Evening Edition

Officials said the blast in the city of Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia was caused by a suicide bomber who drove up to a local market in an explosives-packed car and whose headless body was later discovered.

The head of the FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, announced Thursday evening that three people had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack.

US President Barack Obama warned if the incendiary gesture goes ahead as planned on Saturday’s anniversary of the September 11 attacks it will provide “a recruitment bonanza for Al-Qaeda.”

“This could increase the recruitment of individuals who’d be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities,” Obama told ABC, as the US State Department issued a travel warning for Americans worldwide.

Condemnation rained in from top US officials, the military, the Vatican and other religious leaders, but the church refused to rethink plans to torch the Islamic holy book on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“As of this time we have no intention of canceling,” Pastor Terry Jones told a press conference, adding his evangelical church, the Dove World Outreach Center, had received numerous messages of support.

Adjara, a semi-tropical region on Georgia’s southwestern border with Turkey, was ruled for some 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union by Aslan Abashidze, a Moscow-backed separatist strongman who ran it as his personal fiefdom.

Cut off from the rest of the country by armed guards, and a hotbed of organised crime, Adjara’s economy stagnated and its long beaches, famed as a Soviet-era resort destination, lay mostly empty.

The British energy giant released a report concluding that a “sequence of failures” were to blame for the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people and unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil in the worst-ever maritime spill.

While admitting some mistakes, BP exonerated its well design and apportioned a large share of the blame to faults made by rig owner Transocean and contractor Halliburton, which cemented the well.

“It’s still fear versus hope, the past versus the future,” Obama said in economically bereft Ohio, pleading with voters to chose “moving forward” with him, rather than “sliding backward” with Republicans.

Obama, seeking to reframe the political debate ahead of November elections in which Democrats fear thumping losses, slammed his foes for pitching the economy into a historic crisis, and “moralizing” about the ballooning deficit.

Ban told journalists in Kigali after the meeting that both he and President Paul Kagame had been “disappointed” the report outlining alleged atrocities by Rwandan troops had been leaked.

Kagame, who as president is commander in chief of his country’s armed forces, had threatened to pull Rwanda’s troops out of international peacekeeping missions in Sudan in a signal of Kigali’s fury.

The central bank reported “continued growth in national economic activity” between mid-July and the end of August, “but with widespread signs of a deceleration.”

The latest Beige Book report, an economic survey which will guide a September 21 policy meeting, painted a dour picture of the health of the economy, with an uneven recovery across the country and across sectors.

Mullah Mohammad Omar, the one-eyed Taliban chief believed to be in hiding in Pakistan, said on Wednesday that strategists behind the nine-year-old Afghan war realised they were mired in “complete failure”.

The United States and NATO have 150,000 troops in Afghanistan aiming to quell the insurgency that began soon after the Taliban regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

It was the second time this week that Euro MPs had taken the floor to lambast President Nicolas Sarkozy’s stand on the issue while debating the plight of Roma across Europe in general.

But France’s Immigration Minister Eric Besson, in Bucharest for talks with Romanian authorities on the issue, hit back immediately, saying there was “no question” of Paris complying.

“This is a recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda,” Obama said in an ABC television interview. “You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities.”

The international police agency Interpol warned governments worldwide of an increased risk of terrorist attacks if the planned burning went ahead and the U.S. State Department issued a warning to Americans traveling overseas.

Although the law has little impact on overall healthcare spending, government researchers said they expect sharp changes in the U.S. healthcare sector as the bulk of the recently passed law starts taking effect in 2014.

The survey, conducted by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) auditors and released on Thursday, is likely to fuel the debate over whether the reform law truly reins in healthcare spending, now already more than one-sixth of the nation’s economy.

Delays from political, security and financing concerns have dominated the public image of the roughly $11 billion project in the absence of a gleaming new skyscraper or memorial to those who died when al Qaeda hijackers destroyed the Twin Towers.

But while rapid, visible progress has been made since the last anniversary of the attacks, that has captured little attention. Instead, the debate about Ground Zero has shifted to other concerns, such as the proposed Islamic cultural center to be built two blocks from the site.

Sweden, in second spot, and Singapore in third leapfrogged the United States in the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010/2011.

Last year the Asian city-state ranked third and Sweden fourth. There were no newcomers in the WEF’s top 10, although Germany climbed to fifth from seventh.

