A break with Al Qaeda, long demanded by the West and Karzai's government, would be central to any political settlement, and the Obama administration has lately backed off on a demand that this pledge be a new shoes of 2011 precondition to any talks.In the aftermath of Bin Laden's death, the White House has explicitly signaled its desire to promote negotiations between the Taliban and the Karzai government. Within hours of the announcement that the Al Qaeda leader had been killed, Clinton made an unusually direct public appeal to the Taliban to look to the bargaining table instead of the battlefield. "You can make the choice to abandon Al Qaeda and participate in a peaceful political process," she said. The Obama administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, also made promoting reconciliation the focus of a visit to the region days after Bin Laden's death.In the days immediately following Bin Laden's bloody end, the Taliban leadership was silent — a rare occurrence for a movement that normally unleashes a flood of loquacious commentary on any development concerning the conflict. Only on Friday, after Al Qaeda confirmed his death, did the Taliban issue a somewhat perfunctory statement praising Bin Laden as a martyr and vowing to continue the fight against Western "invaders."The relatively tepid rhetoric in response to the killing has given rise to speculation that the group may be positioning itself to sever ties with Al Qaeda, with which it has long had differences anyway. The Taliban sheltered Al Qaeda before and after the Sept. 11 attacks, but their agendas have diverged in recent years and the alliance had been held together in part by Omar's personal friendship with Bin Laden."This is a good time for Taliban leaders to consider their options, and it seems they may be doing so," said Haji Agha Lalai, a provincial council member in Kandahar who has been active in the push for "reconciliation," as the nascent peace process is known.But even though Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that the insurgents "cannot wait us out" in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters may have more reason than ever to believe they can do just that.The Taliban leadership, always closely attuned to U.S. domestic political sentiments, is well aware of the pressure on President Obama to soon decide the scope of an American troop drawdown that is to begin in July, and of the chorus of calls to wind down the war in the wake of Bin Laden's killing.Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his allies in Washington are hoping that Osama bin Laden's demise will prod the Taliban into joining peace negotiations. But the aftermath of the raid in Pakistan that killed the Al Qaeda leader could just as easily embolden the Afghan insurgent group in its long struggle against the West.The dramatic U.S. strike against Bin Laden may provide the Taliban with greater incentives to talk rather than fight, not least the fear that its own senior leadership could suffer the same fate as the chief of its longtime ally.Afghan Taliban chieftain Mullah Mohammed Omar is also thought to be sheltering in Pakistan, probably somewhere in Baluchistan province, which until now had been presumed too deep inside the country for a U.S. raid to pose a genuine pillow pets threat. Now that assumption appears shaky.
Jockey Jon Court, who will try to navigate Archarcharch to victory from the dreaded one-hole, has admitted he's been studying some film of past Derbys. "I'll take back and try to avoid getting bumped around," said Court, who has won more than 3,000 races, including more than 300 at Churchill Downs. The last horse to win from the rail was Ferdinand in 1986.With Uncle Mo a no-go, Watch Me Go and Nehro will move in one post powerbalanceposition. Watch Me Go will break from post 19 and Nehro from post 18, the spot previously held by Uncle Mo.Even though he lost his mount on Uncle Mo, jockey John Velazquez picked up the Derby ride aboard Animal Kingdom. Velazquez replaces Robby Albarado, who suffered a broken nose along with several facial cuts when kicked by a horse on Wednesday. "It was a tough phone call to make," trainer Graham Motion said of notifying Albarado. "It's a big deal for everyone." Albarado took off his nine mounts Friday at Churchill Downs, including the Kentucky Oaks, where he was to ride Bouquet Booth. Velazquez also picked up that mount. Albarado is expected to ride his nine other mounts this afternoon.Napravnik will try to become the first woman to win the Derby when she climbs aboard Pants On Fire. "It's a little frustrating when I get asked, 'What's it going to be like for a woman to ride in the Derby?' My response is, 'What's it like for anybody to ride in the Derby?' It's the same thing. It's exciting whether you're male or female." Five female jockeys have tried the Derby but none has won. Rosemary Homeister Jr. was the last female rider, finishing 13th in 2003 on Supah Blitz. "I think she is a really, really good rider period," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "I don't see why it couldn't happen, but I will have to root against her this year."Having won three of the last four runnings of the Kentucky Derby, you would have thought jockey Calvin Borel would have had no problem getting a Derby mount.Well he did, finally landing on longshot Twice the Appeal only last week."My owners decided they wanted to go to a more experienced rider," said trainer Jeff Bonde, with Borel replacing Christian Reyes Santiago, who was aboard the colt when he won the March 27 Sunland Park Derby.Borel will try to become the first jockey to win three consecutive Run for the Roses having won it the last two years with Mine That Bird (2009) and Super Saver (2010). His first Derby win came aboard Street Sense in 2007."I watched races here and he was like shop online 2011magic," Bonde said of Borel. "We hope the pace is hot and they're staggering when they turn for home and he slides through on the fence - Bo-Rail."Mine That Bird finished fourth in the 2009 Sunland Park Derby before winning the Kentucky Derby.After the early wagering ended Friday Twice the Appeal had dropped from 20-1 on the morning line to 7-1 - Borel, no doubt, being the reason.
