The teenage niece of golf superstar Tiger Woods has failed to make the cut in her first professional tournament.

Cheyenne Woods was handed entry into the Wegmans tournament on a sponsor’s invite.

Cheyenne Woods was four strokes shy of qualifying for the weekend rounds of the LPGA Tour’s Wegmans event at Locust Hill in Rochester, New York.

The 18-year-old had to complete her second round on Saturday along with half of the 140-player field due to delays of almost five hours following thunderstorms in the area.

Competing on a sponsor’s invite, the college amateur followed up her opening 75 with a two-over-par 74 to be well down the field.

She had been two-under for the round after 10 holes on Friday, but fell back again with a triple-bogey at the par-four 12th before finishing strongly with a birdie.

Cheyenne is the daughter of world No. 1 Tiger’s half-brother, Earl Jnr.

Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji also missed the cut after completing a 71 which saw her seven over the card.

South Korean Shin Jiyai had led by three strokes overnight after posting a 68 which gave her a 36-hole total of 11-under-par 133.

However, Morgan Pressel reduced that advantage to just a single stroke when she picked up two birdies to complete a 66, leaving her one shot ahead of third-placed fellow American Stacy Lewis.

Two cable powerhouses have announced an ambitious pilot program that aims to convince their customers that, actually, TV on the web should not be free.

Jeffrey Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, speaks at the NCTA conference in Washington.

With a service called TV Everywhere, Comcast and Time Warner will give cable subscribers access to “premium” television content via broadband, and later cellphone connections.

To begin with, 5,000 Comcast subscribers will begin testing the system next month, giving them access to Time Warner’s TBS and TNT channels on their computers, and the same channels’ video-on-demand catalogs on their cable boxes.

If you made peace long ago with the idea of paying a monthly cable bill, this probably sounds great. It means watching your existing subscription on new screens without paying additional fees or buying more hardware. (Of course, as consumers adopt TV Everywhere, they can probably expect price increases.)

But if you prefer to watch your television for free on ad-supported sites like Hulu while paying only for the internet connection that delivers it, you could be in for a rude awakening. TV Everywhere represents an alternative — and possible threat — to the popular Hulu model.

If the pilot program impresses the group — and proves to other networks that its user-authentication system is secure — Comcast and Time Warner expect the other television programmers, ISPs and mobile providers to join, giving all cable subscribers a way to watch the content they pay for on their televisions using any broadband-connected computer or authenticated cellphone.

Already “at least 92 percent of Americans qualify to watch this for free online,” according to Jeff Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner.

For these subscribers, TV Everywhere represents a potential win. The only question is whether they will keep paying for the old cable subscription model as their viewing habits shift online.

There’s nothing to stop television networks from putting their content on both Hulu and TV Everywhere, because TV Everywhere’s contract will be non-exclusive, according to Bewkes. However, given the choice between Hulu and TV Everywhere, television programmers have an incentive to go with the latter.

Only the TV Everywhere model promises to port yesterday’s lucrative business model onto today’s platforms. And that, according to some critics, is exactly the problem.

“[TV Everywhere] raises substantial anti-competitive issues by restricting the availability of programming to the favored distribution methods,” said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of the public interest group Public Knowledge. “Under the TV Everywhere plan, no other program distributors would be able to emerge, and no consumers will be able to ‘cut the cord’ because they find what they want online. As a result, consumers will be the losers.

“In addition, we are concerned that this program violates the open nature of the internet. By adding this additional toll lane, Comcast and Time Warner want to create their own ‘managed channel’ within the internet and turn the internet into their own private cable channel.”

So, what about Hulu? Will its deals fall through given this new option?

“There will be some part [of Time Warner's content] that will be out there [on Hulu], said Bewkes.”Short-form content, I think, will continue to be available — promotional content will continue to be available.”

However, only cable subscribers will be able to access other content online — through officially licensed avenues, anyway.

Bewkes added that some other television programmers have avoided Hulu “for security concerns and because they didn’t like the model,” but that they will give TV Everywhere a chance.

“Consumers vote every single month with their pocketbook,” he added. “They don’t have to subscribe to cable. They don’t have to pay for these services, yet they do. The number of people paying for subscription television has gone up and up and up every single quarter that we’ve been in the business.”

