Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 BP deploys new cap to finally seal rogue well

by Mira Oberman, AFP

35 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – BP lowered Monday a new cap onto the ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil pipe, hoping to close its valves and cut off the flow of toxic crude once and for all.

Almost 13 weeks after the disaster began with a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, the end is finally in sight as engineers place the “Top Hat 10” device over the giant gusher a mile down on the sea floor.

BP chief operating officer said once the cap was connected and its valves closed to shut off the flow, critical pressure tests would be carried out to study the well’s integrity.

2 Somalia’s Shebab militants claim deadly Uganda attacks

by Ben Simon, AFP

34 mins ago

KAMPALA (AFP) – Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels claimed responsibility Monday for bombings in Kampala that killed 74 people as they watched the World Cup final, in the region’s worst attacks in 12 years.

The twin attacks in the Ugandan capital dampened Africa’s post World Cup euphoria, drew a barrage of global condemnation and marked an unprecedented internationalisation of Somalia’s two-decade-old civil war.

“We are behind the attack because we are at war with them,” Ali Mohamoud Rage, the Shebab group’s top spokesman told reporters in Mogadishu.

3 ICC adds genocide to charges against Sudan’s president

by Mariette le Roux, AFP

1 hr 6 mins ago

THE HAGUE (AFP) – The International Criminal Court added three genocide counts Monday to the charges against Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir in a move hailed as “a victory” by rebels.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that (Omar al-Beshir) acted with specific intent to destroy in part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups” in Darfur, said a new warrant issued Monday — the court’s first for genocide.

The Justice and Equality Movement rebel group called the development “a victory for the people of Darfur and the entire humanity.”

4 EU finance ministers vow to help stressed banks

by Laurent Thomet, AFP

58 mins ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) – European finance ministers sought Monday to restore confidence in Europe’s economy, vowing to help banks that fail financial “stress tests” and crack down on governments with big deficits.

Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said governments would “take the necessary measures” if the tests show that some banks appear vulnerable to a new economic crisis.

Finance ministers also defended the methodology of the tests and denied that standards had been watered down to ensure good scores for the 91 banks being examined.

5 Sarkozy rejects cash claim, says France not corrupt

AFP

32 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy firmly rejected on Monday allegations that he took illegal cash donations from France’s richest woman, declaring “France is not a corrupt country.”

Sarkozy backed Labour Minister Eric Woerth, accused of accepting 150,000 euros from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt during the 2007 presidential race and of conflict of interest because his wife helped manage the billionaire’s wealth.

“France is not a corrupt country,” the president declared in a prime time interview on French television. “The political class, left and right alike, is in general honest. French public officials are people of great rigour.”

6 World Cup winners Spain return home to rapturous welcome

by Daniel Silva, AFP

30 mins ago

MADRID (AFP) – Spain’s victorious World Cup squad returned to a heroes’ welcome in Madrid on Monday with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering the team as they paraded through the capital’s streets on an open top bus.

People chanted “Campeones! Campeones! Campeones!” and waved red and gold Spanish flags at the players as the black bus crawled along a roughly eight-kilometre (five-mile) route through the city’s main thoroughfares amid scorching temperatures.

Fans waved at the players from balconies while others climbed on trees to get a better view of the 23-man squad which won the World Cup on Sunday for the first time in Spain’s history with a 1-0 extra-time defeat of the Netherlands.

7 Extra-time Iniesta secures World Cup for Spain

by Angus MacKinnon, AFP

Sun Jul 11, 7:51 pm ET

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Andres Iniesta secured the World Cup for Spain for the first time in their history by scoring the only goal of an enthralling final against the Netherlands four minutes from the end of extra-time on Sunday.

Just as it seemed a third World Cup final was destined to be settled by a penalty shoot-out, the Barcelona midfielder found himself in space in the Dutch box and hammered an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

It was a cruel blow for a Dutch side that had hoped to eradicate memories of the country’s defeats in the 1974 and 1978 finals.

8 Spain erupts in nationwide fiesta as ‘dream comes true’

by Denholm Barnetson, AFP

Sun Jul 11, 7:18 pm ET

MADRID (AFP) – A thunderous roar erupted across the Spanish capital and fans danced in the streets chanting “Viva Espana!” as the country’s first ever World Cup trophy sparked a nationwide fiesta.

