Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Taliban kidnap candidate on eve of Afghan poll

by Lynne O’Donnell, AFP

Fri Sep 17, 12:39 pm ET

KABUL (AFP) – The Taliban kidnapped an Afghan parliamentary candidate on Friday and were blamed for snatching another 18 election workers, as President Hamid Karzai warned of “irregularities” in the weekend poll.

The militia, fighting an insurgency for nine years since being ousted from power, have threatened attacks to disrupt Saturday’s poll and called for a boycott, putting security forces on high alert.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for abducting Abdul Rahman Hayat, a candidate from eastern Lagman province, and an electoral official also blamed the other kidnappings on the Taliban, who have already killed three candidates.

2 Chile drilling operation reaches trapped miners

AFP

2 hrs 53 mins ago

COPIAPO, Chile (AFP) – A drilling operation Friday reached 33 miners trapped in a Chile mine since early August, but the 630-meter (2,070-foot) deep hole now must be widened to bring the men out safely, a government official said.

The work still required to extract the miners was to take at least another six weeks, according to officials’ estimates.

The government official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said a T-130 drilling machine had broken through to a work area in the tunnel where the miners were holed up, opening a 30-centimeter (12-inch) hole in the roof.

3 Busted well to be ‘completely sealed’ by Saturday: BP

by Michael Mathes, AFP

13 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – BP began pumping cement into its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well Friday as part of a final effort to permanently seal it, capping a months-long effort to end the worst maritime oil spill in history.

“It is expected that the MC252 well will be completely sealed on Saturday,” after a relief well successfully intersected the shaft this week, the British energy giant said earlier.

The cementing “is expected to take a few hours,” a BP spokeswoman told AFP. The company said earlier that after cementing, “standard plugging and abandonment procedures for the relief well” will go ahead before it can be completely sealed.

4 Samsung takes aim at Apple’s iPad, iTunes

by Chris Lefkow, AFP

28 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung took aim at Apple’s iPad and iTunes on Friday with the US launch of its new Galaxy tablet computer and an online entertainment hub for movies and television shows.

Samsung said US wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon will sell the Galaxy Tab, which was unveiled at the IFA electronics trade fair in Berlin, Germany, in early September.

Samsung said the Galaxy Tab would be available in the United States in the “coming months” but did not provide pricing details of the touchscreen device seen as its answer to the iPad.

5 London Fashion Week starts with record global support

by Ruth Holmes, AFP

Fri Sep 17, 12:45 pm ET

LONDON (AFP) – British designers stepped out to prove their worth on the world stage at the start of London Fashion Week on Friday, as organisers hailed the capital as the globe’s “number one fashion destination”.

British fashion icons Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith and Betty Jackson will feature in this season’s event alongside international brands Burberry Prorsum, Pringle of Scotland, and Mulberry, as well as London’s emerging young talent.

Hot on the heels of New York Fashion Week, the event — featuring 66 catwalk shows over six days — will attract the biggest ever turnout of international buyers, said organisers the British Fashion Council (BFC).

6 Number of poor in US jumps to record 43.7 million

by Karin Zeitvogel, AFP

Thu Sep 16, 7:35 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The number of people living in poverty in the United States leapt by nearly four million last year to 43.7 million, the highest number since the US Census began collecting data on America’s poor 51 years ago, officials said Thursday.

One in seven people lived below the poverty line in 2009 in the world’s richest nation, or on less than 22,000 dollars a year for a family of four.

That put the poverty rate at 14.3 percent, the highest level since 1994, said David Johnson, head of the US Census Bureau’s housing and household economic division.

7 Sri Lanka ‘jails ex-army chief Fonseka’

by Amal Jayasinghe, AFP

Fri Sep 17, 12:10 pm ET

COLOMBO (AFP) – A court martial in Sri Lanka convicted former army chief Sarath Fonseka on Friday of corruption and sentenced him to three years, a top military official told AFP.

The military court, whose decision must now be ratified by President Mahinda Rajapakse, found that Fonseka favoured an arms company run by his son-in-law, said the official, who asked not to be named.

