Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 45 stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Spanish matadors slay bulls for last time in Catalonia

By Elodie Cuzin, AFP

18 hrs ago

Spain’s finest matadors will slay their prey in Catalonia’s historic last bullfight Sunday, a spectacle to be played out before 18,000 fans in a sold-out Barcelona arena.

The unequal duel between man and beast on the sands of the century-old Monumental bullring is the final combat before a permanent ban takes effect in the northeastern region from 2012.

A relief to animal rights activists, the ban is a bitter blow to bullfighting enthusiasts.

2 Libya’s NTC unearths mass grave of 1,700 prisoners

By Rory Mulholland and Jay Deshmukh, AFP

2 hrs 50 mins ago

Libya’s new rulers said Sunday they have unearthed a mass grave of 1,700 prisoners slain by Moamer Kadhafi’s regime in a 1996 uprising, a massacre that helped trigger the revolt that ousted the despot.

The gruesome find came as hundreds of the National Transitional Council’s fighters thrust into Kadhafi’s hometown of Sirte from the east and NATO warplanes pounded the coastal city for a second straight day.

The remains of the prisoners executed at Tripoli’s notorious Abu Salim jail were found in a mass grave in the capital, said Khalid Sharif, spokesman for the NTC’s military council.

3 French left claims Senate win in poll blow for Sarkozy

By Dave Clark, AFP

3 hrs ago

France’s left-wing opposition won an historic victory in senatorial elections Sunday, in a blow to centre-right leader President Nicolas Sarkozy seven months before he is to seek re-election.

The Socialist Party announced that, with its Communist and Green allies, it had won enough seats to take control of the upper house for the first time in modern French history, and its leaders were in buoyant mood.

“The left has for the first time managed to win a handover,” declared the Socialists’ leader in the Senate and thus the probable next speaker of the house, Jean-Pierre Bel, as poll results trickled in from across France.

4 Week of trials ahead for both Greece and the euro

By John Hadoulis, AFP

21 hrs ago

Greece and the euro head for a week of trials from Monday as European and IMF experts return to Athens for a fiscal audit that will decide if the debt-hit country can escape default next month.

EU heavyweight Germany will meanwhile hold a key vote Thursday on reforming a permanent European Union stability fund to enable it to engage in debt restructuring, a fallback the eurozone looks increasingly set to need.

That’s two days after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visits Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as speculation mounts that a new EU rescue of Athens crafted in July will need to be revised.

5 Yacht world seduces China, Brazil’s super-rich

By Audrey Stuart, AFP

3 hrs ago

Russian oligarchs and their floating palaces helped keep the luxury yachting industry buoyant through the crisis, but super-rich buyers from China and Brazil are rushing to join them on the waves.

Emerging market billionaires are showing a keen interest in superyachts, according to pundits at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, the prestigious four-day global yacht gathering that wrapped up here on Saturday.

“The BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India and China — nations are much more active than they were three to four years ago,” Ellie Brade, Pacific editor at the Superyacht Group monthly magazine told AFP.

6 ‘Mother’s home’ saves Nepal’s smuggled sex slaves

By Deepak Adhikari, AFP

3 hrs ago

The unassuming, slight, 62-year-old may look every bit the timid retiree but to the thousands of Nepalese girls she has rescued from a life of sex slavery she is the heroine they call “saviour”.

Anuradha Koirala left teaching 18 years ago to devote her life to waging war on the traffickers who smuggle women and children into the brothels of India, where they are often raped, assaulted and starved.

From setting up a safe house in Kathmandu to a daring undercover raid on a Mumbai brothel, Koirala says she has helped more than 10,000 victims of a cruel underworld which sees victims trafficked daily across the border.

7 Nepal fashionistas woo the West

By Frankie Taggart, AFP

3 hrs ago

While the eyes of the style world were on London’s autumn fashion week, another couture event was taking place on the other side of the world — in the Himalayas.

At Nepal Fashion Week the models sashayed down the catwalk in a mix of Western and ethnic apparel, contrasting classic with kitsch in a cornucopia of sassy cocktail dresses, flowing silk gowns, kaftans, kurti blouses, shalwars, sequins and ruffles.

Dozens of young designers displayed their collections as the Nepali fashion industry bid to bring itself to global prominence, and attract the attention of international buyers.