The centre of Madrid was a sea of the red and gold national colours as Spain celebrated its nailbiting 1-0 extra-time win over Holland Sunday.

The deafening sounds of cheering, klaxons, firecrackers and cars horns rang out as the World Cup’s perennial underachievers won the trophy in their first appearance in the final thanks to a late goal from Andres Iniesta.

9 Casillas true hero as Iniesta steals headlines

by Barnaby Chesterman, AFP

Sun Jul 11, 6:50 pm ET

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Andres Iniesta may grab the backpage headlines for his dramatic extra-time winner in the World Cup final on Sunday but the true match-winner was goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Being a football goalkeeper can be a precarious and lonely business at times as shot-stoppers are far more often branded as villains than heroes.

But the international goalkeeping fraternity will have noted with delight the two vital interventions made by Spain captain Casillas.

10 Stargazers in awe as total eclipse arcs across Pacific

by Martin Bernetti, AFP

Sun Jul 11, 6:01 pm ET

HANGA ROA, Chile (AFP) – A total solar eclipse drew an 11,000-kilometer (6,800-mile) arc over the Pacific Sunday, plunging remote isles into darkness in a heavenly display climaxing on mysterious Easter Island.

The skies grew black in the middle of the day as the Moon slipped in front of the Sun and aligned with the Earth, blotting out the sunshine that just moments earlier had swathed the island’s silent, ancient stone guardians.

Applause erupted from thousands of stargazers who began gathering days ago on this remote Chilean outpost for the rare four-minute, 41-second eclipse.

11 Japan business leaders fear political stalemate

by Kyoko Hasegawa, AFP

Mon Jul 12, 11:35 am ET

TOKYO (AFP) – Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s urged Japan on Monday to get to grips with its public debt as business leaders warned the country faces a lengthy stalemate after the government’s rout at weekend polls.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Sunday suffered a major setback at elections to the upper house of parliament that spell the loss of its slim majority and create obstacles for much-need fiscal reforms.

The head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tadashi1 Okamura, warned after the result: “We cannot afford to delay the national policy even for a second.”

12 Wall Street bill could face further delay in Senate

By Andy Sullivan, Reuters

Mon Jul 12, 1:00 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The biggest rewrite of financial rules since the 1930s could face further delay in Congress, a congressional aide suggested on Monday, as backers had yet to secure votes needed to clear a final hurdle.

Senate Democrats have not yet abandoned their hope to give final congressional approval to the landmark measure this week and send it on to President Barack Obama to sign into law. They picked up an important Republican swing vote on Monday.

But with one Democratic seat vacant and other possible Republican allies tight-lipped after a weeklong break, backers remained short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle in the 100-seat chamber.

13 Uganda bombs kill 74, Islamists claim attack

By Elias Biryabarema. AFP

2 hrs 32 mins ago

KAMPALA (Reuters) – Somali Islamists said on Monday they had carried out two bomb attacks in Uganda that killed 74 soccer fans watching the World Cup final on television.

The explosions in the closing moments of Sunday’s match ripped through a crowded restaurant and a rugby club in the capital Kampala.

Al Shabaab militants in anarchic Somalia had already threatened to attack Uganda for sending peacekeeping troops to prop up its fragile, Western-backed government.

14 Bernanke says spurring credit key to rebound

By Mark Felsenthal, Reuters

1 hr 41 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boosting credit to struggling small businesses is vital to keep a tepid U.S. recovery on track but wary banks can’t be forced to lend from their bountiful reserves, Federal Reserve officials said on Monday.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke underlined the necessity for companies — many still working their way back to health from the deep recession — to be able to get loans when they need them to expand and to hire.

“To support the recovery, we need to find ways to ensure that credit-worthy borrowers have access to needed loans,” he told a Fed-sponsored conference on small business financing.

15 Omar Khadr says rejected Guantanamo plea deal

By Jane Sutton, Reuters

Mon Jul 12, 12:39 pm ET

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – A Canadian captive at the Guantanamo prison said on Monday he rejected a plea deal that would have freed him in five years if he admitted to killing a U.S. soldier in battle.

