Evening Edition

The bomber was among a 450-strong crowd marching through the southwestern city of Quetta on Friday and blew himself up as the procession reached the main square.

Chaotic scenes followed, with an angry mob starting fires and shooting into the air while others fled or lay on the ground to avoid the gunfire.

The men have become national heroes and symbols of survival since rescuers made contact with them. In Chile and abroad, audiences are following their progress in minute detail.

Rescuers and relatives who had held out hope steadily grew to fear the worst, with no word from the men for more than two weeks after the August 5 collapse at the San Jose mine in Chile’s remote Atacama desert.

The center of the storm made landfall in southern Nova Scotia shortly after 11:00 am (1400 GMT), buffeting the craggy coastline with winds up to 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour, according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC).

It then weakened to a tropical storm over land, but pounded communities like Halifax with high winds and rain that left at least 160,000 households without power, Nova Scotia Power said.

Officials said it was “extremely lucky” no one was killed when the 7.0 magnitude quake shook the country’s second-largest city Christchurch just before dawn.

Frightened residents fled from their homes to find streets covered in rubble and glass, but despite the extent of the damage only two people were seriously injured in the city of 340,000 people.

Branches of Kabul Bank across the country were crowded as anxious depositors joined hundreds of thousands of government employees queuing to collect their salaries, which were being paid through the bank on Saturday.

The privately-owned bank has been the subject of reports alleging large-scale corruption by executives, though the government and central bank have said it is solvent and there is no need for customers to panic.

“We buck the trend. We work traditionally, everything by hand,” said Gino Seguso, son of the late Archimede, the solid glass sculptor famed for his stylised animals, and generations of Segusos before him on the outlying Venetian island of Murano.

“We consider ourselves the ‘couturiers’ of glass,” said Seguso, whose atelier collaborates with top international artists, designers and architects and caters for royalty, heads of state and the likes of Tiffany’s, a loyal client for 60 years.

Test captain Salman Butt plus bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were all released without charge Friday after the interviews at a police station near the ‘home of cricket’, Lord’s in north London.

But the trio — who protest their innocence — are still battling charges under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption code and have been barred from playing any further matches pending the outcome of their case.

Robotic submarines recorded the delicate operation as engineers raised a failed blowout preventer from the ruptured well and began lifting it to the surface in order to hand it over to the US Justice Department.

The US government is conducting what could be a criminal investigation into the April 20 explosion and subsequent oil spill and BP is hoping to shift some of the responsibility to its contractors.

Obama, struggling to bring down the 9.6 percent jobless rate, is to spend next week talking up proposals on improving the economy.

He hopes to gain some traction with impatient voters as they ponder whether to toss out his Democrats in the November 2 congressional elections.

Subsequent offerings of the government’s holdings may be profitable depending on how investors trade the newly listed stock, the sources said.

But the question of whether taxpayers are ultimately made whole on GM’s $50 billion bailout could be left open for years, the people said.

Demonstrators opposed to measures including repatriation of Roma to eastern Europe waved flags and placards and chanted slogans including “Stop repression” and “No to Sarkozy’s inhumane policies.” Bands and drums made the atmosphere friendly rather than combative.

Critics see expulsions of Roma gypsies as part of a drive by Sarkozy to revive his popularity before 2012 elections and divert attention from painful pension reforms and spending cuts.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on two Shi’ite rallies that killed 33 people in Lahore on Wednesday and 65 in the city of Quetta on Friday.

The attacks ended a lull after devastating floods which affected 20 million people. Pakistani officials had said before the attacks that any major violence at such a difficult time was likely to cause deep popular resentment against the militants.

Pakistan’s Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and said it would launch attacks in the United States and Europe “very soon” — repeating a threat to strike Western targets in response to drone attacks that have targeted its leadership.

In Washington, the White House condemned the Quetta attack on a Shi’ite rally and expressed solidarity with the Pakistani people, saying it was “even more reprehensible” because it came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Pakistan reels from disastrous flooding.

