Egypt's jurist the new interim president

Egypt’s Chief jurist Adly Mansour was sworn in because the country’s interim president on Thursday, each day once the military ousted Mohamed Morsi following every week of huge protest

I swear to preserve the system of the republic, and respect the constitution and law, and guard the people’s interests, Mansour same as he took the oath of workplace at a ceremony within the Supreme Constitutional Court. 

• Former president Mohamed Morsi being control by army

• Syria's president Assad hails 'downfall of political Islam'

• Barack Obama orders review folks military aid

• a minimum of fourteen individuals dead

• TV stations raided and closed down

The jurist of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was sworn in Thursday because the nation's interim president, absorbing hours once the military ousted the Mohammedan President Mahomet Morsi.

Adly Mansour took the oath of workplace at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in an exceedingly ceremony broadcast go on state TV. In line with military decree, Mansour can function Egypt's interim leader till a replacement president is electoral. A date for that vote has nevertheless to be set.

The most wonderful issue concerning June thirty is that it brought along everybody while not discrimination or division, he said. I provide my greetings to the revolutionary individuals of Egypt.

I anticipate to parliamentary and presidential elections control with the real and authentic can of the individuals, Mansour same.

The youth had the initiative and therefore the noblest issue concerning this wonderful event is that it absolutely was an expression of the nation's conscience and an embodiment of its hopes and ambitions.

It absolutely was ne'er a movement seeking to understand special demands or personal interests.

The military, in an exceedingly statement scan by army chief info. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wed evening additionally suspended the Islamist-drafted constitution and required new elections.

UN principal hits patron Iran over human rights

The U.N. chief agitated his Persian hosts for a neutral nations converging Wed by pointing out "earnest concerns" in Tehran's earth born rights enter and urging cooperation with the domain embody to alter freedoms.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had signaled he would not shy off from criticism of Iran during his impose to the Nonaligned Move thickening in Tehran, but the lancination comments appeared to touch Persian officials off protect upright hours after his accomplishment.

"We possess discussed how Merged Nations can create together with Persia to amend the anthropoid rights status in Iran. We bed our sensible concerns on the anthropomorphic rights abuses and violations in this region," he told a info conference as he sat close to Persia's Parliament Author Ali Larijani, who frowned at the remarks.

Persia's oppositeness groups had urged Ban to use his appearing in Tehran as a platform to comment Persia's judgement scheme over its crackdowns on governmental dissent, including the shelter arrests of contestant leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi.

While in Tehran, Ban also could cite excitable issues much as demands by U.N. thermonuclear inspectors for wider admittance to various sites, including a warrior like basic moral Tehran suspected of state a proving percept for explosives experiments that could be old to experiment atomic triggers. Iran denies it seeks thermonuclear blazon, but Feature nations and coalition veneration Tehran's uranium enrichment labs are wriggling next to warhead-grade physical.

U.N. spokesman Comic Nesirky said in his talks, Ban expressed hindrance that "soft touchable progress" has been prefab in talks between Iran and concern powers over Tehran's thermonuclear performance. No companion has been set to summary negotiations after several rounds over the tense months.

Persia says it wants talks to talk, but also claims that the modern sewing in Tehran shows that Western efforts to insulate Iran feature failed.

In Vienna, the U.N.'s atomic office has created a special Iran Task Displace of thermonuclear weapons experts, intelligence analysts and separate specialists convergent on inquiring Tehran's atomic curriculum, according to an intimate papers joint with The Associated Machine.

Ban's stay is existence interpreted by Iranian media as a stir to Occidental attempts to insulate the Islamic republic in rebelliousness of Land and Earth calls to boycott the convergence.

Tehran is also hunting to win connection from the nonaligned alignment, job for nearly two-thirds of the U.N. member states, for its atomic information. A jaunt to Natanz metal enrichment situation in centered Persia by involved body has not been ruled out.

Ban met Persia's Supreme Person Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Chairwoman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad afterward Wed.

Nesirky, the U.N. spokesman, said that in his meetings in Tehran Ban "urged the body - the chairwoman, the Dominant Individual, the talker of parliament - to really labor out to the Asiatic leadership and move on them the rattling imperative poverty to cease the violence and to create the conditions that are needed for a semi political treat."

Persia plans to select the shaping of a three-member neutral unit, quality two neighbors of Syria, to helpfulness compute the crisis there, Iran's country media quoted conspicuous lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi as locution.

