Evening Edition

Before the static kill bid can go ahead, engineers first had to inject oil through the cap on top of the well to make sure there would be no problem they pump in heavy drilling mud on Tuesday.

“Today we will do the injectivity tests, we’ll look at that information, make any adjustments to how and if we move forward with the static kill tomorrow,” said BP senior vice president Kent Wells.

The operation is one of two bids to definitively “kill” the damaged well, which has spewed noxious crude into the sea since April, devastating fragile habitats and bringing financial ruin to many residents along the US Gulf Coast.

BP officials in recent days said they hoped the “static kill” operation would take place Tuesday, but on Sunday the US point man for the spill response, Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen, said it “could start as early as Monday night, depending on final testing of the mud injection systems.”

The news sent shares in Europe’s biggest bank soaring by more then five percent and helped lift investor sentiment on global markets, alongside unexpectedly strong second-quarter profits from French bank BNP Paribas.

“As we focus on building a high quality asset base for the future, it is encouraging that loan impairment charges now stand at their lowest levels since the start of the (global) financial crisis,” HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan said in an earnings statement.

“This is a historic day for Geely, which is extremely proud to have acquired Volvo Cars,” Geely Group chairman Li Shufu said in a statement, promising continuity for Volvo but also stressing Geely’s ambitions for the brand in China’s booming market.

Known for its family-friendly cars, Volvo “will remain true to its core values of safety, quality, environmental care and modern Scandinavian design as it strengthens the existing European and North American markets and expands its presence in China and other emerging markets,” Li said.

Despite mounting casualties and public doubts, Gates said Sunday the US-led force was making headway and Taliban insurgents would not be able to wait out American forces because a major troop withdrawal was not on the horizon.

“I think we need to reemphasize the message that we are not leaving Afghanistan in July of 2011,” said Gates, referring to a deadline set by President Barack Obama for the start of a withdrawal.

“We have decided, by narrow majority, to suspend the strike,” the head of the Greek truck owners confederation, George Tzortzatos, told reporters after a union meeting that lasted over three hours.

“Transporters will be back at the steering wheel as of tomorrow,” he said.

The UAE suspension would kick in on October 11 and last until a legal solution was reached, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement on its website.

It said the decision was taken “after failing to make progress in repeated attempts to make BlackBerry services compatible” with the Gulf state’s legislation.

Appleby birdied the last three holes to win the inaugural Greenbrier Classic by one stroke over American Jeff Overton, taking his first title since the 2006 Houston Open plus a 1.08 million-dollar top prize and a place in golf history.

“Everything was switched on. I felt pretty comfortable out there,” Appleby said. “I liked all the reads. I liked the way the ball rolled. This course is receptive. Guys were shooting really low. I was fortunate to do all mine in one round.”

The 33-year-old Red Bull driver took full advantage of other people’s problems, including those of his German team-mate Sebastian Vettel, to produce an assured drive that brought him his fourth win of the season and the sixth of his career.

“It was a bit of a gift for me but you know I haven’t had many of them,” said Webber, who was taking part in his 150th Grand Prix.

Brawn, boss of both men during a six-year spell of unprecedented success at Ferrari, spoke out in the aftermath of Brazilian Barrichello’s claims Sunday that he was “lucky to be alive”.

In the final laps of Sunday’s race, seven-times world champion Schumacher fought to defend 10th position and almost pushed Williams driver Barrichello into the pit wall when he swerved towards him.

Four existing World Heritage sites were also expanded to include nearby natural or cultural treasures in Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Spain, the UN cultural agency said in a statement.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, in a 10-day meeting in Brasilia that will wrap up Tuesday, has already added or extended 17 other sites to its list, bringing the total number of sites around the world with the prestigious stamp to 910.

“Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility,” Obama will tell a national convention of Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

“And I made it clear that by August 31, 2010 America’s combat mission in Iraq would end,” the president continued. “And that is exactly what we are doing, as promised, on schedule.”

Details of the probe emerged as BP prepared to deliver the first of what it hopes will be two knockout blows to “kill” its ruptured Macondo well, 105 days after it started gushing out millions of gallons of oil, causing an environmental disaster.

Two sources familiar with the preliminary Securities and Exchange Commission probe said the alleged insider trading took place after the start of the BP oil spill on April 20.

But the EPA indicated in a statement on Sunday that the difference between what the agency directed and what BP and the U.S. Coast Guard achieved is slight — the difference between a 75 percent cut in dispersant use and a 72 percent cut.

The environmental agency acknowledged, however, that the use of dispersants is “always a difficult decision.”

Speaking to the Disabled American Veterans group in Atlanta even as he struggles with waning public support for the war in Afghanistan, Obama sought to underscore his administration’s progress winding down the U.S. role in the unpopular Iraq war.

With congressional elections looming in November, it was a reminder to liberal Democrats and many independent voters whose opposition to the Iraq conflict helped sweep him into office that he was determined to bring the war to a “responsible end.”

The House ethics panel said it had found evidence of undisclosed ethics violations by California’s Waters, who denied breaking any rules in setting up a 2008 meeting between a banker and the U.S. treasury secretary and vowed to contest the allegations in a public trial.

“I simply will not be forced to admit to something I did not do,” Waters said in a prepared statement, explaining her decision not to accept the charges and force a public trial.

In the opening salvo of the legal fight, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson refused to dismiss the state’s lawsuit, which argued the requirement that its residents must have health insurance is unconstitutional and conflicts with state law.