Obama made his remarks after August data showed that jobs — the central issue in November congressional elections — were being created too slowly.

The White House is under pressure to show tangible results in lifting growth and hiring before the November 2 election, when Obama’s Democrats face punishment from voters anxious about near double-digit unemployment.

The hydrates – which caused the oil giant problems when the company was trying to contain the oil spilling into the Gulf – need to melt because they are combustible. Crews must take care not to damage the device, which is considered a key piece of evidence in the spill investigation.

“We don’t want to lift it and risk an uncontrolled release of gas because that’s inherently dangerous,” Darin Hilton, the captain of the Helix Q4000 vessel that’s raising the device with a giant crane, told The Associated Press.

In this big swing-voting state alone, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is in a dogfight for re-election. Senate candidate Lee Fisher may be even worse off. As many as six House Democrats could lose their jobs this fall. Recession-fueled animosity is dominating every race, giving Republicans hope of huge victories.

In Ohio, like almost everywhere else, voters don’t much care for Washington, Wall Street or anything resembling the establishment. They grouse about every politician, including President Barack Obama, whom Ohioans played a critical role in electing. They fume over the nation’s teetering finances.

Their goal is not only to protect Muslims, but also to prevent them from retaliating if provoked. One Sept. 11 protest in New York against the proposed mosque near ground zero is expected to feature Geert Wilders, the aggressively anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker. The same day in Gainesville, Fla., the Dove World Outreach Center plans to burn copies of the Quran.

“We can expect crazy people out there will do things, but we don’t want to create a hysteria,” among Muslims, said Victor Begg of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan. “Americans, in general, they support pluralism. It’s just that there’s a lot of misinformation out there that has created confusion.”

Blair’s new book, “A Journey,” is a best-seller, but it has angered opponents of his policies, especially the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

About 200 demonstrators chanted that Blair had “blood on his hands” as the former prime minister arrived at a Dublin bookstore. Shoes, eggs and other projectiles were thrown toward Blair as he emerged from a car, but did not hit him. A flip-flop could be seen lying on the roof of a BMW in Blair’s motorcade.

In the month since his home was destroyed in the raging floodwaters that inundated Pakistan, he has gotten no aid of any kind from the government or private aid groups to help him survive, he said.

Frustrated and desperate, he joined a protest with dozens of other villagers that blocked the main road in this area 10 days ago. In response, police opened a criminal investigation against him, he said. And he still hasn’t gotten any food or even a tarp to shield his family of six from the blazing summer sun, he said.

The tropical storm, far less intense than feared, brushed past the Northeast and dumped heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages, but caused little damage.

It left clear, blue skies in its wake. It was the perfect start to a Labor Day weekend that Cape Cod’s restaurants and hotels hoped to salvage after business was decimated ahead of the storm.

Controlling your surroundings with the wave of a hand sounds like magic, but Beracha’s company, PrimeSense, is already making headway, thanks to a little help from video games.

PrimeSense’s 3-D camera is a key component of Microsoft Corp.’s Kinect motion- and voice-control technology for the Xbox 360 game system. Coming this fall, Kinect will let people play games and watch movies on the Xbox with no wand, controller, mat or remote. It recognizes users’ gestures and voices, so you can control on-screen characters in racing, action and sports games simply by speaking or moving your body. If it’s a hit, it could pave the way for a remoteless future.

Only two serious injuries were reported from the quake, which shook thousands of people awake when it struck at 4:35 a.m. near the southern city of Christchurch. There were reports of some people trapped inside damaged buildings – though none appeared to be crushed by rubble – and a few looters broke into some damaged shops in the city of 400,000.

Power was cut across the region, roads were blocked by debris, and gas and water supplies were disrupted, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said. Chimneys and walls of older buildings were reduced to rubble, and Parker warned continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings.