8 Vettel wins Singapore Grand Prix

By Gordon Howard, AFP

4 hrs ago

Sebastian Vettel demonstrated his vast supremacy on Sunday when he won the Singapore Grand Prix to move within a point of becoming the youngest double world champion in Formula One history.

The 24-year-old German, the defending champion and runaway leader of this year’s one-man title race, drove from pole position to the chequered flag in flawless style in his Red Bull car.

He won the floodlit 61-lap night race at the Marina Bay street circuit by a controlled 1.7 seconds.

9 Fans mourn, opponents celebrate Barcelona’s last bullfight

By Alice Tozer, Reuters

1 hr 56 mins ago

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) – Fans and opponents of bullfighting crowded into Barcelona on Sunday for the last “corrida” to be held in the city’s La Monumental arena following a ban on the traditional Spanish spectacle in Catalonia.

All 20,000 seats in the historic bull ring had sold out weeks in advance for the contest in which Spain’s top matador, Jose Tomas, and two others will put to death six bulls.

Touts were charging 1,600 euros for tickets, three times the face value of the top price seats closest to the sand.

10 IMF urges ECB to play bigger crisis-fighting role

By Dan Flynn and Marc Jones, Reuters

6 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top IMF official on Sunday said the European Central Bank was the only player powerful enough to “scare” financial markets and keep the euro zone’s debt crisis from further damaging the global economy.

Ahead of a high-stakes meeting on Sunday afternoon between IMF chief Christine Lagarde and the finance minister of Greece — where the crisis is now centered — officials were wrestling with how to bolster Europe’s banking system and keep the crisis contained.

The IMF said the European Union’s bailout fund could not go it alone.

11 ECB undecided on length of debt-buying program: Paramo

By Jonathan Gleave, Reuters

11 hrs ago

MADRID (Reuters) – The European Central Bank has not decided how long its unconventional interventions in the secondary market for European government debt will go on, Executive Board Member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said in an interview on Sunday.

The debt purchases were approved by an overwhelming majority at the ECB’s board and were not influenced by governments, Paramo said in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC.

“We will decide what future the program has, but we did not start this program as an answer to political demands at all, we are the most fiercely independent institution in the world,” Paramo told ABC.

12 Regulators not swayed by bank capital complaints

By Dave Clarke, Reuters

1 hr 10 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Global banks aggressive push to scale back or postpone new capital rules for the world’s largest banks is being met with little sympathy from international regulators who are set to finalize these standards in the coming weeks.

At events across Washington this weekend, set to coincide with meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, several regulators made clear they believe higher capital standards for large banks are key to making the financial system more stable.

Many regulators sought to push back against specific arguments being put forward by banks.

13 Analysis: Memories of 2008 drive U.S. pressure on Europe crisis

By David Lawder, Reuters

1 hr 31 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Behind the persistent U.S. pressure on Europe to strengthen its bailout defenses is an ominous prospect: another systemic crisis that would almost certainly throw the United States back into recession.

A deepening of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis triggered by a Greek default or inaction by euro zone policymakers could launch a replay of the market seizures in 2008 that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers, analysts and bankers say.

The scenario would largely follow the same script — markets collapse, investors flee risk, bank funding dries up and companies, who have already dramatically slowed hiring, shed employees to gird for the worst.

14 Inflation seen comfortably below ECB target: Honohan

By Marc Jones, Reuters

1 hr 52 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation is on a clear downward trajectory and is expected to drop comfortably below the ECB’s target according to recent forecasts, European Central Bank policymaker Patrick Honohan said on Sunday.

While economists remain divided, traders and investors that drive financial market prices expect the rapid deterioration in the euro zone economy to drive the ECB to cut interest rates by 50 basis points at its next meeting on October 6.

Honohan refused to comment on whether the bank would reverse the two 25 basis point hikes it made earlier in the year, but said there was certainly no threat anymore from inflation.

15 Analysis – Time running out for EU to halt debt crisis

By Stella Dawson, Reuters

2 hrs 34 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Doubts are running high that Europe’s politicians can deliver a rescue program big and bold enough to stop its sovereign debt crisis from morphing into a major financial disaster.

Politicians simply are running out of time and markets are running out patience.

