Tag Archives: 경기도출장샵

drone aircraft fired two missiles at a home in the northwestern village of Tabbi Tool Khel in the North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least three people and wounding some others, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested around 10 days ago in a joint operation by CIA and Pakistani security forces in the southern port city of Karachi, U.S. and Pakistani officials said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. The army on Wednesday gave the first public confirmation of the arrest.

“At the conclusion of detailed identification procedures, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar,” chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said in a written message to reporters. “The place of arrest and operational details cannot be released due to security reasons.”

Baradar was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organization’s leadership council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the hardline Islamist movement to be arrested since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The White House has declined to confirm Baradar’s capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it’s best to collect that information without talking about it.

Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

One said Baradar had provided “useful information” to them and that Pakistan had shared it with their U.S. counterparts. A third official said Wednesday that Baradar was being held at an office of Pakistan’s most powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, in Karachi.

CBS News chief national security correspondent David Martin reports that, between whatever laptops and 경기도출장샵 cell phones he had at the time of his arrest, and what he knows, Baradar is a potential goldmine of intelligence.

“The unique thing about this individual was that he had been working for the Taliban for well over a decade,” former CIA officer Bruce Riedel tells CBS News. “He knew the inside and outside of how the Taliban operates.”

Officials call Baradar the linchpin of Taliban strategy in Afghanistan, and as Martin reports, his capture comes just as the U.S. and its allies have launched a major new offensive in Helmand province.

The Pakistani military officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Baradar’s arrest suggests the Pakistani intelligence services are ready to deny Afghan militant leaders a safe haven in Pakistan – something critics have long accused them of doing.

Haroun Mir, a leading Afghan expert on the Taliban, tells CBS News Baradar’s arrest is “the most important event in the war against the Taliban and the war on terrorism in years.”

“The real significance is the change in the Pakistani policy,” explains Mir.

U.S. and Afghan leaders “have been criticizing Pakistan for years for allowing the Taliban to move freely between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now, by arresting Mullah Baradar, they have demonstrated in the strongest way a change in policy.”

Read More Analysis from Haroun Mir in World Watch

The arrest may also push other insurgent leaders thought to be sheltering in Pakistan toward reconciliation talks with the Afghan government – a development increasingly seen as key to ending the eight-year war.

The arrest came shortly before U.S., Afghan and NATO troops launched a major offensive against militants in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, one of the regions that Baradar was believed to control. It is the largest operation in Afghanistan since President Barack Obama ordered a “surge” of 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Washington has pressed Islamabad to crack down on Afghan Taliban believed to be staying in Pakistan, and to go after Pakistani Taliban groups who have strongholds in the country’s northwest regions bordering Afghanistan. The CIA also has stepped up a campaign of missile strikes from unmanned planes that have killed dozens of suspected militants in recent months.

The latest strike came Wednesday, when a suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles at a home in the northwestern village of Tabbi Tool Khel in the North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least three people and wounding some others, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The average gross income of an actor’s last three films produced their box-office return

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated. That put the 36-year-old “Bourne” star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula.

The first two “Bourne” movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar he was paid, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

“The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns,” Forbes senior editor Michael Ozanian said in a statement Monday.

Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films — “A Good Year,” “Cinderella Man” and “Master and Commander” — averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said.

Movies starring the two Toms — Hanks and Cruise — averaged $12 and $11 of gross income, respectively. Will Smith and Denzel Washington each brought in $10.

On the comedic front, 부산중구출장샵 Adam Sandler brought in $9 per dollar earned, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey $8 each).

Forbes.com calculated the net revenue for a film by adding the worldwide box office and revenues from U.S. DVD and video rentals and then subtracting its budget. The net revenue was divided by the actor’s total compensation to derive gross income. The average gross income of an actor’s last three films produced their box-office return.

The “Ultimate Star Payback” list was posted Monday.

In neighboring Kandahar province, four Afghan policemen were killed and four others were wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb on Tuesday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive around Marjah, which has an estimated 80,000 inhabitants and was the largest town in southern Helmand province under Taliban control. NATO hopes to rush in aid and public services as soon as the town is secured to try to win the loyalty of the population.