The planned troika leaves countenance Empire, Iran and Venezuela plus Iraq and Lebanon. Boroujerdi, who met Assad during a jaunt to Syria sunset hebdomad, said the Asian chairwoman said he would welcome the Persian counseling.

Khamenei told Ban that the statement is to forbid weapons shipments to the Syrian rebels, or as he put it, "feckless groups internal Syria," according to his website.

A ranking Iranian authorised gave information of the design Persia is proposing at the meeting.

In President, Commonwealth Department spokeswoman Port Nuland urged Ban to press Iran over Syria. She said Persia does screw a persona to recreation: "It can bust with the Assad plan and stop providing material activity and arms and advisers and all of these kinds of things, she said.

Time Is Running Out in Syria: World Leaders

A world conference accepted a U.N.-brokered peace plan that calls for the creation of a transitional government in Syria, but at Russia's insistence the compromise agreement left the door open to Syria's president being part of it.

representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — along with Turkey, Kuwait, and Qatar, reached an agreement during a conference in Geneva that a transitional government should be set up in Syria, but the question of whether President Bashar al-Assad will step down was left undecided.

The U.S. backed away from insisting that the plan should explicitly call for President Bashar Assad to have no role in a new Syrian government, hoping the concession would encourage Russia to put greater pressure on its longtime ally to end the violent crackdown that the opposition says has claimed more than 14,000 lives.

The crisis talks were called by the Arab League and UN special envoy Kofi Annan, who told the press in his concluding remarks: “It is for the people to come to a political agreement but time is running out.

Syrian opposition figures immediately rejected any notion of sharing in a transition with Assad, though the agreement also requires security force chiefs and services to have the confidence of the people. Assad's government had no immediate reaction, but he has repeatedly said his government has a responsibility to eliminate terrorists and will not accept any non-Syrian model of governance.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted on Saturday that Assad would still have to go, saying it is now incumbent on Russia and China to show Assad the writing on the wall" and help force his departure.

President Bashar Assad “will still have to go, he will never pass the mutual consent test given the blood on his hands.

“It is now incumbent on Russia and China to show Assad the writing on the wall,” Clinton said.

Kofi Annan was appointed the special envoy in February, and in March he submitted a six-point peace plan that he said the Assad regime accepted. It led to the April 12 cease-fire agreement that failed to hold.

The U.N. plan calls for establishing a transitional government of national unity, with full executive powers, that could include members of Assad's government and the opposition and other groups. It would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.

Annan said following the Geneva talks that "it is for the people of Syria to come to a political agreement.

The way things have been going thus far — we are not helping anyone,” Annan said, according to The Associated Press. “Let us break this trend and start being of some use.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said following the agreement that no member of the Syrian opposition will accept to be part of a transitional government while Assad is still in power.

"Assad's staying in power will mean the continuation of the bloodshed in Syria," he said.

Microsoft Unveils Surface Tablet to Rival IPad Challenge

Software giant Microsoft unveiled its first tablet computer, Surface, in a major hardware launch clearly designed to take on long-term rival Apple's market-ruling iPad. Microsoft has unveiled Surface, a tablet computer to compete with Apple's iPad.

Chief executive Steve Ballmer described the iPad challenger -- complete with a built-in stand and ultra thin covers-cum-keyboards in a range of colors -- as a tablet that "works and plays."

CEO Steve Ballmer announced the new tablet, calling it part of a "whole new family of devices" the company is developing.

One version of the device, which won't go on sale until sometime in the fall, is 9.3 millimetres thick and works on the Windows RT operating system. It comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and a touch keyboard cover that snaps on using magnets. The device weighs under 1.5 pounds and will cost about as much as other tablet computers.

The size is similar to the latest iPad, which is 9.4 millimetres thick and weighs 1.3 pounds. Microsoft also promised that the Surface's price tag will be similar to the iPad, which sells for $499 to $829, depending on the model.

Microsoft's broadside against the iPad is a dramatic step to ensure that its Windows software plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile computing market.

The Surface is a PC, the Surface is a tablet, and the Surface is something new that we think people will absolutely love, he said at an hour-long presentation in a Hollywood design studio.

No prices or release dates were given, but the Surface is expected to go on sale in the fall, with retail prices "competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class" computers, Microsoft said.

There were spontaneous bursts of applause and whoops from tech journalists and bloggers as key features of the new tablet, which has a slightly bigger screen than the iPad, but in wide-screen movie-style 16:9 format.

