Evening Edition

But despite the progress, emergency workers had not yet made contact with the men and relatives faced continued uncertainty about whether their loved ones were still alive.

The Ecuadoran miners became trapped in the early hours of Friday morning, after the collapse blocked their exit from the mine, leaving the four men stuck some 150 meters (492 feet) below ground in the Casa Negra mine.

Although government estimates of the turnout at the rallies suggested the movement might be losing steam, unions warned that strikes are spreading to more businesses and that a new nationwide protest would be held Tuesday.

Tension has been building since record demonstrations earlier this week with strikes in refineries cutting off fuel supplies to Paris airports and with high school students joining older workers to condemn pension reform moves.

But even as officers forced open the barricades at some depots, strikers threw up new pickets at other fuel distribution centres across the country to fight against moves to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Riot police made 16 arrests and used tear gas as they fought running battles with youths who pelted them with stones and overturned cars during street protests by high-school students in the central city of Lyon.

Although government estimates of the turnout at the rallies suggested the movement might be losing steam, unions warned that strikes are spreading to more businesses and that a new nationwide protest would be held Tuesday.

Tension has been building since record demonstrations earlier this week with strikes in refineries cutting off fuel supplies to Paris airports and with high school students joining older workers to condemn pension reform moves.

The comment followed tit-for-tat demonstrations in China and Japan on Saturday over the row that broke out last month when Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

“China has expressed its deep concern to Japan over this,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement on the ministry website.

Don’t expect a camouflage haute couture revolution for America’s military women; the changes will be visibly slight, although they are important, said the first person to try on the women’s army combat uniform, or ACU.

“The unisex uniform was a little bit baggy,” Major Sequana Robinson told AFP, undoubtedly summing up the attitudes of thousands of female soldiers who for decades have had to make do with ill-fitting fatigues.

Gathered in Armenia’s southern mountains near the border with Iran, guests including President Serzh Sarkisian and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, took part as the cable car link launched its first official voyage over the Vorotan River Gorge.

The link will allow year-round access to Armenia’s ninth-century Tatev monastery complex, one of the country’s most important religious centres and a major tourist attraction.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) national watchdog ordered the probe into various Games-related projects a day after Thursday’s closing ceremony, the Press Trust of India said.

“The audit work for the Commonwealth Games is related to work payments, contracts and leasing of sports equipment among others,” the official news agency said.

The trio will meet on Monday and Tuesday in the Channel resort of Deauville, two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War and a month before the NATO allies meet to agree their new security vision.

No decisions are expected, but observers will look for signs that Moscow and the West are ready to put decades of hostility behind them and commit to what optimists see as a common security vision “from Vancouver to Vladivostok.”

“We are not going to talk about that,” said 63-year-old Mario Gomez, the oldest of the workers stuck for more than two months in a remote mine in northern Chile, when asked about the hellish ordeal.

“That’s reserved,” was the answer to the same question from Ariel Ticona, 29, as he left the hospital where the miners were cared for after their stunning Wednesday rescue. Most were discharged on Friday.

The government said turnout was down significantly on a rally last weekend against the push to raise the retirement age, but unions said the numbers were stable and vowed to maintain pressure to drop the plans ahead of a Senate vote on Tuesday.

Only minor scuffles were reported during Saturday’s marches, which came on top of five-day old rail and refinery strikes which have piled pressure on the center-right government.

U.S. Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, from Wasilla, Alaska, is charged with three counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of Afghan civilians he is accused of killing for sport.

Although a charge of premeditated murder carries the possibility of the death sentence, it was decided in this case that Morlock would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all charges, Army spokeswoman Major Kathleen Turner said.

The Treasury Department said on Friday the deficit came to 8.94 percent of gross domestic product for the year ended September 30, versus 10 percent in fiscal 2009.

The government called the deficit-to-GDP improvement the biggest since fiscal 1987.

The flamboyant poster boy of the subprime mortgage market’s boom and bust struck a last-minute deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before his trial on civil fraud charges was to start next week.

The most prominent executive charged by regulators with wrongdoing linked to the housing market collapse, Mozilo on Friday became the recipient of the highest fine ever dished out to an executive of a public corporation.

The Treasury Department delayed a much-anticipated decision on whether to label China as a currency manipulator until after the U.S. congressional elections on November 2 and a Group of 20 leaders summit in South Korea on November 11.

Washington and the European Union accuse China — set to become the world’s second-largest economy after the United States this year — of keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, undermining jobs and competitiveness in Western economies.

Bernanke warned a prolonged period of high unemployment could choke off the U.S. recovery and that the low level of inflation presented an uncomfortable risk of deflation, a dangerous downward slide in prices.

