Evening Edition

Speaking after talks with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Biden said: “We’re not leaving if you (Afghans) don’t want us to leave”.

But he also emphasised that the planned handover of responsibility for security from international troops to Afghan forces in four years, agreed at a NATO summit in November, was on track.

Misseriya Arab tribesmen killed 10 south Sudanese civilians and wounded 18 near the border as they were returning from the north, southern internal affairs minister Gier Chuang said on Tuesday.

“A convoy of returnees coming from the north to the south were ambushed yesterday (Monday) at about 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) by armed Misseriya. Ten were killed and 18 were wounded,” Chuang told a news conference in the southern regional capital Juba.

Lawyers for the Australian released documents outlining their case after a brief court appearance in London during which a judge ruled that Sweden’s bid to extradite him would be heard in full on February 7-8.

Swedish authorities want to question Assange about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them, but the 39-year-old insists the extradition attempt is politically motivated and linked to WikiLeaks’ activities.

“Renault is making very serious accusations against me which I totally refute. The facts were outlined to me and I refute them as well,” Michel Balthazard told reporters.

He made the denial after he was summoned to a meeting with Renault bosses along with two other senior managers suspected of industrial espionage, reportedly involving the company’s electric car programme.

“Two years ago almost 70 percent of clubs were in the red,” said Gianni Infantino, secretary general of European football’s governing body.

“At present there are still 56 percent – that means more than half of all professional football clubs are in the red,” Infantino told journalists as UEFA unveiled its club licensing report for 2009.

The three face charges of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year in a scandal that rocked the sport. It is alleged that they conspired in the bowling of deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s Test — claims they all deny.

They were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September, with the world governing body’s code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved.

More violence was reported overnight in the main central town of Kasserine where locals alleged gunmen on rooftops had shot at protesters in the worst unrest in the tightly controlled country in 23 years.

The government shut schools and universities until further notice as tensions mounted in the capital after students called for mass protests on Facebook pages that showed the Tunisian flag stained in blood.

Chinese state media carried images of the purported debut flight of the J-20 warplane just as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with President Hu Jintao — who heads to Washington next week — and other officials.

The timing of the flight appeared to be a snub to Washington, following carefully choreographed statements from both governments designed to smooth over tensions that flared over US arms sales to Taiwan and maritime disputes.

Portugal has been beset by speculation that its eurozone peers want it to accept a bailout so as to avert a wider crisis that could drag down others, including neighbour Spain, after Greece and Ireland sought help in 2010.

The pressure has mounted, through official denials and repeated rumours that a rescue was imminent, as Lisbon goes to the markets on Wednesday in what could be a crunch test of its ability to continue raising fresh funds.

Portugal, widely seen at risk of being the next eurozone country to need rescuing after Greece and Ireland, intends to make a critical issue of debt on Wednesday but the rates it has to pay have risen sharply.

Carlos Costa, the governor of the Bank of Portugal, rejected late on Monday suggestions that the country would require financial aid.

The increase in the forex holdings, already the world’s largest, highlighted imbalances in global trade and the challenge Beijing faces in stemming a flood of liquidity into the country.

China’s foreign exchange reserves expanded 18.7 percent from a year earlier to $2.847 trillion at the end of December, the central bank said in a statement, amid strong demand for Chinese exports.

Goldman disclosed how much it earned from trading on its own behalf for the first three quarters of 2010, and will release that information for future periods, too.

The disclosure changes were part of a 63-page report that the bank issued on Tuesday regarding how the bank will change its business practices after reviewing them for more than eight months.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement and filed a civil lawsuit charging two Schwab executives, Kimon Daifotis and Randall Merk, with violating securities fraud laws over how the Schwab YieldPlus fund was marketed.

Schwab, a discount brokerage and fund company, expects a $97 million fourth-quarter after-tax charge for its settlement, which it said resolves related proceedings by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Illinois regulators.

The top U.S. wireless operator ended months of speculation and anticipation from impatient consumers on Tuesday by announcing that it would begin selling a version of the iPhone on February 10 at the same prices as AT&T Inc.

“I’m going to switch right away. I’m going to go back to Verizon,” said Raheem Noble, 24, a New York City rapper, who was on his way to buy the device before being told that preorders would not begin until February 3.