With the assault in its fifth day, insurgents are firing at Afghan troops from inside or next to compounds where women and 경기도출장샵 children appear to have been ordered to stand on a roof or in a window, said Gen. Mohiudin Ghori, the brigade commander for Afghan troops in Marjah.

“Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a second-floor or third-floor window,” Ghori said. “They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.”

The Marjah offensive is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and is a major test of a retooled NATO strategy to focus on protecting civilians, rather than killing insurgents.

Ghori said troops have made choices either not to fire at the insurgents with civilians nearby or they have had to target and advance much more slowly in order to distinguish between militants and civilians as they go.

Even with such caution on both the NATO and Afghan side, civilians have been killed. NATO has confirmed 15 civilian deaths in the operation. Afghan rights groups say at least 19 have been killed.

In northern Marjah on Wednesday, U.S. Marines fanned out through poppy fields, dirt roads and side alleys to take control of a broader stretch of area from insurgents as machine gun fire rattled in the distance.

Special Report: Afghanistan

The Marines found several compounds that had primitive drawings on their walls depicting insurgents blowing up tanks or helicopters, a sign that Afghan troops say revealed strong Taliban support in the neighborhood.

Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said security has improved enough in northern Marjah for Afghan police to step in. Other Marine units have taken control over main locations in the center of town.

“Bringing in the Afghan police frees up my forces to clear more insurgent zones,” Christmas said.

Combat engineers were building a fortified base at the entrance of town for the police, who are expected to arrive Thursday.

Afghan police chosen for the task in Marjah were selected from other regions of the country instead of Helmand province, Marine officials said, in order to avoid handing over day-to-day security to officers who may have tribal or friendship ties to the Taliban.

A day earlier, Marines and Afghan forces moving by land from the north had succeeded in linking up with U.S. units that have faced nearly constant Taliban attack in the four days since they were dropped by helicopter into this insurgent stronghold.

The linkup between the two Marine rifle companies and their Afghan army partners will enable the U.S. to expand its control in Marjah, about 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

A top Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Razaq Akhund, dismissed the offensive as NATO propaganda and said on the group’s Web site that Marjah was militarily insignificant.

Four NATO service members have been killed in the Marjah operation. An American and a Briton were killed on Saturday, while two others whose nationalities were not identified were killed Tuesday. One Afghan soldier also died Tuesday, Afghan officials said.

The Marines and Afghan troops “saw sustained but less frequent insurgent activity” in Marjah on Wednesday, limited mostly to small-scale attacks, NATO said in a statement.

Marine officials have said that Taliban resistance has started to seem more disorganized than in the first few days of the assault, when small teams of insurgents swarmed around Marine and Afghan army positions firing rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Troops are encountering less fire from mortars and RPGs than at the start of the assault, suggesting that the insurgents may have depleted some of their reserves or that the heavier weapons have been hit, Ghori said.

Nevertheless, Taliban have not given up. Insurgent snipers hiding in haystacks in poppy fields have exchanged fire with Marines and Afghan troops in recent days as they swept south.

Insurgents tried but failed to shoot down an Osprey aircraft with rocket-propelled grenades as Cobra attack helicopters fired missiles at Taliban positions, including a machine gun bunker.

NATO said it has reinstated use of a high-tech rocket system that it suspended after two rockets hit a house on the outskirts of Marjah on Sunday, killing 12 people, including at least five children.

The military coalition originally said the missiles went hundreds of yards (meters) off target but said Tuesday that it determined that the rockets hit the intended target.

Afghan officials said three Taliban fighters were in the house at the time.

Violence and NATO strikes have continued elsewhere in the country.

In neighboring Kandahar province, four Afghan policemen were killed and four others were wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb on Tuesday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

And in the east, NATO said it killed more than a dozen insurgents in an airstrike near the Pakistani border.

“The results of the test are that Chris Rock is not the father of this child,” Mayoue said

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

Rock’s attorney, 부산중구출장샵 John Mayoue of Atlanta, said a Bulloch County judge sent results of the paternity test to lawyers on both sides of the case.

“The results of the test are that Chris Rock is not the father of this child,” Mayoue said. “It is conclusive.”

The mother, however, disputed the test results.

