Unlike their opponents from across the border, India did not look overwhelmed by the hype surrounding the showdown that forced a virtual lockdown in this tiny north Indian town.Buy nike running shoes online
The 1983 champions put 260-9 on board and then returned to bowl out their opponents for 231 with just one delivery left to complete a 29-run victory to spark euphoria in and around the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
The victory not only pits them against Sri Lanka in Saturday's final between the co-hosts in Mumbai but also spared them some unnecessary plane-hopping.
"One good thing (about is this win) that the next flight would be a chartered flight. We will go to Delhi first and from there to Mumbai (without changing planes)," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, fed up of jumping on and off connecting flights over the past six weeks, told reporters.
On the pitch, Sachin Tendulkar endured a bumpy ride on Wednesday.
Shahid Afridi had vowed not to allow the Indian score his 100th international century against Pakistan but his team mates seemed to have different ideas.
Tendulkar was dropped by Misbah-ul-Haq, Younus Khan and Umar Akmal, whose elder brother Kamran also missed a half-chance at stumping the batsman.
This was after the Indian had successfully overturned an lbw decision that had gone against him using the same decision review system he has been critical about.Buy nike cheap mens acg sandals black
Tendulkar, however, still could not reach the 100-mark as Afridi took matters into his own hand, literally, by catching the Indian off Saeed Ajmal to dismiss the batsman for 85.
It was his opening partner Virender Sehwag (38) who gave India a blazing start, almost oblivious of the monstrous burden of expectation that rested on the shoulders of all 22 players who featured in the contest.
The presence of prime ministers of both the countries may have suited the 'cricket diplomacy' initiatives but if anything, it only increased the pressure on most of the players.cheap nike mens sandals
Sehwag, however, took it all in his stride as he blasted 21 runs off an Umar Gul over, a shock the Pakistani pace spearhead could not recover from in the remainder of the match.
India, however, could not make the most of the start and Wahab Riaz's maiden five-wicket haul restricted them to a total that would not have been possible but for Suresh Raina's unbeaten 36-run cameo down the order.
Pakistan were off to a decent start too but while the likes of Mohammad Hafeez (43) and Asad Shadiq (30) got the starts, they could not convert it into big knocks.
Mark Zuckerberg's next friend request may be to someone with deep Washington connections.Buy nike running shoes Facebook, of which Zuckerberg is the founder and CEO, is talking to former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about joining its communications team, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Gibbs, who left the White House last month, could help communicate the company's messages about its products and policies ahead of a planned public offering, the Times' report said. Some valuations have pegged Facebook's worth at more than $50 billion amid Securities and Exchange Commission concerns, complaints about user privacy and the scathing portrayal of Zuckerberg in last year's film "The Social Network."Buy nike cheap mens acg sandals
Various reports also have connected Gibbs to President Barack Obama's re-election effort and to the Democratic National Committee.
Gibbs had 371 friends on his personal Facebook page — Zuckerberg not among them — as of Monday afternoon, but more than 1,600 people have "liked" the Robert Gibbs fan page. Meanwhile, more than 3.7 million people have "liked" the official Mark Zuckerberg fan page. Fivefingers Kso-Vibram fivefingers KsoIt hasn't been updated with new posts since his Jan. 29 cameo on "Saturday Night Live," where he appeared with Jesse Eisenberg, who played him in "The Social Network."
"Members of the ruling party's permanent committee stressed the importance of expediting the process of forming a new government tasked with drafting new constitution in line with President Saleh 's reform initiative and February deal," Saba reported, cited the statement of the ruling party's committee.
"The members also stressed the need to implement all reform initiatives of President Saleh, even if the opposition parties continue to maintain their intransigent position," they said, adding that the packages of political and elections reforms have been a priority to stave off unrest in the country.
In the statement, the ruling party also affirmed that Saleh will stay until his presidential term expires in 2013 and renewed calls for the opposition to resume the dialogue for the sake of the country.
The fresh decision of the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) came following a meeting with the president on Sunday, during which they discussed the ongoing political crisis.
Saleh has been facing escalating protests since mid February which demanded the end to his long time rule.fashion 2011 nike running shoes online
There was no immediate comment from the opposition, but the country's top army officer General Ali Muhsen al-Ahmar, who is a half brother of Saleh and defected last week to join the anti- government protesters, vowed on Sunday to overthrow Saleh, according to a statement read before the protesters outside Sanaa University.
