Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 42 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 France’s ex-president Chirac on trial for corruption

by Roland Lloyd Parry, AFP

2 hrs 15 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – Jacques Chirac on Monday became the first former French president to go on trial as a court heard charges that he embezzled public funds while he was mayor of Paris in the 1990s.

The 78-year-old, one of France’s most popular political figures, did not attend the start of the trial that will examine whether he misused public money to pay people working for his party ahead of a successful election bid.

Presiding judge Dominique Pauthe adjourned Monday’s hearing after a few hours, saying it would resume on Tuesday when he would rule on a constitutional challenge in the case, which if successful could delay the trial by several months.

AFP

2 US defence chief sorry over Afghan child deaths

by Dan De Luce, AFP

2 hrs 29 mins ago

KABUL (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered a personal apology to President Hamid Karzai Monday for the deaths of nine Afghan children in a NATO air strike which drew fury in Kabul.

“This breaks our heart,” Gates told a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, as Karzai looked on.

“Not only is their loss a tragedy for their families, it is a setback for our relationship with the Afghan people, whose security is our chief concern.”

3 Libya regime blasts West ‘conspiracy’ against Kadhafi

by Antoine Lambroschini, AFP

26 mins ago

TRIPOLI (AFP) – Moamer Kadhafi’s regime accused the United States, Britain and France of “a conspiracy to divide Libya” Monday as pressure built to arm the rebels and the UN named a special envoy to Tripoli.

The worsening conflict sent world oil prices higher, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said attacks on civilians by Kadhafi’s troops could amount to crimes against humanity.

Libya’s foreign minister told reporters in the capital Tripoli that the Western allies were trying to split the North African country by secretly building up contacts with rebel leaders.

4 Britain, France ready Libya no-fly zone resolution

by Pierre-Antoine Donnet, AFP

23 mins ago

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – A British-French resolution demanding a no-fly zone over Libya could go before the UN Security Council as early as this week, diplomats said Monday.

While Moamer Kadhafi’s offensive against rebels is intensifying, any demand for military action would set off a new diplomatic battle at the Security Council.

Anticipating opposition, Britain’s foreign minister has insisted that there must “a clear legal basis” for the zone and set other conditions.

5 In Libya clashes, rebels lose ground; UN gains access

by Danny Kemp, AFP

2 hrs 33 mins ago

RAS LANUF, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels ceded ground to Moamer Kadhafi’s advancing forces on Monday as the United States came under increasing pressure to arm the opposition and the UN appointed a humanitarian envoy.

World oil prices rose again, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said attacks on civilians by Kadhafi’s troops could amount to crimes against humanity.

The rebels began pulling back from the key oil port of Ras Lanuf as fighter jets targeted defences on the edge of town, throwing up palls of smoke amid fears that government forces were preparing an attack.

6 Libyan rebels lose ground to Kadhafi loyalists

by Danny Kemp, AFP

Mon Mar 7, 11:16 am ET

RAS LANUF, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels ceded ground to Moamer Kadhafi’s advancing forces Monday as the United States came under increasing pressure to arm the opposition and the UN appointed a humanitarian envoy.

World oil prices rose again, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said attacks on civilians by Kadhafi’s troops could amount to crimes against humanity.

The rebels began pulling back from the key oil port of Ras Lanuf as fighter jets targeted defences on the edge of town, throwing up palls of smoke amid fears that government forces were gearing for an attack.

7 Devastated Pietersen adds to Cricket World Cup injury woes

by Dave James, AFP

1 hr 53 mins ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) – England star Kevin Pietersen became the injury-cursed World Cup’s latest victim on Monday, his high-profile departure predictably dwarfing Canada’s low-key win over fellow no-hopers Kenya.

Pietersen will head home to undergo a hernia operation that he had been hoping to postpone until after the competition.

But after looking troubled during Sunday’s six-run win over his native South Africa in Chennai, where he made just two off three balls, the 30-year-old will go under the knife immediately.

8 Scores killed in south Sudan clashes

by Simon Martelli, AFP

Mon Mar 7, 12:36 pm ET

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Clashes between south Sudanese troops and two separate rebel militias have left at least 92 people dead, the army’s spokesman said on Monday, clouding the countdown to independence for the impoverished region.

