27 killed,Blast in Baghdad Mosques

BAGHDAD: A string of bomb attacks targeting Muslim worshippers as they emerged from mosques across Baghdad on Friday killed 27 people and wounded more than 50, security officials said.
The six apparently coordinated blasts occurred outside mosques and prayer centres in and around the capital, including one frequented by followers of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, they said.
The worst attack was in the north-eastern Baghdad district of Al-Shaab, where a car bomb killed 21 people and injured 35 others, an interior ministry official said.
In twin bombings at Diyala Bridge, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Baghdad, four people were killed and seven wounded.
Attacks in Zafaraniyah and Kamaliyah neighbourhoods killed one person each and left six and three people wounded respectively. A separate attack in Al-Elam in western Baghdad injured four.
Violence has dropped markedly throughout Iraq in recent months, but attacks increased in the run-up to the US military pullback a month ago from urban centres, with 437 Iraqis killed in June — the highest death toll in 11 months.
Attacks remain particularly common in the capital Baghdad and the restive northern city of Mosul.

Michawl Jackson Love Child,Omer Bhatti

Jackson Love Child,Omer Bhatti, Omer Bhatti’s mother , Pia Bhatti seems to hold a lot of answers for the rumours about Michael Jackson’s child. Until now Pia Bhatti has refused to give interviews to all media . She has neither confirmed nor denied that Omer Bhatti is the son of Michael Jackson. Omer Bhatti who is beleived to be the result of a one night stand with Pia Bhatti lived with Michael Jackson in Neverland Ranch since 1996. Omer Bhatti has denied these rumours and insist that Michael Jackson was just a father figure to him.Omer Bhatti s Mother, Pia Bhatti Omer Bhatti PicturesMichael Jackson’s father insisted Thursday night that a Norwegian dancer is in fact the King of Pop’s love child. Michael Jackson Son Omer Bhatti

Shuttle Landing, astronauts eye Friday landing

Shuttle Landing, The multinational crew of the space shuttle Endeavour prepared to return to Earth on Friday, wrapping up a marathon mission to the International Space Station.
There was only a slight chance that rain showers near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center runway in Florida might force the seven-member crew to spend an extra day in orbit, according to forecasters.
“It’s time to come back,” said Endeavour commander Mark Polanski, as the astronauts prepared the ship for its high speed descent.
“We have accomplished our primary objectives successfully.”
Endeavour has two opportunities to touchdown Friday, at 10:48am (1448 GMT) and 12:22 pm (1622 GMT).
NASA said the shuttle crew was awakened at 2:03 am eastern daylight time (0603 GMT) by the song “Beautiful Day” performed by the band U2, ahead of the planned trip home.
Touchdown would end a long sojourn, during which the astronauts installed the final piece of Japan’s Kibo science laboratory and delivered spare parts crucial to the space station’s future operations.
The flight also saw a record number of astronauts aboard the 220-mile high orbital outpost, representing Europe, Japan, Canada Russia and the United States.
Inspections of the shuttle’s fragile heat shielding revealed no major damage after the long flight, according to Bryan Lunney, the NASA flight director, who will supervise landing operations from Mission Control.
“The vehicle is in great shape,” he said. Kibo, the largest and best equipped of the space station’s major experiment facilities, required three shuttle missions over 16 months to assemble.
Endeavour’s crew carried out the last of the construction by joining a new external experiment platform to Japan’s primary science enclosure and separate stowage module.
The long shuttle flight was punctuated by moments of drama and some humor.
Four of the astronauts conducted a record-tying five spacewalks, including one outing that had to be cut short when one of the astronauts registered higher than expected readings of carbon dioxide inside his space suit, in what proved to be a temporary setback.
The spacewalkers went on to replace a half-dozen batteries in the station’s oldest power storage module, ensuring electricity for crucial life support systems and science experiments as the orbital outpost ages.
American Tim Kopra, who launched aboard Endeavour, will stay at the space outpost at least until early September. He replaced Koichi Wakata, Japan’s first long-duration astronaut.

