Evening Edition

Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the 187-nation International Monetary Fund, backed the inclusion of the yuan in a basket of currencies that makes up the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights, a type of reserve currency.

Strauss-Kahn also advocated an expanded role for the SDR to help to bolster the monetary system in the face of damaging volatility.

Wearing school uniform, the young teen blew himself up at the parade inside a heavily guarded military compound just outside the town of Mardan, killing the soldiers with shrapnel and explosives, officials said.

It was the deadliest suicide bombing in Pakistan since a woman with a bomb strapped under her burqa killed 43 people at a UN food distribution point on Christmas Day in the tribal district of Bajaur.

Earnings after tax rocketed to $14.32 billion (10.50 billion euros) last year, compared with $4.87 billion in 2009, the Anglo-Australian group said in a results statement.

“This year’s record results reflect a combination of strong commodity markets, first class assets and excellent operational performance at our managed operations,” said chairman Jan du Plessis.

The state-controlled Russian company said in a statement that its net profits for the first nine months of 2010 had jumped 39.5 percent to 668.75 billion rubles ($22.82 billion).

But profits attributed to the company’s shareholders dropped to 159.0 billion rubles ($5.43 billion) in the third quarter from 174.6 billion rubles ($5.96 billion) in Q3 2009 — an 8.9-percent decline that sent the stock down 1.5 percent in afternoon trading.

Hardline supporters of 72-year-old radical preacher Abu Bakar Bashir surrounded the south Jakarta court as hundreds of heavily armed police stood by to prevent further outbreaks of mob violence that have shaken Indonesia this week.

The world’s most populous Muslim-majority country — often praised for its pluralism and tolerance — is still in shock after the gruesome lynching of three members of a minority Islamic sect by an enraged Muslim mob on Sunday.

The prospect of rising inflation, driven by oil and other higher commodity prices, coupled with political instability in the Middle East is an added concern, it said.

The IEA, the energy policy and monitoring arm of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said the global oil bill was likely equal to 4.1 percent of total output in 2010 and would rise to 4.7 percent this year.

“Inside WikiLeaks” is billed as a warts-and-all account of Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s time as chief programmer and media spokesman for what his tell-all book calls “the world’s most dangerous website.”

Set for release in 16 countries from Friday, it says the “chaotic” WikiLeaks cannot protect its sources and accuses the “power-obsessed” Assange of being economical with the truth, according to leaked excerpts.

Chen Guangcheng, who gained worldwide fame for exposing abuses in China’s “one-child” population policy, has not been heard from since he was freed five months ago after serving a four-year sentence.

He was jailed in 2006 after accusing family planning officials in the eastern province of Shandong of forcing women to have late-term abortions or be sterilised.

With the deficit expected to widen in 2011 and 2012 — due largely to the December extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts — there is a risk of a damaging stand-off between Republicans and Obama’s Democrats that produces little concrete action on the deficit.

Election wins in November by Republicans backed by the conservative Tea Party movement have brought new members to the House of Representatives who campaigned aggressively for slashed spending and smaller government.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers said he would aim to cut nearly $58 billion from current spending levels, one day after warning fellow Republicans that cuts to that level could force airport closures, layoffs at the FBI and other harsh disruptions.

The new target represents a victory for lawmakers aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement who have pushed to nearly double the cuts initially proposed by Rogers and other senior Republicans.

It could also face hurdles in Washington as U.S. lawmakers and regulators consider whether they are prepared to allow the citadel of American capitalism to fall into foreign hands, although there has been virtually no public criticism in the United States as yet.

The companies said on Wednesday they are in “advanced talks” to join forces and create an exchange operator with unprecedented global reach and — most worrisome for regulators — a dominant grip on Europe’s lucrative derivatives markets.

With newly powerful Republicans in Congress eager to slash spending on many fronts, senior intelligence officials faced questions about the future of U.S. spycraft even as Washington tries to gauge the impact of turmoil in the Middle East.

“We all understand that we’re going to be in for some belt tightening,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing.

Judge John Mott of District of Columbia Superior Court ruled on February 3 that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is not entitled to immunity and that Amerivet Securities may proceed with its lawsuit.

The California firm sued FINRA, a private company that regulates broker-dealers, in 2009 to provide more disclosure of its finances, executive pay and other issues.

Strauss-Kahn, speaking at the IMF’s headquarters, said that adding emerging market countries’ currencies such as the yuan to a basket of currencies that the IMF administers would benefit the global system and create more stability.

