Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 55 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Mladic jailed in The Hague to face war crimes charges

by Jan Hennop, AFP

23 mins ago

THE HAGUE (AFP) – Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic was placed in custody in The Hague on Tuesday to await trial on genocide and war crimes charges after almost 16 years on the run.

“Ratko Mladic was today transferred to the Tribunal’s custody,” the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a statement.

“Mladic … has been admitted to the UN detention unit in The Hague.”

AFP

2 Clashes shatter Yemen truce, US slams killings

by Hammoud Mounassar, AFP

1 hr 11 mins ago

SANAA (AFP) – Clashes erupted in Sanaa on Tuesday, shattering a truce between loyalist troops and dissident tribesmen, as security forces shot dead seven protesters, sparking strong condemnation from Washington.

“We condemn those indiscriminate attacks by the Yemeni security forces,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said, referring in particular to violence in Yemen’s second-largest city of Taez where seven people were killed.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also voiced shock at the use of live rounds against protesters in Taez in a crackdown that the UN human rights office said had already killed more than 50 people since Sunday.

3 Libya says NATO raids killed 718 civilians

by Imed Lamloum, AFP

51 mins ago

TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libya Tuesday accused NATO of killing 718 civilians and wounding 4,067 in 10 weeks of air strikes, as African efforts for a truce stalled and Italy said Moamer Kadhafi’s regime is “finished.”

The toll of dead and injured was given at a news conference in Tripoli by government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, who also warned the departure of Kadhafi would be a “worst case scenario” for Libya.

“Since March 19, and up to May 26, there have been 718 martyrs among civilians and 4,067 wounded — 433 of them seriously,” Ibrahim said, citing health ministry figures which cannot be independently verified,

4 Zuma, Kadhafi meet as defections mount

by Imed Lamloum, AFP

Mon May 30, 7:04 pm ET

TRIPOLI (AFP) – South African President Jacob Zuma met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for truce talks on Monday as NATO said the strongman’s “reign of terror” was nearing its end and top military officers deserted him.

State news agency JANA said Zuma left the capital after a visit lasting several hours during which he met Kadhafi.

State television broadcast footage of Kadhafi welcoming Zuma at the entrance to a building, in the embattled Libyan leader’s first reported public appearance in weeks.

5 Germany not sure Spanish cucumbers to blame

by Francis Curta, AFP

1 hr 1 min ago

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany on Tuesday voiced doubt over whether Spanish cucumbers were responsible for the spread of a killer bacteria that has left at least 16 dead as Madrid blasted Berlin’s crisis management.

Authorities in the northern German city of Hamburg said fresh tests indicated that cucumbers imported from Spain, initially suspected of making hundreds ill, may not be to blame.

Tests on two cucumbers revealed they carried the dangerous enterohamorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) bacteria, but not the strain responsible for the current massive contamination which has killed 15 in Germany and one in Sweden.

6 Europe shuts out Spanish vegetables

by Katell Abiven, AFP

Tue May 31, 10:49 am ET

MADRID (AFP) – Spanish fruit and vegetable sales have halted across nearly all Europe because of a fatal E.coli outbreak blamed on its cucumbers, the industry’s export federation said Tuesday.

The impact had spread and was inflicting estimated losses of 200 million euros ($290 million) a week, said the Spanish fruit and vegetable producer-exporter federation, FEPEX.

Asked which countries had stopped buying Spanish produce, FEPEX president Jorge Brotons told a news conference: “Almost all Europe. There is a domino effect on all vegetables and fruits. A psychosis has been created.”

7 Germany fights to stop killer cucumber bacteria

by Francis Curta, AFP

Tue May 31, 8:06 am ET

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany on Tuesday battled to stop the spread of a killer bacteria traced to imported cucumbers that has killed 14 people, while several countries banned Spanish vegetables, sparking a diplomatic spat.

The source of the outbreak is still unknown but contaminated vegetables appear the most likely vehicle of infection, officials said after identifying some cucumbers from Spain carrying the bacteria.

The Hygiene Institute at Muenster’s University Clinic in western Germany announced it had put together a test to quickly identify people infected with the so-called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.

8 Cell phone use may cause cancer: WHO

by Marlowe Hood, AFP

24 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – Mobile phone users may be at increased risk from brain cancer and should use texting and free-hands devices to reduce exposure, the World Health Organisation’s cancer experts said Tuesday.

Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields generated by such devices are “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced at the end of an eight-day meeting in Lyon, France.

