Evening Edition

The ECB’s main interest rate will undoubtedly remain at a record low 1.0 percent set in May 2009 and bank president Jean-Claude Trichet will press banks again to draw on state support if necessary to bolster balance sheets.

Around 100 banks across Europe are being subjected to “stress tests” aimed at determining whether they can withstand shocks such as another recession or the default of a major borrower.

In a solemn ceremony held amid tight security, Petraeus received the colours of US and NATO forces engaged in the Afghan war, marking his assumption of command over the 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Wearing fatigues, he told a small crowd of Afghan military, civilian VIPs and diplomats, the war had reached a “critical moment” and reiterated his call for a united effort against the Taliban-led insurgency in the country.

The four-star general, who arrived in the Afghan capital on Friday, faces a tough task to bring peace and secure a face-saving exit for allied troops fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency by the hardline Islamists.

“This is an effort in which we must achieve unity of effort and common purpose. Civilian and military, Afghan and international, we are part of one team with one mission,” Petraeus said at the US embassy in Kabul.

“I congratulate the winner. I congratulate Bronislaw Komorowski,” the eurosceptic Kaczynski said in a speech at his Warsaw headquarters, as supporters gasped when the figures were revealed the moment voting ended.

Komorowski, the acting president and the candidate for Poland’s governing liberals, won 53.1 percent of the vote to conservative Kaczynski’s 46.9 percent, according to an exit poll for public broadcaster TVP.

Biden, on the second day of a visit to Baghdad, made his comments after separate meetings with the two men whose feud over who should lead Iraq’s new government as prime minister has deadlocked the political process.

He also stressed America had no “hidden agenda” over the outcome of the dispute which has overshadowed a phased withdrawal of US combat troops after seven years of operations since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Biden, wearing a blue blazer and khaki slacks, was accompanied on the trip by his wife Jill, who was on her first trip to a country which has failed to form a new government since a close general election race on March 7.

The White House said the couple was “in Iraq to celebrate the Fourth of July with US troops,” but in his first remarks to reporters the vice president indicated that politics was at the heart of his unannounced visit.

Netherlands are favoured to defeat Uruguay in the first semi-final Tuesday while Spain and Germany clash a day later in an intriguing repeat of the 2008 Euro final settled by a Fernando Torres strike.

Torres is having a bittersweet tournament as he helps Spain move within two victories of a first World Cup title while unable to regain the scoring touch that made him feared.

Villa, who now has five goals in the tournament, struck the winner seven minutes from the end of what had been a disjointed quarter-final performance from the fancied Spaniards in a game that saw both goalkeepers save second-half penalties.

Germany, who lost to Spain in the Euro 2008 final, had earlier thumped Argentina 4-0 in Cape Town.

Germany now face either Spain or Paraguay, who meet later on Saturday, in Durban next Wednesday with a place in the final at Johannesburg’s Soccer City on July 11 at stake.

It was the third time at these finals that rampant Germany had scored four goals in a match while Argentina superstar Lionel Messi once again failed to reach the heights expected of him.

Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saved skipper John Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah’s attempts after the quarter-final had been locked at 1-1 after extra time.

Two-time World Cup winners Uruguay will now play the Netherlands in the semi-finals in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Last Sunday’s swoop on sleeper agents — 10 in the United States and another in Cyprus — living unremarkable suburban American lives revived nostalgia for the shadowy hostilities of decades past between the two superpowers.

It also came exactly a week ahead of the Independence Day holiday, when US patriotism runs at an all-time high.

Flames engulfed dozens of earth and straw constructed homes as villagers, many of them children, crowded around the tanker after it overturned late on Friday to scavenge its contents.

“People tried to escape but were caught by the fire and reduced to ashes,” said Tondo Sahizira, a 28-year-old teacher at Sange, home to some 50,000 people located around 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of the Sud-Kivu regional capital of Bukavu, close to the border with Burundi.

Rough seas and strong winds were expected to continue to delay clean-up efforts, displace protective booms and push the oil deeper into fragile coastal wetlands, endangering wildlife preserves and the thousands of birds nesting there.

“This is going to be a very long and arduous clean-up operation in the days to come,” said Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft.

The carnage at the Sufi shrine on Thursday was caught on camera in dramatic CCTV footage showing the bombers and the blast which sent hundreds of panicked worshippers fleeing in all directions engulfed in clouds of white smoke.

Thousands of protesters in Lahore and other cities demonstrated against the attack on the shrine dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh.