Pessimism pervaded the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington that European Union leaders can agree quickly on a program that would convince investors of three basic principles:

16 Labour urges Cameron to push for Europe growth

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

2 hrs 37 mins ago

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Ed Miliband urged Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday to show leadership over the international economic crisis and work with other European countries to push for growth.

“Let’s get stuck in, let’s engage, let’s get Europe to grow, that’s the priority,” he told the BBC before his centre-left Labour Party began its annual conference in the northwestern city of Liverpool.

Miliband said rising unemployment showed Cameron’s deficit-cutting strategy was not working and action was needed to get the economy growing.

17 It hurts but do what we did, Africans tell Europeans

By Pascal Fletcher, Reuters

3 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As the world’s finance czars clamored this week for decisive action to clean up Europe’s debt crisis, ministers from the planet’s poorest region Africa were quietly saying “been there, done that”.

A weekend briefing by African finance ministers at IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington attracted modest media attention, but there was quiet pride in the way representatives from tiny states like Cape Verde and Gambia were able to claim concrete achievements in managing debt and public finances.

Developing countries from across the world, including Africa, are portraying themselves as “innocent bystanders” of the economic storm boiling out of Europe and the United States, and have joined the chorus calling on the European nations in crisis to bite the bullet of painful economic reforms.

18 Scenarios: How euro zone can get more bang for bailout

By Jan Strupczewski, Reuters

3 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Euro zone countries are considering ways to boost the firepower of their bailout fund without putting up more money.

Europe is under intense pressure from financial markets and other major world economies to come up with a more aggressive response to the crisis.

Investors say Europe need more muscle to defend its bigger economies, such as Spain and Italy, from market turmoil.

19 UBS bank’s revamp after trading scandal to take years

By Catherine Bosley, Reuters

7 hrs ago

ZURICH (Reuters) – Reorganising the investment bank at UBS will take two to three years to complete, its chairman said on Sunday, a day after Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel quit over the $2.3 billion rogue trading scandal.

The UBS board on Saturday accepted the resignation of its 67-year-old German-born chief executive and appointed as his interim replacement Sergio Ermotti, 51, who hails from Switzerland’s Italian-speaking region of Ticino.

The board is looking at both internal and external candidates to fill the post permanently and Chairman Kaspar Villiger has said ex-Bundesbank head Axel Weber has already been involved in the CEO selection process as an independent advisor.

20 French left seizes Senate majority, hurts Sarkozy

By Sophie Louet, Reuters

1 hr 54 mins ago

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government lost its majority in the Senate to the left on Sunday, officials said, in a historic defeat that deals him a blow just seven months before a presidential election.

For the first time since 1958, the right-dominated upper house swung to a left-wing majority as the body’s membership underwent a major generational change of guard.

Early results from the indirect elections showed left-wing candidates took at least 23 seats from the ruling conservative party, securing them an absolute majority.

21 Russia’s finance chief rebels over Putin plan

By Timothy Heritage and Lidia Kelly, Reuters

6 hrs ago

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia’s finance minister rebelled on Sunday against Vladimir Putin’s plan to make President Dmitry Medvedev his prime minister if he returns to the Kremlin by saying he would not serve in the next government.

Foreign investors were alarmed by Alexei Kudrin’s snub after Putin, who is now prime minister, announced he would run for president next March in an election that could extend his rule until 2024.

Kudrin, a Putin ally, has prime ministerial ambitions and said he had “disagreements” with Medvedev who may now struggle to establish his credibility as premier after being forced by Putin to renounce his dream of a second term as president.

22 Libya finds mass grave from 1996 massacre

By Joseph Logan, Reuters

1 hr 30 mins ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s interim rulers said on Sunday they had found a mass grave containing the bodies of 1,270 inmates killed by Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces in a 1996 massacre at a prison in southern Tripoli.

To the east of Tripoli, NATO bombers hit the city of Sirte to clear the way for fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) who are trying to capture Gaddafi’s hometown.

But Gaddafi loyalists showed they were still a threat by attacking the desert oasis town of Ghadames, on the border with Algeria, NTC officials said.

23 Earth yields bones, grief at Libyan massacre site

By Joseph Logan, Reuters

3 hrs ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s new rulers on Sunday revealed a grave site they said contained the bodies of more than 1,270 people killed by Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces in a 1996 massacre at Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison.

