Evening Edition is an Open Thread
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1 ‘Demonised’ BP boss Hayward resigns over Gulf oil spill
by Roland Jackson, AFP
12 mins ago
| LONDON (AFP) – BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward resigned on Tuesday, claiming to have been “demonised and vilified” over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster that is set to cost the British group 32 billion dollars.
Hayward, whose PR gaffes made him a target of US fury, will be succeeded by Bob Dudley, who is in charge of BP’s Gulf clean-up operations and who has vowed to “change the culture” of how the company tackles safety issues.
BP on Tuesday said it had made a record 16.9-billion-dollar loss in the second quarter, and will sell 30 billion dollars of assets over the next 18 months as it seeks to return to profitability. |
2 TNK-BP profits soar as Hayward awaits Russian exile
by Stuart Williams, AFP
Tue Jul 27, 12:53 pm ET
| MOSCOW (AFP) – TNK-BP, the Russian joint venture of BP and one of the British group’s crown jewels, revealed soaring profits on Tuesday as it emerged that outgoing BP chief Tony Hayward was set to become a director at the firm.
TNK-BP — owned 50 percent by the embattled oil giant and 50 percent by a group of Russian billionaires — said first-half profits jumped more than 20 percent to 2.4 billion dollars (1.86 billion euros) on rising production.
The results underlined the profitability of TNK-BP, Russia’s third-biggest oil firm, on the day its British parent announced a loss of 16.9 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. |
3 BP boss Hayward steps down over Gulf oil spill
by Roland Jackson, AFP
Tue Jul 27, 10:44 am ET
| LONDON (AFP) – BP’s vilified chief executive Tony Hayward resigned on Tuesday, as the British oil giant said the Gulf of Mexico disaster will cost it 32 billion dollars after causing a record quarterly loss.
Hayward, whose PR gaffes made him a target of US fury, will be succeeded by Bob Dudley, who is in charge of BP’s Gulf clean-up operations and who has vowed to “change the culture” of how the company tackles safety issues.
BP made a record 16.9-billion-dollar loss in the second quarter, and will sell 30 billion dollars of assets over the next 18 months as it seeks to return to profitability, it said in a statement. |
4 US lawmakers challenge Obama after Afghan leak
by Olivier Knox, AFP
39 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – US lawmakers opposed to the Afghan war, emboldened by a huge leak of military files on the conflict, pushed Tuesday to pull US forces out of Pakistan in a blunt challenge to President Barack Obama.
As the US Army opened a criminal investigation into the disclosures on the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, Obama said the documents showed he was right to craft a new Afghan war-fighting approach and vowed to stick with it.
“We have to see that strategy through,” said the president, who declared the roughly 92,000 newly revealed documents “don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate on Afghanistan.” |
5 London on track for 2012 Games, two years out
by Robin Millard, AFP
2 hrs 7 mins ago
| LONDON (AFP) – London is on track to finish its Olympic Park 12 months before the 2012 Games, officials said Tuesday, as sporting greats tried out the venues exactly two years before the opening ceremony.
Former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe, the head of London organising committee LOCOG, declared himself “really pleased” with the progress, saying the project was within budget and on schedule.
“We have a stadium that is structurally pretty complete. The seats are going in and it will be finished by next year,” he said during a tour of the emerging venues. |
6 Outrage over huge leak of Afghan war files
by Jo Biddle, AFP
Mon Jul 26, 7:38 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – The leak of 90,000 secret military files triggered an outcry Monday from nations fighting in Afghanistan as the Pentagon scrambled to determine the source of the huge security breach and whether it would endanger lives.
US experts were working to see if the huge cache “could jeopardize force protection or operational security, or even worse still, the national security of this country,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told Fox News.
“Our big fear of course is that there is information in here which could potentially put the lives of our troops in Afghanistan or elsewhere at risk.” |
7 Army opens criminal probe into Afghan war files leak
AFP
Tue Jul 27, 12:27 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Army opened a criminal probe Tuesday into the leak of some 90,000 classified military files on the Afghan war, the Pentagon said, naming a jailed soldier as a “person of interest.”
Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old private charged in an earlier leak to WikiLeaks, was under renewed scrutiny in the latest release to the same whistleblowers’ website, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
“He is obviously a person of interest with regards to this leak but we don’t know at this point,” Morrell told MSNBC, referring to Manning. |
8 Secret files leak sows new Afghan war doubts
by Jo Biddle, AFP
Tue Jul 27, 6:48 am ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – The leak of 90,000 secret military files has emboldened critics of the war in Afghanistan, who raised fresh questions Tuesday about the viability of the increasingly unpopular US-led campaign.
