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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and a senior U.S. senator warned on Thursday that Taliban insurgents were trying to exploit rising anger over the country's worst floods to promote their cause. More than 4 million Pakistanis have been made UGG Cardy homeless by nearly three weeks of floods, the United Nations said on Thursday, making the critical task of securing greater amounts of aid more urgent. Eight million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and many may not care where they get it. The floods began washing away villages and destroying roads and bridges just after the government had made progress in stabilizing the country through offensives against the Taliban. Islamist charities, some with suspected links to militant groups, stepped in to help victims, possibly boosting their image at the expense of the U.S.-backed government, which is still accused of being lax nearly three weeks into the crisis. The United States led a stream of pledges UGG Mayfaire of more funds for Pakistan during a special meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised a further $60 million, bringing to more than $150 million the contribution the United States would be making toward emergency flood relief. British Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said London was doubling its contribution to nearly $100 million. Speaking for the European Union, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere promised a further 30 million euros ($38.5 million) on top of 110 million euros already committed. The United Nations has issued an appeal for $459 million, of which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said about 60 percent had been pledged. "Make no mistake: this is a global disaster, a global challenge," Ban said calling the crisis in Pakistan "one of the greatest tests of global solidarity in our times." THIRD OF COUNTRY HIT BY FLOODS U.S. Senator John Kerry, who visited flood-hit UGG Lo Pro Button areas with Zardari, said action must be taken to prevent anyone from exploiting frustrations. "We need to address that rapidly to avoid their (Pakistani's) impatience boiling over, and people exploiting that impatience and I think it's important for all of us to understand that challenge," Kerry said, in a clear reference to the Taliban. "We also share security concerns." About one-third of Pakistan has been hit by the floods, with waters stretching tens of miles (km) from rivers. In a small town in Punjab, people waved empty pots and pans at a military helicopter, wondering, like millions of others, when food supplies will arrive. Aid agencies have been pushing for more funding as UGG Elsey wedge they try to tackle major problems such as food supplies, lack of clean water and shelter and outbreaks of disease. The United States needs a stable Pakistan, which it sees as the most important ally in the war against militancy, especially in neighboring Afghanistan, where a Taliban insurgency is raging. In a sign of growing concerns over the ramifications of the floods, Kerry said $200 million from the $7.5 billion U.S. aid package for Pakistan over five years, which he co-authored, would be diverted to the relief effort. The bill was unpopular in Pakistan as it ties some funds to fighting militancy, to cooperation in stopping nuclear proliferation and ensuring Pakistani civilian government dominance over the military. Kerry said he was shocked after seeing miles of UGG Kids Classic Tall destroyed homes and displaced people in camps in sweltering heat. Floods have ruined crops over more than 1.6 million acres, hammering the mainstay agriculture industry. Aid workers say water could stagnate on the surface for months, making planting difficult. The government also faces the prospect of food riots and social unrest. Zardari, who drew a hail of criticism after he left on a trip to meet the leaders of Britain and France as the disaster unfolded, also said militants could capitalize on the floods. "There is a possibility that some, the UGG Amelie negative forces, would exploit this situation, this time of need," he told a news conference with Kerry, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "They would take babies who become orphans and then put them in their own camps, train them as the terrorists of tomorrow."

 As one of Haiti's most famous musicians drives down the two-lane Delmas roadway in Port-au-Prince, sporadic calls in the street grow into a trembling chant in Haitian Creole: "Pwezidan, Pwezidan" - "President, President." But the young men shouting the words are not calling to Wyclef Jean, who just announced he was running for President of Haiti. They were greeting Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, the bad boy of the Haitian musical genre kompa who just happens to want to be the country's President too.

Better known for the eyebrow-raising lyrics (and swearing) and his ability to rouse even the most conservative of Haitian elites to dance on top of tables, Martelly, 49, dressed in a suit on Thursday to submit his paperwork to run for President on the ticket of his party Repons Peyizan, or Countrymen's Response. He acknowledges that comparisons will be made between himself and Jean (who according to the candidacy papers he filed this week is 40 years old, not 37 as his bios previously said). But Martelly says despite being opponents for the presidency, he and Jean are friends. Martelly appeared on Jean's first solo album The Carnival in 1997. But Martelly jokes, "He's global and I'm local." And he says what sets him apart from the rest of the presidential field - his friend included - is the Haitian people's true affinity for him. (See Wyclef Jean as he prepares to run for the Haitian presidency.)

"You need to be loved by the people, cherished by them, trusted by them," Martelly says, shifting fluidly from Creole to English to French. "I'm not running to be President. I'm running to be the citizen who changes things. I want to be the inspirateur" - the inspirer. (See photos of the devastation caused by Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake.)