Omar Khadr, now 23, was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 and has spent more than a third of his life at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo in eastern Cuba. He is to go on trial on August 10 on charges of murdering a soldier with a grenade.

In a pre-trial hearing at the U.S. war crimes court at the base, he told a military judge that the deal would have seem him sentenced to 30 years in prison, with all but five years suspended, in return for an admission of guilt.

16 Spain basks in World Cup glory

By Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters

Mon Jul 12, 9:32 am ET

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Spain gloried on Monday in a first World Cup triumph that finally buried their decades-old tag of international underachievers while the dejected Netherlands came to terms with a third defeat in the final.

But the finale in Johannesburg of the first World Cup held in Africa was scarred by a horrific turn of events elsewhere on the continent when bombs ripped through two bars packed with fans in Uganda, killing 64 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but al Qaeda-inspired militants in Somalia have previously threatened to attack Uganda for sending peacekeepers there.

17 BP works to put a tighter-fitting cap on the well

By TOM BREEN and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers

17 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – Deep-sea robots swarmed around BP’s ruptured oil well Monday in a delicately choreographed effort to attach a tighter-fitting cap that could finally stop crude from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico nearly three months into the crisis.

Video of the billowing brown oil leak showed glimpses of yellow equipment and swinging robot arms engaged in a project akin to building a giant Lego tower underwater.

BP officials said that the 18-foot-high, 150,000-pound metal cap should be attached on Monday but that they will have to test and monitor the equipment for two days to see if it can throttle the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. Late Monday afternoon, the cap was being lowered into place and was just 40 feet away from the top of the well.

18 Baby animals in oil spill face uncertain future

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer

49 mins ago

FORT JACKSON, La. – The smallest victims are the biggest challenge for crews rescuing birds fouled with oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill.

There’s no way to know how many chicks have been killed by the oil, or starved because their parents were rescued or died struggling in a slick.

“There are plenty of oiled babies out there,” said Rebecca Dmytryk of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, one of the groups working to clean oiled animals.

19 Gingrich says he’s considering presidential run

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

45 mins ago

DES MOINES, Iowa – Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday he’s seriously considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination and will announce his decision early next year.

Gingrich, 67, told The Associated Press that he would focus on helping Republican candidates through the midterm elections in November, then decide in February or March whether to seek the GOP nomination.

“I’ve never been this serious,” Gingrich said.

20 New al-Qaida threat: Somali group claims blasts

By MAX DELANY and JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writers

50 mins ago

KAMPALA, Uganda – East Africa saw the emergence of a new international terrorist group Monday, as Somalia’s most dangerous al-Qaida-linked militia claimed responsibility for the twin bombings in Uganda that killed 74 people during the World Cup.

The claim by al-Shabab, whose fighters are trained by militant veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, resets the security equation in East Africa and has broader implications worldwide. The group in the past has recruited Somali-Americans to carry out suicide bombings in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab, an ultraconservative Islamic group that has drawn comparisons to the Taliban, has long threatened to attack outside of Somalia’s borders, but the bombings late Sunday are the first time the group has done so.

21 Small companies denied credit as big firms thrive

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

6 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Big companies are building up cash and are expected to report strong earnings starting this week. Not so for small businesses that can’t get loans – or hire freely until they do.

The gap helps explain why the economic rebound isn’t stronger and could even stall. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stepped up pressure Monday on banks to break the logjam and lend more to smaller firms, which employ at least half of American workers.

Small business owners are relying on personal credit cards or raiding retirement accounts to stay afloat, the Fed chairman said.

22 Int’l Court charges Sudan president with genocide

By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 4 mins ago

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court on Monday charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime.

The decision marked the first time the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges.

An arrest warrant for al-Bashir said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that since April 2003 Sudanese forces attempted genocide against the Darfur tribal groups Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

23 Spain World Cup fiesta goes wild, boosts unity

By ALAN CLENDENNING and FRANK GRIFFITHS, Associated Press Writers

9 mins ago

MADRID – Spain erupted with its biggest fiesta in memory Monday when its football team returned to a jubilant nation after winning the World Cup, giving elated Spaniards a break from months of economic gloom and political squabbling.

