Evening Edition

WikiLeaks is already fighting to stay on the Internet. It had to switch its domain to Switzerland because its original web address was shut down by a US provider, as it continues to release tens of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables.

At the same time Sweden has issued an amended international arrest warrant for WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, who is believed to be in Britain, and The Times newspaper, citing police sources, reported he could be arrested next week.

The Times newspaper, citing police sources, reported that Assange — who is believed to be in Britain — could be arrested next week. Other media suggested that the 39-year-old Australian could face arrest within 10 days.

Swedish prosecutors have issued a new international arrest warrant for Assange on sex assault allegations that incorporated missing elements which had been requested by British police.

Amid reports of more deaths in fresh violence sparked by the standoff, Gbagbo had the ceremonial chain of office hung around his neck after his high court allies overturned a UN-certified victory for his rival.

The United Nations and other world powers have recognised opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the west African country’s new president after last Sunday’s run-off vote, but incumbent Gbagbo refused to step aside and told outsiders to mind their own business.

The United Nations, United States and European Union all recognised Ouattara as president, acknowledging results announced earlier by the country’s electoral commission.

They called on Gbagbo to allow a peaceful transfer of power.

Gbagbo has defied international calls to step aside despite the United Nations and other world powers recognising his rival Alassane Ouattara as the country’s new president.

Residents said security forces opened fire overnight in the main city Abidjan during clashes between local supporters of the rival candidates from last Sunday’s election.

The strike over working hours hit an estimated 300,000 passengers on a long holiday weekend, prompting the government to place the military in command of the skies and threaten prison for absent controllers.

“The airspace is open,” Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference after an emergency cabinet meeting.

Striking air traffic controllers began returning to work after the government declared a state of alert and warned of criminal prosecutions, airports said.

The wildcat strike over working hours hit an estimated 250,000 passengers on a holiday weekend, prompting the government to put the military in command of the skies and threaten prison for absent controllers.

The “landmark” agreement benefits US workers, farmers and ranchers, Obama said, and was also a “win” for South Korea because it will grant the Asian ally “greater access to our markets and make American products more affordable for Korean households and businesses.”

Associated tariff reductions are expected to boost annual exports of US goods by up to 11 billion dollars while contributing “significantly” to his goal of doubling US exports over the next five years, Obama said of the agreement that raised hopes of renewed US leadership in Asia.

The fate of the world’s only treaty to spell out curbs in greenhouse gases buffeted the effort to revive the UN’s campaign against global warming and its impacts.

“If countries park on extreme positions, then it’s just not possible to come to a UN consensus,” said EU chief negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger.

One of Assange’s lawyers said he would also fight any attempt to extradite his client to face questions over alleged sexual misconduct, adding that he believed foreign powers were influencing Sweden in the matter.

Washington is furious about the leak of hundreds of confidential diplomatic cables that have given unvarnished and sometimes embarrassing insights into the foreign policy of the United States and its allies.

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba vowed there would be no repeat of the strike, which stranded passengers, hurt companies and damaged Spain’s image.

The government is pushing through tough reforms and spending cuts to rein in a deficit and ward off market fears it may need a bailout similar to that of Ireland.

The two Democratic plans to renew low tax rates for individual income up to $200,000 and up to $1 million both failed in procedural votes, as Republicans argued that low tax rates for the wealthiest should also be extended.

No Republicans backed the Democratic proposals, and a few Democrats voted against them.

Negotiators are working on a potential deal that could temporarily renew all these tax breaks, including ones for the wealthiest, and extend jobless benefits for hundreds of thousands of the needy, congressional aides said.

The possible accord could also clear the way for Senate ratification of a stalled U.S.-Russian arms treaty, and perhaps even an increase the U.S. debt limit, they said.

Meanwhile, Alassane Ouattara, named winner of the vote by the election commission before the result was reversed on Friday by the top Ivorian legal body, submitted a written oath and took the first steps toward setting up a parallel government.