Adds Six Ministers to Cabinet: PM Sheikh Hasina

DHAKA: Sheik Hasina of Prime Minister of Bangladesh added six legislators of his part of act to his seven months old Cabinet.The spokesperson Abul Kalam Azad de Hasina says that it is the first expansion of the Cabinet of 44 members.
The new ministers were sworn inside Friday by President Zillur Rahman.
The new ministers are Shahjahan Khan, Enamul Haq, to fakir of Mujibur Rahman, Promod Mankin, Mahbubur Rahman and Shirin Sharmin.
Elections of December swept by part of league of Awami de Hasina and formed a government which replaced a soldier-constant temporary administration.
Bangladesh is a Parliamentary Democracy where the Prime Minister is the chief of the government.

Money-troubled doctor found lifeline in Jackson

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Conrad Murray needed a big payday when he became Michael Jackson's personal physician last spring.The Las Vegas cardiologist owed at least $780,000 for settlements against his business, outstanding mortgage payments on his house, delinquent student loans, child support and credit cards. And that doesn't include the $68,000 the distributor of an energy drink says Murray, a one-time business associate, owes for skipping out on payments.Court records chronicling Murray's woes in Las Vegas, where authorities searched his home this week as part of their manslaughter investigation into Jackson's death, help explain why — beyond basking in a celebrity's aura — Murray might have jumped at the $150,000-a-month Jackson's promoter was prepared to pay him to keep the star healthy through a series of concerts in London.Murray hooked on with Jackson in May, as his bleak financial picture threatened to worsen. He already was under court orders to pay more than $363,000 for equipment for his heart clinic and $71,000 in student loans dating to the 1980s, a judgment that hit in April. Two lawsuits claiming he owes $240,000 more for unpaid equipment are pending in Nevada courts.And Murray had appeared unable or unwilling to settle more modest debts — a nearly $3,700 judgment for not paying child support and two recent credit card company claims totaling $2,600.Murray's 5,268-square-foot home near the 18th hole of a golf course offers no refuge — he's in "pre-foreclosure" after failing to make payments on his $1.66 million loan, records show. He stopped paying the $15,000-per-month mortgage in December and could lose the home by November, said Mary Hunt, the foreclosure officer handling the case for Stewart Title company. More in yahooo

Call Tape Released 911 Erin Andrews

You could have thought that the bruhaha above the video of peephole of Erin Andrews had died to the bottom, as a his summer a few days for which it has supplemented the tendencies of Google. As I said previously, although, any new news creates another storm of fire of Internet of activity.In this case, TMZ managed to obtain the audio bands of a call of Erin Andrews with 911 qu ' it made last week. Based on the transcription of the band, Erin Andrews most certainly isn 't being gilded in the attention increased via the video of peephole.Astonishing, based on the quantity of visual publicity of peephole of Erin Andrews, the shipper did not know his name. I am however astonished that Andrews even brought it upwards. You can read the transcription of 911 calls below.Sender: DeKalb 911. What 's the address of your urgency?Andrews: UM, I was in the news recently about being in a naked hotel, and I have paparazzi apart from my window, and I was indicated by police force which if I made to call 911.Sender: Do you want to meet a leader? Do you want to meet a leader, my 'AM, when they leave?Andrews: Ouais, these types sit down in a car apart from my house in this moment. I would like to say the leader to make them leave because the cops said to me to call 911 if they 'about apart from my house.Sender: And what 's your name?Andrews: My name is Erin. My family name is Andrews. I 'm everywhere the news in this moment.Sender: I 'familiar of m not.Andrews: I 'm the girl who was recorded in video without her knowledge, without her clothing above in the hotel.Sender: Really?Andrews: And I the 'VE obtained two *ssholes resting apart from my house.Sender: I 'm so sorry.Andrews: I am, too. Thank you.Sender: We will send somebody outside. Which a little vehicle they are inside?Andrews: They 're in a RAV, a white RAV4. I 'm in a community with d�chenchements periodic, and I put 't know they entered. Mom, can you see their number plates? He 'number plate of handicap of SA which they have. What 's the number of plate number?Sender: What 's the number of label?Andrews: Us 'about the test to see. Do you see it, mom? OK, I 'm active to test and go to another part and to see whether I can read it. I can 't believe these jolts strikes my door. F ** *ssholes of king. Mom, you 'on the subject completely to be obvious.Sender: Is black, the white or the Hispanic one?Andrews: What?Sender: Is black, the white or the Hispanic one?Andrews: They 'about the two white males. I think to him 's - they know, of I 'm here because I make face a car outside. Thus they know I inside 'm. I have a private safety which I 'm functioning with, but with them 'on the subject not with me of currently, and they indicated call 911. OK, here 's the number plate. He 'number plate of handicap of SA for Georgia. They 'about me to look by my window.Sender: Are you WELL?Andrews: Ouais, King Britney Spears of I of 'm right - I did not do anything badly, and I 'm being treated like F **, and sucks to him. I 'm sorry.Sender: The OK, the first unit available will see you as soon as possible.Andrews: Thank you. Do you know at which distance 'about outside?Sender: Number. They should be inside - they will be here as soon as possible.Andrews: OK.Sender: APPROVE, thank you.Andrews: Thank you.