Small heaps of weathered bones — some pulled from the earth by relatives of those killed and anti-Gaddafi gunmen who flocked to the site — dotted a dusty, wind-whipped field outside the prison.

The massacre 16 years ago was covered up for years but ultimately it helped to topple Gaddafi because the rebellion that ended his rule was rooted in anger about the Abu Salim killings.

24 Yemen’s Saleh calls for early elections, violence goes

By Erika Solomon and Mohammed Ghobari, Reuters

55 mins ago

SANAA (Reuters) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh made no pledge on Sunday to step down in his first address to the nation since returning home, calling for early elections in a move that is unlikely to appease protesters demanding his immediate departure.

Saleh, speaking after the sixth day of a wave of violence in which more than 100 people have been killed, said in his speech he was committed to transferring power through elections.

But since the crisis began in January when protesters took to the streets demanding that he quit, the embattled president has made numerous proposals to end the violence but followed up on none that entail him surrendering power.

25 Saudi king gives women right to vote

By Asma Alsharif, Reuters

5 hrs ago

JEDDAH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s king announced on Sunday women would be given the right to vote and stand in elections, a bold shift in the ultra-conservative absolute monarchy as pressure for social and democratic reform sweeps the Middle East.

It was by far the biggest change in Saudi Arabia’s tightly-controlled society yet ordered by the 88-year-old Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who took power six years ago with a reformer’s reputation but has ruled as a cautious conservative.

In practice, the measure will do little to change how the country is run: Saudi Arabia’s rulers allow elections only for half of the seats on municipal councils which have few powers. Only men will vote at the next elections which will take place next week; women will be allowed to vote in 2015.

26 Pope in Germany calls for unity, some frustrated

By Philip Pullella and Sarah Marsh, Reuters

4 hrs ago

FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged Catholics in his native Germany on Sunday to close ranks behind him rather than demand reforms or leave the Church, a staunchly conservative message that some who came to hear him found frustrating.

Addressing about 100,000 people during mass at a small airport near the southwestern city of Freiburg, he said the sometimes fractious Church needed to unite around him and the German bishops.

“The Church in Germany will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world if she remains faithfully united with the successor of St Peter,” he said, referring to himself.

27 Cain upsets Perry in Florida Republican straw poll

By Jane Sutton and Steve Holland, Reuters

20 hrs ago

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Former pizza executive Herman Cain surprised rival Rick Perry with an upset victory on Saturday in a Republican presidential straw poll in Florida, dealing a disappointing loss to the Texas governor two days after a shaky debate performance.

Perry, leading in the polls for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination to run against Democratic President Barack Obama, had needed a victory in what was an early test of strength to salve the wounds left over from a debate with his rivals on Thursday in which he struggled.

Instead, former Godfather’s Pizza executive Cain, who is far behind the two top-tier candidates Perry and Mitt Romney in national polls, won with 37 percent of 2,657 votes cast.

28 Remains of satellite may never be found, NASA says

By Irene Klotz, Reuters

8 hrs ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – A six-ton NASA science satellite crashed to Earth on Saturday, leaving a mystery about where a ton of space debris may have landed.

The U.S. space agency said it believes the debris ended up in the Pacific Ocean, but the precise time of the bus-sized satellite’s re-entry and the location of its debris field have not been determined.

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, ended 20 years in orbit with a suicidal plunge into the atmosphere sometime between 11:23 p.m. on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT Saturday), NASA said.

29 First Boeing 787 delivered; here comes the hard part

By Kyle Peterson, Reuters

25 mins ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) – As Boeing Co executives and workers toast the first delivery of the revolutionary 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, the next enormous hurdle must weigh heavily on their minds: they have to make about 800 more.

The company has 821 orders for the lightweight carbon-composite aircraft on its books, a record number for a Boeing plane still in development.

The airplane, which owes its popularity to promises of unprecedented fuel savings and passenger comfort, however, is three years behind its original development schedule and by some estimates tens of billions of dollars over budget.

30 Homecoming mum tradition goes over the top in Texas

By Marice Richter, Reuters

1 hr 2 mins ago

DALLAS, Texas (Reuters) – What started out as a simple token gift from a teenage boy to his girl has morphed into a tradition of gargantuan proportions that, again, proves everything is bigger in Texas.