Portugal, the latest euro zone member in the market’s firing line, continued to fend off pressure to seek an EU-IMF bailout. Prime Minister Jose Socrates said his country had beaten its goal for reducing the 2010 budget deficit and did not need outside help.

Lisbon faces a crucial test on Wednesday of its ability to fund itself on the market at affordable rates after Greece, which sought a financial rescue last May, cleared its first funding hurdle of 2011, selling six-month money on Tuesday at just under the rate of its bailout loans.

The White House oil spill commission said in its final major report that the U.S. government needs to expand its drilling regulations, as well as set up an independent drilling safety agency.

Many of the recommendations would require Congressional approval and Republicans have been critical of extensive new regulations, saying they would further slow the exploratory pace following last year’s drilling moratorium that was imposed in response to the spill.

The attack on a convoy of people returning to the south for the referendum was the latest reported violent incident to mar the week-long vote, which is expected to see the south emerge as a new nation.

Vote organizers told Reuters the big turnout so far meant the total was almost guaranteed to reach the 60 percent of voters needed to make the poll valid.

The possibility of boosting the actual capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to a full 440 billion euros, from around 250 billion now, could be part of moves aimed at boosting market confidence.

“I think this increase of the capacity of the EFSF is something that will definitely be on the table next week,” said one source with knowledge of the preparations for the meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates told a news conference that Lisbon had no plans to seek aid after what he said were “excellent” budget execution results for 2010.

But the Bank of Portugal forecast the economy would shrink 1.3 percent this year as austerity measures crushed internal demand — in sharp contrast to the government’s projection that exports would help gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 0.2 percent.

Economists and the country’s top supermarket chains said new, torrential flooding and rains across farmlands in southeastern Queensland in the past day had damaged crops and cut roads, preventing moving goods to market.

Unlike some previous natural disasters, which affected a smaller geographic area and a narrow range of foods, many vegetables are likely to be affected. In 2006, Cyclone Larry caused a spike in banana prices and this alone helped to lift the overall inflation rate.

At the same time, a record $199 billion surge in foreign exchange reserves in the fourth quarter pushed China’s stockpile, already the world’s biggest, to $2.85 trillion, highlighting that money streaming in from abroad was complicating policy efforts at home.

Chinese banks issued 7.95 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion) in new loans last year, the central bank said on Tuesday, more than the 7.5 trillion yuan that the government wanted for the full year. The broad M2 measure of money supply grew 19.7 percent, also topping the official target of 17 percent.

Senior Judge Pat Priest sentenced DeLay, 63, to a five-year sentence for money laundering and three years for conspiracy for a scheme to illegally funnel money to Republican candidates in Texas in 2002.

DeLay’s sentence caps a downward spiral for the flamboyant Texas dealmaker and former pest exterminator who had sought to rehabilitate his battered image by competing on the television show “Dancing with the Stars” last year.

But Alcoa shares, which hit a 12-month high last week, dropped 1.3 percent to $16.24 in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange, with some analysts questioning whether the company’s bullish forecast was realistic. Others suggested some profit-taking by investors.

“Pretty much every one of our end markets is improving,” Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld told analysts on a conference call when asked about his projection for a 12-percent global increase in aluminum demand.

This city’s once beleaguered automakers dominated the first day of this year’s Detroit auto show, one of the industry’s premier events, as it opened for press previews on Monday.

Not only did General Motors and Ford Motor Co walk off with the top car and truck awards, and have plenty of fresh, new models to display, but they also struck a more confident tone than some of their foreign rivals as they talked about the industry’s prospects.

The unit, known internally as process driven trading, will be named PDT Advisers and will be run by Morgan Stanley’s proprietary trading chief, Peter Muller.

Analysts said while Morgan Stanley will lose the proprietary trading units’ lucrative returns, the arrangement of PDT Advisers’ spin off will minimize the impact.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart, who voted for the controversial program on November 3, said he remained comfortable with that decision.

Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, both of whom become voting members of the Fed’s interest-rate policy committee this year, said the U.S. central bank was unlikely to cut short its bond-buying plan.

That claim, regarded by many legal experts as extremely unlikely, is part of a preliminary defense argument released by Assange’s attorneys ahead of a court hearing next month.