Experts “reached this classification based on review of the human evidence coming from epidemiological studies” pointing to an increased incidence of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, said Jonathan Samet, president of the work group.

9 Nokia share price plummets as it lowers outlook

by Aira-Katariina Vehaskari, AFP

Tue May 31, 12:16 pm ET

HELSINKI (AFP) – The world’s top mobile phone maker Nokia on Tuesday downgraded its second quarter outlook, saying sales would be far lower than expected and that it could no longer give a full-year forecast.

“Nokia now expects Devices and Services net sales to be substantially below its previously expected range of 6.1 billion to 6.6 billion euros ($8.6-9.5 billion dollars) for the second quarter 2011,” the company said in a statement, citing lower than expected selling prices and volumes.

After issuing the warning, Nokia saw its stock price plunge 17.5 percent to close at 4.75 euros a share on a Helsinki stock exchange down just 0.80 percent. Shares in mobile phone giant are at their lowest level since 1998.

10 FIFA urged to halt vote as sponsor concern mounts

by Rob Woollard, AFP

1 hr 19 mins ago

ZURICH (AFP) – FIFA was urged to scrap its corruption-tainted presidential election on Tuesday as key sponsors formed a chorus of concern over the governing body’s tarnished image.

The English and Scottish football associations issued statements calling on FIFA to postpone Wednesday’s election, saying the ballot was no longer viable following the wave of bribery allegations which have rocked the organisation.

English FA chairman David Bernstein, who had earlier vowed to abstain from the vote, said a postponement would allow for a credible reform candidate to run against incumbent Sepp Blatter.

11 Crisis what crisis? Blatter rejects FIFA graft claims

by Rob Woollard, AFP

Mon May 30, 5:10 pm ET

ZURICH (AFP) – FIFA President Sepp Blatter shrugged off the corruption allegations engulfing football’s governing body here Monday, denying the sport was in crisis and ruling out a new vote for the 2022 World Cup.

After days of widespread claims and counter-claims of corruption that saw two top officials suspended pending a bribery investigation, Blatter broke his silence in a stormy solo press conference at FIFA headquarters.

“Crisis, what is a crisis?” a clearly irritated Blatter said. “We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties and these will be solved.”

12 Shuttle Endeavour prepares for final glide home

AFP

1 hr 3 mins ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) – US space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to make its final landing early Wednesday, becoming the second American shuttle to enter retirement as the program draws to a close after 30 years.

Endeavour and its crew of six astronauts — five Americans and one Italian — are to glide in for a nighttime touchdown at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 2:35 am (0635 GMT), the US space agency NASA said on Tuesday.

The astronauts are wrapping up STS-134, a 16-day mission to the International Space Station, where they installed a $2 billion physics experiment to probe the origins of the universe, and also conducted four spacewalks.

13 German nuclear shutdown sets global example: Merkel

by Deborah Cole, AFP

Mon May 30, 5:14 pm ET

BERLIN (AFP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany could serve as a global trailblazer with its decision Monday to phase out nuclear power by 2022 but France, Europe’s biggest producer, said it will not follow suit.

Merkel said the “fundamental” rethink of energy policy in the world’s number four economy, prompted by the disaster in March at Japan’s Fukushima plant, opened new opportunities for business and climate protection.

“We believe we as a country can be a trailblazer for a new age of renewable energy sources,” she told reporters.

14 New sex scandal forces France to confront macho politics

by Rory Mulholland, AFP

Mon May 30, 5:28 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Who will be next to fall? That’s the question on many French lips after one of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ministers resigned over rape accusations amid heated debate over the chronic machismo of Paris politics.

“What if the Georges Tron affair were the first in a long series of aftershocks that will follow the earthquake on May 14 in the Sofitel in Times Square?” wondered Liberation newspaper in an op-ed article.

Tron, who was Sarkozy’s civil service minister, resigned Sunday after a legal probe got under way into claims — which he denies — by two women that the foot massages he forced on them turned into sexual harassment and rape.

15 Titanic launch 100 years ago marked in Belfast

AFP

Tue May 31, 11:34 am ET

BELFAST (AFP) – Descendants of the men who built the Titanic marked the 100th anniversary Tuesday of its launch in Belfast in a moving ceremony aimed at restoring the city’s maritime pride after years of shame.

A single flare was fired above the Harland and Wolff shipyard at 1113 GMT — exactly a century on from the moment the ill-starred ocean liner, then the largest boat ever built, slid into the waters of Belfast Harbour.