Michael Jackson’s cardiologist, who met with detectives Saturday, has provided information that will help with the investigation into the singer’s death, the Los Angeles, California, Police Department said.

Rev. Jesse Jackson (left) and Joseph Jackson (right) stand outside Michael Jackson’s home.

The department said late Saturday that it conducted an “extensive interview” with the doctor, who may have been the last person to see Jackson alive.

“Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician who was with Michael Jackson at the time of his collapse, voluntarily contacted the Los Angeles Police Department,” the statement said.

“Detectives assigned to Robbery-Homicide Division met with Dr. Murray and conducted an extensive interview. Dr. Murray was cooperative and provided information which will aid the investigation.”

Jackson’s family suspects Murray can answer some lingering questions about the singer’s last hours, but they have been unable to contact him, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday.

“The routine inquiry is now an investigation,” Jesse Jackson said. “They (Jacksons) didn’t know the doctor. … He should have met with the family, given them comfort on the last hours of their son.”

Murray’s lawyer said earlier that the doctor was upset but willing to cooperate.

“It’s a human tragedy and he’s upset obviously over the loss of Mr. Jackson. But he is not a suspect in the death of Mr. Jackson,” Matthew Alford said.

Los Angeles police, who met briefly with Murray after Jackson’s death Thursday, had been trying to set up the interview.

“It is important to interview everybody that was in contact with Mr. Jackson immediately prior to his demise particularly anyone involved in his medical care,” said Deputy Police Chief Charlie Beck. “So it’s extremely important to talk to his doctor.”

Detectives impounded Murray’s car, which was parked at the singer’s rented home, because it may contain evidence related to Jackson’s death, possibly prescription medications.

Police have released no information on what they may have found.

Alford said he did not have any details.

“I have no information as to what if any treatment, or course of treatment he was doing for Mr. Jackson at all,” he said.

Also Saturday, the Jackson family spoke out in a statement to People magazine and obtained by CNN.

“In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter,” said patriarch Joseph Jackson, speaking on behalf of the family.

“Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon,” he said. “It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.

The statement went on to thank fans worldwide for their condolences and expressions of grief.

“Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you,” Joseph Jackson said.

Family members including Jackson’s mother, Katherine, were at the estate Jackson had rented in Holmby Hills. Around midday, two moving vans pulled up. One left empty, and the other apparently contained objects from the house. Other vehicles came and went, including a silver Range Rover driven by a plain clothes police officer.

Vidal Herrera, founder of 1-800-AUTOPSY, a specialty autopsy business, told CNN on Saturday that the Jackson family had contacted the business to inquire about possibly having a second autopsy done there.

Herrera, a former deputy field investigator for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, said the funeral home where Jackson’s body was taken contacted him on Thursday, and a representative of the family called him on Friday. The name of the funeral home was not disclosed.

He said he told the funeral home that he didn’t believe another autopsy was required. An autopsy was performed Friday by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The body was moved to a funeral home Friday night.

It was not immediately confirmed early Sunday whether a second autopsy was performed.

Michael Jackson died Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office told reporters Friday that more tests must be conducted before a cause of death can be determined. That could take four to six weeks.

The coroner said there was no indication of external trauma or foul play.

The 50-year-old pop star was discovered unconscious Thursday by paramedics at his home, where Murray apparently had tried to revive him. He was rushed to a Los Angeles medical center, where he was pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, radio stations around the world dusted off the singer’s records and fans took part in hastily-organized dance celebrations.

“I just felt I had to come, just to say goodbye,” said Los Angeles nurse Lydia Cook. “I could never afford to go to his concerts but I kind of grew up with him. And I loved his music.”

On the island of Cebu in the Philippines, 1,400 of the most hardened prisoners spent 10 hours perfecting a carefully choreographed 15-minute tribute to Jackson.

“We idolize him really,” said Mavin Cabido, a convicted robber. “The moonwalk is my favorite. I like that.”

The prisoners at the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center in central Philippines reprised their performance of “Thriller,” which has garnered more than 24 million views since 2007 — when prison supervisor Byron Garcia first uploaded it to the video-sharing Web site.

Garcia said he had hoped Jackson would, one day, come to Cebu and dance himself.

