New Michael Jackson songs to be released

LOS ANGELES: Sony Music will put on sale a collection of 10 previously unreleased songs by the late pop star Michael Jackson in November, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

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New Michael Jackson songs to be released

Gen. Petraeus vary of tough time ahead of withdrawal

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD: The Harper government officially begins its retreat from Kandahar on Canada Day 2011.

One year before that controversial deadline, however, details about the withdrawal from the war against the Taliban are shrouded in far more secrecy and mystery than many combat operations.

Maj.-Gen. Mark McQuillan, head of Canadian Operational Support Command, which is responsible for the force’s biggest logistical operation since the Korean War, came and went from Kandahar a few weeks ago without being allowed to answer questions about plans to return gear worth more than $2-billion back to Canadian military bases.

The government has also apparently forbidden officers with Task Force Kandahar involved in the pullout to speak about any aspect of the process. All that anyone seems to be allowed to say is that Canadian troops are definitely leaving Afghanistan; combat operations will continue until the July 1, 2011, deadline and all troops will be home by the end of next year.

The one disclosure — made a few weeks ago by a visiting air force general — was that Canadian helicopter operations in Kandahar are to end by early August next year.

In Washington on Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus cautioned Americans to prepare for several more years of war in Afghanistan and cast the Obama administration’s July 2011 timeline to begin withdrawing troops as a highly flexible deadline.

Appearing before the U.S. Senate’s armed services committee, Gen. Petraeus told lawmakers the pace of the American troop drawdown would “be determined by conditions” on the ground in Afghanistan — which he bluntly said would get worse before they get better.

“July 2011 will mark the beginning of a process, not the date when the U.S. heads for the exits and turns out the lights,” said Gen. Petraeus, who has been tapped by President Barack Obama to take command of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan after General Stanley McChrystal was fired from his post for the controversial comments he made to Rolling Stone magazine.

“It is going to be a number of years before Afghan forces can truly handle the security tasks in Afghanistan on their own.”

Four NATO troops killed amid CIA warning on Afghan war

KABUL: Four Norwegian soldiers were killed by a bomb as the record monthly death toll for NATO forces in Afghanistan continued to rise and the CIA warned the war was turning out tougher than expected.

The Norwegians died Sunday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern province of Faryab, bringing to 98 the number of NATO soldiers killed in June and 318 for the whole year.

“Norway has been hit hard. The loss deeply affects us all. It”s hard and it reminds us of the risk we”re taking,” said Defence Minister Grete Faremo in Oslo.

NATO says the dramatic upswing in casualty numbers in June has been caused by the alliance stepping up military operations and taking the fight to the Taliban in areas where they have previously been unchallenged.

The heavy toll can be largely attributed to the Taliban”s use of homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which are cheap and easy to make and account for the majority of foreign troops deaths.

McChrystal was forced to step down as commander of the NATO-led force after disparaging remarks about US administration officials, including President Barack Obama, in an explosive article carried by Rolling Stone magazine.

The article raised questions about whether McChrystal”s counter-insurgency strategy, under which an extra 30,000 US troops were scheduled for deployment in Afghanistan, was working and fully supported by the US administration.

A British newspaper reported Sunday that McChrystal also issued a highly critical assessment of the war days before he was fired in a briefing note to allies that warned them to expect little progress in the next six months.

In Washington the head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, acknowledged there were “serious problems” with the prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.

“We”re dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, problems with a Taliban insurgency,” Panetta told ABC”s “This Week.”

“We are making progress. But it”s harder and slower than anyone anticipated,” he said.

Noting that Al-Qaeda”s leadership was now apparently weaker than ever before, he insisted Obama”s surge strategy, which will see the number of international troops on the ground peak at 150,000 in August, is the right one.

But he said the success or failure of NATO”s mission depended on whether the Afghan government, police and military could step up alongside NATO to help bring security and stability to the country.

Much of southern Afghanistan is blighted by the Taliban insurgency, now in its deadliest phase since the US-led invasion ousted the hardline regime and installed a Western-backed administration led by Hamid Karzai.

McChrystal”s counter-insurgency strategy, which brought sweeping changes aimed at cutting civilian casualties and winning over the population, had been credited with bringing some order to the spiralling conflict.

He has been replaced in Afghanistan by General David Petraeus, the architect of the successful surge strategy in Iraq that is credited with bringing the country back from the brink of civil war.

McChrystal leaves White House after Obama meeting

WASHINGTON: General Stanley McChrystal arrived Wednesday at the White House to meet President Barack Obama and explain a damaging interview that could see the US commander in Afghanistan sacked.