Maximum alert for 50th anniversary of ETA: Spain

PALMA OF MALLORCA, Balearic Islands - the security forces of Spain 'of the S took place Friday alerts maximum for the fiftieth birthday of the Basque group armed ETA, blamed bombardments which killed two police officers and wounded points of the people this week.ETA was founded on July 31, 1959, and killed more than 825 people since beginning her violent countryside for a state independent Basque in 1968.Blame ETA of authorities for two attacks this week - an explosion which killed two leaders close to the barracks of a police force on the island Thursday of Majorque and a bomb of car which wounded more than 60 people in the Scandinavian city of Burgos Wednesday.If confirmed because the attacks of ETA, the breaths would be in conflict with assertions of government which the group is seriously weakened afterwards of important tightenings of police force in Spain and France these last years. Their synchronization, two days before the birthday of big step, can belong to an effort of ETA to show it is in any danger of the rupture upwards.Gouvernement gave orders to the security forces to be on maximum alarm, to double their work, to increase much more their efforts and to protect itself from these cheap murderers, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has known as late Thursday.ETA is now blamed of nine attacks this year.The authorities envisaged Friday to witness a funeral mass on Majorque for the two killed leaders Thursday, which belonged to the guard responsible paramilitary civilian to maintain the order of the rural sectors and to keep the official buildings.Several people were also slightly wounded in bombardment of Thursday 'of S in the sector of seaside resort of Palmanova, south-west of the island 'of capital of S, Palma de Mallorca.The explosion, caused by a bomb attached to the lower part of a vehicle, occurred with the size of the season of summer holidays for the resource of Mediterranean island, which is one of Europe 'of destinations of principal tourists of S.The images of television showed that the carbonized and mutilated remainders of a vehicle were parked close to the barracks of police force. The civils servant stopped the island 'airports and ports of S during several hours while the police force sought the suspects of bombardment.The police force believes that the attack was carried out by a cell of ETA which came to the island specifically to carry it outside and was not based there, ministry for official the Ramon Interior that Socias indicated.Of attack Wednesday morning on the Spanish continent also aimed at a compound of police force and buildings surrounding, in which approximately 120 people including/understanding of the dozen children were per hour of the breath. More than 60 people were brought back wounded.There was no call of warning before the two attacks, for which no group claimed the responsibility.Zapatero indicated that the attacks were presented while the Spanish police force in collaboration with the French counterparts struck hard of ETA dismantling her organization, thwarting her action, identifying her members and holding more quickly them each time and in greater numbers.Spain dedicated itself to crush the separatist group since ETA finished what it had indicated was a permanent cease-fire with a bombardment 2006 which destroyed a garage of parking of airport of Madrid and killed two people.