Hudson, who noted that his ruling was only an initial step, decided the issue the state raised — whether forcing residents to buy something, namely healthcare, is constitutional — had not been fully tested in court and was ripe for review.

The whistle-blowing website published tens of thousands of war records a week ago, a move the Pentagon has said could cost lives and damage the trust of allies by exposing U.S. intelligence gathering methods and names of Afghan contacts.

Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, appeared on television talk shows renewing those concerns amid fears WikiLeaks may publish more documents.

Cameron, speaking last Wednesday during a visit to India, told Islamabad that it must not become a base for militants and “promote the export of terror” across the globe.

The comments caused anger in Pakistan where protesters in Karachi burned an effigy of Cameron. Pakistan’s spy chief canceled a trip to Britain in protest, though President Asif Ali Zardari still plans to visit Britain this week.

Pakistan’s spy chief, who had been due to visit London on Monday for talks on counter-terrorism, canceled his trip in protest at Cameron’s remarks, a spokesman for the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency said on Saturday.

Cameron, speaking in Pakistan’s rival India on Wednesday, told Islamabad that it must not become a base for militants and “promote the export of terror” across the globe, raising the ire of several officials and many people in the key U.S. ally.

As crews planned testing late Monday to determine whether to proceed with a “static kill” to pump mud and perhaps cement down the throat of the well, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said if it’s successful the relief wells may not be used, after all, to do the same weeks later from the bottom.

The primary relief well and a backup, not far from completion, might be used simply to ensure the leak is plugged, he said. Either way, Wells said, “We want to end up with cement in the bottom of the hole.”

Fresh splotches of chocolate-colored crude, probably globules broken apart by toxic chemical dispersants sprayed by BP with government approval, still wash up almost daily on protective boom and in marshes in reopened fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River.

When shrimp season opens in a couple of weeks and Rusty Graybill drags his nets across the mucky bottom, he worries that he’ll also collect traces of oil and dispersants – and that even if his catch doesn’t smell, buyers and consumers will turn up their noses.

The Emirates’ telecoms regulator said Monday that travelers to the city-state of Dubai and the important oil industry center of Abu Dhabi will – like the 500,000 local subscribers – have to do without BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services starting Oct. 11, even when they carry phones issued in other countries. The handsets themselves will still be allowed for phone calls.

Emirati authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry data are automatically shipped to company computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse.

Portraying the end of America’s combat role in the 7-year war as a personal promise kept, Obama said Iraq will have 90,000 fewer U.S. troops by September than when he took office – a steady homeward flow he called “a season of homecomings.” But there could still be more fighting involving U.S. forces.

“The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq,” the president said in a speech to the national convention of the Disabled American Veterans. “But make no mistake, our commitment in Iraq is changing – from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.”

The charges against Waters, a 10-term California congresswoman, focus on whether she broke the rules in requesting federal help for a bank where her husband was a board member and owned stock. She immediately denied the charges.

The House ethics committee’s announcement comes just days after it outlined 13 charges against Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., including failing to disclose assets and income, delayed payment of federal taxes and improper use of a subsidized New York apartment for his campaign office.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli claims in the lawsuit that Congress doesn’t have the authority to require citizens to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson’s ruling denied the Justice Department’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying further hearings were needed to weigh the merits of the case. An Oct. 18 hearing had previously been set.

You have a right to a lawyer – before, during and after questioning, even though the police don’t have to tell you exactly when the lawyer can be with you. If you can’t afford a lawyer, one will be provided to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you, which, by the way, are only good for the next two weeks?

The Supreme Court made major revisions to the now familiar Miranda warnings this year. The rulings will change the ways police, lawyers and criminal suspects interact amid what experts call an attempt to pull back some of the rights that Americans have become used to over recent decades.

Einhorn drew bone marrow from the man’s pelvic bone with a needle, condensed it to about four teaspoons of rich red liquid, and injected that into his ankle.

Four months later the ankle was healed. Einhorn, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Boston University Medical Center, credits “adult” stem cells in the marrow injection. He tried it because of published research from France.

Shiite Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s comments, airing late Monday on state run TV, came just hours after President Barack Obama promised again to remove all but 50,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the month.

They also came on a day that saw the killings of a dozen Iraqis in bombings and drive-by shootings around the country – underscoring widespread fears that insurgents are taking advantage of the political impasse caused by March’s inconclusive elections which failed to produce a clear winner.

Sen. Robert Menendez, leading a Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation, had scheduled a hearing on Capitol Hill last week that was canceled after BP and British and Scottish government officials declined to attend.

He and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, both Democrats, said at a news conference Monday they would continue to push the British and Scottish governments to release documents regarding al-Megrahi’s release. Menendez said he plans to hold a hearing in September.

The Rev. Tom Brock told The Associated Press he has known for years he is sexually attracted to men, but doesn’t consider himself gay because he never acted on it.

In June, the Minnesota gay magazine Lavender reported that Brock was a member of a support group for Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction. Brock’s church, the Hope Lutheran Church, placed him on leave while a task force looked into the matter. The Rev. Tom Parrish, the church’s executive pastor, said the investigation determined Brock’s story checked out.

With the childhood obesity rates creating demand for healthier foods in schools, more attention is being placed on the culinary skills of those charged with preparing it. What good are fresh local produce and grass-fed beef, for example, if the lunchroom employees know how to make only canned vegetables and frozen fish sticks?

“It’s more work to cook from scratch, no doubt,” said Dawn Cordova, a longtime school cafeteria worker attending Denver Public Schools’ first “scratch cooking” training this summer.