Evening Edition

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1 BP boss expected to quit but new payoff row looms

AFP

2 hrs 19 mins ago

LONDON (AFP) – BP chief executive Tony Hayward was expected to quit imminently with a payoff of up to 18.5 million dollars despite being lambasted over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, British media reported Monday.

The size of any such payoff, which must be agreed by a BP board meeting in London on Monday, risks sparking a fresh row as the British-based firm battles to rebuild its reputation after the worst environmental disaster in US history.

BP insists no final decision has yet been made on the future of Hayward, whose string of public relations gaffes during the crisis included telling reporters “I want my life back” and joining a yacht race.

2 Khmer Rouge prison chief handed 30 years in jail

by Patrick Falby, AFP

29 mins ago

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – In a historic first, a UN-backed court Monday sentenced a Khmer Rouge prison chief to 30 years in jail for crimes against humanity over mass executions during Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” era.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face justice in an international tribunal over the deaths of up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution under the 1975-1979 regime.

But to the dismay of survivors and relatives of victims, the court took into account the years he had already served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that the 67-year-old could walk free in about 19 years.

3 Outrage over huge leak of Afghan war files

AFP

1 hr 26 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The leak of some 90,000 secret US military files triggered outrage Monday from nations fighting in Afghanistan, amid fears it could endanger the lives of international forces battling the Taliban.

The United States and Britain led anger from the coalition engaged in the conflict, now in its ninth year, as the files exposed how Pakistan’s spy agency secretly supports the Taliban and the deaths of civilians have been concealed.

The White House reacted furiously saying the documents released late Sunday by the whistleblowers’ website Wikileaks was “irresponsible.”

4 US condemns massive leak of Afghan war files

by Kerry Sheridan, AFP

Mon Jul 26, 6:46 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A whistleblower leaked tens of thousands of secret military files on the Afghan war Monday, documenting the deaths of innocent civilians and how Pakistan’s spy agency secretly supports the Taliban.

The leaks prompted a furious reaction from the White House, saying they put the lives of soldiers at risk, but the man behind the revelations said the controversy vindicated the decision to break cover.

In all, some 92,000 documents dating back to 2004 were released by the whistleblowers’ website Wikileaks to the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian newspaper and Germany’s Der Spiegel news weekly.

5 The ‘tapadas:’ Latin America’s veil-clad women

by Philippe Bernes-Lasserre, AFP

Mon Jul 26, 12:01 pm ET

LIMA (AFP) – Europe’s heated debate over the Islamic hijab has revived memories in Peru of its own tapadas, women from Lima who in centuries past wore long skirts and a face-covering veil.

The saya, an overskirt worn tightly at the waist and raised slightly to show ankles, and the manto, a thick shawl that covered shoulders, head and much of the face, inspired painters and writers for three centuries. And they were once considered a distinctively national attire.

A legacy of the Moors, or Muslims, who fled persecution in Spain, “las tapadas Limenas” were especially common among the Spanish elite when they first arrived in Peru after the Spanish colonization in the 16th century.

6 Contador triumphant in Tour as Cavendish wins final stage

by Justin Davis, AFP

Sun Jul 25, 6:43 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Spain’s Alberto Contador secured a third Tour de France yellow jersey Sunday after the 20th and final stage to the Champs Elysees won by Briton Mark Cavendish.

Cavendish powered to the finish line alone for the second consecutive year to claim his fifth stage success of this year’s race and 15th of his career.

Italian Alessandro Petacchi, the winner of two stages, finished second on the stage to secure the green jersey for the race’s points competition while France’s Anthony Charteau won the best climber’s polka dot jersey.

7 NATO rocket killed Afghan civilians: Karzai

by Lynne O’Donnell, AFP

Mon Jul 26, 11:28 am ET

KABUL (AFP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that NATO troops had fired a rocket that killed 52 “innocent” villagers in southern Afghanistan, as leaked documents laid bare the civilian toll of the US-led war.