“There would appear — all else being equal — to be a case for further action,” Bernanke said at a conference sponsored by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s lead over Republican Carly Fiorina among likely voters in California is only one point, 46 percent to 45 percent, down from a four-point advantage early this month.

Boxer is a key ally of President Barack Obama, who is to campaign for her and other Democrats next week in California. Fiorina is a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled on Friday the central bank would likely pump more dollars into the economy to bolster the recovery and keep deflation at bay.

The prospect of more easy money threatened to exacerbate global tensions about currency policies, although Washington delayed a much-anticipated decision on whether to label China a currency manipulator.

Brazil will unveil measures next week to try to rein in its rising currency which is close to a two-year high against the dollar, and Colombia took new steps to contain the rise of its peso.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said countries must work together to strengthen the global currency order, trying to soothe tensions ahead of meetings of top finance officials in South Korea next week.

NATO and U.S. officials have said they are ready to do more to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, but Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the talks must be led by Afghanistan itself.

“We are there to facilitate. Because we want to see a stable, peaceful Afghanistan. It’s in Pakistan’s interest to have stability and peace in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said in Brussels before talks on Pakistan’s economic development.

Speaking before a crowd of several thousand at a rally at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center, Obama said Patrick’s opponent is banking on the same strategy as national Republicans.

“They figured they could ride people’s anger and frustration all the way to the ballot box,” said Obama, dressed more casually for the weekend rally, in a sport coat but no tie.

Analysts in both parties say all major indicators tilt toward the Republicans. President Barack Obama’s policies are widely unpopular. Congress, run by the Democrats, rates even lower. Fear and anger over unemployment and deep deficits are energizing conservative voters; liberals are demoralized.

Private groups are pouring huge sums of money into GOP campaigns. An almost dizzying series of Democratic messages has failed to gain traction, forcing Obama to zigzag in search of a winning formula.

Police estimated some 825,000 people marched in cities across France to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to extend the retirement age to keep pension coffers full. That is fewer than during an Oct. 12 march – and far lower than the union estimate of 3 million. But unions are not relenting in fighting for what the French see as a near-sacred right to retire at 60.

A sixth round of nationwide protests is scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the Senate votes on the retirement reform, which must still return to both houses due to amendments tacked on during debates.

The regime of Yemen’s longtime leader, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is weak, dependent for its survival on the loyalty of unruly tribes and alliances with Muslim extremists. Yemeni authorities also fear too harsh a fight against al-Qaida will alienate a deeply conservative Muslim population where anti-American sentiment is widespread. As a result, the main Yemeni tactic is often to negotiate with tribes to try to persuade them to hand over fugitive militants.

Yemeni officials say Washington is pressing them to be more aggressive.

The wire was attached to a strange magnetic device that puzzled Afifi and the mechanic. They freed it from the car and posted images of it online, asking for help in identifying it.

Two days later, FBI agents arrived at Afifi’s Santa Clara apartment and demanded the return of their property – a global positioning system tracking device now at the center of a raging legal debate over privacy rights.

The stalemate that led to Fox pulling its channels and online content after midnight was the latest in a series of programming fee disputes that have led to blackouts of programs such as the Oscars. But the impasse amounted to more than corporate wrangling for Bronx resident Clifford Taylor.

“We live for sports,” Taylor said. “Die-hard New Yorker fans, we love to see the Yankees and Giants play.”

A scissors manufacturer, he remembers this city at the height of its steel-making glory, when Sheffield’s furnaces and factories produced ships and tools and cutlery for the dinner tables of the world.

The huge steelworks are mostly gone now, like so much British industry over the past few decades, the victim of international competition, changing technology and governments with other priorities.

Or maybe for better and worse, in a jarring demonstration of the potential and peril generated by a political movement responsible for reshaping the 2010 election season.

One statewide nominee, Ken Buck, won the primary with the support of tea party activists and is a modest favorite to defeat appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. He enjoys the full backing of the Republican Party, and the groups aligned with it are pouring millions into television ads to help him.

Obama administration officials have met with industry leaders and experts to find ways to increase online safety while trying to balance securing the Internet and guarding people’s privacy and civil liberties.

Experts and U.S. officials are interested in portions of the plan, set to go into effect in Australia in December. But any move toward Internet regulation or monitoring by the U.S. government or industry could trigger fierce opposition from the public.

The rescuers also faced dangerous gas levels and the risk of falling rocks as they worked their way into the mine pit.

The early-morning explosion in central China happened as the world still was celebrating Chile’s successful rescue of 33 miners trapped more than two months. Chinese media had detailed coverage as the men emerged to cheers.

Before a crowd that included thousands of University of California, Los Angeles students, Clinton on Friday called the November election a clash of ideas. He sought to portray gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown as a candidate from the future – saying the 72-year-old was an innovator as governor from 1975 to 1983.