The general earlier held a 30-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and top military officer Admiral Mike Mullen at the Pentagon, press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

In Rolling Stone”s profile, titled “The Runaway General,” McChrystal aides mocked Vice President Joe Biden, dismissed Obama”s national security adviser as “a clown,” and revealed that the general was “disappointed” by his first meeting with Obama.

McChrystal himself is quoted as deriding US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, and as saying he felt “betrayed” by the US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry, who had raised pointed objections to his strategy.

Obama said Tuesday he wanted to first talk with McChrystal before deciding his fate, but US media reported that even before he arrived in Washington he had offered his resignation.

The Rolling Stone article brought to the surface lingering tensions between military leaders and the White House, just as the US deploys 30,000 more troops to the war prompted by the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Lady Gaga Barbara Walters

Lady Gaga Barbara Walters, The American singer Lady Gaga talks to Barbara Walters on “10 most fascinating people 2009”el Wednesday. Barbara Walters, in particular, a presentation  23 years of age, Lady Gaga reveals that she is in fact bisexual.

Gone are the days when people hesitated to make such delicate and sensitive questions, especially on live talk shows. So did 80 years of age, when Barbara Walters asked Jill Stefani Germanotta Joanne is best known by her stage name Lady Gaga, are you bisexual? ”

The YouTube video shows that Lady Gaga answered the question by saying yes, even blush. When asked by Barbara about men, Lady Gaga said that only men has fallen in love, though she also likes women. ‘But do they have sex with women, “Barbara continued to ask that, my Lady only leaves the audience to decide.

The famous journalist and media personality Barbara Walters Jill also discussed another hot topic involving bisexual rapper Adam Lambert regarding the performance of their own. The scandal was highlighted by the famous Rolling Stone about his coming as a gay man in the audience at the American Music Awards.

Barbara Walters Jill is of the view that times have changed so much, one must always be on toes to anticipate a question about anything. In the list of “10 most fascinating people of the Barbara Walters special 2009”en are the Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, Glenn Beck, Kate Gosselin, children King of Pop Michael Jackson (Paris and Blanket), Sarah Palin, Tyler Perry , and Jenny Sanford.

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Lady Gaga Barbara Walters was first posted on December 10, 2009 at 6:04 pm.

Angela Delvecchio

Angela Delvecchio, Angela Delvecchio – Pics of the real Angela Delvecchio portrayed in Death Of A Cheerleader, Bernadette Protti, and her 1984 murder victim, Kirsten Costas.

The Angela Delvecchio character played by Kellie Martin is actually the opposite of Bernadette Protti – who was older, taller and blonde – while Kirsten Costas, played by Tori Spelling – was only 15, shorter and dark-haired.

The Kirsten Costas murder story that was the basis for Death Of A Cheerleader was published in Rolling Stone in 1985 and was also covered by People magazine.

Bernadette Protti basically killed Kirsten Costas over an imagined slight and fear of being exposed as a scheming, socially inept wannabe.
As in the movie, where the Angela Delvecchio character pretended for months not to know who stabbed the young cheerleader to death, Bernadette Protti did the same for six months before finally confessing.

Unbelievably, and over the protests of Kristin Costas’ family, Bernadette Protti was paroled from California prison after just seven years.

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Angela Delvecchio was first posted on September 21, 2009 at 2:31 am.
©2009 “News Trends“.

Ellie Greenwich Dies At 68 Years Old

Ellie Greenwich, a songwriter who along with producer Phil Spector and co-writer Jeff Barry crafted some of the biggest and greatest singles of the 1960s, passed away at the age of 68. The AP reports that Greenwich died of a heart attack in New York’s Roosevelt Hospital, where she was battling pneumonia. Among the most famous songs that list Greenwich as a songwriter are the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You,” the Shangri-La’s “Leader of the Pack,” the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love,” Tina & Ike Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” and the Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.” Each of those landmark tracks were listed among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Discovered by famed songwriters Leiber and Stoller, Greenwich’s other major hits include Manfred Mann’s “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy,” Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and Tommy James’ and the Shondells’ “Hanky Panky.” Greenwich and Barry also helped nurture the career of a fledgling singer-songwriter named Neil Diamond, and Greenwich and Barry produced and contributed background vocals to Diamond hits like “Kentucky Woman,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “Cherry, Cherry,” “Red, Red Wine” and “I’m a Believer.”

Greenwich, along with Barry, was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1991. A Broadway show dedicated to songs co-written by Greenwich and based on her life called Leader of the Pack debuted on Broadway, where it was nominated for a Best Musical Tony in 1985. Greenwich also recorded her own solo album, Ellie Greenwich Composes, Produces and Sings, in 1968, and often sang backup for artists like Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Dusty Springfield. The family asks that donations be made to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation.

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Ellie Greenwich Dies At 68 Years Old was first posted on August 27, 2009 at 6:30 pm.
©2009 “Pakistan News“.