Gbagbo has presided over the world’s top cocoa-producing nation for a decade, but now faces international isolation and possible sanctions after its Constitutional Council, headed by an ally of Gbagbo, canceled hundreds of thousands of votes in Ouattara strongholds, alleging intimidation by northern rebels.

Venezuela and Bolivia also branded some rich countries “unacceptable” for distancing themselves from the Kyoto accord, stepping up sparring before ministers arrive for next week’s climax of the November 29-December 10 talks in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun.

Developing countries favor an extension of the 1997 protocol, which obliges only developed nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions until 2012, while many rich nations prefer a new agreement that includes emerging economies led by China.

He spent four hours at an airbase outside the Afghan capital and canceled a planned helicopter trip to Kabul to meet Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai because of bad weather. Instead, the two leaders spoke by telephone.

Obama’s second visit to Afghanistan as president came as the White House prepared to release a review of the war’s strategy in the week of December 13, and the day after leaked cables detailed U.S. concerns about Karzai’s abilities and widespread fraud in the country.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 39,000, with private hiring gaining only 50,000, just a third of what economists had expected, a Labor Department report showed on Friday. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent in October.

The weak report was a surprise given the relative strength of some other recent economic signals, including robust retail sales. Economists had expected 140,000 new jobs and a steady unemployment rate.

The announcement also came as WikiLeaks is struggling to keep its website accessible after service providers such as Amazon dropped contracts, and governments and hackers continued to hound the organization.

The weekend move by PayPal came as WikiLeaks’ release of hundreds of thousands of United States diplomatic cables brought commercial organizations on the Internet that have business ties with the organization under more scrutiny.

But although the future is uncertain for WikiLeaks, the website dedicated to releasing classified information has opened a Pandora’s Box of secret-spilling that will be difficult to reverse.

WikiLeaks, which has triggered global governmental alarm by releasing reams of classified U.S. diplomatic cables, is facing attacks in cyberspace and in the legal sphere. The site is assailed by hackers and has been booted from its U.S. server. Frontman Julian Assange is in hiding and faces allegations of sexual misconduct.

The monthlong standoff, which has not previously been made public, was resolved only after a call from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Libya’s foreign minister, apparently to underline Washington’s commitment to warming relations. After the call, Libya allowed Russia to take away the uranium in December 2009.

But for that month, U.S. officials issued frantic warnings that the 11.5 pounds (5.2 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium was vulnerable to start leaking or be stolen, since it was sitting at Libya’s Tajoura nuclear facility with only a single armed guard.

Hours after the order was issued at an emergency Cabinet meeting, officials said strikers were returning to work, but that it could take up to two days before flights return to normal.

Spain got the all-clear from Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic control agency, to reopen air space closed Friday when the wildcat strike began, ruining the start of a long holiday weekend for hundreds of thousands of people.

“We need to get this resolved and I’m confident we can do it,” President Barack Obama said shortly after the near party-line votes. The public must have “the peace of mind that their taxes will not go up” on Jan. 1, he added.

Obama has signaled that he will bow to Republican demands for extending tax cuts at all income levels, and his remarks capped a day that lurched between political conflict and talk of compromise on an issue that played a leading role in last month’s elections.

“This agreement shows the U.S. is willing to lead and compete in the global economy,” the president told reporters at the White House, calling it a triumph for American workers in fields from farming to aerospace.

The pact, which requires congressional approval, would be the largest since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1994. Obama said the South Korean deal would support at least 70,000 American jobs – welcome news with the latest unemployment figures showing nearly stagnant job growth. The president said that jobs report showed more needed to be done.

Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo defied calls from the United States, France and the United Nations to concede defeat, wrapping himself in the Ivorian flag as he was sworn in for another term. Hours later, opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara announced that he too had taken his own oath.

Saturday’s developments leave Ivory Coast with two men who both claim to be president, furthering inflaming the political chaos in the West African nation whose once-prosperous economy was destroyed by the brief 2002-2003 civil war.

