Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Delhi makes Games ‘progress’ as criticism pours in

by Neha Lall, AFP

1 hr 32 mins ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The Commonwealth Games Federation signalled Thursday that Delhi was succeeding in fixing the problems that have brought the event to the brink of disaster, as more athletes announced they were withdrawing.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a crisis meeting with senior ministers late on Thursday and Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit oversaw the deployment of hundreds of staff to clean the athletes’ village.

“There has been progress and there is more to do,” Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), told AFP, adding that there had been a “significant” influx of additional resources.

2 India battles deepening Commonwealth Games crisis

by Kuldip Lal, AFP

Wed Sep 22, 3:55 pm ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India has insisted its Commonwealth Games will be “one of the most successful” in the event’s history after England warned the showpiece was on a “knife edge” over complaints of filthy housing and growing structural and security fears.

Officials said Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell was due to arrive in New Delhi Thursday for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the problems overwhelming the October 3-14 event.

The latest high-profile withdrawals include the English Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu and world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu, with Australia warning more of its competitors might follow.

3 France protests pension reform

by Charles Onians, AFP

59 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – Mass street protests and strikes across France Thursday turned into a battle of figures as both the government and unions said they were winning the bitter war over raising the retirement age to 62.

Many schools closed, flights were cancelled, and only half of inter-city and Paris metro trains ran as hundreds of thousands marched for the second time in a month against the centrepiece of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s reforms.

Scuffles broke out in Paris after the main march, when police tear-gassed a few dozen anarchist youths throwing stones and bottles, but the protests were by and large good humoured, determined and well marshalled.

4 Blockbuster files for bankruptcy

by Charlotte Raab, AFP

Thu Sep 23, 12:34 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – US video rental giant Blockbuster declared bankruptcy on Thursday, falling victim to digital delivery of movies by Netflix and kiosk outlets such as Redbox.

Blockbuster’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection means hundreds of its brick-and-mortar stores are likely to close as the Texas-based company makes a belated attempt to focus on digital distribution.

Blockbuster said it had reached agreement with a group of creditors on a plan to bolster its financial position as it tries to turn around the business.

5 In Milan, feminine wiles cede to Prada’s urban chic

by Gina Doggett, AFP

49 mins ago

MILAN (AFP) – Frankie Morello proposed casual sensuality while Fendi went for a languid feel and Dolce & Gabbana were all flouncy femininity as Milan Fashion Week got into full swing Thursday.

But Prada was having none of it, dictating stripes and solids in simple shapes cut from Japanese cotton for spring/summer 2011 in a collection full of eye-catching colour clashes.

Models for the quirky label came out on stripey platform tennis shoes, carrying faux furs — striped or white or both — with their hair slicked-down and wound into twin chiffons at the nape, some sporting striped sombreros slung behind them.

6 UN summit ends with calls for tougher battle against poverty

AFP

Wed Sep 22, 6:48 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for greater urgency in the fight against the world’s social ills as a UN poverty summit ended with tens of billions of dollars of pledges but lingering pessimism about the impact.

Obama unveiled a new “big-hearted but also hard-headed” US aid policy to push the world’s poorest countries toward prosperity. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched a 40 billion dollar drive to save the lives of millions of women and children. Britain, China and Japan also promised more help.

But many leaders still accused wealthy nations of failing to keep their promises on assistance. Aid groups said millions would still die unnecessarily in the final five years of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) initiative launched in 2000.

7 England win fifth ODI against Pakistan by 121 runs

by Julian Guyer, AFP

Wed Sep 22, 5:48 pm ET

SOUTHAMPTON (AFP) – Eoin Morgan’s latest match-winning Rose Bowl century saw England to a crushing 121 run-victory against Pakistan as they took the five-match one-day series 3-2 on Wednesday to end a scandal-marred season.

Success meant England had won consecutive Test (3-1), Twenty20 (2-0) and limited overs series against a Pakistan side whose tour was overshadowed by ‘spot-fixing’ allegations.

Man-of-the-match Morgan made 107 not out in a total of 256 for six after England had slumped to 47 for three following captain Andrew Strauss’s decision to bat first.

8 Irish economic recovery fails in second quarter

by Andrew Bushe, AFP

Thu Sep 23, 12:39 pm ET

DUBLIN (AFP) – Ireland’s economy shrank by a huge 1.2 percent in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday, confounding expectations for a modest rise and stoking fears over the indebted eurozone nation.

The surprise news, together with disappointing eurozone manufacturing data, sent stock markets reeling as Ireland became the only European nation — with the exception of debt-riddled Greece — to be in contraction.