knock of police activists Dread Midnight

BEIRUT, Lebanon - the activists of human rights of Iran 'of the S say that they live in fear of the stroke of midnight on the door or the car which draws upwards beside them on the street, fearing that constantly they could be stopped in the government 'the tightening of post-election of S.They take precautions: displacement only of small groups of two or three and positioning close to the corners where there are several routes to make an indent for safety. They avoid telephones, purge email and frequently change passwords.We fear during our lives. We can be held constantly, Zahra says Saeidzadeh, an activist of human rights, in an interview of telephone of Teheran.L� 's not much more we can make, it indicated, add that the government is attentive on us to make conceal.Tightening released after the disputed election of June 12 went well beyond the young protesters who took with the streets the fraud crying in the voice. The government employed the occasion to aim at a range of figures which were a spine in its side a long time - politicians pro-reform, the authors critical and the community of the activists who a long time encouraged larger civil liberties and rights for women.

Ask for more troops for Afghan war,US General

WASHINGTON - the general of the United States responsible for rotation around the war in Afghanistan is likely to recommend the crucial changes towards the United States and the operations of NATO, the civils servant military and others with the current of his next report/ratio indicated. These changes could include the additional troops of the United States in spite of the political head wind against more expansion of the war.As the Stanley McChrystal generator prepares its evaluation of the war, due the next month, the many civils servant and the foreigners of the United States informed with him which thinks propose that McChrystal requires American troops, probably including/understanding soldiers of navy, being added the next year.The civils servant and the advisers spoke about the state of anonymity because the report/ratio is not complete, and because the number of forces to be required is in flow. With the current of several people of the report/ratio informed that McChrystal could choose not to require an increase in the whole - an identification which it President Barack Obama and other advisers of the White House would not look at favorably on adding new numbers to us forces after having already agreed to amplify their rows by 21.000 troops earlier this year.McChrystal 'report/ratio of S contains a list of recommendations which were not released, but the soldiers and the agents of defense proposed that they identify deficits of the size and qualifications of the Afghan forces and recommend the additional trainers or others of the United States to help.An elder civil servant of the United States declared that the reasoning to need more than forces is attached to a strategy changed to release and hold of the provinces where the insurrectionists talibans run away themselves while they are eliminated elsewhere.McChrystal is likely also to recommend to rearrange some forces of NATO of the United States and to better meet a mission narrowed to protect the Afghan civilians and to deprive the insurrectionists of the essential support.The report/ratio was commissioned by the doors of secretary of Robert defense, that McChrystal sorted with the hand to take the bar of the operations of combat against the insurrectionists talibans whom the higher agents of defense conceded are stopped.Two of McChrystal 'advisers civil of S, Anthony Cordesman of the center for strategic studies and International and Stephen Biddle of the Council of the Foreign affairs, indicated this week when they expect a certain expansion of the troops. Neither one nor the other to advise would measure these numbers.Biddle indicated Thursday it thinks that all the number of troops in Afghanistan would owe number 300.000 to 600.000, including the United States, NATO and the forces Afghan.The current forces include 62.000 troops of the United States and 39.000 troops allied, more approximately 175.000 Afghan army and police force. Some of the allies envisage to draw their troops at the house in the next years.Several of the specific recommendations undergo what the Pentagon calls has to charge with troops for analyzes, to identify if there are the sufficient troops available or adapted to work. One expects that McChrystal discusses this review and its greater evaluation with doors in two weeks following.Any request of additional us of the forces would require delicate discussions with the White House and the legislators. President Barack Obama approved an addition of surprised of 4.000 trainers of the United States earlier in spring, after his greater advertisement of 17.000 troops of combat, and the civils servant of administration and soldiers had announced that other additions were not very probable for now.The evaluations of the additional forces that McChrystal can require are extended from some thousand, such as a brigade number 4.000 to 5.000 and assigned to form the Afghan armed forces of beginner, up to 20.000 or more.Obama 'additions of S will bring the presence of the United States approximately to 68.000 towards the end of this year. It is the harshly double size of the force of the United States when Obama took the office, and although Afghanistan is now considered the nation the 's first priority military, the White House is deeply little laid out to continue to be added, or to fight a congress skeptic above the increase.McChrystal 'predecessor of S left us a request not filled of an addition roughly of 10.000 of the forces, and one had expected that Obama reviews which request close to the end of the year.McChrystal was encouraged by superiors to not evaluate the war abruptly and with the obstacle to require the troops, the money, or the equipment, and it knows that it has probably only one short period to make thus, the agents of defense and others in Washington and Afghanistan declared.To draw up the report/ratio, McChrystal collected approximately dozen soldiers and civil analysts of outside six weeks ago and sent them on an intensive journey of report by Afghanistan. The work finished by group last week.One of the report/ratio 'authors of S.A. indicated that the group identified some problems of basic organization with the manner that the combat is divided among the United States, NATO and the forces Afghan.One of truths challenges which the McChrystal generator will have is that up to this point the war is fought like four separate combat: north, is, western and southern, said Andrew Exum, a specialist in against-insurrection and blogger in the center for a new American safety. We try to think holistique.Report/ratio, is conceived to describe situation on the ground as we saw, speak mission, which it would mean to achieve the mission and then a little about the resources and of the risks that, Exum said.Speaking for, Exum indicated faces of McChrystal a challenge much broader than providing enough troops and resources. Operational Culture of the war must change says it to mean shift starting from military operation and of traditional procedures.Our efforts in this war will succeed or fail based on us of reports/ratios 'about able building with our, Afghan of associated with each level Exum saidHim 's very difficult to establish these associations by behind a MRAP, it indicated, to be referred tank-like the carriers of troop which help to protect from the soldiers of the United States against bombs of roadside. There 's going to have to be a true acceptance of risk with which the United States and other allied forces could not feel comfortable.