An investigation by the National Directorate of Security found that a house in Helmand province’s Sangin district was hit on Friday “by a rocket launched by NATO/ISAF troops, leaving 52 civilians dead, including women and children,” a statement from Karzai’s office said.

“The president condoled via phone with the mourning families and called on NATO troops to put into practice every possible measure to avoid harming civilians during military operations,” it said.

8 German banks ‘did not reveal full debt details’

AFP

Mon Jul 26, 7:17 am ET

FRANKFURT (AFP) – European banking regulators say six German banks did not reveal full details of sovereign debt holdings as part of a key test of the sector’s health, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

“We agreed with all supervisory authorities and with the banks in the exercise that there would be a bank-by-bank disclosure of sovereign risks,” the FT quoted Arnoud Vossen, secretary general of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), as saying.

The six German banks included the country’s biggest, Deutsche Bank, as well as Deutsche Postbank, which has the nation’s largest retail network, and Hypo Real Estate, which failed the so-called “stress tests,” the newspaper said.

9 Ferrari blasted for ‘made-to-order’ German F1 win

by Gordon Howard, AFP

Mon Jul 26, 7:11 am ET

HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AFP) – Formula One glamour team Ferrari are battling to salvage their reputation after being accused of using team orders to manufacture a German Grand Prix victory for Fernando Alonso.

The Italian giants were fined 100,000 dollars for breaching sporting regulations after double world champion Alonso was allowed by teammate Felipe Massa to pass 18 laps from the end of Sunday’s race despite the Brazilian having led since the start.

Although the FIA, the sport’s governing body, said the Ferrari 1-2 result will stand, the team must still appear before the World Motor Sport Council.

10 Quark by quark, atom smasher closing in on ‘God particle’

by Marlowe Hood, AFP

36 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – The world’s biggest atom smasher has scaled up in power even faster than hoped for and may soon unlock some of the universe’s deepest secrets, scientists said Monday at a top physics conference.

After a shaky start and a 14-month delay, experiments at Europe’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have in a few months replicated discoveries it took decades to complete at the rival Tevatron accelerator in the United States.

At this pace, the more powerful LHC could begin to deliver new insights into the fundamental nature of the cosmos within months, they said.

11 BP set to replace CEO Hayward

By Tom Bergin, Reuters

52 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – BP Plc is expected to install an American known for diplomacy as chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward who has come under fire for his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Bob Dudley, the U.S. executive managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is poised to get the top job in the next 24 hours, a move that could soften U.S. criticism of the British oil major, sources close to the company say.

Hayward has described Dudley as BP’s “Secretary of State” for his role overseeing the cleanup efforts. Dudley was previously head of BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. Sky News reported Hayward would be offered a position with TNK-BP.

12 Spill puts Obama’s oil fund chief on hostile turf

By Leigh Coleman and Rachelle Younglai, Reuters

1 hr 24 mins ago

BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama (Reuters) – The man who acquired a solid gold reputation for fixing sticky situations for the U.S. government is facing one of his toughest challenges yet: running BP Plc’s $20 billion compensation fund.

Kenneth Feinberg, lawyer extraordinaire, was in charge of compensating victims’ families after the September 11, 2001 attacks and presided over executive pay at bailed-out Wall Street firms.

But the job President Barack Obama has asked him to do — deciding who will be compensated from BP’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — is placing Feinberg in hostile territory where residents are still reeling from the federal government’s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

13 Leaked archive fuels doubts on Afghan war

By Susan Cornwell and Phil Stewart, Reuters

2 hrs 27 mins ago

WASHINGTON, July 26 Reuters) – The Obama administration scrambled on Monday to manage the explosive leak of secret military records which paint a grim picture of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and raise new doubts about key ally Pakistan.

The unprecedented release of some 91,000 classified military documents was likely to fuel mounting uncertainty in the U.S. Congress about the unpopular war as President Barack Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers into the faltering drive to break the Taliban insurgency.