At the time the launch was a moment of huge pride, but ever since the “unsinkable” liner hit an iceberg on its maiden transatlantic voyage nearly a year later the tragedy has hung over Belfast.

Reuters

16 Weak data point to sluggish economy

By Leah Schnurr, Reuters

1 hr 46 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A double-dip in home prices, pessimistic consumers and a slowdown in regional manufacturing raised concerns on Tuesday that the economy’s soft patch could become protracted.

“The question is, ‘Is the softer data we’re seeing transitory, or is it likely to persist throughout the remainder of 2011?’ Right now, that’s an open question that investors are trying to figure out,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut.

The U.S. economy grew at a tepid 1.8 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, and these fresh signs suggest the recovery is still struggling to gain momentum.

17 Top war crimes suspect Mladic arrives in Netherlands

By Aaron Gray-Block and Aleksandar Vasovic, Reuters

58 mins ago

THE HAGUE/BELGRADE (Reuters) – Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic was extradited to the Netherlands on Tuesday to face genocide charges at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague after 16 years on the run.

The 69-year-old arrived in Rotterdam on a Serbian government jet on Tuesday evening. After 90 minutes at the airport, where he was kept out of sight of the media, Mladic was transferred by helicopter to the tribunal’s detention center near The Hague.

Mladic was indicted by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia over the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

18 Greece moves on austerity deal, opposition wants more

By Dina Kyriakidou and George Georgiopoulos, Reuters

Tue May 31, 2:29 pm ET

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece appears to have agreed a tax cut with its international lenders, aimed at forging a broad consensus for more austerity to avoid a debt default, but the opposition said on Tuesday this would still not win its support.

International lenders are demanding that leading Greek political parties sign up to the government’s latest austerity and reform drive to ensure that Greece keeps tackling its huge budget deficit for years to come, whoever is in power.

In Berlin, a German coalition source said European Union, IMF and ECB inspectors had struck a deal with the Socialist government on a value-added tax cut.

19 Yemen truce ends in blasts, stokes civil war worries

By Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Ghobari, Reuters

1 hr 50 mins ago

SANAA (Reuters) – Street fighting raged in Yemen’s capital on Tuesday ending a tenuous ceasefire between tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and edging the impoverished Arab state closer to civil war.

Global powers have been pressing Saleh to sign a Gulf-mediated deal to hand over power to stem spreading chaos in Yemen, a haven for al Qaeda militants and neighbor to the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. The turmoil was a factor in keeping up oil prices on Tuesday, traders said.

“The ceasefire agreement has ended,” a government official said, adding that tribesmen had seized a state building.

20 Gaddafi: I will not leave my country

By Peter Graff, Reuters

7 mins ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has made clear that he will not step down, despite the first big protest against him in the capital in months and a U.N. warning on Tuesday that his government was running out of food.

Gaddafi is emphatic he will not leave Libya, South African President Jacob Zuma said after talks with the Libyan leader, dashing prospects for a negotiated end to the conflict.

Zuma was in Tripoli on Monday to try to revive an African “roadmap” for ending the conflict, which started in February with an uprising against Gaddafi and has since turned into a war with thousands of people killed.

21 Unrest and hostility to Gaddafi in Tripoli district

By Peter Graff, Reuters

1 hr 40 mins ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The giant portraits of Muammar Gaddafi that festoon much of Tripoli are nowhere to be found in the Souq al-Juma neighborhood, where residents say the Libyan leader’s opponents clash with security forces every night.

Gaddafi’s officials insist there is no unrest inside the capital, which has remained firmly under his control despite a rebellion mainly in the east of the country.

But activists released a video on Monday showing hundreds of demonstrators attending a funeral for two slain protesters.

22 Food running out in Gaddafi-held Libya: U.N.

By Peter Graff, Reuters

Tue May 31, 10:56 am ET

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Stocks of some foodstuffs are likely to last only weeks in parts of Libya under control of Muammar Gaddafi, creating a “time bomb” for the population, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Libya said on Tuesday.

Panos Moumtzis, who coordinates U.N. relief efforts for the conflict, said he had been given information by the Libyan government that showed it was using up stocks of food and medicine, which could not be replenished because of sanctions.

“The food, and the medical supplies, is a little bit like a time bomb. At the moment it’s under control and it’s okay. But if this goes on for quite some time, this will become a major issue,” he told Reuters in Tripoli.

23 Palin tour: campaign prelude or publicity stunt?

By John Whitesides, Reuters

2 hrs 59 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sarah Palin is going rogue again, confounding the press and delighting fans on a family bus tour that could be a prelude to an unconventional White House campaign — or a branding exercise for Palin Inc.