Texting, talking NY trucker hits car, pool

LOCKPORT, N.Y. – Police say a western New York tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool.Niagara County sheriff's deputies say 25-year-old Nicholas Sparks of Burt admitted he was texting and talking when his flatbed truck hit the car Wednesday morning in Lockport, which is outside Buffalo.The truck then crashed through a fence and sideswiped a house before rolling into an in-ground pool.Police say the 68-year-old woman driving the car suffered head injuries and was in good condition. Her 8-year-old niece suffered minor injuries.Sparks was charged with reckless driving, talking on a cell phone and following too closely. It couldn't be determined Thursday whether he has a lawyer.

Brazil police rule Gatti’s death suicide

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)—Boxer Arturo Gatti’s death was ruled a suicide by police Thursday and his wife, once suspected of killing the former champion, was released from jail.Investigator Paulo Alberes told The Associated Press authorities decided Gatti killed himself on July 11 while at a seaside resort in northeastern Brazil.Asked if police had determined the case was a suicide, Alberes said, “Yes.” He offered no other details, though a judge—in ordering the release of Gatti’s wife—cited the police investigation and wrote that “the victim took his own life, committing suicide by hanging.”The boxer’s widow, 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues, said in a phone interview as she walked out of jail she thinks Gatti may have killed himself because he was afraid she was going to leave him after a violent disagreement in public the night before his death.“We had an argument in the street. Then he pushed me and I hurt myself. I believe that when we got home and he saw that he hurt me, he thought I would leave him, that I would tell him to just let me go, that I would separate from him,” Rodrigues said. “He did that in a moment of weakness. He was drunk, maybe he didn’t know what he was doing, maybe he thought I would leave him the next day.”A day after the 37-year-old Gatti was found dead, police said that Rodrigues had strangled him with her purse strap as he drunkenly slept.
But police began to back off the accusation about a week later after a coroner’s report said Gatti may have killed himself since he was found “suspended and hanged.” The autopsy report didn’t exclude the possibility he was slain, but said he also could have died in an unexplained accident, or could have committed suicide.“The police investigation concluded that Arturo killed himself,” said Celio Avelino, Rodrigues’ attorney. “I’ve said before it would have been impossible for her to suspend and hang a man of that size.”Judge Ildete Verissimo de Lima ordered the immediate release of Rodrigues after receiving the police report. The judge wrote that police informed the court “the detention of the suspect was no longer needed” since the investigation “excludes the possibility of murder.”Rodrigues said her priority was to see the 10-month-old son she had with Gatti, grieve for her husband and clear her name—though some of Gatti’s friends said they still suspect her.“All of my plans and dreams involved Arturo. I haven’t been able to think of anything beyond that,” she said. “My plan now is to stay with my son, my father, mom and sister, nothing more than this.”Gatti’s body was discovered in the apartment he was renting with Rodrigues in the resort town of Porto de Galinhas. They arrived there a few days before for a second honeymoon. The couple brought their son, who was unhurt and is in the care of Rodrigues’ family in Brazil.From the accounts of Gatti’s family and friends, the two-year marriage with Rodrigues was tumultuous.