“He was the first governor in America to have green building standards, green appliance standards,” Clinton said. “He knew it was good economics when most people thought it was a fool’s errand.”

Holder’s warning, contained in a letter to ex-federal drug enforcement chiefs, was his most direct statement yet against Proposition 19, and it sets up another showdown with California over marijuana if the measure passes.

With Prop 19 leading in the polls, the letter also raised questions about the extent to which federal drug agents would go into communities across the state to catch small-time users and dealers, or whether they even had the resources to do it.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Friday reported raising a record $27 million during the three months ending Sept. 30, and entered the crucial final weeks of the election campaign with $25.6 million in the bank, $6.4 million more than its Republican counterpart. The Democrats’ House equivalent, looking to stave off a Republican takeover, reported $41.6 million in the bank, more than twice the cash on hand reported by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The money offers a sharp counterpoint to Republican advantages elsewhere in the political landscape. Republican Senate candidates have maintained a slight fundraising edge over Democrats. But the biggest GOP boost has come from outside groups that have spent millions on advertising, much of it in money raised from undisclosed donors in unlimited amounts.

He figured it was too soon – and too risky – to celebrate.

On Friday, the Pentagon agreed, warning gay troops that in this “legally uncertain environment,” coming out now could have “adverse consequences for themselves or others.” The warning came a day after the Obama administration asked a federal judge in California to stay her ruling overturning the Clinton-era “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while the government prepares an appeal.

Raw politics – the drive to win a House-majority 218 seats, no matter how – is increasingly trumping policy and loyalty in these decisions, as Democrats shift money and attention in the closing days of the campaign toward races they can win and pull back from those seemingly lost.

The Democrats are shelling out $40 million in 59 congressional districts in the last three weeks of the campaign for TV advertising. Republicans, boosted by well-funded outside groups, are working to expand the political battleground by pouring money into 82 races next week alone.

Some 800 Kolontar residents were evacuated last Saturday after authorities said a wall of the factory reservoir could collapse further, releasing a second wave of red sludge after a calamitous break Oct. 4 created a deadly torrent.

Nine people died in the toxic flood and around 50 are still hospitalized, several in serious condition.

“I told Zach we are putting him on a hug diet – one to say hello and one to say goodbye,” said Joyce Downing, who helped start a new program at the University of Central Missouri that serves students with disabilities.

The hope is that polishing up on social skills, like cutting back on the hugs, living in residence halls and going to classes with non-disabled classmates will help students like Neff be more independent and get better jobs.

Bold yet calculating, she is the nice girl who knows how to get what she wants, and how to get away with saying things others couldn’t, or wouldn’t.

“Mind your melons,” Avner, who’s 28, tells any young woman who’ll listen. “Touch your ta-tas.”

When two FBI agents went to inspect it, they found an empty San Fernando Valley office with only a desk and a fax machine. There were no workers, no patients and no biological samples.

Behind the door of the facade were signs tying the operation to a sprawling network of phantom enterprises allegedly set up by Armenian mobsters to try to defraud Medicare of $163 million for services never provided.

In a field hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in Polson, committee representative Sen. Jon Tester heard from government officials and tribal representatives from as far as California and Arizona who said more money was needed for reservation roads and the system needed to be better administered.

Some 73 percent of the 28,000 miles of roadways under the Bureau of Indian Affairs are unpaved and considered inadequate, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed five-year, $15 million recovery plan for sea otters in the Aleutian Islands considered a slew of possible reasons for the perilously low numbers found in some areas.

The draft recovery plan released this week said there is only one threat considered to have high importance: predation by killer whales, with sharks perhaps being a factor.

Roger Meece, who heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, said the scale of the security problems in the east, including sexual attacks, is “enormous.”

Meece told the U.N. Security Council that the “horrific” mass rapes in late July and early August by rebel militias in eastern Congo’s mineral-rich Walikale region underscored the importance of protecting civilians.

The officers include the former commanding officer of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn, Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello.

Mauriello, a sergeant and two patrol officers were served with the charges this week. A second sergeant was expected to be served next week, said the official, who only named Mauriello.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, is one of five defendants charged with murder and conspiracy in the deaths this year. Much of the Army’s case is based on extensive statements Morlock gave describing the killings.

Last month, an investigating officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle held a preliminary hearing in Morlock’s case and recommended it proceed to a court martial.

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said lawyers trying to clear Cameron Todd Willingham’s name are using the case to further their effort to abolish the death penalty. He also argued that he has a First Amendment right to state his opinion.

“We are being used, and we should recognize that,” Bradley said. “When do we get to respond to those lies? Who is going to correct the record?”