The Progress M-06M cargo ship, launched on June 30, is carrying 2.6 tonnes of fuel, food and water for the six astronauts on the station. Failure of automatic docking systems is known but a complete docking failure is very rare.

“The docking was scheduled at 20:58 Moscow time (1658 GMT),” a spokeswoman for mission control told AFP.

The Labor Department reported a net loss of 125,000 jobs last month even as unemployment fell to its lowest rate in almost a year.

The falling jobless rate — down from 9.7 percent in May — offered some succor to President Barack Obama, who is running out of time to put the economy firmly back on track before congressional elections in November.

But the New York event was marred by the arrest of Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi, Chestnut’s arch rival from Japan who had pulled out of the contest but tried to storm the stage and disrupt the victory ceremony.

Chestnut, the 26-year-old reigning champion, left the rest of the competition trailing as he retained the coveted prize, a mustard-yellow prize-fighter’s belt, with room to spare.

The man who captained the Selecao’s winning squad in 1994 has reached the end of his current contract and any hopes he may have harboured of being asked to stay on until Brazil hosts the tournament in 2014 were crushed by the Dutch, who came from behind to claim a 2-1 win on Friday.

“I was contracted for four years and we knew that from the start,” Dunga said. “During the last four years I have been very happy to coach this Brazilian team and if you look at the players’ faces you would understand how they feel.”

An exit poll by the TNS OBOP institute for public broadcaster TVP gave Komorowski 53.1 percent of the vote to Kaczynski’s 46.9 percent.

A rival poll by MillwardBrown SMG/KRC for private station TVN showed Komorowski with 51.09 percent to Kaczynski’s 48.91 percent.

What started as a childhood passion today offers a rare and little known pictorial record of Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese films, including many that no longer exist, lost over time because of wars, fires or simple neglect.

“I have loved cinema since I was a child and every Sunday, rather than go to church I would head to the movie theatre,” said the 52-year-old Abu Jawdeh, who runs a publishing house in Beirut’s Hamra district where his collection is stored.

A Taiwanese mega-skimmer dubbed “A Whale” was in position near the site of the leak and set to undergo 48 hours of “proof of concept” testing, Coast Guard spokeswoman Ayla Kelley told AFP.

The 300-yard (275-meter) long tanker can vacuum up 21 million gallons of oily water a day, separating oil from water and spitting the seawater back out.

The impact of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history on the Gulf of Mexico tourist industry was evident on its 76th day as dozens of workers picked up tar balls along Pensacola Beach.

“It’s … sad to see the beach is not as crowded as it normally is, there’s not as many people here. Not as many people in the restaurants. Very sad because you know they need the business,” said Derek Robbins, a tourist from Houston who has been coming to Pensacola every year for decades.

Britain’s Sunday Times said the company’s advisers were trying to drum up interest among rival oil groups and sovereign wealth funds to take a stake of between 5 and 10 percent in the company at a cost of up to 6 billion pounds ($9.1 billion).

Abu Dhabi newspaper The National said BP could get a reprieve from Middle East financial institutions looking to make a strategic investment, citing informed sources.

“We are engaged in a tough fight. After years of war we have arrived at a critical moment,” Petraeus told guests at a change-of-command ceremony at the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul.

“We all recognize the threat that the Taliban, al Qaeda and the other associated syndicate of extremists pose to this country, this region and to the world,” he said. “We are in this to win.”

In talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the top vote winner in the March 7 election, ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Biden promised U.S. support for Iraq’s democracy as it emerges from sectarian war but struggles to halt a stubborn insurgency.

He said Washington had a long-term commitment to Iraq despite plans to end U.S. combat operations in August and withdraw completely next year, and cautioned Iraq against falling under the sway of other nations in the region.

An exit poll by TVP state television gave Komorowski, who was previously acting president, 53 percent of the vote against 47 percent for his rival Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the right-wing main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS).

Partial results based on just 21 percent of ballots counted showed Komorowski on 51 percent and Kaczynski on 49 percent.

A police source said the blast occurred in the reception area of the heavily fortified compound in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of the capital. A hospital source said the 39 wounded included 13 police officers.

The sprawling desert province was the heartland of a fierce Sunni Islamist insurgency after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and was in the grip of al Qaeda. Its main cities, Ramadi and Falluja, witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the request last month because costs for upgrading water, electricity and other infrastructure to accommodate incoming personnel will likely exceed original estimates, Kyodo said, citing diplomatic sources.