“She was yelling all the time, they were always fighting and she’d say, ‘I’m going to kill you!’ when they fought,” Gatti’s mother, Ida, said in a telephone interview from Montreal shortly after her son’s death.According to records at the Court of Quebec’s criminal and penal division, Gatti was charged on April 16 for violating a restraining order that had been filed against him. Records didn’t indicate who filed the restraining order, but Gatti’s mother confirmed that it was Rodrigues who had taken one out against him. She offered no other details.Rodrigues stressed her innocence and defended her relationship with Gatti.“There is no one who can doubt my love for Arturo or his for me. Arturo got married at 34 years of age, he was never married before, and this demonstrates the love that he had for me,” Rodrigues said. “I was the only wife of Arturo and I want my good name back. Not only just for me, but out of respect for my husband and my son.”Gatti, who captured two world titles in his 16-year pro career, retired in 2007 with a record of 40-9.Gatti’s family and friends expressed disbelief that the boxer could have killed himself. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said Howard Grant, a friend and fellow boxer in Gatti’s adopted hometown of Montreal.That sentiment was evident at a memorial Mass in northern New Jersey, where Gatti honed his craft, his brother said the family may try to have Arturo’s body exhumed and have an autopsy conducted in Canada.Matchmaker Carl Moretti remembered Gatti as the kind of person that made boxing industry insiders forget the old axiom about never falling in love with a fighter.“It’s safe to say that every one of us forgot that rule when it came to Arturo Gatti,” Moretti said.Associated Press Writers Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo and Amy Luft in Montreal contributed to this report. Thanks

British Airways Stops Short-haul Meals

LONDON: British Airways indicates that it will cease its in flight service of meal for the passengers shorts-haul of economy in order to try to save the air line charged by debt 22 million books ($NZ5 million). The analysts say that BA is most vulnerable among important European air lines to a reduction prolonged in industry and, in spite of a mobilization of funds near-$1 billion; it fights to reduce costs.
BA indicated that it reinforced the sandwich or the full meal was useful over flights shorts-haul of less than two and half-hours, but would continue to serve the eulogistic snacks and drinks.
The passengers will not be able to buy food on board, a system employed by air lines of budget.
The air line indicated that the customers always differentiated it from the carriers of budget.
The air line, which employs approximately 40.000 people, indicated on certain routes that the service of meal had approximately 30 percent of wasting.

Blind businessman stars as Bollywood film hero

MUMBAI : Naseer Khan, a blind businessman is playing the role of a gunman who fights tigers and jumps off burning cars in "Shadow", a new Bollywood film to be released in August.The 36-year-old lost his sight when he was in school. Unlike in real life, Khan can see everything in the film, an idea that struck him during a visit to a film shooting a few years ago.He invested $5.3 million from his own pocket to make the film, a thriller about a gunman sought by police after a series of killings."I am making this film, if for nothing else, than to show that I can do everything that anyone else can," Khan, who has a leather goods business, told Reuters in Mumbai.