Fighting on Monday morning between the army and a militia loyal to renegade southern general George Athor in troubled Jonglei state killed 14 rebels and seven soldiers, Philip Aguer told AFP.

He said the toll from clashes in neighbouring Upper Nile state on Sunday had risen to 72, including 65 rebels, whom he accused of being in the service of the Khartoum government.

9 Moody’s downgrade ‘completely unjustified’: Athens

by Will Vassilopoulos, AFP

Mon Mar 7, 10:39 am ET

ATHENS (AFP) – Bailed-out Greece reacted furiously to Moody’s decision to slash its credit ratings on Monday, only days before a crucial summit of eurozone leaders to discuss plans for a permanent debt rescue system.

“The rating downgrade announced by Moody’s today is completely unjustified as it does not reflect an objective and balanced assessment of the conditions Greece is presently facing,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The finance ministry also blasted the rating agencies as a whole.

10 Hollywood steals the show in Rio’s Carnival parades

by Marc Burleigh, AFP

Mon Mar 7, 10:23 am ET

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – A Carnival parade paying samba-fuelled hommage to Hollywood hits including “Avatar,” “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” roused cheers Monday in Rio de Janeiro as days of festivities reached their peak.

The colorful procession by the Unidos da Tijuca samba school wowed a crowd of 70,000 packed into Rio’s Sambodrome stadium from late Sunday, on the first night of the city’s spectacular annual parades.

It was one of six shows put on in an all-night climax to Rio’s Carnival partying, which began late Friday and ends Wednesday.

11 Japan PM rejects snap poll after FM quits

by Miwa Suzuki, AFP

Mon Mar 7, 2:47 am ET

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s centre-left premier on Monday vowed to fight on despite media charges that his government was “on the edge of a cliff” after the foreign minister resigned over a donations scandal.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan — Japan’s fifth leader in as many years, now battling low poll ratings and a split parliament — said he would not call snap elections as repeatedly demanded by the conservative opposition.

“Many prime ministers before me have bowed out after short periods of time,” said Kan, referring to the revolving-door leadership that is often cited as weakening Japan’s governance and global influence.

Reuters

12 A million Libyans need aid; UK, France seek no-fly zone

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

1 hr 22 mins ago

RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) – Britain and France said they were seeking U.N. authority for a no-fly zone over Libya, as Muammar Gaddafi’s warplanes counter-attacked against rebels and aid officials said a million people were in need.

Rebels swiftly rejected an olive branch offered by an associate of Gaddafi, and fighting escalated around a key oil port. The aging autocrat warned that if he fell thousands of refugees would “invade Europe.”

With civilians surrounded by forces loyal to Gaddafi in two western towns, Misrata and Zawiyah, fears grew of a rising humanitarian crisis if the fighting continued.

13 Obama treads carefully on Libya, rebuffs pressure

By Ross Colvin and Patricia Zengerle, Reuters

1 hr 41 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House pushed back on Monday against pressure from some lawmakers for direct intervention in Libya, saying it first wanted to figure out what various military options could achieve.

“It would be premature to send a bunch of weapons to a post office box in eastern Libya,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “We need to not get ahead of ourselves in terms of the options we’re pursuing.”

The Obama administration faces sharp criticism, especially from Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators, for its cautious approach to the turmoil in Libya but has signaled it will not be rushed into hasty decisions that could suck the military into a new war and fuel anti-American sentiment.

14 U.S. could tap oil reserves as gasoline price surges

By Jackie Frank and Lewis Krauskopf, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 8:26 am ET

WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The U.S. government reiterated that it could tap its strategic oil reserves in order to safeguard economic growth as surging gasoline prices increase pressure for action.

While longstanding U.S. policy is to release reserves only in the event of a significant and immediate supply shortage, some analysts say the Obama administration may feel compelled to try to tamp down prices that are being fueled both by outages in Libya and concern unrest could spread in the Middle East.

Reflecting market worries over unrest, crude futures prices were trading in Asia on Monday around their highest levels in more than two years.

15 U.S. firms stop Libyan oil trade due to sanctions

By Emma Farge and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 2:09 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Major U.S. oil companies have halted trade with Libya and big banks have started to pull back from funding such deals because of U.S. sanctions, in moves that will further disrupt oil flows from the torn country.

Around half of Libya’s oil output, or over 1 percent of global supply, has already been choked off by lethal clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Oil prices hit their highest levels since September 2008 on Monday.