The documents detail allegations that U.S. forces sought to cover up civilian deaths in the conflict as well as U.S. concern that Pakistan secretly aided the Taliban even as it took billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

14 EU banks could seek 25 billion euros in capital top-up

By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Joel Dimmock, Reuters

Mon Jul 26, 10:15 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – European banks who only just scraped through a health check could look for over 25 billion euros in new capital, while Spain’s smaller lenders set out to reassure investors on Monday that they too can raise funds.

Of the 91 banks tested, seven failed, including five from Spain, and another 17 barely passed the EU tests which have been widely criticised as not demanding enough.

The tests were aimed partly at opening the door to funding markets for a batch of southern European banks and lowering costs for other lenders, and analysts said it would make sense for banks to seek to raise the capital they would have needed had the test criteria been tougher.

15 Senate Democrats to introduce energy bill

By Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan, Reuters

Mon Jul 26, 12:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Staff members from several U.S. Senate committees were meeting on Monday to stitch together a slimmed-down energy bill that still needs approval from Majority Leader Harry Reid, a senate source said.

If all goes well, the full Senate could begin consideration of Reid’s bill on Tuesday. Democrats would like to pass it by the early part of the following week.

With time running short ahead of a month-long recess starting on August 6, Democrats abandoned efforts last week to put climate-control measures in the bill, with Reid citing a lack of Republican support for carbon caps and mandates requiring utilities to generate some of their power from renewable fuels.

16 Senior Khmer Rouge cadre jailed for mass murder, torture

By Martin Petty and Prak Chan Thul, Reuters

32 mins ago

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – The first Khmer Rouge commander to face a U.N.-backed tribunal was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday for overseeing 14,000 deaths in the 1970s, but he’ll serve about half that, angering many Cambodians.

Kaing Guek Eav, a 67-year-old former prison chief known as Duch, received less than the maximum 40 years sought by the prosecution for his role in the ultra-communist “Killing Fields” regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths from 1975 to 1979.

Duch was found guilty of murder, torture, rape, crimes against humanity and other charges as chief of Tuol Sleng prison, a converted school known as S-21 that symbolized the horrors of a regime that wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population.

17 BP’s Hayward to leave as CEO; Russia job in works

By HARRY R. WEBER and ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writers

38 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – Tony Hayward, who became the face of BP’s flailing efforts to contain the massive Gulf oil spill, will step down as chief executive in October and be offered a job with the company’s joint venture in Russia, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made by the British company’s board, which was meeting Monday in London to decide Hayward’s fate. The decision is the board’s to make, and it was unclear if it had formally done so.

It’s not yet clear what Hayward’s role will be with TNK-BP. He left the board meeting Monday without speaking to reporters, climbing into a silver Lexus that sped off.

18 Oil cleanup brings strangers, tension to towns

By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 26, 6:02 am ET

GRAND ISLE, La. – The women of Grand Isle are nervous. Used to be, they say, they could walk the streets of their beachside town alone, getting a little exercise after the hottest part of the day or setting out the trash after midnight.

Now, a waitress won’t let her 14-year-old daughter stroll to the store for a Coke, a souvenir shop owner is afraid to sit on her porch after dark and a bartender deadbolts her door, a newly purchased gun nearby.

The vacationing families and sport fishermen who make this tourist town of 1,500 what it is are absent this summer, replaced by an army of workers brought in by BP to clean up the massive Gulf Coast oil spill.

19 Allen: BP well-killing process starts in a week

By HARRY R. WEBER and ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writers

2 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – The government’s oil spill chief says workers expect to begin the two-step process of finally killing BP’s blown-out well in a week.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says Monday that the so-called “static kill” – in which mud and cement are blasted into the top of the well – should start on Aug. 2.

If all goes well, the final stage – in which mud and cement are blasted in from deep underground – could begin Aug. 7.

20 Pentagon scrambles to assess Wikileaks damage

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

40 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said Monday it was trying to assess the damage caused by the leak of some 91,000 classified documents on the Afghanistan war.