"They are saying it's a different world now and are trying to put the sexy back into the Microsoft brand," said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Each tablet comes with a keyboard cover that is just 3 millimetres thick. The kickstand for both tablets was just 0.7 millimetres thick, less than the thickness of a credit card.

Microsoft, which built its fortune by specializing in software and leaving the job of making computers or other devices to partners, has had mixed results from its hardware ventures.

"This product marks a crucial pivot in Microsoft's product strategy," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

"We designed this like a book. This spine feels like a book," Michael Angiulo, vice president for Windows Planning, Hardware & PC Ecosystem told the audience.

The Surface features a flip-out rear "kickstand" to prop it up like a picture frame and can be combined with a 3mm-thick Touch Cover that, when opened, acts as a keypad so tablets could be switched into "desktop" mode.

There is also a 5 mm-thick Type Cover with moving keys for a more traditional typing feel.

A version of the Surface tablet running on Windows RT software tailored for ARM mobile device chips will measure 9.3 millimeters thick and weigh 676 grams.

It boasts a 10.6-inch (26.9 centimeter) high-definition screen and will be available with 32 or 64 gigabytes of memory. A model powered by Windows 8 Pro weighs 903 grams and will be available with 64 or 128 gigabytes of memory.

Research In Motion's attempt last year to challenge Apple's dominance in the tablet market failed to deliver a threat to the iPad.

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, called the device a tablet that's a great PC — a PC that's a great tablet.

Us Memorial Day, Topic War, and Dead

Us Memorial Day only On Memorial Day, President Barack Obama will attend an anniversary ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's a long custom for presidents to honor the nation's war dead. However, it's a sure bet that he will not honor millions of casualties of war who are not remembered--their families will never be called "Gold Star Families," even though war killed their soldiers. That's because many veterans come home alive but are so morally injured that they kill themselves because war destroyed their core moral identity and stole their will to live. 

Memorial Day is the time when pundits and politicians alike stand and proclaim, "One life lost is one too many." Despite their best intentions, the statement is a hollow cliche that reflects a world as we want it to be versus the realities of the world as it is.

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to honor the country's war dead by spending the Memorial Day holiday Monday with veterans and their families, as communities across the nation host their own festivities.

The president will visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as well as Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, where soldiers have placed American flags on nearly 260,000 graves.

The first large-scale observance of what was originally called Decoration Day took place at the cemetery in 1868, three years after the bloody Civil War that killed more than 600,000 people.

 It is an empty response that lacks eloquence and true understanding. It falls desperately short in its attempt to honor those who have laid down their lives for their country or pay tribute to their families who have truly sacrificed for our nation. But what does it all mean in the context of sacrifice, commitment and dedication? A life lost impacts a family, their friends, comrades and the community they represent. One life represents so much more than a number; it is reflective of a community, a county, a state and our nation. 

We never dreamed anything could happen to her. We thought she was safe, teaching aerial gunnery, trying to do the right thing. She believed in it so much, said Bagot, who lives in Uptown New Orleans now.

Historians from the National World War II museum recently recorded Bagot’s memories in order to feature Germaine’s story among those of service members lost during the war.

The fallen will be remembered this Memorial Day during the museum’s annual tribute, which includes concerts of patriotic music and a memorial ceremony, said Clem Goldberger of the World War II Museum.

Our military has always answered the call of our nation. Service members take an oath to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic," which embodies the ideals of America. They acknowledge the gravity with "so help me God." Some go on to pay the ultimate sacrifice that transcends human logic. Everyone who serves gives some, while some give all.

When Germaine Laville turned 16 in 1938, her family and friends celebrated in the yard of their home in Plaquemine. It was May, and her younger sister, Betty Bagot, now 86, still remembers the pink roses blooming on the arbors.

Six years later, loved ones gathered again in honor of Germaine, nicknamed Bebe, but this occasion was sad. A member of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserves, she died in a fire in June 1944 while teaching at the Marine Air Base in Cherry Point, N.C. She was 22.

The war touched every aspect of life. “I went to LSU. There were no men, just women and 4Fs,” she said, referring to men who were ineligible to serve. Food and supplies were rationed, although with so many children and a garden on their property, no one went hungry.

“My brothers loved sugar and ketchup, and we never had enough of that,” Bagot said. “Of course, nylon stockings were a no-no and cigarettes were pathetic — you couldn’t get the kind you wanted.”