The last teenager to be sentenced, Ashley Longe, admitted she had harassed Prince, and was placed on probation. She admitted she had yelled disparaging remarks at Prince and threw an empty can at her as she walked home from coach outlet store school.Yet O’Brien said Longe had met with her the day before, and praised her courage for wanting to apologize to her in person.“From the start, she has been the only one to acknowledge her actions,” she said.O’Brien asked the court to help Longe become “the person I believshe is capable of being."“Phoebe Prince became very fearful she would be physically attacked,” Gagne said.Prince would skip class and report to the school nurse to avoid any confrontation, he said. Prince’s mother said Mullins made Prince live in fear.“Phoebe soldiered on, struggling to get through the day, hoping the next one to be better,” she said. “Phoebe tried to be strong, but sometimes all people want to do is break you.”Outside the courthouse, Mullins’ lawyer, Alfred Chamberland, said that the district attorney's office had brought excessive charges against his client and demonized her and the other defendants.Before sentencing, Velazquez admitted in a soft voice that what the prosecutor said was true.In her statement, O'Brien said Prince became so frightened of Velazquez she would walk between two people in the hall so she would feel protected.“I can only imagine the terror she instilled in Phoebe,” she said. She said she hoped Velazquez would reflect upon the seriousness of what she had done, but expressed doubt that Velazquez would. After O’Brien finished, Velazquez began to sob.He said the plea was "an acknowledgment by the Northwestern district attorney’s office that these matters were overcharged and that the former administration brought felony indictments in cases which did not call for such.""By doing so," he said, "the Commonwealth unnecessarily exposed my client and the other juveniles in this case to unfair and harsh national and international media scrutiny.”Meanwhile, Sharon Velazquez, 17, was put on probation after admitting to a criminal harassment charge. Prosecutors said Velazquez in January 2010 approached Prince in the hall and loudly called her a disparaging term.Later that day, in the cafeteria, she ordered Prince to "stay away from Flannery Mullins's boyfriend" -- meaning Renaud.Gagne said Velazquez also “verbally berated” Prince in Latin class.With a withering glare at Mullins, O’Brien then recalled fond memories of her daughter, and mourned a future lost.“Phoebe had as much right as Flannery Mullins to be in school,” she said, her eyes locked on the young defendant across the courtroom. “But shop online 2011 school for Phoebe became intolerable.”Mullins admitted to sufficient facts of guilt on a civil rights violation and disturbing an assembly. She must be on probation until she turns 19.First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne told the court that in January 2010, Mullins heard rumors that Renaud, her boyfriend at the time, had been romantic with Prince. Gagne said word spread quickly through the school that Mullins was angry and wanted to fight Prince.
The Capitals went 1 for 3 on the power play in Game 4, finishing 2 of 19 for the series. Tampa Bay had two power-play goals Wednesday night alone."When they had a chance to score, they scored. We didn't," Ovechkin said."It's very frustrating. I don't think any of us saw this coming down, happening like it did. Probably the last thing that was in our mind, but you have to give them credit," Capitals forward Mike Knuble said. "They played well, and they held their own when they had to. And really, when they got their shop online 2011 chances they capitalized. It was pretty amazing how well they could do it."Marco Sturm, John Erskine and John Carlson scored for the Capitals. Ovechkin had an assist on Sturm's goal, but couldn't find the net with any of five shots at the 41-year-old Roloson, a midseason acquisition who is one of the biggest reasons Tampa Bay not only is in thep playoffs for the first time since 2007 but thriving."When they got Dwayne Roloson, they became a completely different team," Boudreau said.The Lightning won the first two games of the series in Washington, then pushed the Capitals to the brink of elimination by winning Game 3 in Tampa on Tuesday night.They were expecting the toughest game of the series Wednesday, calling the Capitals a proud team that would not be taken lightly. Washington felt the first three games could have gone either way, with Ovechkin insisting after Game 3 that the series was far from over and that he expected his team to come back and win."We were hungry and we wanted to win," Ovechkin said. "We wanted to win. They wanted to win. Somebody had to lose. I don't know what to say right now."Bergenheim was eighth on the Lightning with 14 regular-season goals, however he's been much more of an offensive force in ousting the Penguins and Lightning.It's something coach Guy Boucher, who has Tampa Bay in the conference finals in his first season as an NHL coach, has come to expect of the forward."Every top game, every important game, every game that there is some power balance usa pressure, he was in it. He was one of our better players," Boucher said. "Some people freeze under pressure, some people fly away, and some people fight. He fights."