Kali Bowyer, who lives in Bulloch County, west of Savannah, tried in March to file a paternity lawsuit against Rock seeking child support and medical coverage for her son, Jordan. She withdrew the lawsuit after court officials told her it was outside the southeast Georgia county’s jurisdiction because Rock is a New Jersey resident.

Rock and his wife, Malaak, said in a statement Monday they were happy to put the case to rest. They accused Bowyer of telling “multiple lies” to sell her story to tabloids.

“We also express our deepest prayers for the welfare of Ms. Bowyer’s son who has continually been embarrassed and exposed in the media by his mother,” Rock’s statement said. “We have spent a tremendous sum to litigate this case and are asking our attorney to pursue all legal remedies against her. Additionally, we would like for any monies Ms. Bowyer has taken from the tabloid media based on this false story to be donated to Bulloch County, Ga., charities for the benefit of disadvantaged boys and girls.”

Bowyer said Monday she had never received money for her story and she believed Rock had violated a confidentiality agreement by making the paternity test results public.

“I could’ve sworn we weren’t supposed to talk about it until we were done with mediation,” Bowyer said.

She said she planned to ask the judge to order another DNA test to challenge the results of the one that ruled out Rock as her child’s father.

Bowyer, 35, said she met Rock at a Los Angeles nightclub when she was living in California 13 years ago.

She denied making any money from the case despite offers of thousands of dollars from television shows and tabloid magazines.

“I am sick and tired of being made out to be a liar and a fraud,” she said.

Rock recently directed and starred in the film “I Think I Love My Wife,” and is behind the hit television series “Everybody Hates Chris,” which is based on his childhood. He and his wife have been married for 10 years and have two young children.

Afghan police chosen for the task in Marjah were selected from other regions of the country instead of Helmand province, Marine officials said, in order to avoid handing over day-to-day security to officers who may have tribal or friendship ties to the Taliban

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive around Marjah, which has an estimated 80,000 inhabitants and was the largest town in southern Helmand province under Taliban control. NATO hopes to rush in aid and public services as soon as the town is secured to try to win the loyalty of the population.

With the assault in its fifth day, insurgents are firing at Afghan troops from inside or next to compounds where women and children appear to have been ordered to stand on a roof or in a window, said Gen. Mohiudin Ghori, the brigade commander for Afghan troops in Marjah.

“Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a second-floor or third-floor window,” Ghori said. “They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.”

The Marjah offensive is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and is a major test of a retooled NATO strategy to focus on protecting civilians, rather than killing insurgents.

Ghori said troops have made choices either not to fire at the insurgents with civilians nearby or they have had to target and advance much more slowly in order to distinguish between militants and civilians as they go.

Even with such caution on both the NATO and Afghan side, civilians have been killed. NATO has confirmed 15 civilian deaths in the operation. Afghan rights groups say at least 19 have been killed.

In northern Marjah on Wednesday, U.S. Marines fanned out through poppy fields, dirt roads and side alleys to take control of a broader stretch of area from insurgents as machine gun fire rattled in the distance.

Special Report: Afghanistan

The Marines found several compounds that had primitive drawings on their walls depicting insurgents blowing up tanks or helicopters, a sign that Afghan troops say revealed strong Taliban support in the neighborhood.

Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said security has improved enough in northern Marjah for Afghan police to step in. Other Marine units have taken control over main locations in the center of town.

“Bringing in the Afghan police frees up my forces to clear more insurgent zones,” Christmas said.

Combat engineers were building a fortified base at the entrance of town for the police, who are expected to arrive Thursday.

Afghan police chosen for the task in Marjah were selected from other regions of the country instead of Helmand province, Marine officials said, in order to avoid handing over day-to-day security to officers who may have tribal or friendship ties to the Taliban.

A day earlier, Marines and Afghan forces moving by land from the north had succeeded in linking up with U.S. units that have faced nearly constant Taliban attack in the four days since they were dropped by helicopter into this insurgent stronghold.

The linkup between the two Marine rifle companies and their Afghan army partners will enable the U.S. to expand its control in Marjah, about 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

A top Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Razaq Akhund, dismissed the offensive as NATO propaganda and said on the group’s Web site that Marjah was militarily insignificant.

