Good Morning Wishes

Dozen Car Bombs Kill 51 in Iraq

Baghdad's Monday-morning rush hour was rocked by more than 12 car bombings leaving at least 51 dead at the most recent count. The coordinated blasts, which have not been claimed but look like the work of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's Iraqi branch, were just the latest in a wave of violence that has taken more than 3,000 lives since April. The bombs went off in Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods. The Islamic State of Iraq has been responsible for several similar attacks intended to discredit the country's government, which is Shiite-led. Last week, 500 inmates, including senior al Qaeda members, escaped from Abu Ghraib prison.

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — O.J. Simpson won a small victory Wednesday in his bid for freedom as Nevada granted him parole on some of his 2008 convictions for kidnapping and armed robbery involving the holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel room.

But the decision doesn’t mean the 66-year-old Simpson will be leaving prison anytime soon. The former NFL star was convicted on multiple charges and still faces at least four more years behind bars on sentences that were ordered to run consecutively.

The Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners released its decision in favor of Simpson’s parole request. Commissioners noted Simpson’s “positive institutional record” and his participation in programs addressing “behavior that led to incarceration.”

The board noted Simpson had no previous criminal convictions and still has consecutive sentences to serve in the Las Vegas case.

In Los Angeles, Simpson was tried for murder and acquitted in the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

In a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press, Goldman’s father and sister, Fred and Kim Goldman, said they respect the legal process but now feel a “sense of vulnerability.”

“This is not our personal case against Simpson but since he’s been incarcerated there has been a reprieve and calm for us,” they said. “It is unsettling for our family to know that the person we believe responsible for Ron and Nicole’s murder could soon have his freedom.”

Simpson and his legal team were pleased with the ruling.

“We expected it,” Patricia Palm, one of Simpson’s current lawyers, told the AP shortly after the order was issued. “There is no reason not to grant him parole. I’m glad they did what they should have done.”

Palm said Simpson called from prison to let her know of the board’s decision.

“He’s very happy and grateful,” she said.

The parole becomes effective Oct. 2. Then, Simpson will begin serving the minimum term on four concurrent sentences imposed for using a weapon during the 2007 robbery. He will have another parole hearing on those sentences in a year.

After that, he has two more consecutive terms for assault with a deadly weapon, said David Smith, spokesman for the board.

Simpson appeared before a two-member Nevada parole panel on July 25 to plead for leniency. He expressed regret for his actions and said he’s tried to be a model inmate while behind bars.

Lovelock Correctional Center officials say he’s had no disciplinary actions against him.

Simpson was convicted in December 2008 on charges including kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to nine to 33 years for the 2007 stickup of two memorabilia dealers, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.

During last week’s parole hearing, a graying Simpson told Parole Commissioner Susan Jackson and hearing officer Robin Bates, a retired Nevada prison warden, that he was sorry for his actions.

“I just wish I never went to that room,” Simpson said. He added that he has made amends with Beardsley and Fromong.

While in prison, Simpson has earned pennies an hour working in the prison gym, keeping equipment sanitized, and umpiring and coaching games in the prison yard.

He said he made a promise to the warden when he arrived at Lovelock, 90 miles east of Reno, that he would be the “best person” they ever had at the facility. He added, “I think for the most part I’ve kept my word on that.”

Simpson also said he’s acted as jailhouse counselor of sorts to other inmates, some of whom are serving time for similar crimes.

But he said his deed was different.

“They were trying to steal other people’s property,” Simpson said of other prisoners. “They were trying to steal other people’s money. My crime was trying to retrieve for my family my own property.”

Simpson’s best chance at freedom lies with Clark County District Judge Linda Marie Bell, who is considering whether he deserves a new trial.

During a May hearing, Palm and Ozzie Fumo, Simpson’s current lawyers, argued that his trial attorney, Yale Galanter, botched Simpson’s defense and had a conflict of interest in the case.

Bell has yet to issue a decision. If she rules in Simpson’s favor, prosecutors will have to decide wither to retry him, offer a plea deal, or set him free with credit for time served.

The Associated Press.

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Britain's first Muslim MP, Mohammed Sarwar, has renounced his British citizenship to become the governor of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. Sarwar, a close aide of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is a former Labour party MP from Glasgow in Scotland. He will now lead over 90 million people in Pakistan's largest province.

Sarwar was forced to renounce his British nationality as Pakistan's law forbids ministers and senior officials from holding dual nationality.

Earlier, Rehman Malik, who was an interior minister in the previous PPP government, had to give up his British nationality to stick to the office.

"It was a difficult decision. My children were raised in Glasgow, my grandchildren are there and I'm going to miss them but sometimes you have to make difficult decisions for the greater good," the 60-year-old MP told 'The Daily Telegraph.'

"People say life begins at 40, but I'll be 61 soon and I believe life begins at 60. I'm going to be working very closely with Gordon Brown (former British Prime Minister and now UN special envoy on education).

Both of us will be working on education in Pakistan, on an ambitious plan to put 3.5 million kids into schools over the next three years. It's education, education, education," he added.

Sarwar played a key role in choosing candidates for key constituencies, which paved the way for Pakistan Muslim League(N) leader Nawaz Sharif's election victory earlier this year.

In return, Sharif sought to reward him for his role by inviting him to be his new high commissioner in London, but Sawar rejected the offer in favour of a return to Pakistan.

"The passion of my life has always been fighting poverty, particularly child poverty, and people in my constituency loved that. What I'm leaving behind is great memories of Scotland, my children being born there, and the respect and honour given to me by the people of Glasgow," said Sarwar.

Sarwar's son, Anas Sarwar, who succeeded his father as the MP for Glasgow Central in 2010 and later became deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said, "I am an extremely proud son and we are an extremely proud family. The opportunity for my father to go back to the place where he was born and to give something back to the country is a massive one."

"While he loves Scotland and the UK, he has always had a commitment to his mother country," Anas added.

Mohammed Sarwar was born in Saleempur in Pakistan's Punjab province and moved to Britain in 1978 after studying politics at Faisalabad University. He and his brother set up a Glasgow cash-and-carry business which made him a multi-millionaire.

He won the Glasgow Govan seat in the 1997 election, but was soon suspended and charged with bribing a rival candidate to make a false statement.

He was later acquitted and went on to become chairman of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee before standing down as an MP in 2010.

Actors Rishi and Neetu Kapoor are reportedly upset with how the pictures of their son Ranbir Kapoor and actor Katrina Kaif’s Spain holiday have gone viral. According to a Mumbai tabloid, the more miffed of the two is Neetu, as she doesn’t like the love life of Ranbir being talked about in the open.

“I don’t subscribe to this nonsense,” replied Rishi to a recent question from a journo about the photos

Woman, 35, dies when 17th-floor balcony collapses
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The woman identified as Jennifer Rosoff was killed early Thursday outside the apartment building at 400 E. 57th St. near First Ave., police say.

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