Armed with Ghul's account of the courier's significance, interrogators asked Mohammed again about Kuwaiti. He stuck to his story, according to the official. After Libi was captured in May 2005 and turned over to the CIA, he too was asked. He denied knowing Kuwaiti and gave a different coach bag 2011name for bin Laden's courier; CIA analysts eventually concluded the name was Libi's invention, the official recalled.The CIA has said Libi wasn't waterboarded, and details of his treatment are not known. But anticipating his interrogation, the agency pressured the Justice Department days after his capture for a new set of legal memorandums justifying the most brutal methods.But a closer look at prisoner interrogations suggests that the harsh techniques played a small role at most in identifying bin Laden's trusted courier and exposing his hideout. One detainee who apparently was subjected to some tough treatment provided a crucial description of the courier, according to current and former officials briefed on the interrogations.But two prisoners who underwent some of the harshest treatment — including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times — repeatedly misled their interrogators about the courier's identity.Did harsh interrogations yield key intelligence that led to Osama bin Laden's death?As officials disclosed the evidence that led to the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was hiding, a chorus of Bush administration officials claimed vindication for their policy of "enhanced interrogation techniques" like waterboarding.Among them was John Yoo, a former Justice Department official who wrote secret legal memorandums justifying brutal shop online 2011interrogations."President Obama can take credit, rightfully, for the success today," Yoo wrote Monday in National Review, "but he owes it to the tough decisions taken by the Bush administration."
Tenet promises a review In a statement on Monday, Tenet said that its board will review the latest offer to determine what course of action would be in its shareholders’ best interests. Twice Tenet’s board has rejected Community Health’s offers that it said grossly undervalued the company.Community Health, meanwhile, touted its latest offer as a 69 percent premium to Tenet’s stock price just before the shop online 2011 company made public in December its initial proposal to buy Tenet.“It is time to move beyond lawsuits and rhetoric,” Community Health’s CEO Wayne T. Smith wrote in an offer letter to Tenet’s board. “Unless we see meaningful engagement by May 9, we will withdraw the offer and move on to the many other compelling growth opportunities available to us.”That shift in tone may reflect Community Health’s weakened appetite to pursue a hostile takeover of Tenet, whose past responses included filing a federal complaint alleging that Community Health encourages medically unnecessary admissions to its hospitals to boost payments from Medicare.Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn said in a research note that he considers the possibility of a merger “highly unlikely” now.“After indicating it was in it for the long-term, (Community’s) offer appears to be an exit from the negotiations rather than a more aggressive move,” Wiederhorn wrote.Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at CRT Capital Group, said she believes Tenet is worth $9 a share, substantially more than Community Health has offered.“We are confident that Tenet’s board will have to take the $7.25 bid more seriously, but the board will likely also weigh the bid against the serious concerns it raised in its lawsuit against Community Health,” Skolnick said, adding that Tenet might reject the new offer.“The existence of multiple investigations has cast even more doubt on the value of Community Health as an owner for Tenet’s assets in our view,” she said.Overall, including that fact that Community Health would assume Tenet’s debt, the price tag on a possible deal would approach nearly $8 billion.Arthur Henderson, an analyst with Jefferies & Co. here, also sees Tenet’s board rejecting the latest bid “on the basis that it remains too low.”Tenet filed a lawsuit last month claiming that Community Health bilks Medicare by admitting patients to its hospitals when they should only be kept under observation, a practice that Tenet said artificially inflates Community Health’s key data and its stock price. Community has denied the allegations and asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.There is also a coordinated federal investigation into the hospital chain’s practices.Community Health Systems Inc. upped the ante in its high-stakes bid to acquire the rival Tenet hospital chain on Monday, but analysts say they have serious doubts whether the sweeter $4.07 billion offer will succeed.Franklin-based power balance Community Health’s latest offer to Tenet’s stockholders of $7.25 a share is nearly 21 percent more than it had previously put on the table, but it comes with a tight deadline.In raising its bid from an earlier $6 a share, Community Health called the new proposal its “best and final offer” and gave Tenet’s board until 5 p.m. May 9 to enter into discussions or see Community walk away.