Martelly never falls short of inspiring attention. On the road to submit his paperwork, his car passes a mob of Jean supporters dressed in T-shirts with Jean's slogan on their chests in bold red letters: "Fas a Fas," or "Face to Face," in Haitian Creole. But after honking his blaring car horn, the crowd quickly recognizes Martelly and changes directions. The group starts pouncing on Martelly's car chanting, "We will die with you," perhaps a sign of Haiti's mercurial electorate. Half the population of about 9 million is under 25. "I will follow whoever has the most support," says Ricardo Priville, 29, dressed in a Jean T-shirt but reaching for Martelly as the star exits his car. (See a video of Wyclef Jean talking to TIME about his run for the Haitian presidency.)

Martelly is also being supported by Jean's former Fugees band member Pras Michel. Although Michel, 37, insists he has no political ambitions, he says he was the one who provoked Martelly into considering a presidential run after the Jan. 12 earthquake. Michel admits Martelly is the underdog financially in the race to the National Palace, but he argues that Martelly connects to the Haitian people like no one else. "Can [Wyclef] galvanize the country the way Michel [Martelly] can? I don't think so," he says. "Wyclef is really an American. He hasn't been part of the [Haitian] society." (Comment on this story.)

Michel says Jean's departure from Haiti at the age of 9 and his upbringing in Brooklyn have left him unable to fully engage with the Haitian people. Also, says Michel, Jean's inability to speak French, one of Haiti's official languages, puts him at a disadvantage. "I think as President you should speak the country's language," says Michel. "I love Clef - I don't discount what he's done for Haiti. But I just feel Michel [Martelly] is the next President."

As the next President of Haiti, Martelly will have to tackle the cataclysmic aftereffects of the earthquake. Despite the 1.5 million people still homeless, the rubble suffocating the capital and few signs of progress, Martelly says he's ready to lead Haiti. "I want to be the one who guides the people without a coup baton [hit of a stick]," says Martelly.

Critics often point to Martelly's lack of political experience. The musician admits he needs political guidance and says he will be surrounding himself with international experts. "Alone I will fail," says Martelly. "I want to put knowledge in power, not Micky."

Martelly has yet to release a comprehensive recovery plan, but he says it will promote foreign investments and tourism to help bolster the economy in the poorest country of the western hemisphere. Right now, the Nov. 28 election might seem more like Haitian Idol than a presidential race, but Martelly insists he's putting his bad-boy persona to rest and focusing on serious issues. "This is serious business," says Martelly. "The carnival is over."