Hundreds of thousands of people – if not more – jammed Madrid’s historic avenues as an open air bus ferried the national team down stately avenues to cheers from Spaniards decked out in a sea of red and yellow, the colors of the Spanish flag.

The celebration in Madrid, where national unity is at its strongest, was expected. But there were striking examples of support from unlikely places: The well-off Catalonia region, which has long sought greater autonomy, and the separatist Basque region, where anything pro-Spain is often shunned.

24 Spain celebrates first World Cup

By BARRY WILNER, AP Sports Writer

Mon Jul 12, 7:05 am ET

JOHANNESBURG – They kissed and hugged and held high the golden trophy for all of Soccer City and Africa and the world to see. The exhaustion was gone now for Spain’s players, replaced by the exhilaration of winning the World Cup at long, long last.

A testy and often dirty match was won by Andres Iniesta’s goal late in extra time Sunday night. The 1-0 victory over the Netherlands before a shivering crowd at Soccer City Stadium gave Spain its first World Cup, and put the European champion Spaniards in elite company.

“I remember (Italy captain Fabio) Cannavaro told me that being world champion doesn’t happen every day,” captain Iker Casillas said. “This really is quite a cup. The European Championship was the most important moment of our lives, but today is much bigger than anything else.”

25 Critics: US too low-key on Islamic radicalism talk

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 12, 11:10 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s recent move to drop rhetorical references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists.

Several prominent counterterror experts are challenging the administration’s shift in its recently unveiled National Security Strategy, saying the terror threat should be defined in order to fight it.

The question of how to frame the conflict against al-Qaida and other terrorists poses a knotty problem. The U.S. is trying to mend fences with Muslim communities while toughening its strikes against militant groups.

26 Alzheimer’s advances show need for better drugs

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

Mon Jul 12, 6:35 am ET

Scientists are reporting advances in detecting and predicting Alzheimer’s disease at a conference in Honolulu this week, plus more proof that getting enough exercise and vitamin D may lower your risk.

There are better brain scans to spot Alzheimer’s disease. More genes that affect risk. Blood and spinal fluid tests that may help tell who will develop the mind-robbing illness and when.

But what is needed most – a treatment that does more than just ease symptoms – is not at hand.

27 FDA to review first of 3 new weight loss drugs

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer

20 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Dieters, doctors and investors get their first extensive look at the first of a trio of new weight loss drugs this week. The hope is that the new drugs can succeed where many others have failed: delivering significant weight loss without risky side effects.

With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, expectations are high for the first new prescription drug therapies to emerge in more than a decade. Even a modestly effective drug has blockbuster potential.

None of the three medicines represents a breakthrough in research. Drugmakers have made little headway in understanding and treating the causes of overeating. Two of the drugs submitted for approval simply combine different existing drugs – one with worrying side effects. The third, a new medication, is safer but less effective.

28 Japan braces for gridlock after ruling party loss

By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jul 12, 8:48 am ET

TOKYO – Japan’s ruling party faced the prospect of political gridlock Monday after an election setback that could undermine its attempts to reduce a ballooning budget deficit and revive growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

Half of the 242 seats in the upper house of parliament were up for grabs Sunday. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan won only 44 seats – far below its stated goal of 54 – while opposition parties made major gains.

That leaves the Democrats and their tiny coalition partner with 110 seats, well below their majority of 122 before the vote. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party won 51 seats, bringing its total to 84.

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  1. U.S. Issues Revised Offshore Drilling Ban

    Interior Secretary Ken Salazar  issued revised rules on Monday for a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil  drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, replacing an earlier one that had been declared invalid by federal courts.  

    The revised moratorium would allow some drilling rigs to resume operating under certain conditions. To qualify, the rig’s owners must prove that they have adequate plans in place to quickly shut down an out-of-control well, that the blowout preventers atop the wells it drills have passed rigorous new tests, and that sufficient cleanup resources are on hand in case of a spill. Industry officials said it would be difficult to meet those conditions quickly and that the restrictions would threaten the jobs of thousands of rig workers.

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