Exxon Mobil and Morgan Stanley have stopped trading oil with Libya, trade sources said on Monday. ConocoPhillips also said it was not exporting oil from the country.

16 Italy tiptoes on Libya due to energy, trade, migrants

By Philip Pullella, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 6:19 am ET

ROME (Reuters) – Italy, which did more than any other country to legitimize Libya and its mercurial leader, is going through a foreign policy nightmare as civil strife in its former colony threatens its energy supplies, international image and the stability of some of its blue chip companies.

“The stakes for our country are very high,” said Roberto Aliboni, vice-president of Italy’s Institute for International Affairs, who argued in a recent report that Italy should take a clear stand against Gaddafi and invest in the opposition.

But Rome is moving cautiously, realizing it has the most to lose among European nations as events unfold in the North African nation just 300 miles from Italy’s southernmost island.

17 Gaddafi forces advance east to rebel oil port

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 5:31 am ET

RAS LANUF (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi advanced on the rebel-held oil port of Ras Lanuf on Monday in a counter-attack that forced residents to flee and rebels to hide their weapons in the desert.

The Libyan army was moving east down the strategic Mediterranean coastal road from the recaptured town of Bin Jawad, heading toward Ras Lanuf which is about 60 km (40 miles) away and which has a major oil complex, witnesses told Reuters.

A Reuters correspondent had seen Gaddafi’s forces about 5 km (3 miles) east of Bin Jawad Sunday evening, suggesting the Libyan leader’s troops were making slow but steady progress.

18 Libyan rebels beat back attack on Misrata: residents

By Michael Georgy, Reuters

Sun Mar 6, 6:01 pm ET

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan rebels beat back the fiercest attack so far by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces on the town of Misrata, residents told Reuters on Sunday, and a doctor said at least 18 people were killed.

Government forces used tanks and artillery in what appeared to be their most concerted effort yet to retake the town, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, but were pushed back by rebels fighting Gaddafi’s 41-year old rule.

“Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks,” one resident, who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.

19 Moody’s downgrade tips Greece closer to brink

By Angeliki Koutantou and William James, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 11:22 am ET

ATHENS/LONDON (Reuters) – Moody’s slashed Greece’s credit rating by three notches on Monday due to an increased default risk, raising the specter that the distressed euro zone sovereign may have to restructure its debt, perhaps before 2013.

The move increased pressure on euro zone leaders to ease repayment terms on bailout loans to Athens, just as Germany and its allies seem to have turned their backs on more radical steps to help it reduce its debt through bond purchases or buy-backs.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Greek debt to B1 from Ba1 — lower than Egypt — and said it may cut further, drawing an indignant protest from the Greek Finance Ministry.

20 British prince pilloried over pedophile friend

By Michael Holden, Reuters

2 hrs 54 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – The royal family is supposed to burnish Britain’s image, but Prince Andrew has generated quite a different buzz by consorting with a convicted U.S. pedophile and having contacts with the Libyan leader’s son.

“Prince of Sleaze” ran a headline in Monday’s Daily Mirror over a story about the 50-year-old Duke of York, who is fourth in line to the throne and is Britain’s roving trade ambassador.

“Andrew: I won’t quit over my pervert pal,” the Sun added.

21 Gates says killing of Afghan boys a "setback"

By Missy Ryan, Reuters

Mon Mar 7, 11:57 am ET

KABUL (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates described the mistaken killing of nine Afghan boys by NATO aircraft as a “setback” on Monday as the issue overshadowed a visit to Afghanistan to assess security progress.

Gates met Afghan President Hamid Karzai on an unannounced trip to Kabul and repeated Washington’s apology for the killing of the boys last week by NATO helicopters, which has increased strain on an already testy relationship with Afghan leaders.

“Not only is their loss a tragedy for their families, it is a setback for our relationship with the Afghan people,” Gates told a media conference with Karzai.

22 Top Democrat draws line in sand in budget fight

By Thomas Ferraro, Reuters

Sun Mar 6, 5:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin drew a line in the sand on Sunday in his party’s budget battle with Republicans, who are pushing deep spending cuts to trim the federal deficit.

Durbin, one of President Barack Obama’s top allies in Congress, said he opposed going beyond the $10.5 billion in domestic, non-defense discretionary spending cuts that Democrats have backed.