Bagot remembers the family was sitting at supper when the phone call came from the Plaquemine Western Union office. Germaine had been teaching when the building caught fire. She escaped, but ran back inside when she heard a call for help from a fellow Marine. She perished in the fire.

The whole town of Plaquemine turned out for the funeral. “It was a beautiful funeral. They even had an honor guard,” Bagot said, weeping.

Germaine was precocious. She skipped a grade and headed to LSU at 17, joining the sorority Alpha Chi Omega. She graduated at 20, eager to join the war effort on behalf of her family because the boys were all too young.

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable Hatf-III ballistic missile

Pakistan on Thursday successfully test fired nuclear-capable Hatf-III ballistic missile with a range of 290 km that could hit targets in India.

As the test was conducted, a top Pakistani military official said the country had developed a “strong nuclear deterrence capability” and was fully capable of thwarting any aggression

A statement issued by the military described the “training launch” of the short-range Hatf III or Ghaznavi missile as successful.

“The launch was conducted at the conclusion of the annual field training exercise of the Army Strategic Force Command,” the statement said.

The military did not say where the exercise was conducted.

It said the missile could carry nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 290 km.

The training exercise was aimed at “testing the operational readiness of a Strategic Missile Group,” the statement said.

Addressing troops in the exercise area, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne said the country had “developed a strong nuclear deterrence capability.”

He said: “Pakistan’s Armed Forces are fully capable of safeguarding Pakistan’s security against aggression.”

Wynne said he expected the officers and men “entrusted with the task of deterring aggression would continue to train hard and maintain professional excellence.”

He commended the troops for a “high standard of proficiency in handling and operating the state of the art weapon system.”

Besides Wynne, the field training exercise was witnessed by Strategic Plans Division Director General Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Army Strategic Force Command chief Lt Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani, Karachi Corps Commander Lt Gen Muhammad Ijaz Chaudhry, other senior military officials and scientists.

The successful test was appreciated by the President and Prime Minister, who congratulated the troops, scientists and engineers.

NATO-Afghan raid victim childs, sparking protests

Hundreds of protesters carrying the bodies of two people killed in a NATO-Afghan raid blocked a key road in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday. The demonstrators say the dead were villagers while the coalition says they were Taliban insurgents.
The protest was one of the first since a recent U.S.-Afghan deal on night raids mandated that Afghans were supposed to take the lead in such operations with U.S. forces taking a back seat. But many Afghans still blame the raids on the U.S. and NATO, and they've persisted as a point of disagreement.
Afghans say the raids, especially those carried out at night by American forces and their allies, cause needless civilian deaths and sow terror among the population. The U.S. military considers the raids critical to its operations.

NATO and residents offered competing narratives on what happened during the overnight raid in a village in Laghman province.
NATO said one of the men killed was a Taliban leader wanted for coordinating roadside bombings against coalition forces in the area. It said he and another man opened fire during the Afghan-led operation.
Hundreds of protesters carrying the bodies of two people killed in a NATO-Afghan raid blocked a key road in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday. The demonstrators say the dead were villagers while the coalition says they were Taliban insurgents.

The protest was one of the first since a recent U.S.-Afghan deal on night raids mandated that Afghans were supposed to take the lead in such operations with U.S. forces taking a back seat. But many Afghans still blame the raids on the U.S. and NATO, and they've persisted as a point of disagreement.
Afghans say the raids, especially those carried out at night by American forces and their allies, cause needless civilian deaths and sow terror among the population. The U.S. military considers the raids critical to its operations.
NATO and residents offered competing narratives on what happened during the overnight raid in a village in Laghman province.
NATO said one of the men killed was a Taliban leader wanted for coordinating roadside bombings against coalition forces in the area. It said he and another man opened fire during the Afghan-led operation.
The alliance said several other insurgents were detained.
In the village of Bolan, Mohammad Aziz Khochi said soldiers stormed his house at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and that two of his nephews were killed in the raid.
"My sister thought that thieves had come to the house, and she started shouting," Khochi said. "One of her sons came out and the American forces shot him and killed him. Then her other son came out, and they killed him."
Khochi, who was in the house at the time of the raid, said the security forces detained seven other men. He said many of the people staying in his house were government workers and that one of his slain nephews was a member of the local district council.
Another villager who witnessed the raid, Abdul Malik Abdul Rahimzai, denied the victims were insurgents and insisted the soldiers "attacked innocent people" who were unarmed.
The villagers marched with the bodies of the slain men to a key road that leads from the capital, Kabul, to Jalalabad in eastern Nangarhar province. They said they would not bury the bodies until the coalition released all of those detained and explained what information spurred the raid.
"It is not acceptable that they are coming and conducting night raids on the homes of innocent civilians," said Quasimullah, a villager who goes by only one name. "We want the president to put a stop to night raids as soon as possible."
A spokesman for the coalition declined to comment further on Tuesday's operations, saying they were in the process of gathering more information.
Under the deal signed between the U.S. and Afghanistan in April, Afghan forces are now supposed to conduct home searches and U.S. forces are allowed to enter private compounds "only as required or requested."