“Now it’s not going to happen,” Garcia said.

The Southeast is among the areas of the United States with the highest concentration of cases of HIV and AIDS, according to a new online tool called the National HIV/AIDS Atlas.

In this map of AIDS prevalence rates in the Southeast, red represents the highest (0.593 percent or greater).

AIDS experts in the region say that access to health care, especially when it comes to screening, is a major problem in rural communities.

In the Southeast, people with HIV tend to get tested late, after they have become sick, partly because of stigma, said Kathie Hiers, executive director of AIDS Alabama in Birmingham.

“If you look at access to health care and almost any kind of health care report card, the South is the worst,” she said.

With little or no public transportation, people in non-metropolitan areas are at a disadvantage when they need to see a particular kind of doctor, experts say. There is also a shortage of doctors who deal with HIV in the region, Hiers said.

These problems also resonate with Georgia’s rural communities, which represent 39 percent of the HIV/AIDS burden in the state, said Raphael Holloway, director of the HIV Unit at the Georgia Division of Public Health. The remaining 61 percent of people living with HIV or AIDS are in the metro Atlanta area.

“In some districts, for example, there may be 10 counties within that health district but only one infectious disease doctor that people can access for care and services,” he said.

It is also difficult to get HIV education to people in rural areas, he said.

Of the 29 states reporting county-level data for the National HIV/AIDS Atlas, Georgia had more counties than any other state with the highest levels of HIV and AIDS prevalence.

Although this does not represent a comprehensive national assessment, Georgia ranked fifth in reporting of new AIDS cases in 2007, behind Texas (fourth), Florida (third), New York (second) and California (first), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Northeast also has a heavy burden of HIV/AIDS cases nationally, atlas collaborators said. Other states with high numbers of counties with high HIV prevalence included Florida, New York and South Carolina.

The atlas, the first of its kind to map out HIV and AIDS at the level of counties, launched in time for Saturday’s HIV/AIDS Testing Day. The National Institutes of Health is encouraging everyone age 13 to 64 to get tested for HIV as part of routine health care.

“Not knowing one’s HIV status endangers one’s health and the health of one’s sexual partners. By getting tested for the virus and learning one’s HIV status soon after infection, treatment can begin early, substantially delaying the development of HIV-related illness and prolonging life,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

The National HIV/AIDS Atlas allows users to explore the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in any region of the United States. The map, a project of the National Minority Quality Forum, encompasses all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The more red a region appears, the greater the prevalence, which is the ratio of the number of people living with the disease at a given time to the total number of people living there at that time.

Users can look at rates of disease by gender, race/ethnicity and age group in regions where this information is available. The map also has different settings for HIV and AIDS, the more severe illness caused by the HIV virus. They can also zoom into counties and, for New York City only, ZIP codes.

About 33 million people have HIV/AIDS worldwide as of 2007, according to the World Health Organization. The CDC estimates that 1.1 million Americans have HIV and that 56,300 new infections occurred in the United States in 2006. Nearly 75 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adolescents and adults in that year were for males.

People who worked on the atlas project were surprised at how concentrated HIV and AIDS are in certain U.S. counties.

“Being able to look at all the data in this way reminds us that the HIV epidemic is not uniformly distributed throughout the U.S.,” said Patrick Sullivan, associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University, who collaborated on the atlas.

The atlas also reflects the disproportionate number of African-Americans who have HIV and AIDS.

“You can see at the level of the national map that there’s so much variation in the U.S. about which groups have been impacted,” Sullivan said.

Demographics and county-level data are not available for some states, or parts of some states, because of the way these places report data by region, researchers said. These areas appear as gray when users zoom in. Some places also appear gray because the disease case count is so low.

The atlas is based on data from public health departments from 2006, the most recent available. Collaborators say they hope to update the maps when new data become available.

The atlas, which launched Monday morning, had about 100,000 visitors by Tuesday afternoon, and more than 10,000 people completed the free registration in that time, said Gary Puckrein, executive director of the atlas project.

To find an HIV testing facility near you, visit www.hivtest.org.