The documents are described as battlefield reports compiled by various military units that provide an unvarnished look at combat in the past six years, including U.S. frustration over reports Pakistan secretly aided insurgents and civilian casualties at the hand of U.S. troops.

Wikileaks.org, a self-described whistleblower organization, posted 76,000 of the reports to its website Sunday night. The group said it is vetting another 15,000 documents for future release.

21 Twin car bombs kill 25 in Iraqi city of Karbala

By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer

47 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Two car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims during a religious festival in the holy city of Karbala killed 25 people on Monday, Iraqi police and hospital officials said. Sunni extremists are suspected.

Militants detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles (three kilometers) apart as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the attacks.

The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to take part in an important religious holiday, known as Shabaniyah, that attracts devout Shiites from around the country.

22 Calif. subpoenas LA suburb records in salary probe

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer

38 mins ago

BELL, Calif. – California’s attorney general said Monday he has subpoenaed hundreds of records from a Los Angeles suburb under investigation for sky-high salaries paid to its leaders.

Attorney General Jerry Brown demanded to see employment contracts from the city of Bell within 48 hours to determine whether to file charges.

The move followed last week’s resignation of Bell’s city manager, assistant manager and police chief. They earned a total of more than $1.6 million a year to run the poverty-plagued city of about 40,000 people.

23 Khmer Rouge jailer faces 19 years for 16,000 dead

By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer

42 mins ago

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A U.N.-backed tribunal sentenced the Khmer Rouge’s chief jailer to 35 years for overseeing the deaths of up to 16,000 people – the first verdict involving a senior member of the “killing fields” regime that devastated a generation of Cambodians.

Victims and their relatives burst into tears after learning that Kaing Guek Eav – also known as Duch – will actually serve only 19 years after being convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity after taking into account time already served and other factors.

That means the 67-year-old could one day walk free, a prospect that infuriated many who have been demanding justice for victims of the regime that killed an estimated 1.7 million people between 1975-79.

24 Immigrant groups criticize fingerprint initiative

By IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Writer

50 mins ago

DENVER – The federal government is rapidly expanding a program to identify illegal immigrants using fingerprints from arrests, drawing opposition from local authorities and advocates who argue the initiative amounts to an excessive dragnet.

The program has gotten less attention than Arizona’s new immigration law, but it may end up having a bigger impact because of its potential to round up and deport so many immigrants nationwide.

The San Francisco sheriff wanted nothing to do with the program, and the City Council in Washington, D.C., blocked use of the fingerprint plan in the nation’s capital. Colorado is the latest to debate the program, called Secure Communities, and immigrant groups have begun to speak up, telling the governor in a letter last week that the initiative will make crime victims reluctant to cooperate with police “due to fear of being drawn into the immigration regime.”

25 New gov’t rules allow unapproved iPhone apps

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer

45 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally unlock their devices so they can run software applications that haven’t been approved by Apple Inc., according to new government rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as “jailbreaking” is one of a handful of new exemptions from a 1998 federal law that prohibits people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their products to prevent unauthorized use of copyright-protected material. The Library of Congress, which oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing uses of copyright-protected works.

For iPhone jailbreakers, the new rules effectively legitimize a practice that has been operating in a legal gray area by exempting it from liability. Apple claims that jailbreaking is an unauthorized modification of its software.

26 UAE says BlackBerry is potential security threat

By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer

Mon Jul 26, 1:06 pm ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Emirati officials have declared BlackBerry smartphones a potential threat to national security because users’ data is stored overseas, where local laws don’t apply and where analysts say it could be harder for authorities to monitor.

The move renews concerns about efforts by the United Arab Emirates to control the flow of information in the Gulf nation, which includes the business hub Dubai and the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi. The federation of seven hereditary states actively censors websites and other forms of media seen as harming national security and conservative local values.

Because BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s computer servers are located outside the country, “it makes it easier for them to refuse requests from the authorities for users’ personal data,” said Lucie Morillon, head of the new media desk at advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, which monitors efforts to control smartphone use.