He was charged on four counts of corrupt purchases for the military.

8 At least 25 killed in Sri Lanka blast

by Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Fri Sep 17, 12:05 pm ET

KARADIYANARU, Sri Lanka (AFP) – A blast at an explosives depot in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday killed at least 25 people, including two Chinese road builders and destroyed a police station, the military said.

Three container loads of munitions being stored at a police station in Karadiyanaru, 235 miles (375 kilometres) from Colombo, exploded while some of it was being loaded in a truck by Chinese contractors.

Friday’s blast was the first major explosion in Sri Lanka since government forces ended its 37-year-year battle against Tamil Tiger rebels by wiping out the top guerrilla leadership in May last year.

9 Core CPI flat, deflation fears linger

By Lucia Mutikani, Reuters

4 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Underlying U.S. inflation pressures were muted in August and consumer morale hit a 13-month low this month, keeping fears of deflation alive and spurring bets on further monetary easing.

Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent last month as food prices rebounded and energy costs marched higher, the Labor Department said on Friday. But core prices, which ignore volatile food and energy costs, were unexpectedly flat.

Bond traders pushed up prices for U.S. government debt on speculation the Federal Reserve would eventually have to resume large-scale debt purchases to spur the economy and keep the risk of a downward spiral in prices at bay.

10 Wall St critic Warren named consumer financial czar

By Jeff Mason and Alister Bull, Reuters

1 hr 12 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama named Wall Street critic Elizabeth Warren as his new consumer financial czar on Friday, drawing praise from liberals and an outcry from Republican opponents and the financial industry.

Warren, a Harvard law professor and outspoken consumer advocate, will set up a powerful new consumer financial protection agency, a centerpiece of the sweeping regulatory overhaul Obama signed into law in July.

“From now on, consumers will … have a tough, independent watchdog whose job it is to stand up for their financial interests, for their families’ future,” Obama said in the White House Rose Garden with Warren at his side, as he highlighted her working-class roots as a janitor’s daughter.

11 What has Wall Street got against Elizabeth Warren?

By Alister Bull, Reuters

2 hrs 9 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren is either one of the best qualified people in America to set up President Barack Obama’s new consumer financial watchdog, or the financial industry’s worst nightmare who would hound banks and crush financial innovation.

She could of course be both, and has even inspired a rap song by the Main Street Brigade that praises “Sheriff Warren” because “she wants to expose the banks and all the greed.”

This is an example, depending on your point of view, of exactly what Wall Street is worried about or of Warren’s credibility with ordinary Americans on Main Street.

12 Palin tests 2012 presidential waters in Iowa

By Steve Holland, Reuters

32 mins ago

DES MOINES (Reuters) – Will Sarah Palin use her “Tea Party” power to launch a run for president in 2012? Nobody knows, but her trip to Iowa on Friday may provide some clues.

Palin speaks at the Iowa Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, her influence among Tea Party activists strong after conservative candidates she backed won in Delaware and New Hampshire Senate primary races on Tuesday.

The former Alaska governor, who was Republican Senator John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in the 2008 campaign, remains coy about whether she will join what could be a long list of challengers to Democratic President Barack Obama.

13 Alabama says BP denies its claim over oil spill

By Matthew Bigg, Reuters

Fri Sep 17, 12:43 pm ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) – BP Plc has turned down Alabama’s claim for $148 million in lost government revenue due to the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the state’s attorney general, Troy King, said on Friday.

BP denied the claim because it said there was ongoing litigation but in fact the energy giant was “playing games” with Alabama and other states on the Gulf of Mexico coast, King said in an interview.

“They (BP) said they wouldn’t discuss it (the claim) because there is litigation. They are playing games in my opinion. BP is taking advantage of the fact that states are in a budget crisis and they are doing a masterful job,” King said.

14 Japan PM rejigs cabinet

By Chisa Fujioka and Yoko Kubota, Reuters

Fri Sep 17, 12:29 pm ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan kept allies in key posts in a cabinet reshuffle on Friday, signaling he plans to press ahead with efforts to curb a huge public debt as he struggles with a strong yen and weak economy.