Four NATO service members have been killed in the Marjah operation. An American and a Briton were killed on Saturday, while two others whose nationalities were not identified were killed Tuesday. One Afghan soldier also died Tuesday, Afghan officials said.

The Marines and Afghan troops “saw sustained but less frequent insurgent activity” in Marjah on Wednesday, 부산중구출장샵 limited mostly to small-scale attacks, NATO said in a statement.

Marine officials have said that Taliban resistance has started to seem more disorganized than in the first few days of the assault, when small teams of insurgents swarmed around Marine and Afghan army positions firing rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Troops are encountering less fire from mortars and RPGs than at the start of the assault, suggesting that the insurgents may have depleted some of their reserves or that the heavier weapons have been hit, Ghori said.

Nevertheless, Taliban have not given up. Insurgent snipers hiding in haystacks in poppy fields have exchanged fire with Marines and Afghan troops in recent days as they swept south.

Insurgents tried but failed to shoot down an Osprey aircraft with rocket-propelled grenades as Cobra attack helicopters fired missiles at Taliban positions, including a machine gun bunker.

NATO said it has reinstated use of a high-tech rocket system that it suspended after two rockets hit a house on the outskirts of Marjah on Sunday, killing 12 people, including at least five children.

The military coalition originally said the missiles went hundreds of yards (meters) off target but said Tuesday that it determined that the rockets hit the intended target.

Afghan officials said three Taliban fighters were in the house at the time.

Violence and NATO strikes have continued elsewhere in the country.

In neighboring Kandahar province, four Afghan policemen were killed and four others were wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb on Tuesday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

And in the east, NATO said it killed more than a dozen insurgents in an airstrike near the Pakistani border.

His lingering anger comes in part from the humiliation he suffered at the hands of police officers in 1959

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

So John Crawford, 70, wants his criminal record cleaned up for good, so that he doesn’t have to disclose his conviction when he seeks volunteer work, and because of a deeply held belief that he should not be punished for his sexual orientation.

“I came into this world without a criminal record and I’d like to leave this world without one,” said Crawford, a retired butler. “The police beat me and beat me and forced me to confess to being gay, but I know in my heart I did nothing wrong.”

Crawford’s bid to clean up his record is backed by gay organizations looking to help others who were convicted under Britain’s once draconian anti-homosexuality laws, which began to be eased in 1967 as social values changed and sex acts between consenting adults began to be decriminalized.

“These laws were homophobic in the first place, that’s why they were rescinded, but the laws are still penalizing people,” said Deborah Gold, director of Galop, a gay rights group that has helped Crawford. “We’ve always had a regular trickle of people asking about it, how to get their records cleaned up.”

She said Crawford suffered horrific treatment from the police and should not have to disclose his criminal conviction when seeking employment or volunteer work.

His lawyers wrote to Justice Secretary Jack Straw last week asking that the law be changed so that Crawford and others in his position would not have to disclose their convictions during the job interview process.

If no action is taken by March 12, attorneys will seek a formal judicial review because the policy is not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, said lawyer Anna Mazzola.

“John Crawford wants to do it, to change the law for other people,” she said. “Others are in exactly the same position. The justice secretary has the power to do this, without going through Parliament.”

Mazzola’s firm has also filed a freedom of information request for data about the number of people convicted of consensual sexual offenses that would now be legal.

“I think there are quite a lot,” she said.

Crawford’s legal campaign has already been productive. In response to a letter from his lawyers, police have removed the record of his conviction from the criminal database, meaning it will not turn up during a computerized criminal records search.

“We are very sympathetic to Mr. Crawford’s concerns,” said a Hampshire police spokesman, who asked not to be identified under department policy. “We recognize that this is an exceptional case and have acted quickly to resolve it.”

The spokesman said the conviction is no longer relevant and has been taken out of the Police National Computer database. The special ruling applies only to Crawford, however, not to other gay or bisexual men with similar offenses in their past.

This welcome decision removes one substantial obstacle Crawford faces in his retirement as he pursues voluntary positions, such as hospital work where he would be helping to feed ill people.

He is not satisfied, however, because he is still legally required to reveal the 1959 episode when asked if he has ever been convicted of any criminal offense. This happens frequently on questionnaires when applying for volunteer work with vulnerable persons.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Crawford said.