Suicide bomb near Damascus mosque

A suicide bomber killed nine people, some of them security men, outside a Damascus mosque on Friday, Syrian state media said, in another blow to a fraying U.N.-brokered truce between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting for his downfall.

The explosion under a flyover occurred as worshippers were leaving the Midan district's Zain al-Abideen mosque, which was under heavy security due to its reputation as a launchpad for anti-Assad demonstrations after Friday prayers.

A resident who spoke to security officials at the scene said they reported a man in military uniform walking towards the area from a nearby street.

When several soldiers went to challenge him, he triggered an explosives vest, they said. Many of the body parts scattered across the tarmac were wearing green military-style clothing, the resident added.

State media said 28 people were also wounded in the blast, one of several in the country of 23 million on Friday.

"We had been trying to go to pray in the area but they stopped us at a checkpoint. Security weren't letting us in because there are usually protests there," one anti-Assad activist told Reuters by telephone.

"Then we heard the blast. It was so loud and then ambulances came rushing past us," the activist added. "I could see a few body parts and pieces of flesh on the road. The front of a restaurant looked destroyed. People were screaming."  CONTINUE . . . . .

Romney promises ‘Better America’

Romney shifts focus to Obama, vowing to unveil a ‘better America’ if elected

Coming off a clean sweep of all five primaries up for grabs Tuesday, including Pennsylvania and New York, Mitt Romney kicked off his general election pitch, insisting the upcoming campaign will be about the "very different visions" he and President Obama have for the country.

Speaking to a crowd in Manchester, N.H., Romney said the country is suffering from the "failed leadership" and "faulty vision" of the current president and insisted "a better America begins tonight."

"Four years ago, Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?" Romney said. "People are hurting in America. And we know that something is wrong, terribly wrong with the direction of the country."   CONTINUE . . . . . .

Yemen airstrike victim six from al-Qaida

Yemeni warplanes killed at least six militants linked to al-Qaida on Wednesday, the government said as it pressed ahead with an offensive against insurgents in the south.
 

Yemen has been struggling to control Islamist fighters in the territory who have taken advantage of the chaos surrounding more than a year of mass protests and fighting that unseated former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The country's defense ministry said it launched an airstrike on a group of militants near the southern city of Lawdar, killing six of them.

Lawdar residents told Reuters one person was also killed and another two injured after mortar rounds hit their houses. There was no independent confirmation of who launched the attacks.

Afghan president prospect of early elections

Hamid Karzai says he is thinking about holding presidential elections a year early, in 2013.

Afghanistan's president raised the prospect Thursday of holding presidential elections a year early to avoid a potentially deadly concurrence of a transition of power and a major drawdown of international forces in 2014.

The suggestion could mean that President Hamid Karzai is looking for a graceful exit ahead of what many Afghans predict is looming civil war, but it also could provide some hope for a peaceful democratic transition to a nation worried about falling apart as NATO troops leave.

Karzai — who has led Afghanistan for more than a decade — is constitutionally barred from running for a third term in the election currently  for March 2014.

In a news conference in Kabul, Hamid Karzai revealed he would either bring the transition forward or bring the .

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai, right, speaks during a joint press conference with the NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 12, 2012. President Hamid Karzai said he is considering calling presidential elections a year early to lessen the strain on Afghanistan that could be caused by the departure of foreign combat troops at the same time as a national ballot.

Realistically, bringing forward the NATO withdrawal is not a decision Karzai can make.

Holding elections next year, however, would allow the government to make use of the and logistics that would be still available from NATO force

"I have been talking about this for a few months now," Karzai said in response to a question at a joint news conference with visiting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Karzai said he had discussed the possibility of holding elections in 2013 with his inner circle of advisers in a bid to reduce security risks and lessen the strain that could be caused by foreign combat troops leaving Afghanistan at the same time as the elections. But he stressed no final decision has been made and it was not likely to happen quickly.