The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee has kept reporters scrambling across three states for three days, refusing to publish her schedule while traveling the countryside in a flashy, painted campaign-style bus.

After announcing the tour of East Coast historic sites last week, Team Palin went silent on the itinerary and refused to accommodate press coverage. It was an unusual strategy for any politician, particularly one considering a White House run in 2012.

24 Japan recovery takes hold, but debt downgrade looms

By Stanley White and Linda Sieg, Reuters

Tue May 31, 4:59 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s economy offered more signs of recovery from the deadly March earthquake on Tuesday, but Moody’s ratings agency warned both growth and government action may fall short of what is necessary to bring Tokyo’s ballooning debt back under control.

Industrial output rose 1 percent last month after a record plunge immediately after the magnitude 9.0 quake and a tsunami it set off, and companies said they planned to crank up output further in May-June, bringing it close to pre-disaster levels.

The upbeat outlook spurred talk that the world’s third-largest economy could be poised for a V-shaped recovery after the disaster knocked Japan back into its second recession in three years and a third downturn in a decade.

25 Lagarde pledges IMF reform in bid to woo Brazil

By Raymond Colitt, Reuters

Mon May 30, 8:33 pm ET

BRASILIA (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde pledged to push reforms to give Brazil and other emerging economies more influence at the International Monetary Fund as she kicked off a worldwide tour on Monday to win support for her candidacy to lead the global lender.

The backing of Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy and an influential diplomatic power, could help ease discontent among developing countries over the long-standing practice of choosing a European to head the Washington-based IMF.

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Brazil had yet to decide whether to support Lagarde or her only declared rival, Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens. But he underscored the need for more reforms to give emerging economies a greater voice in the IMF, something Lagarde was eager to stress she supported.

26 Palin a no-show for fans wanting Gettysburg view

By Mark Felsenthal, Reuters

Tue May 31, 3:58 am ET

GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Sarah Palin has found a new way to keep her political faithful guessing.

Palin was a no-show for several hundred supporters, celebrity-watchers and media who turned out in hopes of seeing her at the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg on Monday. She and her entourage arrived at a hotel outside the town late in the day and spoke to a smaller group of people gathered there.

The Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008 is on a tour of historic sites on the East Coast, renewing speculation she might be testing the waters for a presidential bid in 2012.

27 BOJ offers more loans for growth sector, may expand scheme

By Leika Kihara, Reuters

Tue May 31, 4:31 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan’s loan scheme targeting growth industries drew solid demand on Tuesday, pushing its cumulative lending to just 60 billion yen ($740 million) from a 3 trillion yen cap and paving the way for debate within the board about expanding it.

The central bank will consider topping up the program as early as its next rate review in June, so that it can put it to use later this year to support Japan’s reconstruction from the devastating March 11 earthquake.

But some analysts said the BOJ should focus on directly supporting the quake-hit economy rather than worrying about nurturing growth industries.

28 FIFA scandal deepens, Blatter denies crisis talk

By Mike Collett, Reuters

Mon May 30, 6:05 pm ET

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, facing a deepening corruption scandal including accusations that Qatar bought the right to stage the 2022 World Cup, denied there was a crisis and described the problems as local difficulties on Monday.

Blatter began a week in which he should be re-elected as president for a fourth term in combative mood.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke issued a statement denying he meant to suggest anything corrupt about Qatar’s bid for 2022 and Blatter gave the Gulf nation his public backing and took time out to berate the media for a lack of manners.

AP

29 Afghan president seeks to limit NATO airstrikes

By HEIDI VOGT and RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press

36 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – Angered by civilian casualties, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday he will no longer allow NATO airstrikes on houses, issuing his strongest statement yet against attacks that the military alliance says are vital to its war on Taliban insurgents.

NATO countered that airstrikes on houses are essential and will continue, setting up a possible confrontation with Karzai.

The president’s remarks followed a recent strike that mistakenly killed a group of children and women in southern Helmand province. Karzai declared it would be the last.

30 High court rules out damage claim against Ashcroft

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

38 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out damage claims against former Attorney General John Ashcroft over an American Muslim’s arrest, but four justices said the case raises serious questions about post-9/11 detentions under a federal law intended to make sure witnesses testify.

The justices were unanimous, 8-0, in holding that Ashcroft cannot be personally sued over his role in the arrest of Abdullah al-Kidd in 2003. The court sets a high bar for suing high-ranking officials, and all the justices agreed al-Kidd did not meet it, even though he was never charged with a crime or called to testify in the terrorism-related trial for which he ostensibly was needed.