Shahbaz Sharif condemned incident of Village Korian Faisalabad

LAHORE, Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the incident of putting on fire houses at Village Korian, Tehsil Gojra, district Faisalabad. He has also expressed his sorrow over the loss of properties and cattle.
Taking serious notice of the incident, the Chief Minister directed Commissioner, DIG, DCO and DPO Faisalabad to immediately reach on the spot and take all necessary steps for resolution of this incident. He has also directed elected representatives to reach the site and use their influence for controlling the situation.

U.S. announces sanctions on North Korean corporation

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on a North Korean company that the United Nations said is linked to the country's nuclear weapons program.A U.S. Treasury Department statement said Korea Hyoksin Trading Corporation is owned or controlled by Korea Ryonbong General Corporation, which has been designated by the United Nations as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction.
The order freezes any U.S. assets of Hyoksin and prohibits any Americans from dealing with it, the statement said.
It notes that a sanctions committee set up by the U.N. Security Council recently cited Hyoksin for involvement in development of weapons of mass destruction.
The announcement came as the U.S. coordinator for implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea met Thursday with the Security Council sanctions committee.
The envoy, Philip Goldberg, said the talks showed "strong commitment" by all nations to enforcing Security Council Resolution 1874, which authorized sanctions against North Korea's weapons program.
"What I found in that room and in my dealings with other governments ... is unity of view," Goldberg said, specifically mentioning China, which is North Korea's longtime supporter. More in cnn news

Judges Case Hearing Underway, Verdict Expected Today

A recorded conversation of November 5, 2007 between a top legal aide and one of the key spymasters of Gen (retd) Musharraf has exposed how the reversal of historic November 3, 2007 decision of a seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was manipulated.

The top legal eagle of the ousted dictator is heard telling the spymaster that the then PCO Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had informed him about the existence of the formal and duly signed decision of the seven-member bench handed down on November 3, 2007 but that he (Dogar) had concealed it. Dogar, according to the legal aide, had also assured him that the next day ( i.e on Nov 6) he would get the Nov 3, SC order reversed by a bench comprising eight judges (one more than the earlier seven-member bench headed by CJ Iftikhar) and behold, the next day, things proceeded exactly according to plan as Dogar proved to be a ‘man of his words’. The eight-member Dogar court handed down a verdict that set aside the historic Nov 3 order of the seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
In its Nov 3 decision, the Supreme Court had declared Musharraf’s PCO as illegal and unconstitutional besides directing the judges of the superior judiciary not to take oath under the PCO. However, the PCO judges led by Mr Dogar showed their allegiance to the then dictator and took oath under the Musharraf PCO.
In the audio tape, Musharraf’s top legal aide is heard assuring the spymaster that Dogar is his man and would do everything as per their desire. It may be recalled that Dogar was approached in Court No 1 on Nov 5 with the query to clarify the standing of the Nov 3 order if any. Dogar was also asked if there existed any Nov 3 order of the seven-member bench. If yes, he was told to get it reversed through a judicial verdict.
At this point the legal eagle tells the spymaster that Dogar asked him (the legal aide) to come to his chamber where he was told that yes there was a Nov 3 decision duly signed by the judges. But then Dogar was quoted as saying that he had kept it to himself. Dogar was further quoted as saying, “It is a decision of the seven-member bench and we would get it reversed tomorrow by an eight-member bench.”
The recorded conversation apparently was the legal aide reporting to the spy chief about his talks with Justice Dogar, the government’s efforts to buy the loyalties of deposed judges and the new inductions into the Supreme Court to overturn the seven-member bench decision which had set aside the imposition of emergency and promulgation of PCO on November 3, 2007 by a pre-Nov 3 independent judiciary judges bench.
The tape unambiguously establishes that the military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf enjoyed absolute control over the PCO judiciary and got decisions of his own choice.
It was following the Nov 6 fixed judgment of the Dogar court that another seven-member bench under Dogar was constituted, to hear petitions of Iqbal Tikka and others, challenging the Nov 3 unconstitutional actions, but it all ended up to the entire satisfaction of General Musharraf, whose Nov 3 actions were validated on Nov 21 the same year.
The legal aide, who is caught unguarded in the audio tape, when approached by The News admitted that on Nov 5 Dogar had told him in his chamber that the Nov 3 order would be overturned. He, however, said that he does not remember if he had talked to the spymaster.
For the moment the identities of the cited legal aide and the spymaster have been withheld by the Jang Group Editorial Board as further investigations are being carried out in the light of information revealed by the contents of the tape and once these investigations are concluded then the new information along with the identities of the two gentlemen shall be made public.