WIMBLEDON, England — Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, stayed away from Wimbledon. Which gives him something in common with the rain. You remember, the Wimbledon rain, right? Wet stuff … fell from the sky … constantly disrupted play. The only umbrellas unfurled last week were used to repel the sun. And that may have been the biggest upset of Week 1. Herewith, our midterm grades:

A

The faves: The Williams sisters, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic cruise into Week 2. … Melanie Oudin: Let the hype begin. Seventeen-year-old from Atlanta played mature, solid tennis to go from the qualifying draw to round four, upsetting former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic along the way. We try to be stingy with the hype, but there’s a lot to like here. … Battle-scarred vets: Tommy Haas and Lleyton Hewitt show there’s still some petrol left in the tank, reaching round four. … Lucky losers: Three make the most of the opportunity and win first round matches — Karol Beck, Pablo Cuevas and Thiago Alves, the first tennis player to share a name with a UFC star. … Lucky winner: Virginie Razzano reaches round four winning only one match outright as two of her opponent retire/withdraw/.

B+

Kimiko Date Krumm: What a well-deserved wild card. At the ripe age of 38, former top five player takes a set off of Caroline Wozniacki in a dignified first-round loss. … Julien Bennetteau: French veteran injured his knee, deep in the match against Djokovic. Once it was determined there was no structural damage, he limped through the last few points, letting his opponent win outright, not by retirement. That, friends, is honorable. And, as one of you noted: “How ironic that he did it against the one elite player who is notorious for denying that courtesy to others. Let’s hope Mr. Djokovic was paying attention in class.” … Wimbledon upgrades: In no small part because of the renovations, attendance is on pace to hit record levels; but now that hundreds of millions have been spent on the roof, maybe it could rain.

B

Marat Safin: Not much of an effort in first-round loss to Jesse Levine, the final Wimbledon of an erratic career. But admit it: you’re going to miss the big lug. (And, even more so, for another player making final Wimbledon appearance, Fabrice Santoro.) … British contingent: OK, only Murray was left after two rounds. But the pressure these kids are under is brutal. And of the 10 British players to lose, only one did do to an opponent with a lower ranking.

C

James Blake: Another Slam, another disappointment, this time a straight set loss to Andreas Seppi. On the other hand, nice doubles play alongside Mardy Fish. … Svetlana Kuznetsova: French Open champ downplays her chances before the tournament and then fulfills the prophecy with a straight-set loss to Sabine Lisicki. … Maria Sharapova: Especially after she showed signs of life in Paris, her second-round loss to Gisela Dulko — no one’s grass court expert — was a disappointment. … Juan Martin del Potro: He may win Slams one day; but he’s a long way from doing so at Wimbledon. Fifth seed falls quietly to Hewitt in round two. … Grunting: Perception has become reality. Time to enforce a ban.

The Kirchners have seen their popularity slip in recent years

Polls have opened in Argentina for mid-term legislative elections that are widely seen as a referendum on the popularity of the presidential couple.

Cristina Fernandez succeeded her husband Nestor Kirchner as president in 2007 - but has seen her popularity fall along with the country’s economy.

Mr Kirchner is standing for a congressional seat.

Opinion polls suggest the ruling Peronist party could lose its majority in the 256-seat lower house.

The party may also struggle to keep hold of the 72-seat Senate.

More than 28 million people are eligible to vote.

The elections are taking place against a backdrop of deep economic problems, and amid complaints of government incompetence, the BBC’s Candace Piette in Buenos Aires says.

Official figures, long contested, put inflation at around 5% while private analysts says the annual inflation rate is at least 15%.

Consumer spending has slumped, and crime and poverty are more visible.

Many Argentines have been shifting their savings into dollars and sending it offshore, uncertain of the government’s ability to deal with their economic woes, our correspondent says.

A damaging row between the Kirchners and the country’s powerful agricultural sector over taxation has added to people’s concerns, she adds.

Mr Kirchner - who was president between 2003 and 2007 - is still widely considered to be the main power-broker behind his wife’s administration.

He faces a tough race to win the populous province of Buenos Aires.

As Delhi prepares for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, former BBC South Asia correspondent Sam Miller finds how the ancient city is changing at breathtaking speed.

Delhi has a population of more than 10 million

The inhabitants of India’s other great cities, Mumbai (Bombay) and Calcutta, used to sneer at Delhi with its much smaller population, and its supposed lack of sophistication.