But like all things in secretive North Korea, the event — a conference of the ruling Worker’s Party (WPK) which is widely expected to anoint Kim Jong-il’s son as his successor — is shrouded in mystery.

The gathering of the country’s ruling elite comes at a critical time for the destitute North after a botched currency reform late last year triggered inflation and wiped out ordinary citizen’s savings.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s most corrupt countries and Washington fears the problem is helping to boost the Taliban-led insurgency and complicate efforts to strengthen government control so U.S. and other foreign troops can begin withdrawing from July 2011.

While still reliant on money and support from the West, Karzai has lately been trying to assert his independence from his Western backers ahead of a September 18 parliamentary election, most recently by issuing a ban on most foreign private security firms.

On a campaign trip to Ohio less than two months before November 2 congressional elections, Obama admitted his economic policies had not worked as quickly as hoped, but said his party and proposals were still better placed to boost the U.S. economy.

Obama’s comments, laced with political rhetoric, came amid a growing verbal battle with Republicans over tax cuts for wealthy Americans enacted under former President George W. Bush and set to expire at the end of this year.

The 193-page BP report offered a preview of how the British oil giant plans to vigorously defend itself against lawsuits arising from the disaster and any charges of gross negligence, which carry fines potentially in excess of $20 billion.

BP accepted some responsibility for the disaster but pointed the finger at what it said were major failures by Transocean Ltd, the operator of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and oil services company Halliburton, which cemented the deep-sea well that ruptured on April 20.

The incident underscores safety concerns with unmanned aircraft as defense officials campaign to use them more often during natural disasters and for homeland security.

Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., head of Northern Command, said Thursday that the August mishap could hamper the Pentagon’s push to have the Federal Aviation Administration ease procedures for drone use by the military in domestic skies.

American Muslim leaders urged members to remain calm if the pastor doesn’t back down from a threat that already has inflamed passions around the globe. Interpol, the international police organization, issued an alert to its 188 member-countries warning of a “strong likelihood” of violent attacks if the burn goes forward.

FBI agents met with the Rev. Terry Jones at his Dove Outreach Center, an independent church in Gainesville with about 50 members. At issue are his plans to stage an “International Burn-a-Koran Day” on the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks.

The move follows more than two years of complaints from developers about the company’s secret and seemingly capricious rules, which block some programs from the store and hence Apple’s popular iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.

The guidelines go some way toward addressing those complaints and broadening the discussion about Apple’s custodianship of the App Store.

The Transportation Department said Thursday that traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest number since 1950. In 2008, an estimated 37,423 people died on the highways.

Government and auto safety experts attributed the improvement to more people buckling up, side air bags and anti-rollover technology in more vehicles and a focus in many states on curbing drinking and driving. Economic conditions were also a factor.

It was the fourth terrorist attack at the market in a decade, and while no one claimed responsibility, the Kremlin has been trying to contain Islamic militancy in the mountainous southern region of Russia.

Nearly 140 were wounded in the bombing in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, with about a half-dozen hospitalized in very serious condition.

There is widespread speculation that Kim will use the conference to give his third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a key Workers’ Party position as part of plans to extend the family dynasty to a third generation.

Kim Jong Il, known as the “Dear Leader” in North Korea’s cult of personality, himself took over leadership after his father, North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, died of heart failure in 1994 – communism’s first hereditary transfer of power.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in June 2009 that the Federal Aviation Administration was in a hurry and wouldn’t wait for Congress “to add mandatory layers to airline safety,” nor even for crash investigators to complete their work, “because air passengers deserve action. And, they deserve it now.”

It’s taken 15 months and a half-dozen missed deadlines, but the FAA is finally about to propose new regulations on how many hours airlines can schedule pilots to be on duty or in the cockpit. A draft was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review last week, and a proposed rule is likely to be published within days, industry officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to address the issue publicly. A House hearing on the proposal is scheduled for next week.

BP took some of the blame, acknowledging among other things that it misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well that blew out and eventually spewed 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger – and plenty – at its partners on the doomed rig.

The highly technical, 193-page report released Wednesday attributes the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history and the deadly rig explosion that set it off to a complex chain of failures both human and mechanical. Some of those problems have been made public over the past 4 1/2 months, such as the failure of the blowout preventer to clamp the well shut.

