Awaz Apni

LOS ANGELES: Brad Pitt has thrown his weight behind a documentary that blasts America's 40-year war on drugs as a failure, calling policies that imprison huge numbers of drug-users a "charade" in urgent need of a rethink. The Hollywood actor came aboard recently as an executive producer of filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's "The House I Live In," which won the Grand Jury Prize in January at the Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in wide release in the United States on Friday. Ahead of a Los Angeles screening, Pitt and Jarecki spoke passionately about the "War on Drugs" which, according to the documentary, has cost more than $1 trillion and accounted for over 45 million arrests since 1971, and which preys largely on poor and minority communities. "I know people are suffering because of it. I know I've lived a very privileged life in comparison and I can't stand for it," Pitt told Reuters on Friday, calling the gove...

Miss California Alyssa Campanella bested 51 other contestants Sunday night to win the Miss USA crown in Las Vegas. Campanella wore a green flared dress for the evening gown competition and answered a question from judge and OPI co-founder Suzi Weiss-Fischmann during the interview segment about the legalization of medical marijuana. Campanella, 21, said she was uncomfortable with the idea, but believed marijuana was medically beneficial. Campanella will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in September. The 60th Annual Miss USA Pageant took place at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. It was hosted by Andy Cohen, host of Bravo's "Watch What Happens: Live" and Giuliana Rancic, co-anchor of "E! News." They were joined by Kellie Osbourne, daughter of Ozzy Osbourne and co-star of "The Osbournes," and Susie Castillo, who was Miss USA in 2003. The audience was packed with former winners from years past, going back to 1953. Each ha...

A 19-year-old man has died in Dallas after an overnight rave party ended in chaos, a spokesman for the Texas city's fire department said Sunday. Rescuers responded to a series of 911 calls from the Electric Daisy Carnival event for emergencies related to drugs, alcohol and excessive heat, spokesman Jason Evans said. Some 20 to 25 people were taken to local hospitals for treatment, with one reported to be in critical condition. The cause of death for the man who died is not yet known. The emergency calls had begun as early as 9 p.m. Saturday with at least 10 different rescue units sent to the scene at the Centennial Building in Fair Park, Evans said. "The chaos finally came to a rapid stop when someone pulled a fire alarm around 1:30 a.m. and sent those remaining scattering," he added. Two citations were issued by fire inspectors, one for overcrowding and another for failure to obey the order of the fire marshal. His request for a half-hour halt in the music to help m...

U.S. Sen. John McCain is blaming illegal immigrants for starting some of the wildfires that have scorched hundreds of thousands of acres in Arizona. "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain, R-Arizona, said Saturday at a press conference. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border." The Arizona senator, however, did not say what the evidence is, prompting a swift rebuke from Latino civil rights advocates. "It's easier to fan the flames of intolerance, especially in Arizona," said Randy Parraz, a civil rights advocate who ran unsuccessfully against McCain as a Democratic candidate in 2010. Parraz called McCain's remarks "careless and reckless" but not entirely surprising given the political climate in Arizona. The Latino advocate is co-founder of Citizens for a Better Arizona, a group trying the recall the legislator who auth...

Arizona and New Mexico face a heightened risk of fire as strong winds are forecast to sweep through both states Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The relentless winds threaten to spread an 11,600-acre fire in southern Arizona that torched 40 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds on Thursday. The winds could undo some of the progress made by crews battling the Wallow blaze that has burned an area of the Apache - Sitgreaves National Forest. "Yes it is a threat. Anything could happen," said Terry Stemmler, a spokesman for the Southwest Incident Management Team, which is battling the latter of the two blazes. Stemmler said crews are faced with four straight days of red flag warnings that started Thursday with the return of strong winds to a dry region. A red flag warning means weather conditions -- high winds and low humidity -- pose an extreme risk for fire. "This whole part of the country is in extreme drought," said Dale Thompson, a spoke...

Michele Bachmann: "I was the very first member of Congress to introduce the full scale repeal of Obamacare" Continue reading the main story Seven Republican presidential hopefuls have attacked President Barack Obama's economic record in the first major debate of the 2012 campaign. The candidates for the party's nomination also focused criticism on his 2010 overhaul of the healthcare system, pledging to repeal "Obamacare". They refrained from attacking one another, preferring to hit at Mr Obama. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is the front-runner in the field bidding to challenge Mr Obama. The first Republican primary elections do not take place until February. The president's handling of the economy and healthcare reform quickly drew criticism, while his policies in Afghanistan and Libya also drew fire during the debate at Saint Anselm College, in New Hampshire. 'Obamacare' anger Early on Mr Romney said Mr Obama had "failed" ...

