Evening Edition

Military leaders say the spike in deaths reflects the deployment of additional troops into the Afghan theatre, which leads to a higher number of battlefield engagements with Taliban-led insurgents.

A total of 324 US soldiers have been killed in the Afghan war 2010, compared with 317 for all of 2009, according to AFP figures based on the independent icasualties.org website.

It was the first major attack in Pakistan since devastating floods engulfed a fifth of the volatile country over the past month in its worst ever disaster.

The string of blasts ripped through the crowd of thousands at the moment of the breaking of fast in the ongoing holy month of Ramadan, and led to an outpouring of fury as mourners tried to torch a nearby police station.

Addressing soldiers near Baghdad a day after the US combat role officially ended, Biden sought to rally the nearly 50,000 American troops who will remain in the country until a total withdrawal at the end of 2011.

The vice president acknowledged that the 2003 invasion had split US public opinion but he called for unity around the new training and advisory mission and said he believed the Iraq conflict’s “darkest days are now behind us.”

Some 10,000 private-sector jobs were lost last month following a revised July increase of 37,000 jobs, ADP said in a report.

The data surprised most economists, who had expected 13,000 jobs to be created in the private sector, a critical cushion easing the country’s high jobless rate.

“Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended,” Obama said in excerpts of his speech released by the White House ahead of his Oval Office address to the nation at 8:00pm (0000 GMT).

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” the US commander-in-chief added, drawing a close to the mission launched with the 2003 US-led invasion.

Although members of the Federal Open Market Committee expected the recovery to pick up pace in 2011, details from the August 10 gathering showed concern about a return to modest crisis-era measures to stimulate growth.

Faced with tepid news from the employment and housing sectors and evidence that the recession had been deeper than previously thought, members of the Fed’s rate-setting panel warned the short-term outlook remained bleak.

Publishing in the journal Nature, a team of Chinese scientists say China’s climate “has clearly warmed” over the past half century, gaining 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1960.

The hotspots were northeastern China with a warming trend of 0.36 C (0.65 F) per decade, and Inner Mongolia, with a warming of 0.4 C (0.7 F) per decade.

“There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Considering information available at present, my judgement is that the classification of the crime is rape,” director of prosecutions Marianne Ny said in a statement.

“The basis for further considerations is not sufficient at the moment. More investigations are necessary before a final decision can be made” concerning possible charges, she added.

“A Journey”, Blair’s account of his decade in Downing Street, also includes an unprecedented attack on his “strange” successor Gordon Brown, whose premiership he branded a disaster.

It details the personal toll the job took on him, including his use of whisky, gin and wine as a “prop”, as well as his role in the aftermath of princess Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Test captain Salman Butt plus bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif look set to miss Pakistan’s match with county side Somerset in Taunton Thursday, a warm-up match before their limited overs internationals against England.

The trio, all casually dressed, left the team hotel in Taunton at 11:12am (1012 GMT) accompanied by team security officer Major Khawaja Najam, flanked by private security guards and police officers.

Police said two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd, after a lull in violence during the floods, the type of attack that Pakistani Taliban militants have claimed in the past.

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior Lahore official, told Reuters the death toll had climbed to 20, with at least 170 wounded. Rescue services said 25 were killed.

Polls show Tea Party favorites leading or running nearly even with Democratic foes in a handful of high-profile Senate races that could shift the balance of power in Congress — or at least inject a potent new strain of anti-spending, anti-big government conservatism into the staid Senate.

Republican Joe Miller’s win over Senator Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska primary was the movement’s latest success. Murkowski conceded the race on Tuesday, becoming the seventh incumbent to lose a congressional primary this year and the most recent Republican to fall under a wave of anti-establishment anger.

Witnesses said a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of hundreds, after a lull in violence during the floods, the type of attack that Pakistani Taliban militants have claimed in the past.

A Lahore local government official said up to eight people were killed in the explosions which came within 15 minutes of each other. There were reports of a third blast.

With the stunning outcome, the fledgling tea party coalition and voters who identify with its anti-tax, anti-spending sentiments proved that democracy is alive and well – within the Republican Party. Don’t like who is representing you? Rise up, fire them and choose someone new.

The tea party has taken hold in the Grand Old Party, unseating lawmakers, capturing nominations for open seats and forcing Republicans to recalibrate both their campaign strategy and issues agenda. Out is talk of delivering federal dollars back home; in is talk of fiscal discipline.

Much of the decline comes from a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central America and South America attempting to cross the southern border of the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which based its report on an analysis of 2009 census data.

The findings come amid bitter debate over Arizona’s strict new immigration law, which was passed earlier this year but is on hold for now as it is challenged in federal court. The Obama administration contends the state law usurps federal authority and promotes racial profiling, while Arizona leaders say states are justified to step in if federal enforcement falls substantially short.