And yes, for the pictures.

Each week, for an hour, Hanks snuggles close to a microphone in a tiny soundproof closet, reading – and describing in great detail – portions of the latest Playboy issue for the blind.

These grandparents often give themselves high marks as caregivers, but many face distinctive stresses as they confront unanticipated financial burdens and culture shock that come with the responsibilities of child-raising.

In all, roughly 7 million U.S. children live in households that include at least one grandparent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent Census Bureau data, from 2008. Of that number, 2.9 million were being raised primarily by their grandparents – up 16 percent from 2000, with a 6 percent surge just from 2007 to 2008.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration.

“It is … not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted. We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress,” wrote Chief Judge Theodore McKee.

The Los Angeles Times report came as hundreds of people returned to the streets for a third night of protests over the fatal shooting of Manuel Jamines, 37, sporadically throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting scattered rubbish fires.

Earlier Wednesday evening, police Chief Charlie Beck faced an angry crowd at a community meeting intended to quell the violence.

Hisham Elzanaty, an Egyptian-born businessman who says he provided a majority of the financing to gain control over the two buildings where the center would be built, told The Associated Press that he has always viewed the project primarily as an investment opportunity, and would sell some of the site if the price is right.

And the imam slated to lead the spiritual component of the center told CNN that if he had realized how some Americans would react to the location, he would have picked some other spot.

By the time officials arrested suspects months later, two more Afghans were dead.

And much to Christopher Winfield’s horror, his son Adam was among the five Fort Lewis-based soldiers charged in the killings.

Founded by three prominent Islamic scholars, Zaytuna College in Berkeley is a small school with just five faculty members and 15 students in its inaugural freshman class. The school wants to become the country’s first fully accredited Muslim academic institution.

Zaytuna College is opening at a time when fierce opposition to the proposed Islamic community center and mosque near the former World Trade Center has left many American Muslims feeling under siege.

The complaint was filed by five terrorism suspects who were arrested shortly after 9/11 and say they were flown by a Boeing Co. subsidiary to prisons around the world where they were tortured. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited national security risks when it dismissed the men’s case in a 6-5 ruling Wednesday.

The case could have broad repercussions on the national security debate as it makes its way toward the Supreme Court, and it casts a spotlight on the controversial “extraordinary rendition” program the Bush administration used after 9/11.

The “City that Works” then became known as “Beirut on the Lake,” its council dissolved into a racially divided stalemate as remnants of the once-mighty Chicago Machine stonewalled reforms pushed by the city’s first black leader.

Within a few years of his election in 1989, Mayor Richard M. Daley brought that to an end by building his own machine – not with the patronage army his father used to amass and keep political power, but by sharing the spoils of city government, selectively doling out contracts and forcing factions to work together.

Goss will oversee efforts by federal, state and local agencies to halt the advance of bighead and silver carp, which are on the verge of invading Lake Michigan through Chicago-area waterways. Scientists say if the voracious carp become established in the lakes, they could damage the food chain and a $7 billion regional fishing industry.

Goss has served as executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Indiana affiliate for four years. Previously, he was director of the state Department of Natural Resources and served as vice chairman of the Great Lakes Commission, an agency representing the region’s eight states.

But that’s not keeping him from planning a trip next month to Iowa, the state with the nation’s first presidential caucus that makes it a destination for those with big political aspirations.

“He’s becoming a national politician on a platform to compete with 36 other people who want to be president in 2012,” said Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University. “No one comes to Iowa unless they want to be president.”

Singling out House GOP leader John Boehner in his home state, Obama delivered a searing attack on Republicans for advocating “the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place: cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations.”

Obama rolled out a trio of new plans to help spur job growth and invigorate the sluggish national economic recovery. They would expand and permanently extend a research and development tax credit that lapsed in 2009, allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their investments in equipment and plants through 2011 and pump $50 billion into highway, rail, airport and other infrastructure projects.

For Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center, Islam is that evil, a world view drawn from his politics and theology – as well as an apparent thirst for publicity for his tiny, independent church.

“Our burning of the Quran is to call the attention that something is wrong,” Jones said Wednesday at a brief news conference outside his Gainesville church. “It is possibly time for us in a new way to stand up and confront terrorism.”