Republicans want $61 billion in spending reductions.

AP

23 Obama restarts Guantanamo trials

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

1 hr 10 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama reversed course Monday and ordered a resumption of military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his once ironclad promise to close the isolated prison look even more distant.

Guantanamo has been a major political and national security headache for the president since he took office promising to close the prison within a year, a deadline that came and went without him ever setting a new one.

Obama made the change with clear reluctance, bowing to the reality that Congress’ vehement opposition to trying detainees on U.S. soil leaves them nowhere else to go. The president emphasized his preference for trials in federal civilian courts, and his administration blamed congressional meddling for closing off that avenue.

24 US, allies edge toward military options for Libya

By MATTHEW LEE and BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press

1 hr 50 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and its NATO allies edged closer Monday to formulating a military response to the escalating violence in Libya as the alliance boosted surveillance flights over the country and the Obama administration signaled it might be willing to help arm Moammar Gadhafi’s opponents. Europe, meanwhile, kick-started international efforts to impose a no-fly zone.

It still appeared unlikely that U.S. warplanes or missiles would soon deploy in Libya, which may be sliding toward civil war, but the ongoing violence increased pressure on Washington to do something or spell out its plan.

The violence “perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable,” President Barack Obama declared as he authorized $15 million in new humanitarian aid to assist and evacuate people fleeing the fighting. And he warned those still loyal to Gadhafi that they will be held to account for a violent crackdown that continued Monday with warplanes launching multiple airstrikes on opposition fighters seeking to advance on Tripoli.

25 Against Libya’s rebels, Gadhafi controls the skies

By PAUL SCHEMM and RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press

2 hrs 38 mins ago

RAS LANOUF, Libya – Repeated airstrikes by Libyan warplanes on Monday illustrated the edge Moammar Gadhafi holds in his fight against rebel forces marching toward the capital: He controls the air. After pleading from the uprising’s leaders, Britain and France began drafting a U.N. resolution for a no-fly zone in Libya that could balance the scales.

President Barack Obama warned that the U.S. and its NATO allies are still considering military options to stop what he called “unacceptable” violence by Gadhafi’s regime. NATO decided to boost flights of AWACs surveillance planes over Libya from 10 to 24 hours a day, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said.

“I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Gadhafi. It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. And they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place,” Obama said during remarks in the Oval Office Monday.

26 Gas prices are about more than just oil

By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer

1 hr 19 mins ago

When Jay Ricker, owner of the BP gas station off Interstate 70 in Plainfield, Ind., set the price of unleaded gasoline at $3.44 per gallon on Monday of last week, it was 4 cents higher than the Friday before.

That alone might have been irritating to drivers paying the highest gas prices in more than two years. It was even more so because it happened on a day when the price of crude oil, which is used to make gasoline, fell almost $1 a barrel.

“It’s up 20 cents one day, down 10 cents the next day,” says Oscar Elmore, a courier who was filling up his Ford Taurus at a RaceTrac service station in Dallas recently. “It sounds kinda fishy to me.”

27 Wis. gov. rebuffs Democrats’ request for meeting

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 4:11 pm ET

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state nearly three weeks ago asked Monday for a meeting with Gov. Scott Walker to talk about changes to his plan to eliminate most public workers’ union rights, a request the governor dismissed as “ridiculous.”

Walker said he and his administration have been in communication with at least a couple of the AWOL Senate Democrats about a deal that could bring them back, but the lawmaker who asked for the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, “is firmly standing in the way.”

That accusation led to a flurry of angry responses from Democrats who said Walker was misrepresenting the talks. The sometimes-angry exchange suggested that any resolution to the stalemate was farther away than ever.

28 NFL, players’ union leave mediator’s office

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Pro Football Writer

24 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The NFL and the players’ union have left the federal mediator’s office after a four-hour session.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and other members of the two negotiating teams resumed talks on a new labor deal Monday after taking a break over the weekend.

Mediator George Cohen also left his office shortly after 7 p.m.

29 Scientists skeptical of meteorite alien life claim

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

Mon Mar 7, 1:23 pm ET

WASHINGTON – NASA and its top scientists are distancing themselves from a space agency researcher who concludes that he found alien bacterial life in meteorites that were collected many decades ago.