Gross domestic product (GDP) had been forecast by most economists to continue growing in the three months to the end of June, after the Irish economy escaped from recession in the first quarter.

9 Japan’s vending machines sell cool bananas, read minds

by Miwa Suzuki, AFP

Thu Sep 23, 11:53 am ET

TOKYO (AFP) – They sell umbrellas, flowers and cooked meals, cough up cool drinks after earthquakes and even try to read your mind: they are Japan’s five million vending machines.

Scattered across the country, the automated stores are about as ubiquitous as traffic lights and offer an ever-widening, dizzying palette of goods.

Thanks to Japan’s low crime rate, companies have placed them everywhere, from neon-lit city centres to the icy summit of Mount Fuji, with little risk of them being burgled and relieved of their rich coin vaults.

10 No hope for tax cut vote before election: Democrat

By Kim Dixon and Susan Cornwell, Reuters

53 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress will not vote on extending Bush-era tax cuts before the November elections, a Senate leader said on Thursday, reflecting fear among some Democrats that it could hurt their chances at the polls.

“The reality is, we are not going to pass what needs to be passed to change this, either in the Senate or in the House, before the election,” said the Senate’s assistant majority leader, Dick Durbin.

Durbin told reporters he saw no hope for a quick decision on the controversial tax cut question in the current tense political atmosphere.

11 Obama asks Wen for more action on yuan

By Paul Eckert and Steve Holland, Reuters

58 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that China needed to do more to resolve a dispute over the value of the Chinese currency, a senior U.S. official said.

In talks with Wen on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Obama said the currency was the “most important issue” of their meeting, the U.S. official told reporters.

“The president talked about the importance of our trading relation in general and the currency issue specifically to the United States and the world economy,” Jeffrey Bader, the senior National Security Council official for Asia, said.

12 House Republicans draft campaign manifesto

By Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan, Reuters

Thu Sep 23, 10:24 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans hoping to gain control of the House of Representatives in the November 2 election vow to slash spending and stop “job-killing tax hikes” in a campaign manifesto set to be unveiled on Thursday.

The agenda, a draft of which was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, proposes scaling back federal spending to 2008 levels, although with large exceptions, and ending government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Their wide-ranging “Pledge to America” also calls for tougher border security, putting suspected terrorists on trial in military rather than civilian courts and repealing President Barack Obama’s landmark and unpopular overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system.

13 Summers’ successor to set tone on economic policy

By Caren Bohan, Reuters

Thu Sep 23, 10:21 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to pick a more business-friendly successor to economic adviser Larry Summers, a move that would signal a shift to the center.

But a decision on Summer’s replacement is months away, a White House official said.

A day after Summers announced plans to step down as director of the National Economic Council, speculation about his replacement focused on female candidates, many of whom would bring business expertise that some say is lacking in the Obama White House.

14 GOP ‘Pledge’ vows cuts, repeal of health care law

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

6 mins ago

STERLING, Va. – Pushing toward big gains on Nov. 2, House Republicans promised to end a slew of Democratic policies and restore Americans’ trust in government as they rolled out a campaign manifesto designed to show they’re listening to an angry public and are focused on creating jobs.

“The land of opportunity has become the land of shrinking prosperity … Our government has failed us,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California declared. “We will take back our country. We will restore for a better future. This is our pledge to you.”

At a hardware store in suburban Washington, senior House Republicans in shirt sleeves showed off the 21-page document they say would guide them should they gain a majority of seats in the midterm balloting five weeks away.

15 Double-digit hikes for some Medicare drug plans

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer

16 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Millions of seniors face double-digit hikes in their Medicare prescription premiums next year unless they shop for cheaper coverage.

A new analysis of government data finds that premiums will go up an average of 10 percent among the top plans that have signed up some 70 percent of seniors. That’s according to Avalere Health, a private research firm that crunched the numbers.

Marketing for next year’s drug plans gets under way Oct. 1, and seniors will see some of the biggest changes since the Medicare prescription benefit became available in 2006. More than 17 million are enrolled in private drug plans offered through Medicare.

16 Congress to send small business bill to Obama

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 16 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Democratic-controlled Congress on Thursday sent President Barack Obama a long-delayed bill to help struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to expand and hire new workers.

The $40 billion-plus bill is the last vestige of the heralded jobs agenda that Obama and Democrats promoted early this year. They ended up delivering only a fraction of what they promised after emboldened Senate Republicans blocked most of the agenda with filibusters.

The Senate passed the measure last week. The 237-187 House vote Thursday that sent the bill to the president split along party lines as Democrats praised the measure for creating a $30 billion federal fund to help smaller banks issue loans to small businesses and for cutting taxes by $12 billion over the coming decade.