The Australian computer expert is wanted in Sweden to answer sex-crimes allegations. American officials also are trying to build a criminal case against WikiLeaks, which has published a trove of leaked diplomatic cables and secret U.S. military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The National Oil Spill Commission unanimously endorsed 15 recommendations to the oil industry, Congress and the Obama administration for preventing another large-scale oil spill. Most require action by Congress, but some could be done independently by the Obama administration, commissioners said.

The 380-page report provides an opening for Democrats to rekindle legislative efforts that failed after last year’s oil spill, the largest offshore incident in U.S. history. But they’ll face an even tougher road to passage this year, with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives set on cutting spending and reducing the government’s regulation of business. Adding to their burden, rising gasoline prices are prompting calls for more domestic energy production.

In the 20,000-word document, F. Lee Bailey tells of four people who could have bolstered Simpson’s case but never testified. He also gives an overview of the sensational trial from his own perspective.

Simpson was found not guilty. Most Americans are convinced that he is guilty, Bailey said, but the document might persuade some doubters that he is innocent.

The new information from the Census Bureau highlights the extreme pressure that the sluggish economy is putting on people in this country, especially those in some of the hardest hit groups.

“It is truly a Great Depression for young adults,” said Andrew Sum, an economics professor and the director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Young adults are working at lower rates than they ever worked before since World War II. As a result, you would expect migration to fall because they have nowhere to go to.”

The judges have been candid as they’ve filmed early rounds of the contest, Lopez said.

“We’re both very spontaneous with how we critique each and every person who walks in. … We’re very honest and in the moment,” said the singer-actress.

Without specifically mentioning the Tucson shooting, the proposed law would prohibit protests at or near funeral sites.

Dozens of lawmakers co-sponsored the bill, and legislative action was completed within 90 minutes. The Senate’s committee hearing took just three minutes.

In a Capitol already ringed by concrete stanchions and armed guards, members of Congress struggled to come up with new ways to ensure their safety in a democracy suddenly shaken by an assassin’s bullets. Republican and Democratic leaders signaled that closer coordination with local law enforcement was a practical first step after the Arizona shootings that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.

Beyond that, talk centered on legislation that would make it a crime to carry a weapon within 1,000 feet of elected or high-ranking federal officials at publicly announced events and a proposal to install a Plexiglas enclosure to protect the House floor from gallery spectators – two ideas unlikely to get much traction in the new Congress. Democrats also called for rolling back a 5 percent, GOP-engineered cut in congressional spending and redirecting the money to security.

New Yorker Wes Moe can’t wait. He has wanted one to accompany his iPad and Mac, but held back because he shares a Verizon plan with his wife, a BlackBerry user.

“I’m super happy with all those other Apple devices, and I want that phone in my hands,” said Moe, 32.

But the 22-year-old had no trouble buying the Glock semiautomatic pistol that authorities say he used in the Tucson rampage Saturday that left six dead and 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Loughner’s personal history did not disqualify him under federal rules, and Arizona doesn’t regulate gun sales. His criminal charges were ultimately dismissed, the Army information was private and Pima Community College isn’t saying whether it shared its concerns about Loughner with anyone besides his parents.

“I don’t know how loud they were,” Officer Catherine Massey said, but the argument around 9 p.m. Monday at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa led to a disturbance report.

“It was minor. Both parties were angry but there were no signs of visible abuse,” Massey said Tuesday. She said Ted Williams and his daughter “were brought in, calmed down, talked to and released” and she did not know the nature of the argument.

The church attack on worshippers leaving a New Year’s Mass in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria touched off three days of riots and demonstrations by furious Christians who criticized the government for failing to protect them and vented over what they see as persistent discrimination.

All of the casualties in the latest attack were Christians – four of them women – raising concerns it will ignite a new wave of protests by a community still traumatized by the suicide bombing.

The Canucks and the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks commanded the spotlight Tuesday when each club had multiple players picked to the All-Star game roster. In all, 36 players along with 12 rookies, who will only participate in the skills competition during All-Star weekend, were chosen by the league’s hockey operations department.

Chicago was already well represented for the All-Star festivities later this month in Raleigh, N.C., as captain Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith were among six players voted into the game in fan balloting. They were joined Tuesday by forwards Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp.

Hold on.