He also appointed a new foreign minister, conservative security expert Seiji Maehara, who faces tense ties with China over a territorial dispute and strains with ally the United States over a U.S. airbase.

A proponent of close U.S. ties, Maehara expressed concern over Beijing’s military buildup at his first news conference as foreign minister, underscoring Tokyo’s growing wariness about its giant neighbor’s intentions.

15 Dems to voters: You may hate us, but GOP is worse

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

9 mins ago

WASHINGTON – With just six weeks to avoid a possible election catastrophe, Democrats are trying to limit the damage with a closing argument that’s more plea than platform: We know you voters are furious with us, but just let us explain why the Republicans would be worse.

The strategy requires an autumn influx of voters willing to view the election as a choice between two imperfect parties – and imperfect candidates on each ballot line – rather than as a chance to slap the Washington establishment that the public seems to dislike so deeply.

But the Democrats admit the Republicans have a big emotional advantage with voters who are fed up with high unemployment, soaring deficits and what many see as an arrogant Congress and administration that rammed a revolutionary health care plan down their throats.

16 Obama picks consumer adviser, dodging Senate fight

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

17 mins ago

WASHINGTON – In a poke in the eye to the financial community, President Barack Obama on Friday named Elizabeth Warren, an aggressive consumer advocate and Wall Street adversary, to oversee creation of a new agency to regulate banks, lenders and credit card companies.

Sidestepping a Senate confirmation fight – for now – Obama stopped short of nominating Warren to actually head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Instead, his action will let the Harvard Law School professor and expert on bankruptcy move quickly to shape the bureau.

Senate Republicans view her as too critical of Wall Street and big banks. The business and banking community opposed Warren as director of the new bureau, contending she would make the agency too aggressive. Obama praised her highly.

17 Cement starts flowing to plug BP well for good

By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 4 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – Crews started pumping cement Friday deep under the seafloor to permanently plug BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

A BP spokesman said there no longer was a need to use mud in tandem with the cement because pressure from the well wasn’t an issue.

BP expects the well to be completely sealed on Saturday. The government had previously said it expected the well to be declared dead by Sunday, but on Friday the Coast Guard indicated the culmination was likely to be Saturday.

18 UAL, Continental shareholders approve airline deal

By DAVID KOENIG and JOSHUA FREED, AP Airlines Writers

1 hr 1 min ago

Shareholders of United and Continental airlines voted Friday to approve a combination of their companies that would create the world’s biggest airline and could have far-reaching effects on where they fly and how much they charge passengers.

The companies expect the $3 billion stock swap to close in the next two weeks after tying up loose ends. Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have already signaled approval.

At both companies, the vote for the deal topped 98 percent.

19 Afghans head to polls as Taliban threats mount

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 41 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban have written threats on leaflets passed out at mosques, whispered them in villages, proclaimed them to journalists and posted on the Internet: If you vote in Saturday’s parliamentary elections, prepare to be attacked.

How many Afghans ignore this intimidation campaign and turn out at the polls will be one measure of whether the vote is considered a success.

The elections – the first since a fraud-ridden presidential poll a year ago – are seen both as a test of the Afghan government’s commitment to rooting out corruption and as a measure of the strength of the insurgency.

20 Americans struggle to regain their shrunken wealth

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

8 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Americans’ long journey to regain the wealth they lost in the recession is stalled.

Households failed even to run in place during the April-June quarter as sinking stock prices eroded wealth. Stocks have since rebounded. But based on last quarter’s data, household net worth would have to rise 23 percent to revisit its pre-recession peak.

Net worth – the value of assets like homes and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards – fell 2.7 percent last quarter, or $1.5 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Friday. It now stands at $53.5 trillion.

21 Colbert to rally against faux nemesis Stewart

By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press Writer

22 mins ago

WASHINGTON – “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is hosting a “million moderate march” in Washington – for people who think shouting is annoying – but faux political nemesis Stephen Colbert will be nearby to keep fear alive against those “dark, optimistic forces.”

Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” and his arch enemy on the network plan to hold opposing political rallies on the National Mall just before the November elections.