17 Va. woman, out of options, nears execution

By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press Writer

36 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – Teresa Lewis knelt in deep prayer with her husband hours before two men she plied with sex and money walked into their mobile home and killed Lewis’ husband and stepson while they slept.

The 41-year-old woman, who defense attorneys say is borderline mentally disabled, inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Now she’s out of options, about to become the first woman to be executed in the U.S. in five years – a fate that has drawn appeals from the European Union, an indignant rebuke from Iran and the disgust of thousands of people.

Hours before her execution, Lewis was meeting with family, her spiritual adviser and supporters at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, where she is scheduled to die by injection at 9 p.m.

18 Lawyer: Other young men went on trips with pastor

By ERRIN HAINES and GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer

35 mins ago

ATLANTA – The pastor of a prominent megachurch accused by three young men of coercing them into sex took trips with other male proteges in his youth ministry as part of a mentoring effort, a lawyer for the religious leader said Thursday.

Bishop Eddie Long, who has denied the sex allegations, plans his first public response Sunday during services at his 25,000-member church, attorney Craig Gillen said on the Tom Joyner Morning Show after Long canceled an interview with the nationally syndicated radio program.

In lawsuits filed this week, three men who were members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church claimed Long pushed them into sexual relations when they were 17 or 18 years old with gifts including cars, cash and travel. Long, who opposes same-sex marriage, built up the sprawling church in suburban Lithonia that counts politicians, celebrities and the county sheriff among its members and hosted four U.S. presidents during the 2006 funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King.

19 Pakistani given 86 years for firing at US troops

By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 38 mins ago

NEW YORK – A U.S.-trained Pakistani scientist convicted of trying to kill U.S. agents and military officers in Afghanistan was sentenced Thursday to 86 years in prison after she delivered a message of world peace and forgave the judge.

“I am a Muslim, but I love Americans too,” Aafia Siddiqui said during one of several rambling statements delivered in a lilting voice at the behest of U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.

“Forgive everybody in my case, please,” she added. “Also forgive Judge Berman.”

20 Number of fat people in US to grow, report says

By GREG KELLER, Associated Press Writer

28 mins ago

PARIS – Citizens of the world’s richest countries are getting fatter and fatter and the United States is leading the charge, an organization of leading economies said Thursday in its first ever obesity forecast.

Three out of four Americans will be overweight or obese by 2020, and disease rates and health care spending will balloon, unless governments, individuals and industry cooperate on a comprehensive strategy to combat the epidemic, the study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

The Paris-based organization, which brings together 33 of the world’s leading economies, is better known for forecasting deficit and employment levels than for measuring waistlines. But the economic cost of excess weight – in health care, and in lives cut short and resources wasted – is a growing concern for many governments.

21 Debt, changing media habits topple Blockbuster

By MAE ANDERSON, AP Retail Writer

Thu Sep 23, 12:17 pm ET

NEW YORK – Blockbuster Inc., once the dominant movie rental company in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, reeling from mounting losses, rising debt and competitors that have better catered to Americans’ changed media habits.

For now, Blockbuster will continue to operate its 3,300 U.S. stores, although analysts expect hundreds of them to close under new owners led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. The Dallas-based company has about 25,500 employees, including 7,500 full-time workers.

The prepackaged bankruptcy case, in the works since the spring, marks the end of an era that Blockbuster and its gold-and-blue torn ticket logo helped establish. Americans used to troop to video stores on Friday for the latest movies. Now, they’re skipping Blockbuster and watching movies from DVD-by-mail services like Netflix Inc., cable video on demand and Redbox vending machines.

22 US restricts, EU bans controversial diabetes pill

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

1 hr 1 min ago

European regulators ordered the diabetes drug Avandia off the market and the Food and Drug Administration placed stringent restrictions on its use in the United States, saying heart attack risks associated with the former blockbuster are too great a safety concern to continue its use for most people.

In simultaneous news briefings Thursday, the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced their long-awaited decisions on the fate of GlaxoSmithKline’s controversial drug. The European regulator said it would stop authorizing marketing of Avandia, which will be banned from sales within the next few months.

The FDA said new patients will be able to get a prescription for Avandia, but only if they can’t control their blood sugar with other medications. Doctors will have to document that their patients are eligible to receive the drug and have been briefed on its risks. FDA expects the restricted plan “will limit use of Avandia significantly.”

23 Initial claims for unemployment aid rise to 465K

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

Thu Sep 23, 2:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Applications for unemployment benefits increased last week for the first time in five weeks.

