver Arena.

Williams, the second seed, emphatically backed up her pre-tournament comments that she was the best women's tennis player in the world and will now officially reclaim the top ranking from Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

She also became the highest ever prize money winner in women's sport during the tournament and took the women's doubles title with her sister Venus on Friday.

Williams said she was thrilled to join the likes of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in the elite group of women with 10 or more Grand Slams.

"I idolised Steffi Graf," she said. "When I played her I was like 'Oh My God, it's Steffi Graf' and Martina Navratilova was someone who was my role model, so when I think of these greats I don't really think of my name, I think of them.

"I think people are starting to think of me (in those terms), which is uber-cool, I can't even get my mind around that."

Safina, whose brother Marat Safin won the men's title in 2005, had aimed to enter the history books as the part of the only brother-sister combination to hold Grand Slam titles.

Instead, she narrowly avoided entering the record books as being on the wrong end of the worst drubbing in a final in the tournament's history, saying Williams left her feeling like "a ball boy on the court today."

"She played exactly the way she had to play and she was much more aggressive and she was just taking time away from me," the 22-year-old said. "She didn't let me come into the match."

Only Graf in 1994 and Margaret Smith in 1962 have posted more comprehensive victories in the decider, both winning 6-0, 6-2.

Safina put the loss down to stage fright, saying Williams' experience proved a crucial factor, but vowed to dust herself off and come back better than ever.

The Russian also lost her only previous Grand Slam final at the French Open last year, but Williams was full of praise after the match.

"Dinara has a good future," she said. "She's hitting the ball so hard I just had to go for broke.

"Thanks to her for putting on a great show for women's tennis," added the American, who continued a sequence of winning the Australian Open title in odd-numbered years, with her previous wins coming in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Safina may take some comfort from compatriot Maria Sharapova, who also managed to take just three games off Williams when she was humbled 6-1, 6-2 in the 2007 final but came back to take the title the following year.

Williams showed no signs of the service problems that dogged her early in the tournament and aggressively took the match to Safina from the outset.

It was Safina's serve, with its trademark high ball toss, which fell apart as she coughed up three double faults in her opening service game to gift Williams an easy break.

She continued to break Safina at will, while the Russian could only manage two points off Williams' serve in a first set that was over in 22 minutes.

"I saw that it was so fast and I thought, 'OK, I've got to stay focused,'" Williams said.

"I thought 'Safina, she's a warrior, she never gives up, she's been down a couple of match points already in the tournament, so I've got to stay focused."

Safina desperately tried to regroup and broke Williams in the first game of the second set but could not stop the rout and conceded the match when she hit a drop shot wide after 59 minutes.