The New York Times said in an editorial Tuesday the documents made public by the website WikiLeaks “confirm a picture of Pakistani double-dealing that has been building for years.”
The Times said President Barack Obama will have to deal firmly with Islamabad in response to the most controversial files, which indicate that key ally Pakistan allows its spies to meet directly with the Taliban. |
9 Khmer Rouge prison chief handed 30 years in jail
by Patrick Falby, AFP
Mon Jul 26, 6:43 pm ET
| PHNOM PENH (AFP) – In a historic first, a UN-backed court Monday sentenced a Khmer Rouge prison chief to 30 years in jail for crimes against humanity over mass executions during Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” era.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face justice in an international tribunal over the deaths of up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution under the 1975-1979 regime.
But to the dismay of survivors and relatives of victims, the court took into account the years he had already served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that the 67-year-old could walk free in about 19 years. |
10 Spain’s Catalonia on verge of banning bullfighting
by Gilbert Grellet, AFP
Tue Jul 27, 12:11 pm ET
| MADRID (AFP) – Bullfighting in Spain could suffer its biggest setback to date on Wednesday when the Catalonia parliament votes whether to ban the practice in the separatist-minded northeastern region.
The vote comes after animal rights activists campaigning under the platform “Prou!”, or “Enough!” in the Catalan language, collected 180,000 signatures in Catalonia on a petition calling for the assembly to decide on a motion on the ban.
The most recent indications are that a majority of the 135 regional lawmakers are in favour of the motion, which tightens Catalonia’s animal protection law to remove an exception for bullfights from a ban on the killing or mistreating animals in shows. |
11 India hikes rates for fourth time this year
by Salil Panchal, AFP
Tue Jul 27, 9:05 am ET
| MUMBAI (AFP) – India hiked its main interest rates on Tuesday for a fourth time this year in a fresh bid to tame double-digit inflation that is souring the experience of economic growth for millions of poor citizens.
The move was the second increase this month and designed to tackle surging consumer prices that are being driven by high food costs, rising wages and an expanding economy that is forecast to grow 8.5 percent this fiscal year.
India’s inflation rate is now the highest among the Group of 20 economic powers and contrasts sharply with developed nations such as the United States or Japan, where deflation is more of a concern. |
12 Deutsche Bank raises quarterly profits despite crisis
AFP
Tue Jul 27, 8:05 am ET
| FRANKFURT (AFP) – Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, can still hit an important 2011 target despite a slump by its key profit generator, finance director Stefan Krause said on Tuesday.
“We believe we are on track to achieve this goal,” of pre-tax profit of 10 billion euros (13 billion dollars), Krause told media after the bank released second-quarter results.
He did not give an outlook for this year, however. |
13 BP gets "wake-up call" and $32 billion in spill charges
By Tom Bergin and Kristen Hays, Reuters
51 mins ago
| LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) – BP Plc’s newly named chief executive on Tuesday called the Gulf oil spill a “wake-up call” for the entire industry as the company tallied up its losses and disclosed two U.S. investigations.
Bob Dudley, who will replace gaffe-prone Tony Hayward as CEO on October 1, said safety would be among his highest priorities as he tries to refurbish the oil company’s battered reputation.
Image repair may become even tougher after BP said it would offset the cost of the spill against its taxes, costing U.S. taxpayers almost $10 billion. |
14 Leaked archive fuels doubts on Afghan war
By Susan Cornwell and Andrew Quinn, Reuters
Tue Jul 27, 9:07 am ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration scrambled on Monday to manage the explosive leak of secret military records that paint a grim picture of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and raise new doubts about key ally Pakistan.
The release of some 91,000 classified documents is likely to fuel uncertainty in the Congress about the unpopular war as President Barack Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers into the battle to break the Taliban insurgency.
The documents, made public by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, detail allegations that U.S. forces sought to cover up civilian deaths as well as U.S. concern that Pakistan secretly aided Taliban militants even as it took billions of dollars in U.S. aid. |
15 Obama seeks to control damage from Afghan war leak
By Matt Spetalnick, Reuters
2 hrs 4 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought to limit damage from a massive leak of Afghan war documents, saying he was concerned about the disclosure but it revealed little that was not already known.
Defending his strategy for the unpopular war after the unauthorized release of some 91,000 classified reports, Obama insisted the leak underscored the need to stick to his approach, and he urged lawmakers to quickly approve $37 billion in critical funds for the war effort.
“While I’m concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations, the fact is, these documents don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate on Afghanistan,” Obama told reporters in his first public comments on the matter. |
16 Consumer confidence dims as home prices climb
By Lynn Adler, Reuters
2 hrs 42 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – Job worries drove July U.S. consumer confidence to its lowest since February, with one in six people expecting lower income in the next six months, underscoring the precarious state of economic recovery.