It’s the homecoming mum, and it has come a long way since parents of today’s teens were in high school.

Back then, it was a real chrysanthemum flower given by a boy to his date, similar to a corsage given for a prom.

31 Arkansas’ hillbilly image resonates into 21st century

By Suzi Parker, Reuters

1 hr 53 mins ago

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) – The image of barefoot mountain hillbillies has made many Arkansans cringe for decades.

But it’s a hard one to shake — even though the state produced a two-term president in Bill Clinton, a famous author in John Grisham, and one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs in Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

This weekend, in conjunction with the Old State House Museum exhibit “Arkansas Arkansaw: A State And Its Reputation,” academics addressed the ongoing inferiority complex the state has always suffered, thanks to hillbilly lore.

32 UPDATE 1-Motor racing-Furious Massa blasts Hamilton

By Ossian Shine, Reuters

4 hrs ago

SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) – A simmering feud between Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa threatened to explode on Sunday when the pair clashed again under the Singapore floodlights.

Massa, already fuming from an incident in qualifying, was furious and confronted Hamilton after the grand prix during which the Briton’s McLaren had clipped his Ferrari while attempting to pass.

Hamilton collected a drive-through penalty for causing the collision but still finished the race fifth while the Brazilian, who limped back to the pits with a punctured rear tyre, was ninth and blamed Hamilton for “destroying” his race.

33 Motor racing-Vettel wins but still kept waiting

By John O’Brien, Reuters

4 hrs ago

SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Sebastian Vettel did all he could to wrap up a second successive Formula One world title with a commanding victory in Singapore on Sunday but the ultimate prize remained tantalisingly out of reach.

As the rest of the field jostled for position behind him, the 24-year-old Red Bull driver tamed the floodlit streets to stand just one point away from becoming the sport’s youngest double champion.

“The car was amazing and the start was good,” the German told reporters after holding off the late-charging McLaren of Jenson Button to cross the line 1.7 seconds ahead of the Briton and celebrate his ninth win of the season.

34 Gadhafi gunmen cross border from Algeria to Libya

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press

3 hrs ago

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) – Gunmen loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have crossed the Libyan border from Algeria and attacked revolutionary forces in a town near the frontier, killing six people, officials said Sunday.

The cross-border attack on Saturday shows loyalist forces have managed to escape Libya and regroup and collect arms, bolstering fears the North African nation could face a protracted insurgency.

Fighters who took up arms against Gadhafi have seized Tripoli and have gained control of the rest of the country, but they are still battling forces loyal to the ousted regime on several fronts.

35 Libyans find grave said to hold remains of 1,200

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press

1 hr 1 min ago

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) – A bone wrapped with rope and skull fragments scattered over a cactus-covered desert field are grim testament to a 1996 massacre of more than 1,200 prisoners by Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.

Libyan officials announced Sunday that they found a mass grave believed to hold the remains of the victims outside the white walls of Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison, where Gadhafi locked up and tortured opponents or simply made them disappear. Excavation has not begun, but several bone fragments and pieces of clothing already have been found in the topsoil.

Those bones could offer some of the most damning evidence of the brutality of Gadhafi’s nearly 42-year rule, and allow relatives of the victims to learn the truth about their fates after years of regime stonewalling. They also hold symbolic importance to the Libyan revolution itself, which was sparked in mid-February in the eastern city of Benghazi by demonstrators demanding the release of a prominent lawyer representing the families of slain inmates.

36 Defiant Yemeni leader makes no pledge to step down

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press

2 hrs 56 mins ago

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Yemen’s defiant president addressed his troubled nation Sunday for the first time since returning to the country after an assassination attempt, making no promise to immediately step down but saying he is committed to a deal to end months of spiraling violence.

Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared in improved health after nearly four months of treatment in neighboring Saudi Arabia for severe burns and other injuries he suffered in a June 3 attack on his compound in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Saleh abruptly returned on Friday, and a week of renewed clashes with his opponents intensified, littering the streets of the capital with bodies.

“The crisis is big. You who are chasing power, let’s all go to the ballot boxes,” Saleh said, speaking to his opponents and suggesting elections rather than agreeing to step down.