His lingering anger comes in part from the humiliation he suffered at the hands of police officers in 1959. He said they abused him physically and harassed him with vulgar taunts, 부산중구출장샵 then coerced him into pleading guilty by threatening to continue beating him if he did not cooperate.

As a result of that plea, he said he was saddled with a conviction that would not have been possible otherwise, especially since he was not accused of having sex in public.

“I wanted to plead not guilty, and the case would have been thrown out and I wouldn’t be talking about it now,” Crawford said. “Until the police drop it completely, I won’t be happy. I’ve got to be able to put my hand on my heart and say to the world, I haven’t got a criminal record, and I can’t say that now.”

Obama Taps Veteran Diplomat for Syria Post

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

President Obama said Tuesday he would nominate career diplomat Robert Ford to become the United States’ first ambassador to Damascus since 2005, a sign that U.S.-Syrian relations are thawing as Obama enters his second year in power.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would represent the United States’ interests as it moves toward restored diplomatic relations with a nation that borders both Iraq and Israel.

“Ambassador Ford is a highly accomplished diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “His appointment represents President Obama’s commitment to use engagement to advance U.S. interests by improving communication with the Syrian government and people.”

Obama has made changing the United States’ image in the Middle East a priority of his first year. He traveled to Cairo to deliver a speech on engaging the Muslim world. He has met with Israeli and Palestinians leaders alike at the White House. An agreement between the two, however, has been elusive.

Seeking regional partners to promote that peace, Obama foreign policy advisers last summer said the United States would fill the Damascus post that has been vacant for years. That announcement was described as an acceleration of Washington’s engagement with the Arab world on the heels of Obama’s trip to Cairo.

Syria remains a key to establishing peace with Israel, which still occupies the strategic Golan Heights, captured from Damascus in the 1967 war. The Syrians want a strong U.S. hand in Mideast peacemaking to regain that territory.

“If confirmed by the Senate, Ambassador Ford will engage the Syrian government on how we can enhance relations, while addressing areas of ongoing concern,” said Gibbs, Obama’s top spokesman.

Ford’s name has been reported for weeks as the likely nominee, and the White House confirmation comes after a flurry of diplomatic visits to Damascus by American officials.

CBS News’ George Baghdadi reports that senior U.S. diplomat William Burns, an undersecretary at the State Department, held talks Wednesday with President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus.

“We talked candidly about the areas in which we disagree, but also identify the areas of common ground on which we can build,” Burns said in a statement after his meeting with the Syrian leader.

“Washington’s decision to send an Ambassador is a clear sign of America’s readiness to improve relations and to collaborate in the pursuit of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and the Israelis,” he added.

According to a Presidential statement released after the meeting, Assad urged the Obama administration to “adopt policies that push Israel to meet peace requirements.”

The long-tense relations between Syria and 부산중구출장샵 the U.S. started to improve after Obama took office in January last year.

His predecessor, former President George W. Bush, first imposed the sanctions in May 2004, citing Syrian support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and other activities including efforts to undermine U.S. operations in Iraq. The economic and diplomatic sanctions were renewed by the Obama administration in May.

The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 to protest Syrian actions in neighboring Lebanon. Washington has also criticized Syria and Iran for supporting Islamic militant groups such as the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Ford, a fluent Arabic speaker, is currently deputy chief of mission in the Baghdad embassy of the U.S. He was also the ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008.

Talib Kweli is one of hip hop’s most respected figures who are on the Rock the Bells bill, chosen, said promoter Chang Weisberg, for their artistic integrity and their cultural contributions

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

Rapper Talib Kweli was performing at the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival when suddenly he saw a bottle of urine hurtling through the air. It disgusted him so much he stopped mid song to chastise the unknown culprit among the mass of hipster kids in the audience at Randall’s Island in Manhattan.

Minutes later, he was freestyling about it to the song he did with rapper/producer Kanye West, “Get ‘Em High.” I know you love me so much that you don’t want to leave me, he said, but please use the Port-o-Potty; or something to that effect.

Talib Kweli is one of hip hop’s most respected figures who are on the Rock the Bells bill, chosen, said promoter Chang Weisberg, for their artistic integrity and their cultural contributions.