He warned that without adjustments to the global monetary system the world could be sowing the seeds of the next crisis, pointing to widening economic imbalances, large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures and rapidly growing excess reserves.

Some bills may have a greater chance of success this year than in the past because there are more conservative legislators and governors.

“I am actually looking forward to a number of victories,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, director of the department of state legislation of the National Right to Life Committee.

Several Republicans pondering a run in 2012 are to speak this week to a large gathering of conservatives in Washington, a chance to test their messages and generate some buzz.

A year ahead of the first state voting contests to decide who will face Obama in November 2012, no prominent Republican has formally announced a candidacy and no potential candidate has emerged as a favorite.

The world’s third-biggest miner by market value, flush with cash thanks to surging demand led by China, surprised investors by more than doubling its full-year dividend but a pledge to buy $5 billion worth of shares by the end of 2012 left some cold.

“$5 billion isn’t enough. It is ultra conservative,” said Paul Galloway, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, adding that the two-year time period was also too long. He said the company had made a good start at returning cash but that it could afford to buy back $15 billion.

“There is not enough in our curriculum,” says Saeed, 16, who goes to an all-male state school in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. “It is just theoretical teaching, and there is no practice or guidance to prepare us for the job market.”

Saeed wants to study physics but worries that his state high school is failing him. He says the curriculum is outdated, and teachers simply repeat what is written in text books without adding anything of practical value or discussions. Even if the teachers did do more than the basics, Saeed’s class, at 32 students, is too big for him to get adequate attention. While children in Europe and Asia often start learning a language at five or six, Saudi students start learning English at 12. Much time is spent studying religion and completing exercises heavy with moral instruction. One task for eighth grade students: “Discuss the problem of staying up late, its causes, effects and cure.”

Deutsche and NYSE said they are in advanced talks to form a marketplace that would have annual trading volume exceeding $20 trillion, the latest in a flurry of mergers pointing to a shake-up of an industry under intense cost pressure from upstart electronic rivals.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, the world’s biggest exchange operator by market value, said on Thursday it is open to international alliances and partnerships, although the exchange added that it had not identified any opportunities.

Deutsche Boerse’s advanced talks to buy NYSE Euronext to create the world’s biggest trading powerhouse was a wake-up call for Asian bourses which face increasing competition in equity trading from new platforms.

The deal came just hours after the London Stock Exchange announced a bid for Canada’s TMX.

The report by the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel found that Ken Feinberg, the administration’s “pay czar,” was not transparent enough in his methods for slashing pay at the firms under his jurisdiction, including Bank of America and Citigroup.

The report says Feinberg achieved his core mission of limiting pay at the top bailout recipients.

Even as he warned about the need for a long-term plan to address “unsustainable” budget deficits, Bernanke said steep reductions in government outlays could compromise growth at a time when employment is just beginning to rebound.

“The cost to the recovery would outweigh the benefits in terms of fiscal discipline,” Bernanke told the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee. “I think we really need to take a long-term view.”

The discussions, announced on Wednesday, came only hours after the London Stock Exchange said it had agreed to buy Canadian market operator TMX, marking a shake-up for an industry under intense cost pressure from upstart electronic rivals, but one that offers new opportunities after the financial crisis in off-exchange derivatives trading.

News of the Deutsche Boerse talks sent NYSE Euronext shares soaring 14 percent to a two-year high and sharply boosted other exchanges on speculation that further match-ups would follow.

Concerns are mounting about the finances of state governments. Some in Congress have even suggested legislation to allow states to declare bankruptcy to help them put their finances in order.

State governments continue to struggle with the effects of the 2007-2009 recession. Their revenue remains weak and altogether they face budget deficits of at least $100 billion for the next fiscal year, beginning for most in summer.

He made the comments just two days before the release of an Obama administration “white paper” that is expected to lay out three options for revamping the way U.S. homes are financed.

The options mark an opening salvo in what could be a multi-year political debate over the government’s large and costly support of a housing sector still struggling after the U.S. financial crisis and recession.

The fiery blast late Wednesday night was the latest deadly natural-gas disaster in recent months to raise questions about the safety of the nation’s aging, 2.5-million-mile network of gas and liquid pipelines.

The explosion, which flattened a pair of rowhouses and set fire to a block of homes, occurred in an area where the underground gas main lacked shut-off valves. It took utility workers five hours of toil in the freezing cold to punch through ice, asphalt and concrete and seal the 12-inch main with foam, finally cutting off the flow of gas that fed the raging flames.