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had raised the hopes of people on the Japanese southern island of Okinawa last year that the U.S. Futenma airbase could be moved off the island despite a 2006 deal to shift the base to a less crowded part of Okinawa.

Officials said on Saturday the explosion late on Friday also injured 196 people, adding that the death toll could rise.

They described scenes of devastation in the town of Sange, where houses were burned and bodies littered the streets. Some people died while trying to steal fuel leaking from the tanker, but most were killed at home or watching World Cup soccer in cinemas.

Speaking on the eve of a Polish presidential run-off, she held the country up as a model democracy that emerged from Soviet domination strong enough to survive an air crash that killed its president, military leaders and many lawmakers in April.

However, Clinton cited many countries — from Iran and North Korea to Cuba and Zimbabwe — where nongovernmental organizations are banned, harassed or restricted.

A former foreign minister, Otunbayeva, 59, came to power on April 7 during a popular revolt that overthrew the government of the small but strategically-placed central Asian state, which borders China and houses both U.S. and Russian military bases.

She was sworn in to act as president until the end of 2011 under the terms of a new constitution that voters backed in a referendum last week, creating a parliamentary system in a region otherwise dominated by authoritarian presidents.

Budget cuts have forced some communities to pull the plug on the pyrotechnics, but the gigantic Macy’s fireworks show will continue on Manhattan’s West Side, where it moved in 2009 after eight years on the East River. And that move has brought with it a change in fortune for businesses, too.

In the city that’s home to the $1,000 umbrella and the $175 cheeseburger, tickets have been sold at $1,450 a pair for one sweet spot to see the fireworks that are free for anyone standing on a nearby street corner or at a window.

Petraeus, who pioneered the counterinsurgency strategy he now oversees in Afghanistan, has just months to show progress in turning back insurgents and convince both the Afghan people and neighboring countries that the U.S. is committed to preventing the country from again becoming a haven for al-Qaida and its terrorist allies.

“We are engaged in a contest of wills,” Petraeus said as he accepted the command of U.S. and NATO forces before several hundred U.S., coalition and Afghan officials who gathered on a grassy area outside NATO headquarters in Kabul.

The attacks in Mosul and Ramadi underscored persistent fears that insurgents will exploit Iraq’s political uncertainty to stoke widespread sectarian violence. Four people were killed and 25 injured in the two blasts that occurred hundreds of miles apart.

The twin explosions on the Fourth of July illustrated the vexing nature of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and its efforts to nudge the country toward stability and democracy.

Offshore skimming vessels were able to operate in Louisiana waters, but not off the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, officials said.

“We’ve got our guys out there and they’re docked and ready, but safety is a huge concern for us, especially with the smaller vessels,” said Courtnee Ferguson, a spokeswoman for the Joint Information Command in Mobile, Ala.

Twenty-four people were injured, including at least two children who were in critical condition, police and hospital officials said.

The horses took off after one rubbed its head against the other, removing that horse’s bridle, police said. The horses, with a wagon in tow, galloped for several blocks, running over children and adults who sat and stood along the streets watching the parade in Bellevue. At one point, the wagon flipped, ejecting two people in it, police said.

Majestic views of the Teton Range. Prime location for luxury resort, home development. Pristine habitat for moose, elk, wolves, grizzlies.

Price: $125 million. Call: Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

As they face the possibility of losing the free-agent NBA superstar, residents wonder if the man they call King James might take a little of this struggling city’s economy with him.

“The kingdom lies where the king resides,” said Nick Kostis, owner of a restaurant and comedy club on East Fourth Street, a pedestrian-only district near the Cavaliers’ arena that began to take off in the early 2000s.

Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship Sunday. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival – six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi, who did not compete but crashed the stage after Chestnut’s win and wrestled with police.

“Let him eat! Let him eat!” the crowd chanted as police handcuffed the world’s No. 3 professional eater, dubbed “The Tsunami.”

Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, appearing on the Sunday talk shows while in the Afghan capital, said Obama’s decision to start pulling out in July 2011 is a mistake and will embolden Taliban and al-Qaida extremists. The senators and the Afghan envoy, Said Tayeb Jawad, said withdrawal should be based on a conditions on the ground, not a fixed date.

Their comments came as Gen. David Petraeus assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan. “We are in this to win,” he said, at a time of growing casualties and skepticism about the nearly 9-year-old war. Petraeus backs the withdrawal plan but has stressed it will also be based on conditions.