Richard Hoover of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., claims that he found fossils that look like the remnants of bacteria in at least two meteorites. His research paper, published online Friday in the Journal of Cosmology, concludes these must have come from outer space.

But his claim has been roundly disputed by other scientists.

30 AP Exclusive: Abusive priests live unmonitored

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press

51 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – The charges of child molestation came too long after the abuse to send Carl Sutphin, a Roman Catholic priest, to prison. Now he is spending his days in a doublewide mobile home, a short walk from day care centers and two elementary schools.

“I won’t say I deny it. I do not deny it, no,” Sutphin, 78, said in a frail voice as he leaned on his walker.

There are dozens of accused priests like him, from California to Maryland. To victims’ advocates, that is dangerous.

31 Doctors aim to save fertility of kids with cancer

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

Mon Mar 7, 2:36 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The treatment beating back 9-year-old Dylan Hanlon’s cancer may also be destroying his chances of fathering his own children when he grows up.

Upset that doctors didn’t make that risk clear, his mother, Christine, tracked down an experiment that just might salvage Dylan’s future fertility. Between chemo sessions, the pair flew hundreds of miles from their Florida home to try it.

Many of the cancer treatments that can save patients’ lives also may cost their ability to have babies later in life. Young adults have options – bank some sperm, freeze embryos or eggs. Children diagnosed before puberty don’t.

32 Discovery leaves space station for the last time

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

Mon Mar 7, 10:13 am ET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Discovery, the world’s most traveled spaceship, left the International Space Station on Monday for the last time, getting a dramatic send-off by the dozen orbiting astronauts as well as “Star Trek’s” original Capt. Kirk.

Station skipper Scott Kelly rang his ship’s bell in true naval tradition, as the shuttle backed away on the final leg of its final journey.

“Discovery departing,” he called out.

33 Libya army transport deal frozen after US approval

By STEPHEN BRAUN, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 10:51 am ET

WASHINGTON – In the months before Libyans revolted and President Barack Obama told leader Moammar Gadhafi to go, the U.S. government was moving to do business with his regime on an increasing scale by quietly approving a $77 million dollar deal to deliver at least 50 refurbished armored troop carriers to the dictator’s military.

Congress balked, concerned the deal would improve Libyan army mobility and questioning the Obama administration’s support for the agreement, which would have benefited British defense company BAE. The congressional concerns effectively stalled the deal until the turmoil in the country scuttled the sale. Earlier last week, after all military exports to the Gadhafi regime were suspended, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls informed Capitol Hill that the deal had been returned without action – effectively off the table, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the deal’s sensitive details.

State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner said the proposed license was suspended along with the rest of “what limited defense trade we had with Libya.”

34 SD sheriff now oversees more bison than people

By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 8:06 am ET

MCLAUGHLIN, S.D. – Sheriff Keith Gall is known as the “singing sheriff” for his a cappella performances at weddings and funerals. But thanks to a judge, the gun-toting tenor now spends more time with a grunting, testy audience of some 6,000 bison that outnumber people in his South Dakota county.

“I’m known as everything related to buffalo now,” joked the 42-year-old Gall, who was elected sheriff two decades ago. “It’s all part of the job, but this is a first.”

His rural Corson County is home to most of a sprawling ranch owned by a Florida real estate tycoon whose herd was ordered into the sheriff’s care after more than a dozen bison were found dead. Many more were malnourished and others were stuck by vehicles when they escaped in search of food.

35 China challenges US predominance in Asia-Pacific

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 6:16 am ET

WASHINGTON – When China launched threatening war games off Taiwan 15 years ago on the eve of an election on the self-governing island, the U.S. deployed two aircraft carriers, and China quickly backed down.

Things don’t seem so one-sided any more.

China’s military has been on a spending spree at a time that the debt-ridden U.S. government is looking to cut defense costs. On Friday, China announced a 12.7 percent hike for this year, the latest in a string of double-digit increases.

36 Carnival group hit by fire cheered in Rio parade

By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 6:15 am ET

RIO DE JANEIRO – Strutting in a rainbow of glittering colors, Rio’s samba groups opened two days of Carnival parades with a dazzling show that included a rousing welcome for one of the elite bands that lost most of their elaborate costumes and floats in a fire last month.