Home prices rose in May but display no signs of a sustained rebound as long as unemployment flirts with 10 percent and a record stockpile of foreclosed houses looms over the market, a separate report showed on Tuesday.
Single-family house prices remain 29.1 percent below peaks four years ago, according to a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. |
17 Utah court orders new trial for polygamist leader
By James Nelson, Reuters
49 mins ago
| SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) – The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out the 2007 sexual abuse conviction of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and ordered a new trial on charges of forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin.
Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of a breakaway Mormon sect, was sentenced in November 2007 to a term of 10 years to life in prison for two felony convictions on charges he was an accomplice to rape.
But the Utah high court ruled that the trial judge had erred in giving instructions to the jury. |
18 "Glimmers of improvement," but state woes remain
By Lisa Lambert, Reuters
Tue Jul 27, 9:01 am ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State tax revenue is improving, but only slightly, and may not be enough to end steep spending cuts or replace the loss of assistance from the federal stimulus plan that expires in December, according to a report on Tuesday.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said states faced a collective budget gap of $83.9 billion when creating their budgets for fiscal 2011, which for most began on July 1.
Officials surveyed by the group, which represents state lawmakers, said revenue was beginning to pick up or at least slow its rate of decline. Nearly every state expects tax collections this fiscal year to surpass last year’s. |
19 UBS outshines Deutsche Bank as wealth turnaround nears
By Lisa Jucca and Edward Taylor, Reuters
Tue Jul 27, 10:26 am ET
| ZURICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – UBS flagged a return to client inflows this year as strong equities and forex trading gains helped it outdo Deutsche Bank and other rivals, which were hit hard by Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
UBS’s strong second quarter investment banking results stood out against a weak performance at U.S. banking giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup Inc, lifting shares 10 percent as investors believed Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel’s tough restructuring strategy was producing results.
With a Tier 1 capital ratio of 16.4 percent, investors also saw UBS as a key winner from a decision by central bankers and regulators on Monday to soften planned new bank rules, known as Basel III. |
20 BP taps new American CEO, reports $17 billion loss
By HARRY R. WEBER and JANE WARDELL, AP Business Writers
30 mins ago
| NEW ORLEANS – The American picked to lead oil giant BP as it struggles to restore its finances and oil spill-stained reputation pledged Tuesday that his company will remain committed to the Gulf region even after the busted well is sealed.
Robert Dudley will become BP PLC’s first non-British chief executive, the company said as it reported a record quarterly $17 billion loss and set aside $32.2 billion to cover costs from the spill.
BP ended weeks of speculation by confirming that gaffe-prone Tony Hayward will step down Oct. 1. The London-based company is seeking to reassure both the public and investors that it is learning lessons from the April 20 oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. |
21 Dudley’s path followed unusual turns to CEO of BP
By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer
Tue Jul 27, 1:05 pm ET
| Bob Dudley’s sudden rise to the top at BP PLC shows how the Gulf oil spill has dramatically changed the fortunes of people from local fishermen to corporate executives.
Seen as an unlikely candidate just a few months ago, Dudley is set to become the first American to lead the oil giant in its century long history. Dudley will become CEO on Oct. 1 and try to salvage the company’s reputation and investments in the United States.
On a phone call with reporters on Tuesday, Dudley said he understands the complexity of rebuilding BP’s image and financial strength. He said BP will emerge as a slimmer but stronger company. |
22 Audit: US cannot account for $8.7B in Iraqi funds
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer
35 mins ago
| BAGHDAD – A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation.
The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi money managed by the Pentagon, not part of the $53 billion that Congress has allocated for rebuilding. It’s cash that Iraq, which relies on volatile oil revenues to fuel its spending, can ill afford to lose.
“Iraq should take legal action to get back this huge amount of money,” said Sabah al-Saedi, chairman of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee. The money “should be spent for rebuilding the country and providing services for this poor nation.” |
23 House voting big war funds, despite Afghan leaks
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
36 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – The House prepared Tuesday to send President Barack Obama $33 billion to pay for his troop surge in Afghanistan, unmoved by the leaking of tens of thousands of classified military documents that portray a war effort beset by Afghan shortcomings.
From Obama on down, the disclosure of the documents was condemned anew by administration officials and military leaders, but the material failed to stir new anti-war sentiment. The bad news for the White House: A pervasive weariness with the war was still there – and possibly growing.