President Joseph Kabila declared a two-day national mourning period, and Red Cross workers sprayed chlorine and poured disinfectant powder over the blackened scene of the explosions in the village of Sange, where priests prayed during a brief memorial service on a barren football field.

In a conflict-strewn corner of one of the world’s most unstable countries, the shocking tragedy late Friday in the village of Sange was a devastating blow for residents in a still lawless region who survived back-to-back back wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002.

He and Clint Bowyer didn’t bother to talk strategy.

“It was every man for himself at that point,” Harvick said.

For the United States, big dreams and the confidence they inspire have always produced big deeds — the creation of a new nation, the taming of a wild frontier, the building of an industrial giant and the ascent of a superpower.

But on the weekend when we celebrate becoming Americans, an inability to plug a vomiting oil well in the Gulf of Mexico – or launch a coherent, effective cleanup response on par with the disaster – has many people along the coastline wondering whether we have lost our way.

The Gulf is lined with wooden shipwrecks, American-Indian shell midden mounds, World War II casualties, pirate colonies, historic hotels and old fishing villages. Researchers now fear this treasure seeker’s dream is threatened by BP PLC’s deepwater well blowout.

Within 20 miles of the well, there are several significant shipwrecks – ironically, discovered by oil companies’ underwater robots working the depths – and oil is most likely beginning to cascade on them.

The church is now long gone, and the cemetery is abandoned. Over time, the toddler’s grave and the rest of the Montville burial grounds became obscured by shoulder-high branches, brambles and fern fronds.

It’s a scene mirrored at an untold number of abandoned cemeteries nationwide, leaving state and local governments under pressure from residents to clean up the burial grounds out of respect for the dead – without imposing more costs on the living.

They arrived from Cleveland last fall – Archbishop Timothy and Father Anthony and the cleric in charge, Metropolitan Stephen. In their billowing black robes, they were looking for a new base for the Syro Russian Orthodox Catholic Church.

It was Archbishop Timothy who first drove past the Canfield Colonial Motel Condotel, a crime-ridden, no-tell motel on a desolate road dominated by hay bales and barns with sunken roofs.

The Cooper Ranch subdivision, tucked behind an industrial park 25 minutes from downtown Phoenix, is just beginning to stir. But when Casey Doran pulls his pickup to the curb, the tan stucco house has already seen a steady trickle of visitors. From under the visor of his ball cap, Doran sizes up the first foreclosure of the day.

“Still occupied,” he says, nodding to a green plastic tag hanging from the meter by the garage, proof that someone’s paying the electric bill. He leans on the bell; when no one answers, he tries the door. The house resists his advances, leaving Doran squinting into the darkness behind the blinds. He tugs on the back gate, peering over the wall into a yard corralling chest-high tumbleweeds.

For the second time in two years, Schwarzenegger has ordered most state workers’ pay cut to the federal minimum wage because lawmakers missed their deadline to fix the state’s $19 billion budget deficit. The Legislature’s failure to act has left the state without a spending plan as the new fiscal year begins.

A state appellate court ruled in Schwarzenegger’s favor Friday, but the state controller, who issues state paychecks, says he can’t comply. One reason given by Controller John Chiang, a Democrat elected in 2006: The state’s computer system can’t handle the technological challenge of restating paychecks to the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

Months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and its well started gushing oil, the British petroleum giant says it has yet to decide how to handle claims filed by religious groups and other charitable organizations that are endangered because people can no longer afford to contribute.

Pastor Dan Brown prays BP PLC comes up with a solution quickly: He said he filed a $50,000 claim last month over lost revenues at Anchor Assembly of God. His small, storefront church outlived Hurricane Katrina and is now struggling because of the oil crisis.

The drunken shenanigans of three sororities at Miami University in southwest Ohio sound like something out of “Animal House” and were especially startling for a school that frequently makes the top 50 in a U.S News & World Report academic ranking but never makes lists of big-time party schools.

The school suspended two of the sororities and put the third on probation. A task force is reviewing discipline and education policies on student behavior and alcohol, and the campus group governing sororities says it will begin teaching new members to speak out when they witness bad behavior.

Instead of simply moving kids from one grade to the next as they get older, schools are grouping students by ability. Once they master a subject, they move up a level. This practice has been around for decades, but was generally used on a smaller scale, in individual grades, subjects or schools.

Now, in the latest effort to transform the bedraggled Kansas City, Mo. schools, the district is about to become what reform experts say is the largest one to try the approach. Starting this fall officials will begin switching 17,000 students to the new system to turnaround trailing schools and increase abysmal tests scores.