The Portela group made a dramatic entrance into the throbbing Sambadrome stadium late Sunday, its 300-strong percussion section abruptly quieting its thundering drums and crouching down in a moment of silence for its losses in the fire.

With silence descending over the crowd for a few seconds, the drummers leaped back up with a raucous beat as Portela’s thousands of members marched on to the cheers and applause of fans.

37 US negotiating security deal with Afghans

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer

Mon Mar 7, 3:03 pm ET

KABUL, Afghanistan – The United States is beginning to decide what its responsibilities will be in Afghanistan after U.S. combat troops leave, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday, but he ruled out permanent military bases in the strategically important country.

President Hamid Karzai wants U.S. military support even as he heavily criticizes the current U.S.-led military campaign for being too quick on the trigger. Nine Afghan boys died in an accidental air strike last week, reopening a raw issue.

Gates said the U.S. is interested in keeping a military presence in this former al-Qaida haven beyond the planned end of combat in three years. At a news conference with Karzai, Gates said a team of U.S. officials would arrive here next week to begin negotiations over a new compact for U.S.-Afghan security relations after 2014, when all international combat forces are supposed to be gone. U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001, and President Barack Obama has repeatedly said the war is not open-ended.

38 White House promotes Muslim help against terrorism

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press

Mon Mar 7, 1:16 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The White House is pushing a message of religious tolerance ahead of this week’s congressional hearing on Islamic radicalism, which has sparked protests on grounds it unfairly singles out Muslims as potential terrorists.

President Barack Obama sent his deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, on Sunday to a Washington-area mosque known for its cooperation with the FBI and its rejection of the al-Qaida brand of Islam.

“Being religious is never un-American. Being religious is quintessentially American,” McDonough said.

39 Grizzly’s threatened status appealed in Ore. court

By NIGEL DUARA, Associated Press

9 mins ago

PORTLAND, Ore. – Dueling attorneys for a conservation group and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offered starkly different opinions Monday about the future of the grizzly bear population in and around Yellowstone National Park, if the bear is taken off the threatened species list.

Three Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals justices heard half-hour arguments and rebuttals from each side more than a year after the grizzlies were returned to the list by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy.

The federal government is bullish on the bear’s prospects, and state wildlife agencies from Montana and Wyoming have argued in briefs filed to the appellate court that officials are confident the bears won’t go extinct if states are left to manage them.

40 Nevada GOP Sen. Ensign won’t seek re-election

By KEVIN FREKING and CRISTINA SILVA, Associated Press Writers

1 hr 6 mins ago

LAS VEGAS – Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, damaged politically and facing a Senate ethics investigation over an extramarital affair, said Monday he won’t seek re-election next year.

His decision to retire could set off a free-for-all to fill the seat coveted by Democrats and become a key to what will be a significantly reconstituted U.S. Senate, where eight members have now said they won’t run again.

More than a dozen family members and supporters flanked Ensign during his brief announcement. His wife Darlene Ensign stood next to him, reassuringly patting his back at moments.

41 Inside trade trial offers new look at Wall Street

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

1 hr 24 mins ago

NEW YORK – The start of the insider trading trial of a one-time billionaire Tuesday is expected to offer a rare look at the seamier side of Wall Street as prosecutors play taped conversations to try to prove that the powerful hedge fund founder conspired to earn more than $50 million illegally.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the October 2009 arrest of Raj Rajaratnam by saying it was the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history and marked the first extensive use of wiretaps in a white collar prosecution. Since then, charges have been brought against more than two dozen others – and 19 of them have pleaded guilty.

Evidence gathered during the investigation also has led to a separate probe of those who peddle inside information as the product of legitimate research. That investigation has resulted in nine arrests, with more defendants likely.

42 Union protests preface Ohio gov’s State of State

By JULIE CARR SMYTH and ANN SANNER, Associated Press

1 hr 28 mins ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Outcry over collective bargaining proposals in Ohio threatened to overshadow Republican Gov. John Kasich’s first State of the State speech as Democrats and union groups worked to mobilize thousands more protesters to the Statehouse.

The speech falls on Tuesday, the day a bill limiting negotiating rights for 350,000 police, firefighters, teachers and other public workers begins its trip through the Ohio House. The bill cleared the state Senate last week.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees set the stage for Tuesday’s protests with a “State of the Worker” event Monday.

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