No whistle. No ref raising his hand.

The newly unsealed detention request underscores the federal government’s unease about Jeffrey Sterling, claiming his “underlying selfish and vindictive motivations” could spur him to disclose more government secrets now that he faces a 10-count indictment in Virginia.

“The cost to national security and the danger posed to lives of certain individuals is simply too high not to require the defendant’s detention in this matter,” according to the filing, which was unsealed late Monday.

Tapped in 1998 to become the Atlanta school’s first female president, Cross left in shame in 2002, facing accusations she had stolen from the 129-year-old institution. In a new memoir “Beyond the Wall,” and her first public comments since her conviction, Cross attempts to understand and explain what led to her ruin.

She was accused of misappropriating millions of dollars and indicted on 27 charges, but in 2006 pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement – essentially admitting she swindled about $11,000 in federal loans to cover administrative costs at the college. Yet she still believes she didn’t commit a crime.

DeLay was sentenced this week to three years in prison and 10 years of probation for scheming to illegally influence Texas elections. Unlike in most money laundering cases, prosecutors argued he stood to benefit not financially but through political power.

The creative use of the statute – the first time it was ever applied in such a case – was key to his convictions on money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges.

Sandeen was the only transgender person among the six veterans arrested in April while protesting the military’s ban on openly gay troops. But when she watched President Barack Obama last month sign the hard-fought bill allowing for the ban’s repeal, melancholy tinged her satisfaction.

“This is another bridesmaid moment for the transgender community,” the 51-year-old San Diego resident said.

Now two-thirds of American pet owners say they can relate – their pets have a sixth sense about bad weather. Forty-three percent say the same about bad news, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll.

Seventy-two percent of dog owners said they’ve gotten weather warnings from their pets, compared with 66 percent of cat owners.

In the best of times, it spends as little as possible providing aid to the unemployed, the sick and the injured. Texans have consistently elected lawmakers who will add to the public safety net only when threatened with a federal lawsuit.

Now that the state must overcome a $15 billion budget shortfall, life for those who rely on the state for employment or support is likely to get even tougher.

By the end of the long day, Obama had secured plans to travel on Wednesday to the site of the shooting rampage, Tucson, Ariz., to attend a memorial service. Senior administration officials confirmed the trip to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been formally announced.

It was many hours earlier, on a frigid winter’s morning in Washington, that Obama led a national moment of silence for the 19 people shot outside a grocery store in Arizona on Saturday, including Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. She was the target of the attack and, remarkably, was fighting for recovery despite being shot in the head from close range. Six other people were killed, including a young girl.

Arnold Fields’ decision to step down comes after key members of Congress urged President Barack Obama to dismiss him for incompetence and mismanagement. His critics claimed he failed to aggressively oversee the more than $56 billion the U.S. has poured into Afghanistan since 2002 to rebuild schools, roads and other facilities.

Fields was appointed by President George W. Bush as the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction in June 2008 after the job was created by Congress. His resignation is effective Feb. 4.

Shelly announced Monday that he and his vice president had reached settlements with a special prosecutor, in which they would repay the money they’re accused of stealing from the tribal government in exchange for having criminal charges against them dropped.

A Window Rock judge approved the settlement regarding Rex Lee Jim, but a tribal judge in another district did not issue an immediate ruling in Shelly’s case. Crownpoint, N.M., District Judge Irene Toledo instead asked for additional briefs on how the court would enforce the agreement, staff attorney Patrick Dooley said.

Gov. Jay Nixon said in a statement that he was commuting the sentence for Richard Clay, 45, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Clay was convicted of killing Randy Martindale of New Madrid in 1994 but has maintained his innocence. Nixon’s statement did not explain why the governor decided to commute the sentence, and in fact said that after an exhaustive review, the governor is “convinced of Richard Clay’s involvement in the senseless murder of Randy Martindale” and finds “the evidence clearly supports the jury’s verdict of murder in the first degree.”

The rampage, he said, grew in part from extreme political rhetoric, bigotry and hatred, especially in his home state of Arizona. Dupnik said he was angry and heartbroken over the tragedy, and was simply speaking his mind as an American, not a law enforcement official.

But in the midst of a national media pressure cooker, his comments raised the question: Did he overstep his authority in making the comments that he did?