Karzai’s announcement was given added poignancy by comments from the outgoing deputy commander of NATO forces in the country that commanders promised too much when they predicted quick success taking the key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter.

While British Lt. Gen. Nick Parker now sees signs of a turnaround in the turbulent area, he said the military will be more restrained in forecasting success in the future.

Each time a new wave of people exited, the young Minneapolis residents – who hadn’t eaten all day – tried to press into their hands a small, glossy card that read “Islam Explained” on one side. On the other, it had about 180 words of background on a religion whose adherents fear is being misunderstood by too many Americans as violent and depraved.

“You just want people to take the card, spend a minute reading it and say, ‘Oh. They’re not terrorists,'” said 27-year-old Zuleyha. She and her husband, like other Muslims, were fasting during daylight hours for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

About 150 people were wounded and some remained in critical condition after the bombing Friday in the southwestern city of Quetta, police official Mohammed Sultan said.

The attack was the second in a week against Shiites for which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. A triple suicide bombing Wednesday killed 35 people at a Shiite ceremony in the eastern city of Lahore.

Gov. Jan Brewer, who gained national attention defending the state’s tough new immigration law and warning of increasing border bloodshed, has spent the time since the gubernatorial candidates’ debate earlier this week trying to repair the damage done from her cringe-worthy contest against underdog challenger Terry Goddard.

“That was an error, if I said that,” the Republican told The Associated Press on Friday. “I misspoke, but you know, let me be clear, I am concerned about the border region because it continues to be reported in Mexico that there’s a lot of violence going on and we don’t want that going into Arizona.”

Just when it seemed the Obama administration might be ready to lift the unpopular ban, the fire raises new questions about the dangers of offshore drilling, leaving the industry wondering when it can get back to work.

“Anything that casts any kind of shadow on the industry right now certainly complicates lifting the moratorium,” said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Texas. “It makes it difficult to continue to say that (the BP spill) is an aberration.”

“It’s really painful,” said the 61-year-old artist whose works depict Angeleno life from Mexican heritage to the dangers of drugs. “People say ‘don’t take it personal,’ but it’s totally personal. They’re my babies.”

At one time hosting an estimated 1,500 pieces of wall art, Los Angeles is the nation’s mural capital, but that’s a fading distinction thanks to prolific graffiti taggers, a legal morass over classifying the artworks as illegal signs, and neglect.

Palin’s neighbor of three months on Wasilla’s Lake Lucille, author Joe McGinniss, is packing his bags and notebooks and leaving Sunday for his home in Massachusetts to write the book he has been researching on the former governor and GOP vice presidential candidate.

His arrival in May made headlines and drew an indignant reaction from Palin and a visit from her husband, Todd. The Palins even tacked an extension onto an 8-foot board fence between the homes, leaving only a part of their second-story home visible from McGinniss’ driveway.

“She’ll need them,” her mother says.

“I don’t think so,” her dad counters.

The changes at Central Falls High School – where just 7 percent of 11th graders tested last year were proficient in math – include a longer school day, more rigorous teacher evaluations and flexible schedules to provide more classes for struggling students. Teachers were also required to participate in more days of professional development.

Education Commissioner Deborah Gist acknowledged the obstacles facing students in Rhode Island’s smallest and poorest city.

The future mosque in Tennessee, like other houses of worship for Muslims across the country, has been drawn into a fierce debate surrounding a proposed Islamic community center two blocks from Manhattan’s ground zero, and opponents are becoming even more hostile and aggressive.

The construction site arson frightened members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Firefighters had said there was a strong smell of diesel from the fire that engulfed the cab of a dump truck last weekend, and authorities found fresh fuel pooled under a second dump truck, according to an incident report from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department.

Republicans spent the week desperately trying to get the tea party favorite to quit the race amid a series of embarrassing missteps that culminated with bizarre claims about his shadowy undercover law enforcement career in Kansas in the 1980s.

But Maes vowed to stay, and Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher certified Maes’ place on the November ballot Friday.