Al-Kidd contended that his arrest under the material witness statute had a more sinister motive that violated his constitutional rights – federal authorities suspected him of ties to terrorism but lacked evidence that he committed or was planning a crime. And, he said, Ashcroft blessed the use of the law in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to take suspected terrorists off the street.

31 Mladic spending night in isolation at UN prison

By MIKE CORDER and DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press

39 mins ago

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic was placed in a U.N. detention unit Tuesday to await trial on genocide charges, 16 years after he was indicted in the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the worst massacre of civilians in Europe since World War II.

War crimes tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic said tribunal staff were handing Mladic his indictment and explaining the rules and procedures to him before placing him in an isolation cell for the night. She said isolation is standard for new arrivals at the prison.

Mladic also was being given a list of defense lawyers who could help him through the initial proceedings of the war crimes court. He would be examined by a doctor and receive any treatment he may need before the end of the day, Jelacic said.

32 AP Exclusive: Boy in Mladic video looks back

By ALMIR ALIC, Associated Press

40 mins ago

PROHICI, Bosnia-Herzegovina – The video horrified the world: a grinning Ratko Mladic patting a young Muslim boy on the head and assuring him everyone in the Srebrenica area would be safe – just hours before overseeing the murder of 8,000 men and boys.

The boy in the video is now a 24-year-old man. He clearly recalls the sunny day in July 1995 when he met the Bosnian Serb military commander who gave him chocolate.

“I was 8 and I didn’t know what was going on or who Ratko Mladic was,” Izudin Alic told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

33 Sri Lanka video shows executions, abuse of corpses

By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 11:37 am ET

GENEVA – A U.N. expert called Tuesday for Sri Lanka to investigate and file charges against soldiers shown in a graphic video shooting bound, blindfolded prisoners and abusing corpses in the final days of the country’s 26-year civil war.

The U.N. expert, Christof Heyns, reviewed the 5-minute, 25-second video frame by frame with a team of technical and forensic specialists to determine its authenticity, and concluded that the video suggests there is enough evidence to open a war-crimes case. Sri Lanka has claimed the video is fake.

In the video, several men lie on a muddy track, bound and motionless. The camera cuts and another man is shown being forced to sit upright by a soldier in camouflage carrying a rifle. Another soldier steps up behind the seated prisoner and shoots him in the back of the head, point blank. The prisoner slumps sideways as the camera pans across the road revealing nine bodies, most of them naked, with gunshot wounds clearly visible despite the grainy quality of the footage.

34 Sri Lanka video shows executions, abuse of corpses

By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 11:37 am ET

GENEVA – A U.N. expert called Tuesday for Sri Lanka to investigate and file charges against soldiers shown in a graphic video shooting bound, blindfolded prisoners and abusing corpses in the final days of the country’s 26-year civil war.

The U.N. expert, Christof Heyns, reviewed the 5-minute, 25-second video frame by frame with a team of technical and forensic specialists to determine its authenticity, and concluded that the video suggests there is enough evidence to open a war-crimes case. Sri Lanka has claimed the video is fake.

In the video, several men lie on a muddy track, bound and motionless. The camera cuts and another man is shown being forced to sit upright by a soldier in camouflage carrying a rifle. Another soldier steps up behind the seated prisoner and shoots him in the back of the head, point blank. The prisoner slumps sideways as the camera pans across the road revealing nine bodies, most of them naked, with gunshot wounds clearly visible despite the grainy quality of the footage.

35 Rwanda genocide suspect convicted of lying to US

By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

23 mins ago

WICHITA, Kan. – A federal jury convicted an 84-year-old Kansas man on Tuesday of lying on his immigration forms about his whereabouts during the Rwanda genocide, but it did not find that the government proved its case that he took part in the mass killings.

The jury found Lazare Kobagaya guilty on one of the two counts of lying to immigration officials, and it deadlocked on the other count. U.S. District Judge Monti Belot declared a mistrial on that count.

Kobagaya, who speaks an African dialect known as Kirundi, leaned to the side and listened intently to his interpreter, but showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Afterward, he hung his head and stared at the defense table while the attorneys met with the judge in his chambers. No sentencing date was immediately set.

36 House to reject debt limit increase without cuts

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

27 mins ago

WASHINGTON – House Republicans lined up to reject their own proposed $2.4 trillion increase in the nation’s debt limit Tuesday, a political gambit designed to reinforce a demand for spending cuts to accompany any increase in government borrowing.