Karzai's rule has been tarnished by a lack of clout outside the capital and allegations of fraud surrounding his re-election in the last vote, but he also has managed to hold together rival ethnic groups and political factions through a combination of patronage and compromise deals — and a lot of help from international allies.

Pakistani troops-135 missing in avalanche

Pakistani soldiers are digging for a second day to find 135 people buried by a massive avalanche that engulfed a military complex near the Indian border.

Military officials said Sunday they have not recovered any bodies over 24 hours after the avalanche occurred. They are sending more heavy equipment to help with the effort.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The disaster occurred at the entrance to the Siachen Glacier, a mountain battleground where Pakistani and Indian troops have faced off for decades.

The army has said at least 124 soldiers and 11 civilian contractors were missing under some 21 meters (70 feet) of snow.

Pakistani soldiers dug into a massive avalanche in a mountain battleground close to the Indian border on Saturday, searching for at least 135 people buried when the wall of snow engulfed a military complex.

Pakistani soldiers carry supplies Feb. 19 in Pakistan's Dir district. An avalanche smashed into a Pakistani base on Saturday.

More than 12 hours after the disaster at the entrance to the Siachen Glacier, no survivors had been found.

"We are waiting for news and keeping our fingers crossed," said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.

Hundreds of troops, sniffer dogs and mechanical equipment were at the scene, but were struggling to make much headway into the avalanche, which crashed down onto the rear headquarters building in the Gayari sector early in the morning, burying it under some 21 meters (70 feet) of snow, Abbas said.

"It's on a massive scale," he added. "Everything is completely covered."

The military said in a statement that at least 124 soldiers and 11 civilian contractors were missing.

Siachen is on the northern tip of the divided Kashmir region claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The accident highlighted the risks of deploying troops to one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

The thousands of troops from both nations stationed there brave viciously cold temperatures, altitude sickness, high winds and isolation for months at a time. Troops have been deployed at elevations of up to 6,700 meters (22,000 feet) and have skirmished intermittently since 1984, though the area has been quiet since a cease-fire in 2003. The glacier is known as the world's highest battlefield.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed his shock at the incident, which he said "would in no way would undermine the high morale of soldiers and officers."

The headquarters in Gayari, situated at around 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) is the main gateway through which troops and supplies pass on their to other more remote outposts in the sector. It is situated in a valley between two high mountains, close to a military hospital, according to an officer who was stationed there in 2003.

"I can't comprehend how an avalanche can reach that place," said the officer, who didn't give his name because he is not authorized to speak to the media. "It was supposed to be safe."

More soldiers have died from the weather than combat on the glacier, which was uninhabited before troops moved there.

Conflict there began in 1984 when India occupied the heights of the 78-kilometer (49-mile)-long glacier, fearing Pakistan wanted to claim the territory. Pakistan also deployed its troops. Both armies remain entrenched despite the cease-fire, costing the poverty-stricken countries many millions of dollars each year.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since the partition of the subcontinent on independence from Britain in 1947. Two of the wars have been over Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will sit down to lunch with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Sunday in the highest-level meeting on each other's soil in seven years as the nuclear-armed foes seek to normalize relations.

Relations have warmed since Pakistan promised its neighbor most favored nation trade status in 2011, although a $10 million bounty offered by Washington for a Pakistani Islamist blamed for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai stirred old grievances.

At the lunch meeting the two leaders are expected to focus on trade, where progress has been made, leaving more intractable problems, such as Kashmir, to lower officials.

"The Prime Minister will talk only about issues related to trade, education and culture this time," a government source with knowledge of the itinerary told Reuters.

On Saturday, an avalanche buried 124 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians near the 6,000-metre Siachen glacier in Kashmir, known as the world's highest battlefield. India and Pakistan fought two wars over Siachen and hundreds have died there, mostly from the inhospitable conditions.

Obama Sings Al Green's At Apollo Theater In Harlem

Appearing at the Apollo Theater in New York Thursday night, President Obama sings Al Green classic 'Let's Stay Together.' He sounded good, but he's no Herman Cain.
President Obama sang an Al Green song at a fundraiser Thursday night, in case you haven’t heard. Well, “sang a song” might be exaggerating; he crooned a few words, really. President Obama has a message to his donors: Let's stay together. While speaking Thursday night during a fundraiser at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, the commander in chief showed off some impressive singing abilities. After mentioning that soul legend Rev. Al Green was at the event, Obama belted out a short rendition of Green's classic hit 'Let's Stay Together.'