The transfer of authority came a day after President Barack Obama announced the shift from combat operations to preparing Iraqi forces to assume responsibility for their own security. Obama made clear in Tuesday’s speech that this was no victory celebration.

A six-month stalemate over forming a new Iraqi government has raised concerns about the country’s stability and questions over whether the leadership can cope with a diminished but still dangerous insurgency.

The test could revolutionize TB care and replace the 125-year-old process used now, which is slow and misses more than half of all cases, experts say. A better test would be a powerful tool to curb TB in poor countries, where most people spread the lung disease before they are diagnosed and treated, and many don’t return for follow-up doctor visits to get test results.

In the United States, it could be a big help in inner city clinics, where diagnosing a drug-resistant strain on someone’s first visit enables proper treatment right away.

The explosions appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by Sunni extremists against the minority Shiites they consider infidels. Allied with al-Qaida and the Taliban, the bombers are also seeking to destabilize Pakistan’s U.S.-backed government.

The blasts were the first major attacks since Pakistan was hit by devastating floods more than a month ago. Lahore, the country’s political capital and home to much of its military elite, has been regularly targeted by militants over the past two years.

The tiny new Apple TV system announced Wednesday will only let people rent, not buy, content. For first-run high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD, people will have to pay $4.99. High-definition TV show rentals will be 99 cents.

The price of the box is also being cut to $99, from $229. Cheaper options for streaming video had been available, including Roku’s set-top boxes that start at $60.

The dispute “has expanded beyond a piece of real estate and expanded to Islam in America and what it means for America,” Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf told a group Tuesday that included professors and policy researchers in Dubai.

Rauf suggested that the fierce challenges to the planned mosque and community center in lower Manhattan could leave many Muslim questioning their place in American political and civic life.

As a result, it was the worst August for U.S. auto sales since 1983, when the country was at the end of a double-dip recession. General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Ford all reported declines from the month before and from a year earlier.

The bleak results were a reminder that, for all the good news about the turnaround of the Detroit automakers, the market for cars and trucks in the United States remains frail. Initial data showed sales came in at about 997,000, down 5 percent from July, according to AutoData Corp.

In arguably the biggest political upset of the year, Joe Miller claimed the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate when incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded Tuesday evening. Murkowski gave up after failing to gain much ground in an count of outstanding absentee ballots.

Miller will be the favorite in November in strongly Republican Alaska against Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka.

From the Oval Office, where George W. Bush first announced the invasion that would come to define his presidency, Obama addressed millions who were divided over the war in his country and around the world. Fiercely opposed to the war from the start, he said the United States “has paid a huge price” to give Iraqis the chance to shape their future – a cost that now includes more than 4,400 troops dead, tens of thousands more wounded and hundreds of billions of dollars spent.

In a telling sign of the domestic troubles weighing on the United States and his own presidency, Obama turned much of the emphasis in a major war address to the dire state of U.S. joblessness. He said the Iraq war had stripped America of money needed for its own prosperity, and he called for an economic commitment at home to rival the grit and purpose of a military campaign.

Richard S. Fuld Jr. told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission at a hearing that Lehman did everything it could to limit its risks and save itself in the fall of 2008.

“Lehman’s demise was caused by uncontrollable market forces, and the incorrect perception and accompanying rumors that Lehman did not have sufficient capital to support its investments,” Fuld testified.

Assange has denied the allegations and suggested they are part of a smear campaign by opponents of WikiLeaks – an online whistle-blower that has angered Washington by publishing thousands of leaked documents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The case was dismissed last week by Eva Finne, chief prosecutor in Stockholm, who overruled a lower-ranked prosecutor and said there was no reason to suspect that Assange, an Australian citizen, had raped a Swedish woman who had reported him to police.

In Iraq to mark the formal close of the U.S. combat mission and the departure of the top U.S. war commander, Gates visited troops at Camp Ramadi in western Iraq.

Asked whether the U.S. was still at war in Iraq, Gates answered succinctly, “I would say we are not.”

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a coalition of Jewish leaders said a new computer system and policy changes related to the practice should resolve a yearslong disagreement over the baptisms.

Mormons believe posthumous baptism by proxy provides an opportunity for deceased persons to receive the Gospel in the afterlife. Baptisms are performed in Mormon temples with members immersing themselves in a baptismal pool as proxies for others. The names used in the ceremonies are drawn from a church-run genealogical database.

One of those leading the charge against the railway is Florida resident Rosette Goldstein, whose father was taken away by Nazi soldiers, shoved in a cattle train and delivered to his death during World War II. Goldstein plans to voice her opposition on behalf of many Holocaust survivors to the railway Thursday when the Florida Department of Transportation holds a public meeting in Orlando on the $2.6 billion high-speed rail project, which would connect Tampa and Orlando.