“I try to write songs that directly relate to people’s lives in a social way,” he told The ShowBuzz. “That’s what I always try to do. It’s not about preaching and saying you should do this, you should do that. It’s about replicating a vivid and accurate picture of what people are going through. And providing the balance that that you don’t hear on a lot of popular songs. Because sometimes people celebrate a certain lifestyle and you don’t hear about the downside.”

Kweli’s past hits have certainly illuminated the dark side. “Get By” off his album “Quality” talks about the reality of living in the hood where crack and crime are prominent, but the first single off “Ear Drum,” focuses on Kweli’s other major 부산중구출장샵 muses: women.

“Girls and love is one of my chief inspirations — they’re just so inspirational,” he said. “You could write about women forever … that’s why it’s the first single, it’s hot outside, women are walking around.”

The album, which deals with religious and social themes, also features unique collaborations. Norah Jones sings the refrain on “Soon a New Day” and Justin Timberlake is featured on the bonus track. It’s an interesting partnership that wouldn’t have made sense only a few years ago when Timberlake was still singing with ‘N Sync.

“There’s a lot of things that’s different,” Kweli said. “Not to say that — people just become what they are inside, they should as artists. I feel like Justin’s done that. I hope I have done that as an artist. I think he’s very talented, and I learned a lot about being instrumental, sonically, about writing. Learned a lot.”

Kweli said he is also working on Blacksmith TV, but is not sure if it will be a reality show or a documentary. He just wants to show how the artists on his label such as rappers Strong Arm Steady and Jean Grae function as artists. He can also be seen on 15 of Rock the Bells’ dates. Look for “Ear Drum” in stores Aug. 21.

In the third incident, two Afghan men were caught in the crossfire between insurgents and NATO forces

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

Also Tuesday, U.S. artillery fired non-lethal smoke rounds to disperse Taliban fighters in Marjah – the first time cannons have been used in the fight to drive the militants from their logistical and opium poppy-smuggling base. Commanders refused a Marine request to fire deadly high-explosive rounds because the unit on the ground could not be sure civilians weren’t at risk.

The linkup between the two Marine rifle companies and their Afghan army partners will enable the U.S. to expand its control in Marjah, situated in Helmand province 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

Special Report: Afghanistan

Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines moved through fields of hidden bombs and bobby traps and braved heavy sniper fire to join up with the same battalion’s Kilo Company, which was airdropped into the town in the first hours of the operation Saturday.

Lt. Gordon Emmanuel, a platoon commander in Kilo Company, said the Marines landed without encountering Taliban fire but came under sustained attack as they fanned out from the landing zone.

“When it is daytime, there is nonstop contact until the sun goes down … every day,” Emmanuel said.

A Taliban spokesman, however, claimed that insurgents retain control of the town and that coalition forces who “descended from helicopters in limited areas of Marjah” were now “under siege.”

Spokesman Tariq Ghazniwal extended an invitation by e-mail to foreign journalists to visit Marjah, saying the trip would “show who have the upper hand in the area.”

About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops are taking part in the big offensive around Marjah, which has an estimated 80,000 inhabitants and was the largest southern town under Taliban control. NATO hopes to rush in aid and public services as soon as the town is secured to try to win the loyalty of the population.

NATO said a service member taking part in the Marjah operation was killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday – the third confirmed death among international forces since the attack on the town began. An American and a Briton were killed on Saturday.

NATO did not identify the latest victim by nationality. Afghan military spokesman Lt. Mohammad Esah said Tuesday one Afghan soldier died in the offensive. But he did not say when.

U.S. officials said Taliban resistance in Marjah seemed more disorganized Tuesday than in previous days, when small teams of insurgents swarmed around Marine and Afghan army positions firing rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“We’re not seeing coordinated attacks like we did originally. We’re still getting small-arms fire, but it’s sporadic, and hit-and-run tactics,” said Marine spokesman Capt. Abraham Sipe. “As a whole, while there is still resistance, it is of a disorganized nature.”

Nevertheless, Taliban have not given up. Insurgent snipers hiding in haystacks in poppy fields exchanged fire with Marines and Afghan troops as they swept south.