The billionaire real estate mogul and host of television’s “The Apprentice” got a raucous reception Thursday when he dangled a potential candidacy before thousands of conservatives who descended on the nation’s capital eager to help a GOP challenger deny President Barack Obama a second term.

“The United States is becoming the laughingstock of the world,” Trump said, sounding every bit a candidate as he offered his rationale for a possible bid. In a speech sprinkled with quips and jabs, he said he would decide by June whether to run.

“I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents,” Lee posted in a surprise announcement Wednesday night on his congressional website. “I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.”

A woman described as a 34-year-old Maryland resident and government employee provided the Gawker website with e-mails she said were an exchange between her and Lee in response to an ad she placed last month in the “Women Seeking Men” section of Craigslist.

Obama kept in touch with his security team throughout the trip and opened his remarks at Northern Michigan University with brief comments on the events overseas, where President Hosni Mubarak appeared close to resigning. But in a late-night speech Egypt’s president announced he was transferring some powers to his deputy. Mubarak did not step down from office. “We are witnessing history unfold,” Obama said.

He then turned to the importance of investing in wireless technology, part of a new White House focus on innovation, competitiveness and infrastructure as a pathway to jobs and “winning the future.” The president compared the goal of extending wireless access to important successes that connected previous generations of Americans: the building of railroads and the federal highway system.

The decision to retire by Arizona’s junior senator set off an immediate scramble for what will be Arizona’s first open Senate seat in 18 years.

Kyl, who has become a leading conservative voice on foreign affairs, said at a news conference it was time to give someone else a shot at the seat he’s held since 1994. He said he announced his retirement now to give fellow Republicans time to raise money and formulate their campaign strategies.

“We wish we were negotiating today,” NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah said. “That’s all I can say.”

There are just three weeks to go before the collective bargaining agreement expires on March 3.

There were conflicting accounts about the identity of the bomber. The army and police said he was a teenager in a school uniform, but the Pakistani Taliban claimed he was a soldier at the camp in Mardan town who volunteered for the attack.

The bombing showed that despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike back. It was one of the worst attacks on security forces in recent months.

The report by McAfee Inc. did not identify the companies but said the “coordinated, covert and targeted” attacks began in November 2009 and targeted computers of oil and gas companies in the United States, Taiwan, Greece and Kazakhstan. It said the attackers stole information on operations, bidding for oil fields and financing.

“We have identified the tools, techniques, and network activities used in these continuing attacks – which we have dubbed Night Dragon – as originating primarily in China,” said the report.

As Pentagon officials fan out across Capitol Hill, pleading for lawmakers to approve the 2011 spending levels proposed by the Obama administration, they also are hitting lawmakers where it hurts – in their congressional districts and states. Less money in the budget, the officials said, will put at risk thousands of jobs and construction projects nationwide.

Right now the U.S. is operating under a stopgap budget extension that funds the federal government at the 2010 level. And Republicans, who control the House and gained ground in the Senate in the 2010 elections, have said they intend to use this opportunity to end dozens of programs and slash spending on many more.

Drug smuggling across the border with Canada is much more prevalent than indicated by the number of cases in which drugs have been seized, according to a federal report from November.

Less than 1 percent of the 4,000-mile border is considered under the operational control of U.S. border officials, a General Accountability Office report found this month. Most areas of the northern border are remote and inaccessible by traditional patrol methods, the report said.

The campaign has been framed by a series of ugly allegations that reached a low point when the incumbent fired a campaign aide who sent an e-mail threatening to “put a political bullet” into the forehead of the challenger. The wording appeared to allude intentionally or not to the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords last month.

And that’s not all. The race has featured scattershot allegations about ethical flaws, a misused police badge, investigations and what amounts to a secret enemies list.

The old rules, dating back to the Reagan administration, designated certain animal species that must be protected to assure ecosystems are healthy. However, the system became the basis of numerous lawsuits that sharply cut back logging to protect habitat for fish and wildlife.

The new rules call for monitoring a broader range of species, including plants, while giving forest supervisors greater discretion to decide what science to apply and which species to protect, depending on local conditions.

Panetta said that although U.S. intelligence agencies did not know that the U.S.-backed leader of Tunisia would quit when he did, they had sharpened their analysis as a political revolt threatened to topple the hardline Egyptian regime.

“Those are the kinds of things that are obviously very tough for intelligence to predict, but I think our job is to collect as much as we can, to know those triggers,” Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee.

