Sarah Palin won’t run for president in 2012

On Wednesday, the former vice-presidential candidate and the acknowledged star of the Republican Party Sarah Palin finally announced that she is not going to run for the presidency in 2012. A day before that another Republican hopeful, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also announced his decision not to run.

The former Alaska governor’s supporters founded a group called Organize4Palin to build a grassroots network and essentially campaign for her: go to county meetings, stump for Palin with politically connected Iowans, and form a loose campaign structure for what they saw as an inevitable Palin campaign. It turned out not to be.

Sarah Palin made her decision known Wednesday releasing a statement to ABC News and telling radio host Mark Levin that she will not enter the presidential race. Wednesday evening she told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News that she “apologize(s) to those disappointed” with her decision saying that she had heard from them over the last few hours and hopes they understand “you don’t need a title to make a difference in this country.”

As the news broke that she would not run those supporters that were the most invested said they were “disappointed,” but had “no regrets.”

What is questionable, though, is whether the Republicans will be able to come up with an electable candidate. Until recently there seemed to be only too viable contenders – Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, with chances for Chris Christie to intervene and change the scene. After Christie’s decision not to run, one would suppose that the field has narrowed to two candidates. But then unexpectedly businessman and columnist, former chairman and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza Herman Cain made a strong showing at some Republican caucuses, and now he is considered to be on equals if not ahead of Rick Perry whose support has faltered.

The problem is that Republican primaries starting next January and the general elections in November are very different. And the candidate most liked by the party and Republican-leaning independents might not be as welcomed by the majority of general voters. Therefore, winning the party nomination may play a trick on the frontrunner preventing him from winning the votes of the center, which will inevitably determine the general outcome.

Perry, who has dropped in the polls recently following unimpressive debate performances, issued a statement calling Palin “a good friend, a great American and a true patriot. I respect her decision and know she will continue to be a strong voice for conservative values and needed change in Washington.”

The man who picked her as his running mate in 2008, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said on Twitter that Palin will “continue to play an important role in our party and for our nation.”

Later, the former Alaska governor told Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, “You don’t need a title to make a difference in this country.”

Palin urged voters not to wait for perfection from the current Republican field of contenders.

“There is no one perfect candidate, and I want people to keep that in mind and not be extremely disappointed in a politician,” she said.

Statement released by Palin on her decision.

October 5, 2011

Wasilla, Alaska

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the “fundamental transformation” of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!

God bless America.

– Sarah Palin

Yemen’s Saleh comes out of surgery, future unclear

SANAA: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was recovering from an operation in Saudi Arabia to remove shrapnel from his chest while a truce between his troops and a tribal federation appeared to be holding.

Protesters, interpreting Saleh’s absence as a sign that his grip on power was weakening, celebrated on the streets of Sanaa where they have been staging anti-government demonstrations since January.

“Who is next?,” asked one banner held up by a protesters in a sea of red, white and black Yemeni flags, referring to the wave of uprisings in Arab world that has seen the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt toppled and inspired uprisings elsewhere.

Saleh was wounded on Friday when a rocket was fired into his presidential palace in Sanaa, killing seven others and injuring his closest advisers. He is being treated in a Riyadh hospital.

He left as acting president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the vice president who is seen by many as having little power. Leaving Yemen at a time of such instability, even for medical care, could make it hard for Saleh to retain power.

Early on Monday, a truce between troops loyal to Saleh and the Ahmar group, leader of Yemen’s Hashed tribal federation, appeared to be holding, offering some respite after two weeks of fighting in the capital in which more than 200 people have been killed.

Key in the coming days will be any news of Saleh’s condition and any signals from Saudi Arabia on whether he will be able to return to Yemen – or whether Riyadh will apply pressure on Saleh to step down.

Saleh, a political survivor who has ruled the impoverished country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula for nearly 33 years, had so far managed to remain despite the defection of his top generals and ambassadors.

Saleh has exasperated his former U.S. and Saudi allies, who once saw him as a key partner in efforts to combat Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, by repeatedly reneging on a Gulf-brokered deal for him to quit in return for immunity.

“The kingdom (Saudi Arabia) will convince Saleh to agree to the Gulf-brokered exit so that the situation can be resolved peacefully and without bloodshed,” said Saudi analyst Abdulaziz Kasem.

Saleh’s fall could also give renewed impetus to protest movements around the region.

“The departure of Saleh is a turning point not just for the Yemeni revolution but also is a huge push for the current changes in the Arab region and is the start of the real victory,” said Zaki Bani Rusheid, a leading figure in Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Egyptian political scientist Hassan Nafaa agreed: “The ‘Arab Spring’ will continue, Arab people are in a state of total rejection of their current ruling systems.”

Kabul raid kills two after US embassy threat: ISAF

KABUL: Afghan and foreign troops killed two men during a raid in downtown Kabul after receiving a “credible threat” to attack the U.S. Embassy in the capital, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Saturday.

ISAF confirmed Friday’s operation after Afghan security officials had said foreign troops were involved in a night raid that targeted a compound belonging to a private security firm.

The raid came after Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said this week it had separately detained three people it said had been instructed by the Pakistani Taliban to attack the presidential palace and U.S. embassy in Kabul.

“After receiving a credible threat to attack the U.S. Embassy, ISAF coordinated with Afghan security forces to move on an area of interest,” ISAF said in a statement late on Friday.

Is Mariah Carey Pregnant

Is Mariah Carey Pregnant, Is Mariah Carey Pregnant :Stars attended the taping of Christmas in Washington 2010 at the National Building Museum on Sunday (Dec 12).
Is Mariah Carey Pregnant, Mariah Carey, who is pregnant with Nick Cannon’s child, was there to serenade the Presidential family and guests of the event with some Holiday songs accompanied by a choir. A very pregnant Mariah Carey performed, along with Andrea Bocelli and Annie Lennox.