Stewart interrupted his regular fake newscast Thursday night to announce a “Rally to Restore Sanity” on Oct. 30. He said it’s for people too busy with their normal lives to go to other political rallies.

22 Consumer prices rise 0.3 percent in August

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

1 hr 47 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Consumer prices posted a small rise in August, but outside of a big jump in volatile gasoline prices, inflation was essentially flat.

Consumer prices edged up 0.3 percent in August, matching the July increase, the Labor Department said Friday. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, showed no increase in August.

The 2007-2009 recession and the weak recovery since have banished inflation as an immediate threat. Sluggish demand is preventing most businesses from raising prices and high unemployment is keeping a lid on wage pressures.

23 NYC storm leaves 14-mile path of destruction

By VERENA DOBNIK and SARA KUGLER FRAZIER, Associated Press Writers

41 mins ago

NEW YORK – A brief but vicious storm that churned through New York City left a 14-mile path of destruction from Brooklyn to Queens, toppling trees, peeling away roofs and killing a woman in a car who had just swapped seats with her husband.

The National Weather Service sought Friday to determine whether the fury of wind and rain that hit the previous evening was a tornado. City officials said the storm hopped across New York Harbor from Staten Island and barreled uninterrupted from Park Slope in Brooklyn all the way to the Bayside neighborhood in Queens.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe estimated the storm destroyed more than 1,000 trees. He said forestry experts were finding damage patterns consistent with twisting winds, rather than more typical sideways winds.

24 Chechen separatist Zakayev arrested in Poland

By DAVID RISING and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writers

57 mins ago

WARSAW, Poland – One of Russia’s most wanted men – a charismatic Chechen activist who counts Vanessa Redgrave among his supporters – was arrested in Poland Friday on Russian charges related to Chechnya’s separatist war of the 1990s, but later set free.

Akhmed Zakayev faces charges of murder, kidnapping and terrorism.

Zakayev, who was granted asylum in Britain years ago, maintains the accusations are trumped up and defiantly told Radio Free Europe the day before his arrest that he was in Poland “absolutely legally” and would not hide from authorities. The Kremlin casts the dapper activist as a dangerous guerrilla mastermind.

25 Flying high, Sarah Palin’s next stops: Iowa, TV

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

Fri Sep 17, 10:17 am ET

DES MOINES, Iowa – Sarah Palin is on a roll as she heads to Iowa, the state that’s made and broken more than its share of presidential dreams.

Endorsements by the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee have helped propel a number of upstart Republican contenders to victory in recent primaries, including a double win Tuesday in Delaware and New Hampshire. Her cable TV show makes its debut in November.

But first Iowa.

26 Friends, neighbors share memories of blast victims

By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer

13 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – The five women grew up together and shared high school and college graduations, weddings, the births of their children and family vacations.

Four of them gathered to mourn the one who was missing – Jacqueline Greig, 44, who was killed with her 13-year-old daughter Janessa in a natural gas pipeline blast that tore through their house and destroyed almost 40 homes in their neighborhood.

“She had integrity, poise. She wanted to set a good example, and that is what she did,” said Monica Medina-Campos, one of those friends.

27 ‘Sexting’ Wisconsin prosecutor to get therapy

By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer

1 min ago

MADISON, Wis. – A Wisconsin district attorney says he’ll get therapy and consider taking time off work but won’t resign over sexually tinged text messages to a domestic abuse victim.

At a news conference Friday, Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz offered a “sincere and heartfelt apology not only to the young woman but to everyone who has been so deeply affected by this lack of judgment.”

But Kratz left without taking questions and didn’t respond to calls for his resignation. He said only he would consider taking personal time off work as the court calendar will allow.

28 Newspaper’s revelation rocks photographer’s family

By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 43 mins ago

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Civil rights movement veterans are struggling to explain the motives of a revered photographer recently unmasked as an FBI informant who spied on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others even as he captured their most intimate moments. His children don’t believe it’s true.

This was to have been the season to honor the late Ernest C. Withers for his historic work, with his photos displayed at a museum bearing his name.