House Democrats accused the GOP of political demagoguery, while the Obama administration maneuvered to avoid taking sides – or giving offense to majority Republicans.

The debate was brief, occasionally impassioned, and set a standard of sorts for public theater, particularly at a time when private negotiations continue among the administration and key lawmakers on the deficit cuts Republicans have demanded.

37 Hoopla, hype hover over unsettled GOP field

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

43 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Sarah Palin draws crowds with her hide-and-seek bus tour. Michele Bachmann says Palin’s plans won’t dissuade her from her likely presidential bid. Iowa GOP activists travel to New Jersey to implore Gov. Chris Christie to run, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry weighs a campaign.

The Republican presidential field is far less settled than it seemed just a week ago, and it shows few signs of jelling soon.

With campaigning off to a slow start in early-voting states, half a dozen potential candidates are mulling whether to jump in. So keen is the interest, among journalists at least, that two news helicopters tracked Palin’s East Coast bus trip to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

38 Cellphones a ‘possible’ carcinogen – like coffee

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

1 hr 10 mins ago

LONDON – A respected international panel of scientists says cellphones are possible cancer-causing agents, putting them in the same category as the pesticide DDT, gasoline engine exhaust and coffee.

The classification was issued Tuesday in Lyon, France, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer after a review of dozens of published studies. The agency is an arm of the World Health Organization and its assessment now goes to WHO and national health agencies for possible guidance on cellphone use.

Classifying agents as “possibly carcinogenic” doesn’t mean they automatically cause cancer and some experts said the ruling shouldn’t change people’s cellphone habits.

39 Severity of Europe E. coli outbreak stuns experts

By DAVID RISING and MARIA CHENG, Associated Press

39 mins ago

BERLIN – The foodborne bacterial outbreak that has hit Germany and other European nations is unlike anything Western experts have seen: 16 dead and more than 1,000 sick, including nearly 400 suffering severe and potentially fatal symptoms. But several days into the health threat, scientists remain unsure what produce – and what country – is responsible.

Investigators across Europe were frantically trying to determine the scope of the contamination by an unusual strain of the common E. coli germ – and where in the long journey from farm to grocery store the contamination occurred. German authorities pointed to a few cucumbers from Spain, but further tests showed that those vegetables, while contaminated, did not cause the outbreak.

In Germany, where the vast majority of deaths and severe illnesses have been reported, officials said that investigations including interviews with patients have shown that people were likely infected by eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce. They are warning consumers to avoid those vegetables, and Russia went so far as to ban imports of those vegetables from Spain or Germany.

40 Home-price index falls to lowest point since 2002

By DEREK KRAVITZ, AP Real Estate Writer

Tue May 31, 3:07 pm ET

WASHINGTON – An index of home prices in big metro areas has reached its lowest level since 2002, driven down by foreclosures, a glut of unsold homes and the reluctance or inability of many to buy.

Prices fell from February to March in 18 of the metro areas tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index. And prices in a dozen markets have reached their lowest points since the housing bubble burst in late 2006.

The nationwide index fell for the eighth straight month. Prices have now fallen further since the bubble burst than they did during the Great Depression. It took 19 years for the housing market to regain its losses after the Depression ended.

41 AP IMPACT: US declines to try half Native crimes

By FELICIA FONSECA AND SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

2 hrs 46 mins ago

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – There was swelling on the little girl’s skull and hemorrhages around her brain. There was a tear between her right ear and scalp. The scars on her 36-pound body were consistent with burns from a space heater, a curling iron and hot noodles.

The mother said she had accidentally rolled over onto her daughter in bed, smothering her. The medical examiner concluded that the brown-eyed toddler with the wavy dark hair had been beaten, declaring her death a homicide.

Had 2-year-old Kiara Harvey died elsewhere the case likely would have been handled by the county sheriff or police, and the local district attorney.

42 Bernice King leaving Bishop Long’s megachurch

By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press

20 mins ago

ATLANTA – The youngest daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. says she is leaving an Atlanta megachurch where the pastor has been embroiled in scandal and is starting her own ministry.

The Rev. Bernice King told a radio interviewer Tuesday that her last Sunday as a member of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church was this past Sunday. Although her departure coincided with New Birth leader Bishop Eddie Long’s settlement agreement in the sexual misconduct lawsuits he has fought since September, King said she had been planning to leave for weeks.