Obama’s determination to come to the war zone for a second time this year – a move of considerable risk and intricate concealment – was meant to lift the holiday spirits of those waging a long, intensifying fight.

So he shook hands. He awarded Purple Hearts. He comforted soldiers whose buddies had died. He spoke of hope.

As climate negotiators grew more discouraged in recent months, U.S. and British government bodies urged stepped-up studies of such “geoengineering.” The U.N. climate science network decided to assess the options. And a range of new research moved ahead in America and elsewhere.

“The taboo is broken,” Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric scientist, told The Associated Press.

The pro football players’ union has advised its members to save their last three game checks this year in case next season is canceled. In a letter to the players that was viewed by The Associated Press, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union’s “internal deadline” for agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement has passed.

“It is important that you protect yourself and your family,” he wrote in the letter, which was dated Wednesday.

The Virginia-based coal company announced late Friday that Blankenship, who has been chairman and chief executive since 2000, will retire effective Dec. 31. The modern-day coal baron who made millions for investors while turning countless neighbors into enemies over mining’s effects on the environment has been with Massey since 1982 in a variety of roles.

Investigators want to question Blankenship about the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine, which killed 29 and injured two. Unlike other Massey employees, who have refused to speak with investigators, Blankenship reached an agreement with state investigators to testify on Dec. 14. The interview will be closed to the public.

Obama’s surprise visit to the war zone, his second as president, came 10 days before he is to address the nation about a new review of U.S. strategy to defeat the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan government so American troops can begin leaving next year.

The trip also came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan because of new and embarrassing leaked cables alleging widespread fraud and underscoring deep American concerns about Karzai.

The device from Allergan Inc. is currently implanted in roughly 100,000 people each year and usually helps patients lose 50 pounds or more. Under federal guidelines, it has been limited to patients who are morbidly obese.

On Friday, a panel of FDA advisers recommended expanding use of the device to include patients who are less obese. The panel voted 8-2 that the benefits of broader approval outweighed the risks.

Not so fast. Because of restrictions built into deeds and federal grants, municipalities can’t use most of to their newfound wealth to plug budget shortfalls.

And so, while elected officials struggle to make ends meet, the money sits there, close enough to smell but just out of reach.

They want the country’s largest and most untamed refuge to join the likes of the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Giant Sequoia groves of California, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and George Washington’s birthplace in Virginia.

National monument status could put an estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil beyond the grasp of oil companies forever.

He has maintained a presence on TV, conservative radio and the Internet, casting himself as a righteous reformer in the face of an out-of-control establishment. He is still raising money and speaking out against his opponent.

Miller has mounted a vigorous post-election campaign as his lawyers wage a last-ditch legal challenge to throw out write-in ballots for Sen. Lisa Murkowski in their hard-fought Senate race.

Jeanette Hawkins levied the accusations against Daystar Television Network and its founder, the Rev. Marcus Lamb, in a lawsuit Wednesday – a day after Lamb and his wife told their television audience that three unnamed people who knew about the affair were trying to blackmail them for $7.5 million.

On Friday, Daystar countersued Hawkins, saying she and her attorney made “outrageous allegations” and amended their original lawsuit that they’d given to media outlets, according to a statement released by the company.

Scientists believe the foxes are related to another that was photographed this summer near Yosemite National Park. More importantly, they say, DNA samples show enough diversity in the Sierra Nevada red foxes to suggest a “fairly strong population” of the animals may secretly be doing quite well in the rugged mountains about 90 miles south of Reno.

The first confirmed sighting of the subspecies in two decades came in August when a remote camera captured the image of a female fox in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near Sonora Pass.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will seek to list ringed seals found in the Arctic Basin and the North Atlantic and two populations of bearded seals in the Pacific Ocean as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Ringed seals are the main prey of polar bears, which were listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2008. For ringed seals, the proposed listing also cites the threat of reduced snow cover.