Net Media News explains that about 1,400 supporters attended the event, which included performances from Al Green and India.Arie. As Politico reports, Obama likely raised at least $3.1 million from his various New York fundraisers on Thursday.
"I...I'm so in love with you," sang the President.

 “Ahhhhm ... so in love with you,” went the leader of what used to be called the Free World.
He did not specify who “those guys” were, at least not on the video made public so far. Perhaps he was referring to Spike Lee and his wife, who earlier in the evening had hosted a dinner for Obama and donors willing to part with upwards of $35,000 per ticket in order to get close to the president.
Remember, we’re making this up – don’t send us emails about how we’re living up to Newt Gingrich’s vision of the news media. If you’ve got other suggestions for songs the president should have tried, please post them in comments. As for ourselves, we’ve gone about as far with this as Pundit Association guidelines allow. Enjoy the show.
Green, of course, is referring to Obama singing part of the first verse of the song last night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Green said, "I was thrilled that the President even mentioned my name, and if the President can get the economy going again and get everything going that he wants to, then we'll all be together." Politics aside, Obama's singing is beautiful or pretty awesome.

___ THOMAS JEFFERSON. He played the violin, and not just to meet women. When he wasn't writing the Declaration of Independence or rewriting the Bible or inventing a four-sided music stand for string quartets, he made music. He played the cello and clavichord, but the violin was his instrument, and he was a ringer for several orchestras. Though often in need of money, he always refused payment.
____ BILL CLINTON. William Jefferson Clinton, not yet president, took a giant step in that direction in June 1992 when he showed up with a saxophone and wraparound sunglasses to play "Heartbreak Hotel" on "The Arsenio Hall Show." ''It's nice to see a Democrat blow something besides the election," quipped the host.
____ HARRY TRUMAN. Nixon was referring to "Give 'em Hell Harry," a Democrat who could never pass a piano without sitting down to play a few bars. In 1952, Truman conducted a nationally televised tour of the newly renovated White House and played a bit on the 1938 Steinway. The building had been condemned when a leg of piano played by his daughter Margaret, a singer whose talent was of some dispute, crashed through the floor of the decrepit mansion.
_____ RICHARD NIXON. He was no Billy Joel. And yet twice in 1974, in the last months of his doomed administration, the President Who Was Not a Crook became the President Who Was the Piano Man. He played "God Bless America" at the Grand Ole Opry, and the same tune when he accompanied singer Pearl Bailey in the East Room of the White House. The two also conspired on "Home on the Range" and "Wild Irish Rose." ''You don't play as well as I sing," Bailey joked, "but I don't sing as well as you govern." She was half right.

Afghan rape victim Gulnaz freed from jail

Afghan woman who was jailed for adultery after being raped has been released from prison after President Hamid Karzai issued a pardon, her lawyer said to media yesterday.

Gulnaz was released on Tuesday night two years after she was jailed for a so-called "moral crime" when a relative raped her at her home, and almost two weeks after Mr Karzai ordered her to be freed. 

Afghan jaile forced adultery after a relative raped her, then pardoned following an international outcry over the case, has been released nearly two weeks after a judicial panel said she could go free, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

She was released last night, said lawyer Kimberley Motley. She's happy that she's in a safer place.

Sex outside marriage - even in cases of rape - is one of several "moral crimes" for which women are imprisoned in Afghanistan. Others include running away from an abusive husband or a forced marriage.

How Gulnaz will be able to re-assimilate into the life she once had remains a confusing question.

Her choices are stark. Women in her situation are often killed for the shame their ordeal has brought the community. She could still be at risk, some say, from her attacker's family.

Half of Afghanistan's women prisoners are inmates for "zina" or moral crimes.

Many Afghan women's rights activists say there must be an end to the culture of impunity and police must punish all those behind violence against women.

Ms Motley said that Gulnaz is now staying in an undisclosed location in Kabul with her child after being released overnight on Tuesday "for her own safety away from the blaze of publicity".
She is now free to lead a normal life without the threat of further legal action, she said.
I hope this historic case will set a legal precedent for other persecuted women in Afghanistan.

A rape victim jailed for 'adultery by force' has today been released into the care of a women's shelter after the President of Afghanistan personally pardoned her two weeks ago.