“It has nothing to do with anything that’s going on with Bishop Long,” King told reporters Tuesday. “I always knew I would not be at New Birth forever. This is the time for me to leave.”

43 Assad grants amnesty for political ‘crimes’

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 4:04 pm ET

BEIRUT – Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a general amnesty Tuesday for prisoners that includes those deemed to have committed political “crimes” as pressure built from a 10-week-old uprising that his regime has failed to quell with overwhelming military force.

The offer was swiftly rejected by the opposition as just another plot by the regime to gain time.

Syrian state television said the amnesty covered “all members of political movements,” including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which led an armed uprising against Assad’s father in 1982. Membership in the party is punishable by death.

44 Libya’s Gadhafi pledges he won’t leave

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 3:26 pm ET

TRIPOLI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi insists he will not leave his country, South Africa’s president said Tuesday after he met the embattled Libyan ruler.

Gadhafi’s departure is the key demand of rebel forces battling his troops. On Tuesday, Italy’s foreign minister pledged to provide Libya’s rebels with fuel and hundreds of millions of dollars backed by frozen assets of Gadhafi’s regime. Franco Frattini spoke during a visit to the de facto rebel capital, Benghazi.

The hard lines of the two sides and the competing, high-level visits illustrated the virtual stalemate in the conflict. NATO aircraft bomb the Libyan capital night after night, and military forces from the two sides engage each other in battles, shelling and rocket attacks, little is changing on the ground.

45 Islamists ambush army, gunfights resume in Yemen

By AHMED AL-HAJ and BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press

1 hr 50 mins ago

SANAA, Yemen – Islamist militants who overran a southern town killed five soldiers in an ambush Tuesday while fresh clashes erupted between government forces and fighters loyal to the country’s top tribal leader.

The violence pushed Yemen closer to the edge of a civil war.

Nearly four months of mass protests calling for democratic reforms and the ouster of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh have rocked the stability of this impoverished corner of the Arabian Peninsula, where government control is weak outside the capital Sanaa and an active al-Qaida branch and other militant groups operate.

46 Obama selects businessman Bryson for Commerce post

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press

2 hrs 9 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Seeking to boost exports and accelerate the growth of the U.S. alternative energy industry, President Barack Obama is bringing in business executive and environmentalist John Bryson to lead the Commerce Department.

But Bryson’s nomination was already in peril Tuesday, as Republican lawmakers renewed their threats to block any commerce secretary nominee until the Obama administration sends them final legislation on three key free trade agreements.

Bryson would bring a unique skill set to the Commerce Department, an agency tasked in part with representing the interests of U.S. businesses abroad. The 67-year-old is the former chairman and chief executive of Edison International, a California-based power company; co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy organization; and has served on the board of major international businesses, including The Boeing Co. and the Walt Disney Co.

47 Blatter awaits re-election as head of reeling FIFA

By RAF CASERT, AP Sports Writer

2 hrs 11 mins ago

ZURICH – Sepp Blatter acknowledged that corruption scandals have left FIFA “shaking on its foundations” on the eve of a presidential election that should give him another four-year term and a chance to restore order to soccer’s reeling governing body.

It was a stunning turnaround for Blatter, who a day earlier denied that the bribery case that led to the suspension of his only challenger had caused even a hint of crisis within FIFA.

On Tuesday, two more top sponsors broke decorum of business-as-usual to express concern about the stains the scandals have left on the sport and, by extension, their global investment in soccer.

48 In shift, feds target top execs for health fraud

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 7:40 am ET

WASHINGTON – It’s getting personal now. In a shift still evolving, federal enforcers are targeting individual executives in health care fraud cases that used to be aimed at impersonal corporations.

The new tactic is raising the anxiety level – and risks – for corporate honchos at drug companies, medical device manufacturers, nursing home chains and other major health care enterprises that deal with Medicare and Medicaid.

Previously, if a company got caught, its lawyers in many cases would be able to negotiate a financial settlement. The company would write the government a check for a number followed by lots of zeroes and promise not to break the rules again. Often the cost would just get passed on to customers.

49 Obama gains foothold; GOP autumn surge behind him

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 11:32 am ET

WASHINGTON – Six months after Republicans alarmed Democrats with a midterm election wave, President Barack Obama has shaken off the jitters and found his political footing despite sluggish economic growth and deep public anxiety about the direction of the country.

The White House now displays an air of confidence, bolstered in part by achievements such as the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. commandos and the financial success of an auto industry that Obama bailed out over the objections of many.