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a new policy on Tuesday to encourage population growth, dismissing Iran's decades of internationally- acclaimed family planning as ungodly and a Western import. The new government initiative will pay walking shoes families for every new child and deposit money into the newborn's bank account until they reach 18, effectively rolling back years of efforts to boost the economy by reducing the country's once runaway population growth. "Those who raise idea of family planning, they are thinking in the realm of the secular world," Ahmadinejad said during the inauguration ceremony. The plan is part of Ahmadinejad's stated commitment to further increase Iran's population, which is already estimated at 75 million. He has previously said the country could support up to 150 million. The program would be especially attractive to the lower income segments of the population formed the backbone of Ahmadinejad's support in the 2005 and 2009 elections. Throughout his tenure, the president has promoted populist policies in Iran, where 10 million people are estimated to live under the poverty line. It is unclear, however, where the jordan shoes funds would come from as the government is already having trouble paying for basic infrastructure projects. Starting in the early 1970s, Iran waged a successful family planning campaign across the country, including banners in public health care centers reading "two children are enough." It was reversed after the 1979 Islamic revolution only to be brought back 10 years later when the population ballooned and the economy faltered. Throughout the 1990s, Iran reduced population growth by encouraging men and women to use free or inexpensive contraceptives, as well as vasectomies. The government brought down the country's population growth rate from its 1986 height of 3.9 percent to just 1.6 percent in 2006. Ahmadinejad caused public outcry, however, when shortly after he was elected in 2005 he said two children per family were not enough and urged Iranians to have more. Under the new plan each child born in the current Iranian year, which began March 21, will receive a deposit of $950 in a government bank account. They will then continue to receive another $95 every year until they reach 18. Parents will also be expected to pay matching funds into the accounts. Under the initiative's vibram five fingers shoes rules children can withdraw the money at the age of 20 and use it for education, marriage, health and housing. Iran's official unemployment rate is about 10 percent, but estimates say there are 3 million unemployed people of working age in the country. Following the 1980s baby boom, some 26 million Iranians are between the ages of 15 and 30.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House denounced a massive leak of secret military files that allegedly describe how Pakistan's spy service aids the Afghan insurgency, but said the information was no surprise. In all, some 92,000 documents were released by the web vibram five fingers shoes whistleblower Wikileaks, containing previously untold details of the Afghan war through Pentagon files and field reports spanning from 2004 to 2010. According to the New York Times, one of the first three media outlets to review and report on the leaks, they "suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban." Britain's Guardian newspaper said the files, many of which detail growing numbers of civilians dying at the hands of international forces as well as the Taliban, painted "a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan." The White House issued its condemnation shortly before the leaks were posted online, saying the information could endanger US lives but also pointing to the administration's long-held doubts about links between Pakistan intelligence agents and ed hardy t-shirts Afghan insurgents. "The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security," said White House National Security Advisor James Jones. "These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people." The White House also released a series of remarks made in the past by top officials expressing their concern about links between Pakistan spy services and militants in Afghanistan. Among them was one from Defense Secretary Robert Gates dated March 31, 2009: "The ISI's contacts with [extremist groups] are a real concern to us, and we have made these concerns known directly to the Pakistanis," referring to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency. The New York Times said it, along with the masai Guardian and the German magazine Der Spiegel, had received the leaked material several weeks ago from Wikileaks, a secretive web organization that often publishes classified material. The source of leak was unknown. The last person suspected of providing classified material to the outlet is an American soldier who has been charged with two counts of misconduct for allegedly providing video footage of a US Apache helicopter strike in Iraq in which around a dozen people were gunned down in broad daylight. Describing "secret strategy sessions," the Times said Pakistan spy services "organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders." The Times added that "much of the air jordan 2010 information -- raw intelligence and threat assessments gathered from the field in Afghanistan -- cannot be verified and likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan intelligence, which considers Pakistan an enemy, and paid informants." In one of the documents, Pakistan's former ISI spy chief Hamid Gul is described at a January 2009 meeting with a group of insurgents following the death by CIA drone attack of a leader of Al-Qaeda operations in Pakistan named Zamarai, also known as Osama al-Kini. "The meeting attendees were saddened by the news of Zamarai's death and discussed plans to complete Zamarai's last mission by facilitating the movement of a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device from Pakistan to Afghanistan through the Khan Pass," it said. The Times noted that it was unclear whether the attack ever took place, and said that despite the official end of Gul's tenure at the ISI in 1989, "General Gul is mentioned so many times in the reports, if they are to be believed, that it seems unlikely that Pakistan?s current military and intelligence officials could not know of at least some of his wide-ranging activities." Pakistan's ambassador to the cheap vibram shoes United States, Husain Haqqani, denounced the leaks saying they consisted of "unprocessed" reports from the field that "do not reflect the current onground realities." Jones, who did not address the veracity of the information contained in the leaks, said that the documents mainly cover the time period of January 2004 to December 2009, when former president George W. Bush was in office. He pointed out that President Barack Obama on December 1, 2009 announced a new strategy that boosted resources for Afghanistan, and put increased focus on Al-Qaeda and Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan. "This shift in strategy addressed challenges in Afghanistan that were the subject of an exhaustive policy review last fall," Jones said. A US official who asked not to be named added: "I don't think anyone who follows this issue will find it surprising that there are concerns about ISI and safe havens in Pakistan. "Some of the disconcerting things reported ed hardy swimwear are exactly why the president ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy," the official said, adding: "Wikileaks is not an objective news outlet but rather an organization that opposes US policy in Afghanistan."

Europe is currently shrouded in the posture shoes dark cloud of debt. The crisis, which encompasses financial, economic and political sectors, is widely viewed as the most severe in 53 years of European integration. This has once again cast doubts over the workability of the European Union (EU). Can the EU pull through this time? The debt crisis has dragged the EU into deep waters with hidden reefs. Financial and economic difficulties, escalating social conflicts, lack of institutional constructions, defects in development patterns are but a few of the troubles the EU now faces. Some people are even worried that the EU may have met its Waterloo ironically in the course of integration. Though the crisis could deepen and spread further, the situation is not grave enough to write an "elegy" on EU integration. European integration has deep cultural roots. Europe has never been united after the disintegration of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. But MBT Changa Shoes throughout European modern history, it never abandoned the pursuit of self-enhancement through reunited. As Victor Hugo said: "Some day, sooner or later, all the European countries, without losing their own characteristics and shining personalities, will be tightly integrated into one at a higher level." The idea of federalism germinated in Europe in the 18th century, and over nearly three centuries it has become deeply imprinted in the hearts and minds of the people of the continent. This is the fundamental reason why the process of European integration never died despite constant crises and setbacks. Aside from the cultural roots, European countries' seeking integration also have a strong base in reality. To be fair, it was not easy for Europe to go that far. European countries are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that only further integration can help MBT Ema Shoes Europe find a better seat on the world stage in the 21st century and meet the interests of its member countries in the best way possible. Europeans are not willing to go back to the days when member countries competitively devalued their currencies before the birth of euro. The death of the single market would benefit no one. None of the 27 countries will be more influential if the EU splits. Not long ago, as a major effort to address the debt crisis, the EU, with the International Monetary Fund, launched a mixed aid program worth of 750 billion euros. This is a clear signal of the EU's determination, through which its people see hope. Instead of cracking the EU, the debt crisis, if properly handled, could even create new opportunities for the union. The crisis has prompted the EU to further reflect on its development, to be better motivated to strengthen internal coordination, perfect its mechanism and MBT Habari Shoes readjust its economic structure. All this will facilitate the creation of an "economic government" and realization of other goals.