Shawna Forde pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the May 2009 killings of 29-year-old Raul Flores and his 9-year-old daughter at their home in Arivaca, a desert community about 50 miles southwest of Tucson and 10 miles north of the Mexican border.

Prosecutor Rick Unklesbay argued that phone calls and text messages sent by Forde clearly show she was responsible, while defense attorney Eric Larsen said they proved she had nothing to hide and should be found not guilty.

Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., in charge of drafting the legislation, said he had proposed “deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of government.”

No details were immediately available, but the move would cut current spending in hundreds of federal programs by about $60 billion, resulting in levels in effect in 2008.

In his second day of testimony, Robert Powell told jurors that former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella asked for an additional $40,000 in the midst of a grand jury probe that ultimately resulted in a racketeering indictment.

Powell, a former lawyer who was also the developer and co-owner of the PA Child Care detention facility, contends that Ciavarella and a second county judge, Michael Conahan, extorted more than $725,000 from him after they shut down the county-run detention center and arranged for juveniles to be sent to Powell’s new lockup outside the city of Wilkes-Barre.

Jurors found Fraser Verrusio, 41, guilty of conspiracy and accepting an illegal gratuity for the trip to the first game of the 2003 World Series in New York. He also was found guilty of making a false statement for failing to report the trip on his House financial disclosure form.

Verrusio was policy director for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee under the chairman at the time, Rep. Don Young, a Republican who still represents Alaska in the House. The trip was paid by United Rentals, a construction equipment rental company that was a client of Abramoff’s firm and wanted Verrusio’s help getting an amendment to a highway money bill.

The average rate for a 30-year home loan rose above 5 percent this week for the first time since last April – just as Americans are feeling more secure in their jobs and confident about the economy, and just before the big spring home-buying rush.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate was 5.05 percent, almost a full percentage point higher than in November, when it hit a 40-year low.

Arturo Hernandez, lead attorney for defendant Luis Posada Carriles, demanded a mistrial, his fifth such request in as many weeks, and U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone adjourned the case until Tuesday while she reads his motions.

Without the jury present, Hernandez said that if the entire case is not dismissed, the U.S. government should at least drop three of the 11 indictments against Posada. Those rely partially on the testimony of Lt. Col. Roberto Hernandez Caballero, an investigator from the Cuban Interior Ministry. The defense says prosecutors knew Hernandez Caballero was a covert agent prepared to lie for the Cuban government but delayed providing documents saying so in order to put him on the stand.

Rogues from a herd that numbers in the thousands are trampling gardens, flattening fences and marring yards with manure in the southeastern Kentucky town of Stoney Fork. They have made the roads dangerous, causing dozens of car crashes.

Some residents have had enough. With the state’s OK, they headed out into the woods to kill elk. They killed 13 of them.

Witnesses at a House hearing complained about regulations on endangered species, excessive paperwork, anti-pollution standards and much more. Red tape was blamed for denying water to drought-stricken fields, for costing a contractor $10,000 for an unneeded lead inspection and for complicating student loans to minorities.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing was part of a Republican push to eliminate or modify rules that harm profits. Republicans also scheduled more than nine hours of House debate on directing 10 committee chairmen to inventory rules that hurt job creation. The chairmen are already under orders to perform the review, meaning the debate has little meaning other than to let lawmakers vent.

Sweet because an abundance of snow actually helps with the production of the sap that is boiled down to produce syrup. But bitter because, well, too much snow is just as much a chore for maple syrup producers to deal with as it is for the rest of us.

And most of us don’t make our livings – or even hobbies – out of clambering over snow drifts in the woods tapping trees and repairing plastic tubing to gather sap from far-flung maple trees.

The rhetoric will come down to earth on Monday, as the president brings forward his blueprint for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. Already, Republicans are offering rival plans to slash tens of billions of dollars in spending. The budget will set the stage for big battles in March as a temporary spending measure to keep the government functioning runs out and as federal borrowing fast approaches the $14.3 trillion limit set by current law.

Traditionally, presidents submit their budgets within a week of delivering the big speech, and quickly find themselves on the defensive and bogged down over the details. For a variety of reasons, Obama had the luxury of a long budget postponement.

Democrats say legislation imposing those restrictions would send women back to the days of back-alley abortionists, while Republicans say the main goal is to make a hodgepodge of existing temporary curbs into a single permanent one.

The story isn’t as simple as either side makes it out to be.