Obama is also benefiting from the absence of negatives. The economy, while lethargic, is growing. The private sector is creating jobs. Natural disasters, while deadly and plentiful, have not developed into governmental crises. Skyrocketing gas prices, which fed the public’s economic fears, are now subsiding. And the GOP’s signature budget plan, ambitious in its spending reductions, has lost its luster with the public.

50 Environmental hazards remain after Joplin tornado

By JOHN FLESHER and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 8:05 am ET

JOPLIN, Mo. – As residents confront a gigantic cleanup following the tornado that savaged Joplin, experts say environmental dangers could lurk amid the mountains of debris in the southwestern Missouri city and even in the water and air.

Damage from tornadoes, like floods and hurricanes, often goes beyond what is readily visible. Liquid fuels and chemicals can leak from ruptured containers and contaminate groundwater. Ruined buildings may contain asbestos. Fires can generate smoke containing soot, dioxins and other pollutants. Household, industrial and medical wastes are strewn about.

In the initial hours after the May 22 twister, the odor of gasoline was evident around several flattened service stations. A large fire burned for hours near the devastated St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Heavy rains caused flash flooding, possibly fouling local waterways.

51 Despite earthquake, Japan makes it to Spelling Bee

By JOSEPH WHITE, Associated Press

36 mins ago

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The spelling contest in Tokyo that sends a representative to the Scripps National Spelling Bee was scheduled for March 12, a day after the devastating earthquake.

The accompanying tsunami created a national crisis that understandably put spelling on hold. The bee was postponed twice before it was finally held May 14. The winner was Yuichi Yoshioka, whose family then had to make quick preparations to fly to the United States.

“I was quite prepared on March 11, and then the earthquake struck,” said Yuichi, a 12-year-old seventh grader at the Global Indian International School in Tokyo. “And after that the whole month of April I started to relax a little bit because I thought ‘Oh, maybe there won’t be a spelling bee.’ That was a big mistake. I had to study double-time from late April, and somehow I managed to win with a word I didn’t know.”

52 A to Zed: Canada contends at National Spelling Bee

By JOSEPH WHITE, Associated Press

Tue May 31, 4:25 pm ET

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – When a precocious Canadian took her turn pretending to be a news reporter at a Washington museum two years ago, she signed off with a flourish.

“I’m Veronica Penny, the first Canadian Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, reporting from the Capitol,” she said.

Veronica is still working to make her proclamation reality. The 13-year-old from Rockland, Ontario, is back this week for her third appearance at the National Spelling Bee, hoping to become the first from her country crowned the top speller in the English language.

53 New law on crack cocaine could apply to old cases

By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press

1 hr 14 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A year ago, a drug dealer caught with 50 grams of crack cocaine faced a mandatory 10 years in federal prison. Today, new rules cut that to as little as five years, and thousands of inmates not covered by the change are saying their sentences should be reduced, too.

“Please make this situation fair to all of us,” prisoner Shauna Barry-Scott wrote from West Virginia to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which oversees federal sentencing guidelines. “Treat us the same.”

The commission meets Wednesday in Washington to consider making the new crack sentencing guidelines retroactive, a step that could bring early release for as many as 1 in every 18 federal prisoners, or approximately 12,000 inmates.

54 US role in Asia on agenda for Gates’ final trip

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer

2 hrs 14 mins ago

WASHINGTON – On his final overseas trip as secretary of defense, Robert Gates will make the case to a gathering of Asian defense chiefs in Singapore that expected budget-slashing in Washington will not weaken America’s commitment to Asia.

Gates was stopping in Hawaii on Tuesday for a brief visit to Pearl Harbor, where he was touring the Battleship Missouri Memorial.

Later this week, in Singapore, Gates will attend the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s most prominent security conference. Its agenda includes discussion about the challenge of Afghanistan, the implications of China’s military buildup and the dangers of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

55 Xcel on trial for 5 deaths at Georgetown, Colo.

By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press

2 hrs 17 mins ago

DENVER – A criminal trial in the deaths of five workers at a Colorado hydroelectric plant began Tuesday in the rare prosecution of a company.

Xcel Energy and a subsidiary, Public Service Company of Colorado, are each charged in federal court with five counts of violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations for the October 2007 fire inside a water tunnel at the Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant near Georgetown, Colo., about 40 miles west of Denver.

The workers were using flammable solvents inside the tunnel when it caught fire, trapping them inside.

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    • on 06/01/2011 at 00:12
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    • on 06/01/2011 at 00:50

    that I hate Mondays even if it falls on Tuesday.

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