“It’s a collection of villages,” they would say. “A fossil, a reminder of past empires. Not a real city.”

They would joke: “Delhi has got no culture… just agriculture.” They would say it was boring and sleepy.

But Delhi has begun to emerge from the shadow of Mumbai and Calcutta, and even provokes a certain amount of jealousy.

It is now - depending on how you calculate such things - one of the five most populous cities in the world, with a cultural life that equals or surpasses that of its Indian rivals.

Delhi attracts migrants from all over India (as well as some like me, from the rest of world) and is now the most cosmopolitan and fastest-growing of India’s large cities.

It has one of the world’s best metro railway systems, with more than 50 stations being added to the network over the next 15 months.

It is also visibly preparing for its next moment of anxiously anticipated glory, the Commonwealth Games of 2010.

Unsurprisingly, then, there are construction sites all over the city. But despite this extraordinary speed of development, Delhi remains both the leafiest and most archaeologically impressive of the world’s megacities.

Magnificent ruins

Most evenings, just before sunset, I walk or run in a huge secret park in the heart of modern Delhi.

A ruin which is part of the Siri Fort. Photo: Sam Miller Enlarge Image

It is really a jungle with footpaths, known only to those who live close by.

And peeking out of the jungle are the ruins of one of Delhi’s earlier incarnations, known as Siri Fort, the capital of the Khilji dynasty built in the early 14th Century.

These ruins include one magnificent cathedral-like building - three stories high - that always seems destined to topple over in the next storm. It is popular with peacocks, but I have never seen another human there.

Delhi is littered with such ancient ruins, so many indeed that the ones in my park are not even included by the Archaeological Survey of India in a list of more than 1,000 heritage buildings in the city.

Anywhere else in the world these ruins would be a major tourist attraction.

Parts of the walls of Siri were recently excavated and restored and the workmen told me why they were doing it.

“It’s for the Commonwealth Games,” they said.

Except of course it is not. These ancient walls have absolutely nothing to do with the Games, which have become kind of Delhi shorthand for any piece of urban development that the authorities want to be completed by 2010.

Hidden heritage

Two summers ago, back in my local jungle park, I found another ruin, in an area of wilderness so thick with undergrowth that I had to beat my way through it with a stick.

Despite its age the mosque failed to capture public interest

There, long-forgotten, was half a mosque, a tree growing out of one of its walls, but the perfect rosettes and squinches created by artisans 700 years ago still intact.

I tried to interest my friends and fellow journalists in my discovery of an unlisted ancient mosque in the heart of modern Delhi.

I told people about it at Delhi parties and they yawned. I telephoned a leading historian of the medieval Sultanate period, who promised he would get back to me.

A guide book writer did come to see and she told me it will be mentioned in the next edition. But I failed to get anyone else half as excited as me.

‘Treasure hunt’

I tried the internet, joining a “treasure hunt” website called geocaching.com

I hid my treasure - a few coloured paper clips in a plastic jar - inside the mosque, and posted the map co-ordinates on the website. I waited for eager treasure hunters to track down the mosque.

I went away on holiday and an irate American traveller posted a note on the website to say the co-ordinates were wrong and that he had been chased away by an angry pig.

In a city boasting such archaeological riches, smaller ruins may go unnoticed

On my return I went back to the mosque and discovered that my co-ordinates were correct. The American had not gone to the wrong place. The mosque had gone.

It had been bulldozed and there was no sign it had ever existed.

The wilderness had become a building site and squash and badminton courts were being built for - yes - the Commonwealth Games.

No-one made a fuss and I have found it hard to make the case that this archaeologically super-rich city is much poorer without one old tumbledown mosque.

And though I have been able to immortalise it in photos and text in a book I wrote about my adoptive city, I am also aware that it is just one of dozens of minor ruins that have disappeared in recent years.

And more will almost certainly go as the pace of development continues to accelerate.

Delhi is a city that is more proud of its future than its past.

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The government’s heatwave plan has been triggered

A heatwave is to hit the UK bringing soaring day and night time temperatures and thundery showers throughout the week, the BBC’s weather unit have said.

In London the temperature will rise steadily from about 29C on Sunday to about 32C by the end of the week.