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Yemen's ruling party affirms president to stay till 2013
SANAA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's ruling party on Sunday affirmed that President Ali Abdullah Saleh will stay until his presidential term expires in 2013, the Defense Ministry said through its mobile service.
It said the fresh decision came in a statement by the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) following a meeting with the president on Sunday, during which they discussed the ongoing political crisis. Full story
Yemeni president sacks defected military commander
SANAA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemenibuy Reebok EasyTone President Ali Abdullah Saleh Monday appointed Major General Ahmed Saeed bin Brik as the new commander of the Eastern Military Area and the Brigade 27 Mika, to replace Major General Mohamed Ali Mohsen, who declared he was joining in protest movements, the Defence Ministry said.
Saleh, who has been facing weeks-long youth-led street protests demanding an immediate end to his 33-year rule, also appointed Colonel Hussein Mshaba as the commander of 15 Infantry Brigade in the northern troubled province of Amran to replace another defected commander
The moves followed a two-day meeting in Brussels, which was originally intended to put a capstone on the euro debt crisisnike running shoes but ended up being overshadowed by the resignation of the Portuguese prime minister, José Sócrates, who lost a parliamentary vote Wednesday.
During a highly charged news conference, Mr. Sócrates insisted Friday that Portugal would not need a bailout — even though the leader of the 17 euro zone ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, had just publicly speculated that a backstop of around 75 billion euros, or $106 billion, might be required.
“Portugal will not need help,” Mr. Sócrates insisted, banging his fists on the table for emphasis. And as he left the news conference, Mr. Sócrates told a reporter: “We are not going around begging — we have money, we have dignity.”
Still, most analysts expect that the failure of Mr. Sócrates to get the latest austerity measures passed will push Portugal closer to a bailout from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, following Greece and Ireland.
In Lisbon on Friday, Portugal’s political parties rejected the possibility of forming a coalition government and opted for new elections, which are expected to be in late May or early June. In the meantime, Portugal is expected to continue facing borrowing costs in the bond market that have reached levels the country’s finance minister has described as unsustainable in the medium or long term.
At the summit meeting in Brussels, European leaders finally agreed on tighter rules for the euro and a long-term backstop fund of 500 billion euros for the currency, starting in 2013. But some analysts questioned whether the single currency had yet faced up to its central challenge.
This week, Standard & Poor’s estimated that if Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal suffered a sharp contraction forcing them to default, banks in Western Europe would need to raise 250 billion euros — half the amount Europe plans to set aside for its stability fund. But the politics of using that money to bail out European banks would be highly complex.
For now, even as investors in financial markets see a Portuguese bailout as inevitable, the central question facing European leaders is whether Portugal’s plight will endanger the much larger Spanish economy. 2011 nike running shoes online
To try to win more confidence in financial markets, Spain’s prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced a series of structural reforms that he said would be part of a new, German-inspired pact for euro zone nations.
These include an initiative to link salary growth to productivity gains and a separate measure to restrict the rise of public spending so that it climbs no faster than growth in the economy.
The pressure on Spain may have eased, at least temporarily, since any bailout for Portugal is likely to be delayed by an election campaign expected to last two months. Only a government with a mandate would be able to agree to the austerity measures certain to be demanded in exchange for financial help. In the meantime the most likely outcome is that a caretaker government will seek to issue short-term bonds pending elections.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, both called on the main Portuguese political parties to stress their commitment to deficit reductions.
“I made clear that the government, but also the opposition, must not only stick to the fiscal goals for 2012 and 2013, but also back specific targets that are necessary for achieving these goals,” Mrs. Merkel told a news conference. “This is crucial if the markets are to be calmed.” buy Reebok EasyTone
As for Spain, Madrid sought to avert fears that its much larger economy would suffer collateral damage.
“We are on a stable path,” Mr. Zapatero said during a news conference. “Independent of Portugal — which I hope will not provoke a new debt crisis — we are going to do our job. It is not more or less urgent because of the situation in Portugal.”
Mrs. Merkel insisted that the worst of the crisis has passed. But she acknowledged that a long struggle lay ahead.
“The euro has survived a critical test, but there is lots of homework to be done,” she said. “Member states face many years of work to atone for past sins.”