Breaking News A federal judge was killed and a congresswoman gravely wounded Saturday in a shooting outside of a Tucson, Arizona, grocery store, according to police and government officials. In all, six people died and 12 were wounded in the shooting, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, according to Rick Kastigar, bureau chief for the Pima County Sheriff's Department. President Barack Obama later said Chief Judge John Roll of the U.S. District Court for Arizona was among the dead. A 9-year-old girl also died in the attack, according to authorities. The child, whose identity had not been released, was pronounced dead at a hospital. An Arizona law enforcement source and a federal law enforcement source identified the suspect as Jared Lee Loughner. Other law enforcement sources put his age at 22. U.S. Capitol Police said the suspect was in custody. Police recovered a 9mm Glock handgun, according to senior law enforcement sources. Dr. Peter Rhee of University Medic...

Every Muslim Protest Florida church plans to burn Quran on 9/11 Anniversary.Burn Quran in Flordia Church 11 September , 9/11.A Florida church said it plans to publicly burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, prompting threats from Islamic groups and warnings the move will trigger a rise in hate crimes. Florida Church Plans ‘Burn a Quran’ Day on 9/11 Amazing recitation of the Qur’an by a young child! The Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida said on its Facebook page it will hold an “International Burn a Koran Day” on September 11, asking other religio us groups to join in standing “against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!” “Islam and Sharia law was responsible for 9/11,” pastor Terry Jones said. “We will burn Qurans because we think it’s time for Christians, for churches, for politicians to stand up and say no; Islam and Sharia law is not welcome ...

Awaz Apni The dollar is an unreliable international currency and should be replaced by a more stable system, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in a report released Tuesday. The use of the dollar for international trade came under increasing scrutiny when the U.S. economy fell into recession. "The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency," the report said. Many countries, in Asia in particular, have been building up massive dollar reserves. As a result, those countries' currencies have become undervalued, decreasing their ability to import goods from abroad. The World Economic and Social Survey 2010 is supporting a proposal long advocated by the International Monetary Fund to create a standardized international system for liquidity transfer. Under this proposed system, countries would no longer have to buy up foreign currencies, as China has long done with the U...

Apple sold more than 1.7 million new iPhones in the product's first three days on the market, the California gadget maker said Monday after its most successful launch ever. The iPhone 4, which features video calling, a crisper resolution screen and the ability to shoot and edit high-definition quality video, went on sale in Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States on Thursday. Apple said it sold over 1.7 million of the devices through Saturday. "This is the most successful product launch in Apple?s history," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement. "Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply." Apple said the iPhone 4 will be available in an additional 18 countries by the end of July: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerla...

Awaz Apni Washington -- Ten individuals have been arrested in the United States for spying for Russia, the Justice Department announced Monday. The 10 were "trained Russian intelligence operatives," a Justice Department spokesman said. All 10 suspects are charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Among the phony identities taken by the alleged spies are those of dead Americans, officials said. All are scheduled to appear in court Monday in New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Alexandria, Virginia. A total of 11 defendants -- including the 10 arrested -- have been charged in two separate criminal complaints. One defendant is still at large, according to the Justice Department. The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison,...

AWAZ APNI The Afghan Taliban have expanded their influence across Afghanistan and are now running a 'full-fledged insurgency’ with their own 'governors’ in all but one of the country’s provinces, a senior North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) intelligence official said. "Time is running out. We’ve got about a year to prove that our strategy can actually work. The Taliban has shadow governors in 33 out of the 34 provinces," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told a small group of reporters. "So he (the Taliban) has got a government-in-waiting. He has got ministers," he added. Violence in Afghanistan has reached some of its highest levels in the eight-year war and the United States President Barack Obama is sending in 30,000 extra troops as part of his new war strategy, to try to turn the tide. Other NATO countries are sending some 7,000 more. But Washington’s plan also calls for US troop levels to be scaled down from 2011 and the White Hou...

Pakistani officials, diplomats and spokespersons do not consider the otherwise mind-boggling conditions included in the just passed Kerry-Lugar aid bill in the US Senate as of any serious significance but they are not prepared to state on record that all Pakistani stakeholders, the Army, the intelligence agencies, the people of Pakistan, have been taken into confidence, or even told before hand, that such conditions were being imposed. The Secretary of State has to issue a certificate on these sensitive subjects before each instalment of the US aid is to be disbursed and Pakistanis are wondering how all, or any, of these conditions will be met, if at all. The Secretary of State, under the direction of the president, has to certify to the appropriate congressional committees that: 1. the Government of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle supplier networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials, such as provid...

Kerry Lugar Bill PDF Version 111TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. ll To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES llllllllll Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhanced Partnership 5 with Pakistan Act of 2009’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 (1) The people of Pakistan and the United 9 Stat...