Insurgents tried but failed to shoot down an Osprey aircraft with rocket-propelled grenades as Cobra attack helicopters fired missiles at Taliban positions, including a machine gun bunker.

Marines and Afghan soldiers continued house-to-house searches, removing bombs and booby-traps as they moved through town. Inside some compounds Tuesday, squads found small doses of heroin, a Taliban photo album with fighters posing with AK-47s, and large propaganda wall paintings of insurgents shooting down helicopters.

Residents said they were scared to be seen with NATO forces. As Marines searched his compound, one man, Wali Mohammad, warned an AP reporter, “Don’t take pictures or the Taliban will come back to kill me.”

Mohammad said he strongly suspected insurgents would return to the area as soon as the Marines moved on. He said Taliban fighters had targeted U.S. and Afghan troops, firing from his neighbors’ houses.

“When they come, we try to tell them not to use our house, but they have guns so they do what they want,” the poppy farmer said.

Three more Afghan civilians were killed in the assault, NATO forces said, highlighting the toll on the population from an offensive aimed at making civilians safer.

The deaths – in three separate incidents – come after two U.S. missiles struck a house on the outskirts of Marjah on Sunday, killing 12 people, half of them children. Afghan officials said three Taliban fighters were in the house at the time.

The commander of U.S. forces was quick to apologize, reports CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark.

“When President Karzai approved this operation he gave us very specific guidance, which was to protect the people of Afghanistan, and this operation was done with this in mind,” said Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

NATO first said the missiles went 300 yards (meters) off target and hit the house. On Tuesday, however, British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, commander of NATO forces in the south, told reporters in London via a video link that the rockets hit the intended target.

As the NATO offensive aims to break the Taliban influence in southern Afghanistan, the militant group received another blow with the news of its top military commander’s arrest in Pakistan.

Taliban’s Top Military Commander Captured

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was captured in the port city of Karachi, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. The arrest appeared to have occurred as many as 10 days ago, and it was unclear if it had any effect on the Marjah battle.

The offensive is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and is a major test of a retooled NATO strategy to focus on protecting civilians, rather than killing insurgents.

But in two incidents confirmed Tuesday, Afghan men came toward NATO forces and ignored shouts and hand signals to stop, NATO said. Troops opened fire and killed them. In the third incident, two Afghan men were caught in the crossfire between insurgents and NATO forces. Both were wounded and one died despite being given medical care, NATO said.

NATO has confirmed 15 civilian deaths, but an Afghan human rights group said Tuesday that it counted 19 civilians killed since the operation began. Four were caught in the crossfire when they left their homes.

“Their neighbors tell us that the bodies are outside and they want someone to pick them up. They say they’re scared if they go outside they will also be shot dead,” said Ajmal Samadi, director of Afghanistan Rights Monitor. It was unclear whether NATO or insurgent forces were to blame for the deaths, he said.

Elsewhere in Helmand province, 경기도출장샵 NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 10 militants while pursuing a Taliban commander in Washir district, west of the Marjah area.

Fox was the only network to receive a “failing” grade for its 6 percent of LGBT-inclusive programming

Tags : 경기도출장샵 부산중구출장샵

ABC has the best representation of gays among the five major networks according to a new report. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said that Fox scored the lowest in their ratings.

“While we have made great strides in the ten years since Ellen DeGeneres came out on television, this report shows where work still needs to be done,” GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said in a statement.

“Fox appreciates all the work that GLAAD has done to improve the visibility of LGBT characters and issues, and their positive recognition of our efforts in that regard,” a Fox spokesperson told TheShowBuzz in a statement. “We are committed to recognizing diversity across our entire schedule, take these issues seriously, acknowledge we have work to do, and will strive to enhance the representation of LGBT characters on our air.”

GLAAD said they examined all 4,693 hours of prime-time programming on ABC, 경기도출장샵 CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007 for any on-screen major or minor representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people.

ABC received a grade of “good” with 15 percent of its prime-time programming inclusive of LGBT representation. The CW had a rating of “fair” at 12 percent, CBS came in at No. 3 with a “fair” rating of 9 percent, followed by NBC with a “fair” rating at 7 percent.

Fox was the only network to receive a “failing” grade for its 6 percent of LGBT-inclusive programming.