Oil Firms See Big Fall in Profits

Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil have both reported a big fall in quarterly profits, due to the sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2008.
April-to-June profits at Anglo-Dutch group Shell slumped 70% from a year earlier, to $2.3bn (£1.4bn).
Exxon's profits for the same period declined 66% to $3.95bn.
Global crude prices hit a record $147 a barrel last year, before falling back as the world recession took hold. US light crude is currently about $64.
Shell's sales for the quarter totalled $63.9bn, down 51% on a year earlier, while Exxon's declined 46% to $74.5bn.
Cost cutting
Looking ahead, Shell's chief executive Peter Voser said global demand for oil remained "weak".
"There is ample supply and not enough demand. Quite a turnaround from a year ago.
"Shell is adapting to this new situation, and we must do more. We are sharpening our focus on delivery and affordability," he said. More in bbcnews

US Senior open 2009

US Senior open 2009, The U.S. Senior Open, conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), has been played annually since 1980. Local and sectional qualifiers are played for this national championship, just as for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. The format is four rounds of stroke play, with a cut after two rounds.

Envoy Queries Sudan Terror Status

A senior American official has said there is no evidence to support keeping Sudan on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Sudan envoy Scott Gration also said the US would have to "unwind" sanctions imposed as a result of that status.
A Sudanese official welcomed what he called "positive signals" from the US.
The comments came amid a debate in the US about policy over Darfur, where the UN says some 300,000 people have died in the six years of conflict.
The US is also trying to assist Sudan in implementing a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between the north and south of the country.
Talking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Gration said the situation in Darfur had improved and that sanctions were now hindering reconstruction efforts for South Sudan, citing bans on road building and computer equipment.
The BBC's James Copnall in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, says there have been signs that the previously dire relationship between the two countries has been improving recently.
'Political decision'
Mr Gration said keeping Sudan on a terrorism blacklist was "a political decision," and there was no intelligence to support including Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism.
"There's significant difference between what happened in 2004 and 2003, which we characterized as a genocide, and what is happening today," he said. More in bbcnews

Obama Hosts Race Row Beer Reunion

President Barack Obama organised the meeting between Mr Gates and Sgt Jim Crowley in a bid to defuse the race row triggered by the arrest.
As promised, the three men and Vice-President Joe Biden enjoyed a beer while they discussed the situation.
Mr Obama drew criticism when he described the arrest as "stupid".
The president said Thursday's meeting produced a "friendly, thoughtful conversation".
"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart," he said in a statement.
"I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode." More in bbcnews

Killed 100,Nigerian Army Attack on Mosque

Nigeria: Nigerian security forces shelled then stormed the mosque and compound of an Muslim sect blamed for days of violence across northern Nigeria, killing more than 100 militants in a raging gunbattle.The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri on Thursday morning as the army conducted a house-to-house manhunt on the outskirts of the city for sect members. Police said most of the dead were Islamist fighters.
Sect leader Mohammed Yusuf escaped along with about 300 followers but his deputy was killed in Wednesday night’s bombardment, according to Army commander Maj. Gen. Saleh Maina.
A reporter watched soldiers, under fire, shoot their way into the mosque in Maiduguri on Wednesday and then rake those holed up inside with gunfire. The reporter later counted about 50 bodies inside the building and another 50 in the courtyard outside.
The militants, armed with homemade hunting rifles, bows and arrows and scimitars, were no match for the government forces.
Another five corpses were just inside a large house near the mosque. Maina pointed to the body of a plump, bearded man and said it the Boko Haram sect’s vice chairman, Bukar Shekau.
“The mission has been accomplished,” said Maina, the army commander.