TNT will air “Christmas in Washington” at 8pm EST on Sunday, December 20.

Zardari invites Nawaz to join dinner for Chinese PM

President Asif Ali Zardari rung PML-N chief Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shahrif and invited him to join the dinner to be hosted in the honour of visiting Chinese PM Wen Jiabao.

According to the Presidential Spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz chief accepted the invitation and agreed to join the banquet with President Zardari.

Zardari has expressed gratitude to Mr Nawaz for accepting the invitation, Prescient House said in a statement. The Chinese PM Wen Jiabao will arrive in Pakistan on December 17 on his two-day state visit.
A dinner will be hosted in his honour by President Asif Ali Zardari for which the president invited PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

During his trip, Wen Jiabao will also address joint session of the Parliament on 19th of this month.

Islamists expected to fare poorly in Egypt election

CAIRO: Victory is assured for Egypt’s ruling party in Sunday’s parliamentary election, which is expected to shunt the opposition Muslim Brotherhood further to the margins of mainstream politics.

The Brotherhood is targeting 30 percent of the lower house where it won a fifth of seats in 2005 — its best result — but analysts say the government wants to squeeze its most vocal critic out of parliament before a presidential vote in 2011.

The election in which 508 seats are at stake, including for the first time 64 reserved for women, may offer a foretaste of how the government conducts the presidential poll.

President Hosni Mubarak, 82, has not said whether he will seek to extend his 29-year tenure. After he had gall-bladder surgery in March, speculation grew that he might step down.

If he does so, many Egyptians see a likely successor in his 46-year-old

Karzai denies meeting ‘top Taliban negotiator’

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday denied meeting a purported top Taliban negotiator as claimed by The New York Times.

The US newspaper said a man claiming to be Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour was in fact an impostor. The Washington Post quoted Afghan officials as saying that the man was a lowly shopkeeper from the Pakistani city of Quetta.

NATO and Afghan officials told the Times they met the fake Taliban leader three times and that he was flown to Kabul on a NATO aircraft and ushered into the presidential palace to meet Karzai.

But the president denied the meeting.

“We have not met with anyone named Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has not come to Afghanistan,” Karzai told reporters at a news conference in Kabul.

He told reporters not to accept “propaganda” from the foreign media.

“Do not

Four government nominees for judicial commission

The names of four governments nominees for the eight-member judicial commission have been finalized, News Trends reported on Tuesday.
All the four members belong to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and no member has been nominated from the coalition parties. According to the presidential spokesman the names have been finalized after the recommendations sent to the President by the Prime Minister. The four nominees include Senator Nayyer Bukhari from Punjab, Sabir Baloch from Baluchistan, Aftab Shaiban Mirani from Sindh and Asma Arbab Alamgir from KhyberPakhtunkhwa. The spokesman also said that the nominated members belong to all the four provinces of the country while women representation has also been ensured.

Responding to the nominations, spokesman of ANP Senator Zahid Khan said that the advisors of the government are misguiding the government. He further said that even if ANP did not ask for representation in the commission but still they could have been consulted before the nominations.

Talking on the issue JUI (f)s Chief Maulana Fazal-ul-Rehman said that the government is taking unpopular decisions and that the nominations for the judicial commission could not be trusted.

On the other hand leader of MQM Senator Babar Khan Ghouri said that the government has made a one-party commission instead of a parliamentary commission.

Obama’s visit to India kicks off

US President Barack Obama arrived in India on Saturday afternoon on a three-day visit. Presidents plane Air Force One landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in Mumbai at 12.50 pm amid high security. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and central Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, the minister-in-waiting for the US president, received them with warm handshakes.
Obama then boarded a Black Hawk helicopter that took him them to INS Shikra from where he will be taken to the Taj Hotel in Colaba. He will meet the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and will make a statement against terrorism at 2 pm.

A Business delegation and media delegation have also come along with the president. Security has been kept tight in Mumbai as several arterial roads, approaches to and from railway stations have been either completely sealed off to traffic, or blocked or made one-way in view of the presidential trip measures that could inconvenience lakhs of people.

Some 5,000 security personnel, including US Secret Service, Indian intelligence officials and elite commandos have been deployed around the venues for the presidential visit in south Mumbai.
In Mumbai, Obama has planned to visit the Birla house where the father of the Indian independence movement Mahatma Gandhi stayed on visits to the city.
After that he meets captains of industry and entrepreneurs at a US-India Business Council forum to boost US exports to create jobs for Americans.
On Sunday, Obama will reach New Delhi to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and deliver an address to parliament on Monday.
Further, on Tuesday , US president will leave for Indonesia on the second leg of his tour, which will also take him to the G20 summit in South Korea and then on to Japan.

Karzai admits receiving ‘bags of money’ from Iran

KABUL; Afghan president Hamid Karzai admitted Monday that his chief of staff had received “bags of money” from Iran but insisted the payment was transparent and a form of aid from a friendly country.

Cash payments “are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office and to help the expenses…” said Karzai at a press conference in Kabul.

The New York Times reported Saturday that Karzai’s chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, has been receiving regular cash payments from Iran, which is trying to expand its influence in the presidential palace in Kabul.

“The government of Iran has been assisting us with five or six or seven hundred thousand euros once or twice every year, that is an official aid,” said Karzai.

“He (Daudzai) is receiving the money on my instructions,” he added.

The newspaper, citing unnamed Afghan officials, said the

Next Page »