Initial claims for jobless aid rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 465,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Many economists had expected a flat reading or small drop.

The rise suggests that jobs remain scarce and some companies are still cutting workers amid weak economic growth. Initial claims have fallen from a recent spike above a half-million last month. But they have been stuck above 450,000 for most of this year.

24 India scrambles to save Commonwealth Games

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 2:13 pm ET

NEW DELHI – Indian officials scrambled Thursday to salvage the rapidly approaching Commonwealth Games as a growing number of competitors delayed their arrival to allow organizers time to finish their frantic preparations.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held an emergency meeting Thursday night with his sports minister and other top officials to assess the state of preparations for the event, which is to start in little more than a week. They did not give details on what was discussed. Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna said Singh “was informed that every effort is being made to prepare the games facilities and the village to the expected standards.”

Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, whose organizing team has been mired in graft allegations, was not asked to attend the meeting.

25 AP-GfK Poll: Independents as upset as Republicans

By ALAN FRAM and JENNIFER AGIESTA, Associated Press Writers

Thu Sep 23, 10:54 am ET

WASHINGTON – More bad news for Democrats clinging to control of Congress: Independent voters are nearly as grumpy as Republicans about politics this year.

In an Associated Press-GfK Poll this month, 58 percent of independents and 60 percent of Republicans said politics is making them angry, compared with 31 percent of Democrats who said so. About 7 in 10 independents and Republicans were disgusted, compared with 4 in 10 Democrats, and independents and Republicans were likelier than Democrats to be disappointed, depressed and frustrated.

As for positive emotions, independents and Republicans were half as likely as Democrats to be inspired and less prone to be hopeful, excited and proud.

26 First partial Afghan poll results released

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer   – Thu Sep 23, 9:25 am ET

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan officials released the first partial results from last week’s parliamentary elections on Thursday amid mounting allegations of fraud in a poll seen as a test of the Afghan government’s commitment to rooting out corruption.

Saturday’s vote was the first since a presidential election last year that was nearly derailed by widespread ballot-box stuffing and tally manipulation. That poll led many Western powers to question whether they should be supporting the administration of President Hamid Karzai with military forces and funds.

This year’s elections have about 2,500 candidates vying for 249 parliamentary seats. Tallies have been dribbling into a central tabulation center in the capital since Saturday and officials said Thursday that they had finished with about 67 percent of the ballots from one province – relatively peaceful Panjshir.

27 Abortion an issue in Senate races

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

Thu Sep 23, 6:41 am ET

NEW YORK – An unusually large contingent of female Republican candidates with strong anti-abortion views is heating up debate on the issue and could change the political equation in the next Congress.

In California, Nevada, Delaware and New Hampshire, the GOP nominees for seats in the U.S. Senate are women who favor outlawing most abortions. All have been endorsed by Sarah Palin, who calls herself a “pro-life feminist.”

A win by any one of them would fill a void. All 17 women now in the Senate, including four Republicans, support relatively broad abortion rights.

28 Federal help boosts vulnerable Democrats

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 6:41 am ET

WASHINGTON – It’s been a tough year for Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, one of dozens of Democrats facing a tight race to win re-election this fall.

So when President Barack Obama’s top transportation official, Secretary Ray LaHood, went to Seattle this month to tout the $30 million in federal grant money the administration was delivering to help unclog a notoriously snarled interchange downtown, it seemed like a major boon arriving at a critical time.

“We would not be standing here today if it weren’t for your courageous representatives in Congress,” LaHood, a former Illinois Republican congressman, said during an event largely devoted to praising Murray.

29 Afghan president calls for release of journalists

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 10:14 am ET

KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai called Thursday for the quick release of three Afghan journalists – arrests that analysts said were reminiscent of a strategy the U.S. military used in Iraq to detain local journalists as a way to disrupt insurgents’ propaganda networks.

All three journalists were picked up over the past week – two by a joint NATO and Afghan force and one by Afghan intelligence officials. Previously, only two other journalists were believed to have been detained in Afghanistan over the course of the nearly 9-year-old war, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

The NATO-led coalition said it had information linking the two journalists in its custody to networks that act as a mouthpiece for the Taliban and hinder efforts to win the loyalty of Afghan citizens skeptical of foreign forces and the Afghan government.

30 Obama faults himself for not selling health law

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

Wed Sep 22, 9:40 pm ET

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Blaming himself for coolness to his health care overhaul, President Barack Obama is seeking to reintroduce the law to voters who don’t much like or understand it six months after he signed it.

