President Musharraf will perhaps best be remembered for his skill in crisis management. He played it relatively cool when there was an attempt on his life at the instigation of Nawaz Sharif, with the latter ending up in exile in Saudi Arabia; he wriggled out of his Taliban connection eventually earning the reputation of a faithful ally of the US; he warded off what to all intents and purposes was the first political blow from the Judiciary and he managed to send Nawaz Sharif back to where he belongs temporarily-Saudi Arabia.

By most accounts, Benazir Bhutto has a clear edge over Sharif in terms of mass appeal. Sharif bungled his two terms of premiership by getting involved in corruption and by failing to falsify the impression that he is more of a Punjabi than a Pakistani. Benazir has a relatively clean record, but she cannot exonerate herself completely from the circumstances leading to her husband being steeply corrupt. Moreover, the Bhutto charisma, as it worked in the past, is now almost history in Pakistan. With neither of the politicians in exile thus having enough clout to put together a formidable challenge to Musharraf, what the General now worries about is the possibility of a mass uprising, in the wake of an antagonized Judiciary.

Apprehensive of the looming crisis, Musharraf wants to strike a deal with Benazir in an effort to diffuse public attention to his army image. It remains to be seen how this time the master manager manages the crisis.



Once again Australian rider Casey Stoner clinched Moto GP victory, and came close to winning for the first time the motorcycling world championship title. This was Casey's third victory in a row.

Casey, on a Ducati, started off from pole position and as early as the first lap left most of his rivals in his wake before finishing off nearly five seconds ahead of fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen, who was on a Suzuki. American John Hopkins, also on a Suzuki, finished third in the 13th leg of the 18-race GP series.

Casey's win, following victories in the USA and Czech Republic, and eighth of the season, means he has now a massive 85-point lead over Italian rival Valentino Rossi, who is trailing in second place.

Rossi, whose championship winning ambitions are disappearing with every race, had another unlucky day to encounter. The seven-time world champion had to pull out, having dropped a lap behind the frontrunners when he slid off the circuit on the fifth lap.

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa on Honda, whose overall performance in the championship race positions him in the third place, picked up zero points having been forced to abandon the race due to a tangle with the Kawasaki of Frenchman Randy De Puniet.



The wind of change blew from the direction of Australia and New Zealand when the two teams played the first ever Twenty20 international in February 2005. T20 World Cup, as the game is known to be, is expected to create a blizzard of sixes and boundaries in what used to be a relatively calm field.

But the question is: Can the sensation of the three-hour game make up for the loss of extra four hours of entertainment?