Evening Edition

His comments came as prosecutors justified their treatment of the 39-year-old Australian, whose whistleblowing website is embroiled in a row with Washington over the publication of secret Afghan war documents.

The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Assange as saying he did not know who was “hiding behind” the rape claim, which prompted prosecutors to issue a warrant for his arrest on Friday but which was cancelled the following day.

Gillard, whose Labor Party slumped in elections just two months after she deposed an elected leader, said she planned to form a minority government to resolve what analysts called Australia’s biggest political crisis in decades.

“We have robust democratic institutions and processes, and as prime minister I will continue to provide stable and effective government… while the final votes are counted in this election,” she said.

The weak civilian government has faced an outpouring of fury over sluggish relief efforts, while officials are warning the country faces ruinous economic losses of up to 43 billion dollars, ahead of IMF talks this week.

The month-long floods have killed 1,500 people and affected up to 20 million nationwide, according to official tallies, with the threat of disease ever-present in the miserable camps sheltering penniless survivors.

Beijing has pledged to slash China’s energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010, as the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter seeks to reduce pollution and clean up its environment.

Official data suggest China is likely to miss the year-end deadline — potentially causing red faces for top leaders who have trumpeted efforts to curb emissions growth and develop renewable energy.

The four American troopers died in three separate incidents, in eastern and southern Afghanistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

ISAF spokesman US Air Force Master Sergeant Jason Haag confirmed all four were Americans.

The work identified as “Poppy Flowers” was stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil museum on Saturday after it was cut out of its frame.

Police were focusing their search on the country’s air and sea ports, a security official told AFP, adding that museum staff will be interrogated and that state prosecutors have launched two separate investigations.

But despite fears of unrest, the city appeared calm.

Jean, who has a strong following among Haiti’s youth, was the best known of the 15 candidates disqualified from running.

Authorities Sunday were evacuating people from a town and flood-hit villages in the south from encroaching floodwaters, which nationwide have killed 1,500 people and affected up to 20 million, according to official tallies.

Pakistan’s weak civilian government has faced an outpouring of public fury over sluggish relief efforts, while officials warn the country faces economic losses of up to 43 billion dollars.

Rising waters in Sindh province threatened to wreak havoc in U.S. ally Pakistan in a catastrophe that has made the government more unpopular and may help Islamist militants gain supporters.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed gratitude for the $815.58 million in international assistance to ease the suffering from one of the worst disasters in Pakistan’s history.

The Australian dollar and shares were likely to fall when trading resumes on Monday, analysts said, with the vote count threatening to drag on for days and both the ruling Labor party and opposition seemingly unable to win a majority.

“The uncertainty is going to be a real killer to the financial markets,” said economist Craig James of Commsec, suggesting the Australian dollar could fall a cent or more.

The free-spending novices, real estate billionaire Jeff Greene and healthcare multimillionaire Rick Scott, held double-digit leads over their opponents in July but slipped steadily as their rivals turned the spotlight on the newcomers’ business dealings and character.

“Money can only go so far,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “It made two guys nobody ever heard of front-runners. It can’t necessarily get you over the top.”

With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely.

“We don’t see that happening,” Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing “so well for so long now that we really believe we’re beyond that point.”

Three of the U.S. casualties died in insurgent attacks and one was killed by a homemade bomb, NATO said.

The deaths bring the number of international forces killed in Afghanistan this month to 42, including 28 Americans, according to a count by The Associated Press. Sixty-six American troops were killed in July, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.

The two leaders of the construction project, meanwhile, defended their plans, though one suggested that organizers might eventually be willing to discuss an alternative site. The other, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said during a Middle East trip that the attention generated by the project is actually positive and that he hopes it will bring greater understanding.

Around the corner from the cordoned-off old building that is to become a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque, police separated the two groups of demonstrators. There were no reports of physical clashes but there were some nose-to-nose confrontations, including a man and a woman screaming at each other across a barricade under a steady rain.

Food and Drug Administration investigators have yet to determine the cause of the salmonella outbreaks at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. The FDA investigation could take months, and sources of contamination are often difficult to find.

The number of illnesses, which can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems, is expected to increase. The most common symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever eight to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product.

The K-12 complex to house 4,200 students has raised eyebrows across the country as the creme de la creme of “Taj Mahal” schools, $100 million-plus campuses boasting both architectural panache and deluxe amenities.

“There’s no more of the old, windowless cinderblock schools of the ’70s where kids felt, ‘Oh, back to jail,'” said Joe Agron, editor-in-chief of American School & University, a school construction journal. “Districts want a showpiece for the community, a really impressive environment for learning.”

Scientists report that a favorite food of many bears, nuts from whitebark pine cones, is scarce. So as grizzlies look to put on some major pounds in preparation for the long winter ahead, scientists say, they will be looking for another source of protein – meat – and running into trouble along the way.

Wildlife managers already report bears coming down off the mountains and into areas frequented by hunters, berry pickers and hikers.

Yet it’s far from clear whether voters in California, where Democrats have a nearly 15-point voter registration advantage, will see the same glitter the GOP faithful perceive.

Their candidates have been pushing for smaller government, fewer regulations on businesses and lower taxes. Democrats have countered that the Republican Party is just promoting what it always has – a pro-business agenda that punishes the middle class and working class.

Niru, a Risso’s dolphin caught locally, seems unbothered by all the people and the squeals of surprise and delight. The cove is packed – it’s a bright summer Sunday and hundreds of families have come.

But in two weeks, the waters of the cove will turn blood red, as it becomes a holding pen for annual hunts that capture and kill hundreds of dolphins each year.

Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone from his home in Croix des Bouquets, Jean said his lawyers will file an appeal with the national electoral dispute office.

Jean said that he has a document “which shows everything is correct” and that he and his aides “feel that what is going on here has everything to do with Haitian politics.”

But Mohammed Ayoub and his neighbors weren’t leaving, not unless all the mud houses collapsed. It wasn’t about pride, or a farmer’s love for his village or the land he sows. It was a straightforward financial equation: They couldn’t afford to lose what little they had left.

If, to an outsider, their belongings might look inconsequential – some goats, a couple buffalos, cheap metal cooking pots and transistor radios – it was everything to them. And with no way to take their possessions with them, they were not going to leave them for the looters.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said the short-lived warrant had damaged his group nonetheless.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said an “on-call” prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Assange late Friday only to see it revoked the next day by a higher-ranked prosecutor, who found no grounds to suspect him of rape.

“We are in the presence of greatness,” a team member said over the radio.

Indeed, they were.

For the last decade, it has been believed that Gamal Mubarak is being groomed to succeed his 82-year-old father, who has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years. But the idea of father-son succession has raised deep opposition among many Egyptians.

Even some within the ruling party are thought to be unconvinced, and Gamal – a 46-year-old investment banker turned politician – has little popular base.

But privately, it worked hand-in-hand with the oil giant to cap the runaway Gulf well and chose to effectively be the company’s banker – allowing future drilling revenues to potentially be used as collateral for a victim compensation fund.

Now, with a new round of investigative hearings set to begin Monday on BP’s home turf and the disaster largely off the front pages, there’s worry BP PLC could get a slap on the wrist from its behind-the-scenes partner. That could trickle down to states hurt by the spill and hoping for large fines because they may share in the pie.

When he won his freedom after finding out that the detective who led the sex-abuse investigation was his estranged wife’s secret lover, White wanted someone to pay – to pay the legal bills and to pay for what he went through during his nearly six years behind bars.

Now, more than five years after his release, he’s still waiting for the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit to do what it once promised – pay the multimillion-dollar court judgment against former Detective Richard McKinley.