27 Afghans: 52 die in NATO attack; alliance disputes

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 10 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan government said Monday that 52 civilians, including women and children, died when a NATO rocket struck a village in southern Afghanistan last week – a report disputed by the international coalition.

The allegation was raised as the founder of WikiLeaks claimed thousands of U.S. attacks could be investigated for evidence of war crimes, and a leading human rights group alleged that NATO has an “incoherent process” for dealing with civilian casualties.

Some of the more than 90,000 secret U.S. military documents on the Afghanistan war posted Sunday on the Web by WikiLeaks included unreported incidents of Afghan civilian killings.

28 Obama’s message to voters: Things could be worse

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 26, 6:31 am ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, who rocketed to the White House promising “change you can believe in,” is now telling voters they shouldn’t change a thing.

His message for the fall elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the nation’s economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don’t go back to the GOP.

“This is a choice between the policies that led us into the mess or the policies that are leading out of the mess,” Obama said recently in Las Vegas.

29 Contador wins 3rd Tour, as Armstrong steps aside

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer

Sun Jul 25, 7:41 pm ET

PARIS – Alberto Contador stood atop the podium at the Tour de France on Sunday for the third time in four years, struggling to rein in his emotions as Spain’s national anthem echoed across the wide boulevard of the Champs-Elysees.

Off to one side, Lance Armstrong applauded and then, without much fanfare, headed toward the exit.

“I need a cold beer,” he said when asked his thoughts at the finish line.

30 Md. could save $829M under health care reform

By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 26, 1:20 pm ET

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland could save about $829 million on health care costs between fiscal year 2011 and 2020 because of federal health care reform, according to a model the state released Monday.

The savings, however, last only until the end of the decade, when the federal law shifts a greater share of financial responsibility for Medicaid expansion to the states.

The projections are in an interim report by Maryland’s Health Care Reform Coordinating Council, which Gov. Martin O’Malley created in March to study how the federal health care reform law will affect the state.

31 Regal ruins: Palatial mansion near Philly crumbles

By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 26, 12:42 pm ET

ELKINS PARK, Pa. – Lynnewood Hall, a century-old stunner of a building just outside Philadelphia, silently, almost invisibly, languishes 200 feet beyond a two-lane blacktop road like a crumbling little Versailles.

The graceful fountain that welcomed hundreds of well-heeled visitors, President Franklin Roosevelt among them, was dismantled and sold years ago. Its once meticulously sculpted French gardens are overgrown with weeds and vines. The classical Indiana limestone facade may have lost its luster but its poise still remains – at least from the other side of rusted wrought iron gates that keep the curious at bay.

Like other Gilded Age palaces of the nation’s pre-Depression industrial titans, Lynnewood Hall is a relic of a bygone era facing an uncertain future. Will it befall the same fate as neighboring Whitemarsh Hall, the demolished mansion of banking magnate Edward Stotesbury? Or will it be returned to former glory, like industrialist Alfred I. duPont’s former Nemours Mansion in Delaware?

6 comments

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    • on 07/26/2010 at 23:13
      Author
    • on 07/27/2010 at 00:21

    that the Afghanistan files have done is expose the criminality if the “war” and embarrass the crap out of the US. The only reason most documents are classifies is because they are embarrassing or covering up criminal acts. NO state secrets or war strategy are in any of those files

      • on 07/27/2010 at 01:29
        Author

      Embarrassment is the reason most things are classified.

        • on 07/27/2010 at 01:45

        that this will put our troops at greater risk is bogus, too. The Afghan people are fully aware of what the US has done to them, just as the Vietnamese were. They didn’t need 100,000 pages of leak documents to tell them

          • on 07/27/2010 at 02:42
            Author

          the NYT and some of the other outlets are doing a pushback on the ‘endanger the troops’ meme-

          ‘We very carefully checked for information that would put soldiers in harm’s way.’

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