37 Building used by CIA attacked in Afghan capital

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press

2 hrs 27 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – A building used by the CIA in Kabul came under attack Sunday, U.S. and Afghan officials said, the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital.

Afghan authorities said gunfire was heard in the evening near the Ariana Hotel, a building that former U.S. intelligence officials said was the CIA station in Kabul. The CIA occupied the heavily secured building just blocks from the Afghan presidential palace in late 2001 after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

38 Explosions kill 10 people in holy city in Iraq

By SAAD ABDUL-KADIR and SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press

2 hrs 17 mins ago

BAGHDAD (AP) – Back-to-back bomb blasts ripped through one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam Sunday, killing at least 10 people in a community still reeling from a deadly bus hijacking earlier this month that left Iraq’s Shiites again feeling hunted.

Four explosions struck the city of Karbala over a five-minute period, government officials said, sending thick black smoke over the city. Two of the bombs targeted an Interior Ministry office that issues ID cards. Another struck near a house, shredding its walls and ceiling. And one of the explosions went off half a mile from an important gold-domed shrine.

“Once again, the terrorist enemies of both Iraq and humanity have committed a new crime against the innocent people of Karbala,” said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite.

39 Saudi women get right to vote, but can’t drive yet

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI and HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press

3 hrs ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, considered a reformer by the standards of his own ultraconservative kingdom, decreed on Sunday that women will for the first time have the right to vote and run in local elections due in 2015.

It is a “Saudi Spring” of sorts.

For the nation’s women, it is a giant leap forward, though they remain unable to serve as Cabinet ministers, drive or travel abroad without permission from a male guardian.

40 Obama heads west to raise cash, energize liberals

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

2 hrs 33 mins ago

SEATTLE (AP) – President Barack Obama charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would “fundamentally cripple America,” as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast.

Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.

“From the moment I took office what we’ve seen is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity,” the president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley.

41 Obama says GOP would ‘cripple’ America

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

51 mins ago

SEATTLE (AP) – President Barack Obama charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would “fundamentally cripple America,” as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast.

Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.

“From the moment I took office what we’ve seen is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity,” the president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley.

42 The upside of economic worries: Lower gas prices

By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer

5 hrs ago

NEW YORK (AP) – Soaring gasoline prices are in the rearview mirror.

For the first time in months, retail gasoline prices have fallen below $3 a gallon in places, including parts of Michigan, Missouri and Texas. And the relief is likely to spread thanks to a sharp decline in crude-oil prices.

The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.51 per gallon, down from a high of $3.98 in early May. Last week’s plunge in oil prices could push the average to $3.25 per gallon by November, analysts say.

43 Oil pipeline opponents pin hopes on Nebraska

By GRANT SCHULTE, Associated Press

2 hrs 4 mins ago

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) – Environmentalists hoping to block a proposed underground oil pipeline that would snake 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico have pinned their hopes on an unlikely ally – the conservative state of Nebraska.

Few states are as Republican as Nebraska, which hasn’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has risen steadily since the project was proposed three years ago.

The reason: Fears of contaminating the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to much of Nebraska, as well as seven other states. Opponents have grown to include Nebraska’s conservative governor and two U.S. senators, a Republican and a conservative Democrat.

44 Stewart wins at New Hampshire

By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

1 hr 23 mins ago

LOUDON, N.H. (AP) – Tony Stewart made it 2 for 2 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, pulling ahead when Clint Bowyer ran out of gas with two laps left to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Stewart is on a roll when the season matters most, following last week’s Chase opening victory at Chicagoland Speedway with another strong performance at New Hampshire. Both of his victories this season have come in the Chase and have propelled him to the top of the points standings.

The outcome was a complete reversal of the race at New Hampshire last fall, when Stewart’s tank ran dry a lap from the checkered flag and Bowyer pounced for the victory.

45 Missoni evokes warm weather destinations

By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press

2 hrs 20 mins ago

MILAN (AP) – Milan designers are in denial.

Or it could just be an act of collective will to dispel the growing economic gloom.

Because when they look into their crystal ball for next summer, they see the tropics. They see parties. They see fun, a return to the Roaring ’20s, the carefree ’50s.

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  1. but it looks like I didn’t miss much

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