In the rest of the UK temperatures will climb from about 22C on Sunday to about 29C on Friday.

However, BBC weather said an on-shore breeze will keep Eastern England and Eastern Scotland cooler during Sunday.

On Friday the Met Office issued a heatwave alert for England and Wales and the Department of Health has asked people to check up on vulnerable friends, relatives and neighbours.

NHS staff have also been warned to prepare for a surge of elderly and ill patients suffering from the heat.

Hit by lightning

The Met Office has predicted that around the country daytime temperatures could reach 29-30C, with minimum night-time temperatures of 15-18C.

London, the East of England, South West, South East and the Midlands are the most likely to be affected.

Above average temperatures are expected in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The high temperatures will be accompanied by high humidity and thundery showers, BBC weather centre said.

Various parts of England were hit by severe thunderstorms on Saturday night.

In Birmingham, a 16-year-old boy suffered a cardiac arrest and five others were hurt in a lightning strike.

Older people, especially those on medication, can often find coping with the heat particularly difficult Age Concern

Officials had already said this summer may be warmer than the past couple of years.

With climate change, heatwaves are likely to become more common over the next few decades and the Chief Medical Officer has warned of an increase in deaths in times of hot weather.

Heatwave guidance

The Department of Health has advised people to keep their homes as cool as possible and remembering the needs of friends, relatives and neighbours who could be at risk is essential.

“Windows should be kept shaded and closed when the temperature is hotter outside than inside.

“People with respiratory problems should stay inside during the hottest part of the day,” a DoH spokesman said.

Other advice in the government’s heatwave plan includes to drink cold drinks like water or fruit juice regularly and avoid tea, coffee and alcohol.

Help the Aged and Age Concern welcomed the advice.

A spokesman said: “Older people, especially those on medication, can often find coping with the heat particularly difficult.”

Gun-toting parishioners attended Pastor Ken Pagano’s service in Kentucky

A pastor in the US state of Kentucky told his flock to bring handguns to church in what he said was an effort to promote safe gun ownership.

Pastor Ken Pagano told parishioners to bring their unloaded guns to New Bethel Church in Louisville for a service celebrating the right to bear arms.

He said he acted after church members voiced fears the Obama administration could tighten gun control laws.

When the service began, some 200 people were present, AP news agency said.

“We are wanting to send a message that there are legal, civil, intelligent and law-abiding citizens who also own guns,” Mr Pagano told the congregation.

“If it were not for a deep-seated belief in the right to bear arms, this country would not be here today,” he said.

Pastor Ken Pagano says he wants to show that gun owners are law-abiding

The pastor also held a handgun raffle, as well as providing information on gun safety.

“I wish more churches did this, I wish more people did this,” the Louisville Courier-Journal quoted one attendee, Doreen Rogers, as saying.

“For some reason, most people think that carrying guns is sinful. It’s not. I think my life is worth protecting.”

About 10 members of a private local militia also attended, the Courier-Journal said.

A coalition of religious groups and campaigners held a rival gun-free event at the same time on the other side of Louisville.

“The idea of wearing guns to churches or any sacred space I think many people find deeply troubling,” organiser Terry Taylor told AP.

In the US, the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. There are thought to be more than 200 million firearms in private hands.

But some gun owners fear that the new administration in the White House could try to challenge or amend some gun ownership laws.

Critics of the laws, meanwhile, link high levels of gun crime with high levels of gun ownership.

Pakistani police say they have killed five militants linked to a Taliban leader in the city of Karachi.

The police chief said the shoot-out took place after officers raided an apartment in the west of the city.

The militants were loyal to Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and were planning attacks, he added.

The raid comes as the military prepares to launch an assault against Mehsud’s group in the South Waziristan region, on the Afghan border.

The military is also battling militants in the Swat valley to the northwest.

But there are fears the militants could be leaving these areas to launch attacks in Pakistan’s cities.

“We raided the house on a tip-off that militants were planning attacks in the city,” Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed told Reuters news agency.

“As we reached near the house, they opened fire. Our force returned the fire and five militants were killed.”

Correspondents say Baitullah Mehsud is thought to head the most powerful group of militants in Pakistan, with a network of alliances with other militants.

His stronghold in South Waziristan is an area considered by many to be the hide-out of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.