The White House gathered patients from around the country who have benefited from the measure, and the president rolled up his sleeves to address them Wednesday in a sunny Virginia backyard, highlighting changes that take effect at the six-month mark on Thursday. These include a ban on lifetime coverage limits, as well as free coverage for preventive care and immunizations. Young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26, and kids with pre-existing health conditions won’t be denied coverage.

“We just got to give people some basic peace of mind,” the president said,

31 Prosecutors: Corruption ingrained in Calif. city

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 4:16 am ET

LOS ANGELES – After months of jaw-dropping salaries numbers, tales of corruption and citizen outrage, eight current and former officials from the city of Bell have appeared in front of a judge in shackles and jail jumpsuits.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that corruption was so ingrained and unchecked in the blue-collar suburb that almost anyone who could have blown the whistle was benefiting from it.

Many will spend another night in jail as a judge kept bail high at the group’s initial court appearance.

32 Study backs new heart valve without cracking chest

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

Wed Sep 22, 11:01 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Thousands of older Americans who need new heart valves but are too frail to survive the surgery might soon get a chance at an easier option – a way to thread in an artificial aortic valve without cracking their chests.

The aortic valve is the heart’s main doorway, and a major new study found that snaking a new one in through an artery significantly improved the chances that patients with no other treatment options would survive at least a year.

Not yet known is whether easier-to-implant valves might work for the less sick who’d like to try the new technology rather than undergo the open-heart surgery required for standard valve replacements that can last 20 years.

33 Groups demand explanation of ‘sexting’ DA inaction

By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer

41 mins ago

MADISON, Wis. – Pressure built Thursday for regulators to explain why they failed to sanction a Wisconsin prosecutor who admitted sending sexually charged text messages to a domestic abuse victim.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Wisconsin Crime Victims’ Rights Board knew 10 months ago about inappropriate behavior by Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz but didn’t discipline him.

Their inaction has been blasted by lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle since the text messages were revealed by The Associated Press last week. Since then, two other women have come forward with allegations of misconduct against Kratz, and Doyle has started the process to remove him from office.

34 5 years after Rita hit, some left out of recovery

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 2:11 pm ET

CAMERON, La. – First Baptist Church in this southwestern Louisiana town is finally celebrating its reopening, five years after the community was nearly obliterated by one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history: Hurricane Rita.

It took that long for the church’s members to raise money to repair the double dose of damage from Rita and then from Hurricane Ike in 2008. On Saturday, they will sing a theme song they adopted in Rita’s aftermath, “Standing on the Promises.”

Church treasurer Cyndi Sellers had noticed a hymn book opened to the old Baptist standard in the church’s muddy wreckage. “I just really felt like He was promising us right then that we would be able to rebuild if we just had the faith,” she said.

35 Obama praises US-China cooperation on economy

By MATTHEW LEE and FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writers

Thu Sep 23, 1:01 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – President Barack Obama said Thursday that U.S.-China cooperation has helped ease global financial turmoil, but both he and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao steered clear of a spat over Beijing’s currency policy, which the United States says hurts American workers.

Obama, standing by Wen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, said cooperation between the United States and China “has been absolutely critical” to easing the financial crisis. He praised Chinese leaders for working with the United States on economic, nuclear nonproliferation and Asian security issues.

But, Obama said, “obviously, we continue to have more work to do on the economic front.”

36 UN chief urges tolerance to combat polarization

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 23, 1:00 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned kings, prime ministers and presidents Thursday of growing political polarization and social inequalities and implored U.N. members to show greater tolerance and mutual respect to bring the world together.

In his keynote speech to the opening of the General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting, the U.N. chief told leaders from the 192-member nations that “today, we are being tested.”

Ban said people everywhere are living in fear of losing their jobs, too many are caught in conflict, “and we see a new politics at work – a politics of polarization.”

37 AP Interview: Yanukovych seeks deeper US ties

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

Wed Sep 22, 5:29 pm ET

NEW YORK – The Ukrainian president, who has repaired relations with neighboring Russia and taken his country out of the running for NATO membership, said on Wednesday he wants to improve strategic relations with the United States.

Viktor Yanukovych also said that despite restoring historically close ties with fellow Slavs in Russian, his nation is determined to win membership in the European Union.

“The people of Ukraine and Russia are very close. And this allows us to solve many economic issues. It’s a good factor, The human factor,” he said.

3 comments

    • on 09/23/2010 at 23:56
      Author
    • on 09/24/2010 at 05:12

    China’s cooperation on the economy.

    hmm. Was it Tuesday or Wednesday he was complaining about the currency manipulation?

    How typical.

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