Google tells us what we look for

What do Sarah Palin, Facebook and Euro 2008 have in common?

According to our technology news reporter, They are all on the list of the top 10 fastest-rising queries on Google during 2008.

The search engine has published its year-end Zeitgeist, the tool which reveals what internet users are searching for.

Google Zeitgeist monitors what people are searching for

The most searched term for Google users in the UK was Facebook while the BBC came second and its iPlayer service was the fastest rising query, live news channel reported.

The list also reveals what global preoccupations are and this year the US election candidates and the Beijing Olympics figure high.

The things people around the globe have in common are a strong interest in socialising and politics, according to Marissa Mayer, vice-president of search at Google.

"Social networks comprised four out of the top 10 global fastest-rising queries while the US election held everyone's interest around the globe," she wrote on Google's official blog.

Pakistan-spy-chief-meets-PM-amid-India-row

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The chief of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday amid growing tension with old rival India over the Mumbai attacks.

Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, the head of Pakistan's main security service, briefed Gilani on security, according to a brief statement from the prime minster's office.

India has blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for the three-day rampage in its financial capital last week that killed 171 people.

Indian newspapers said on Friday the ISI was involved in training the militants, who are said to belong to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group that has been blamed for earlier attacks in India.

The Pakistani government and security officials have denied any involvement by state agencies, and the chief of the Interior Ministry reiterated on Friday Pakistan's commitment to helping India with its investigation.

"We will give India unconditional support to identify the criminals and take action against them," acting Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters.

"We think the criminals, whether they are from India or Pakistan or anywhere else in the world, he or they should be brought to justice," he said.

Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947, has stoked fears of renewed confrontation and the collapse of their four-year-old peace process.