Goldstein and others – including legislators – want the railway, known as the SNCF, to formally apologize for its role in the war, give full access to its records and make reparations.

The settlement followed a trial in which the Scouts were accused of failing to act for decades on a growing trove of documents alleging sexual abuse – known in the organization as “the perversion files.”

In April, an Oregon jury awarded the first of the six victims to go to trial nearly $20 million from the century-old, congressionally chartered organization.

A few hours later, the search went online with a Facebook page dedicated to the Hotel Montana, created by three siblings in Long Island looking for their missing uncle. Strangers immediately began to post the names and photographs of their relatives. By the next morning, the site had received more than 50 messages from frantic families.

As the days passed and the death toll climbed, the number of members on the page grew until it reached 17,427 people from around the world. They called themselves “the family.” They adopted a profile picture of a rock inscribed with the word “Hope.” And they vowed to stick together until every last member of their online tribe was brought home, alive or dead.

Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation spokeswoman Maria Smith said investigators will go to Sam Mazzola’s home near Cleveland on Thursday to determine if he had paid 24-year-old Brent Kandra or other employees since his coverage lapsed in late 2005.

Ohio requires business owners who pay even one employee to carry insurance in the event of injury or death, Smith said.

It was 1920, and the young Polish boy was on a ship with his family, headed to Ellis Island and a new life in America.

“It was a great sight. I didn’t know what it meant. But we stayed on deck, and everybody was anxious, and everybody was happy, and everybody was sad,” Meinwald said in an interview recorded years later recorded by the National Park Service.

Jonathan Metz tried to saw off his arm this summer after it got stuck in his furnace and infection set in. Crouched alone for three days in his Connecticut basement, he’s about to return to his job as a finance manager for an insurance company.

Their stories of survival reveal a heartening truth for the 33 men trapped deep in a Chilean mine: While nobody walks away from catastrophe completely unscathed, neither do most survivors succumb in the aftermath to paralyzing despair, said George Bonanno, a psychology professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

“We’re not illegal aliens, we are citizens of this country,” Torres said. “We have everything, all the documents and all that, but we are not treated as such.”

People born in Puerto Rico are finding that older birth certificates from the U.S. territory are not being accepted when applying for a state ID or driver’s license at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a reaction to concerns about possible fraud that a national Hispanic group said smacks of racial discrimination.

Missouri and several other states followed the federal government’s lead in creating such disparities decades ago, but now federal law has changed and prisoner advocates say it’s time for the states to do the same. Most drug cases are prosecuted at the state level.

Defense attorneys and other critics of the tougher crack sentences say they subject mostly blacks to long prison terms while those caught with powder cocaine – mostly whites – get far more lenient treatment. Some prosecutors defend the disparities, saying that because crack is smoked, it gets into the bloodstream faster than snorted cocaine, produces a more intense high and is generally considered more addictive.

It has more trunk room and cubic-foot passenger volume than the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, and it’s fuel efficient, too. In fact, the 2011 Sonata has more horsepower – 198 generated from a direct-injection, four-cylinder engine – than the comparable four-cylinder-powered Camry, Accord, Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion sedans.

And none of the major Sonata competitors has Hyundai’s generous 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and five-year/60,000-mile new vehicle warranty with unlimited-mileage roadside assistance.

Sifuentes had heard essentially the same thing earlier Tuesday, when the commander in chief visited Fort Bliss, Texas. He had shaken her hand, hugged her, thanked her personally for her service.

But seeing it on TV brought tears to Sifuentes’ eyes.

The vote gives Modoc County, in the state’s northeastern corner, a much-needed infusion of cash and likely means it will avoid bankruptcy.

Voters approved both measures – one to impose a $195-a-year parcel tax to keep their struggling hospital, and another to create a hospital district to oversee its operations. The tax required two-thirds voter approval.

Her husband was taken away by the Japanese for labor and never returned. One day, a Japanese soldier came to her house in Agana Heights, armed with a gun and bayonet.

“He pushed me down and raped me,” said Reyes, who was seven months pregnant at the time.

The allegations were echoed in court documents and a federal indictment against Washington County’s former chief deputy, Vernon G. Wilson, who has pleaded not guilty to civil rights violations and making false statements to the FBI.

Former inmate Gary Gieselman, who was arrested Sept. 29, 2005 for writing a bad check, told The Associated Press that he was attacked shortly after arriving at the jail in Potosi, about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis. Gieselman said he had a “misunderstanding” with correctional officer Valeria Wilson Jackson, Wilson’s daughter, and was placed in a cell with five other men.