All that has been overshadowed by The Commercial Appeal newspaper revealing he was an informant who regularly tipped authorities about civil rights leaders, many of whom trusted him so completely that he was allowed to sit in on their most sensitive meetings.

29 Texas Gov. Perry criticizes GOP leader Boehner

By JAY ROOT, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 29 mins ago

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has positioned himself as a national figure on firebrand conservative causes, has criticized U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner for seeking a possible compromise on tax cuts with President Barack Obama.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Perry also embraced the two newly elected Republicans backed by the tea party movement in Delaware and New York – candidates that many establishment Republicans have shunned.

Perry has made Washington a whipping post in his campaign for an unprecedented third term, and he hasn’t always limited his ire to Democrats. The longest serving governor in Texas history has often been mentioned as a 2012 presidential or vice-presidential contender even though he insists he’s not interested.

30 Ga. capital cases in US Supreme Court crosshairs

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer

Fri Sep 17, 10:55 am ET

ATLANTA – The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped into four Georgia death penalty cases in the last year or so, and it could yet again intervene – this time over a defendant who said he languished in jail because the state couldn’t pay his lawyers.

It’s the latest test for Georgia’s justice system, which has come under scrutiny in recent years. The state’s new public defender program has had funding trouble ever since it spent $3 million in 2008 defending Brian Nichols, the man convicted of killing a judge, court reporter, sheriff’s deputy and federal agent during a 2005 rampage at an Atlanta courthouse. And the Georgia Supreme Court has been criticized for not reviewing death penalty appeals closely enough.

In this case, Jamie Ryan Weis, who is accused of killing a 73-year-old woman, argues there was a “complete breakdown” in the system when he sat in jail without an attorney for more than two years. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide after a closed-door conference Sept. 27 whether it wants to intervene.

31 Guarded praise for chief’s response to cop beating

By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 16, 11:00 pm ET

DALLAS – The Dallas police chief won guarded praise Thursday for his handling of the release of dashboard camera video that showed white officers hitting a black suspect, but some people disputed his claims that the beating was an isolated incident and not racially motivated.

Chief David Brown released copies of the video when he announced that three officers would face criminal charges. Brown also asked the FBI to launch a civil rights investigation and met with the man injured by officers, along with his father and pastor.

Police said there were no reports of unrest or protests Thursday, a day after the video was released, and a civil rights leader acknowledged that was in part due to Brown.

32 Key witness in jeopardy for detainee’s NYC trial

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 16, 7:58 pm ET

NEW YORK – A judge on Thursday said he might not decide for weeks whether the harsh interrogation of the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in civilian courts means the government’s biggest witness can’t testify at his trial on charges stemming from the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s decision not to rush a ruling in the case against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani after a three-day hearing in Manhattan left prosecutors scrambling to configure their case with and without the testimony of Hussein Abebe, who said he sold Ghailani explosives.

The judge said he might not rule until after opening statements, scheduled for Oct. 4.

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  1. Apparently at a $30k/plate fund raising dinner last night in CT, the President once again decided to bash part of his base and mocked the supporters of the public option

    OBAMA: Democrats, just congenitally, tend to get – to see the glass as half empty. (Laughter.) If we get an historic health care bill passed – oh, well, the public option wasn’t there. If you get the financial reform bill passed – then, well, I don’t know about this particularly derivatives rule, I’m not sure that I’m satisfied with that. And gosh, we haven’t yet brought about world peace and – (laughter.) I thought that was going to happen quicker. (Laughter.) You know who you are. (Laughter.) We have had the most productive, progressive legislative session in at least a generation.

    “Congenitally”? Mr. President. do you “congenitally” have your foot in your mouth?

    Jane Hamsher was on Dylan Ratigan Show this afternoon and blasted him for this and at FDL Action

    This man is an arrogant ass.

    “the most progressive legislation in a generation”? Is he serious? He just put these predator insurance companies in charge of your life and mandates you to buy their junk using a government agency, the IRS, as its enforcer and collection agent. Next thing is you’ll have your knee caps broken for not paying their vigorish.

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