At a Senate hearing on prospects for a political settlement of the Afghan conflict, there was scant mention of the leaked material, posted on the website of the whistleblower group WikiLeaks, but there were repeated expressions of frustration over the direction of the fighting. |
24 US braces for blowback over Afghan war disclosures
By KIMBERLY DOZIER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 1:39 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – Operatives inside Afghanistan and Pakistan who have worked for the U.S. against the Taliban or al-Qaida may be at risk following the disclosure of thousands of once-secret U.S. military documents, former and current officials said.
As the Obama administration scrambles to repair any political damage to the war effort in Congress and among the American public by the WikiLeaks revelations, there are also growing concerns that some U.S. allies abroad may ask whether they can trust America to keep secrets, officials said.
Speaking in the Rose Garden Tuesday, President Barack Obama said he was concerned about the massive leak of sensitive documents about the Afghanistan war, but that the papers did not reveal any concerns that were not already part of the debate. |
25 Hit list draws fire in wake of leaked US documents
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 6:59 am ET
| WASHINGTON – When it comes to war, killing the enemy is an accepted fact. Even amid the sensation of the WikiLeaks.org revelations, that stark reality lies at the core of new charges that some American military commando operations may have amounted to war crimes.
Among the thousands of pages of classified U.S. documents released Sunday by the whistle-blower website are nearly 200 incidents that involve Task Force 373, an elite military special operations unit tasked with hunting down and killing enemy combatants in Afghanistan.
Denouncing suggestions that U.S. troops are engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, military officials and even war crimes experts said Monday that enemy hit lists, while ugly and uncomfortable, are an enduring and sometimes unavoidable staple of war. |
26 Rangel, ethics panel lawyers talking settlement
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
37 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – New York Democrat Charles Rangel made a last-minute effort Tuesday to settle his ethics case and prevent a House trial that could embarrass him and damage the Democratic Party.
The talks between Rangel’s lawyer and the House ethics committee’s nonpartisan attorneys were confirmed by ethics Chairman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Lofgren said she is not involved in the talks, and added that the committee’s lawmakers have always accepted the professional staff’s recommendations in previous plea bargains.
Rangel, a 40-year House veteran who is 80 years old, would have to admit to multiple, substantial ethics violations for any plea bargain to be accepted. Earlier negotiations broke down when Rangel would only admit to some allegations – not enough to satisfy the committee lawyers, according to people familiar with those talks who were not authorized to be quoted by name. |
27 Utah court reverses polygamist leader convictions
By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writer
37 mins ago
| SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the convictions of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and ordered a new trial, saying a jury received incorrect instructions before considering his role in the 2001 nuptials of a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.
Jeffs, 54, was convicted in 2007 of two counts of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice. He is serving two consecutive terms of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
“We are thrilled that the Supreme Court had the courage to exonerate, or at to least find that legal errors were made, so that Mr. Jeffs, obviously a very unpopular figure in the state Utah, could have his conviction overturned,” defense attorney Wally Budgen said. |
28 Confidence falls even as corporate profits rise
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer
1 hr 25 mins ago
| NEW YORK – The disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street is growing.
Americans’ confidence in the economy faded further in July, according to a monthly survey released Tuesday, amid job worries and skimpy wage growth. That’s at odds with Wall Street’s recent rally fueled by upbeat earnings reports from big businesses such as chemical maker DuPont Co. and equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. That’s because the pumped-up profits are being fueled by cost cuts like layoffs and overseas sales. In fact, big companies have shown few signs they’re ready to hire.
The Consumer Confidence Index came in at 51.0 in July, a steeper-than-expected decline from the revised 54.3 in June, according to a survey the Conference Board. The decline follows last month’s decline of nearly 10 points, from 62.7 in May, and is the lowest point since February. It takes a reading of 90 to indicate a healthy economy – a level not seen since the recession began in December 2007. |
29 Poll: A few cracks in Obama’s Hispanic support
By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer
Tue Jul 27, 11:48 am ET
| WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s once solid support among Hispanics is showing a few cracks, a troubling sign for Democrats desperate to get this critical constituency excited about helping the party hold onto Congress this fall.
Hispanics still overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party over the GOP, and a majority still think Obama is doing a good job, according to an Associated Press-Univision poll of more than 1,500 Hispanics.
But the survey, also sponsored by The Nielsen Company and Stanford University, shows Obama gets only lukewarm ratings on issues important to Hispanics – and that could bode poorly for the president and his party. |
30 Matt Garza pitches 1st no-hitter in Rays history
By FRED GOODALL, AP Baseball Writer
Tue Jul 27, 7:24 am ET
| ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays finally wound up on the right side of a memorable pitching performance.
Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in franchise history and the fifth in the major leagues this season, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Monday night.
“We needed one. I don’t care who it came from. We just needed one for our own confidence,” Garza said, mindful that the Rays have been held hitless four times in their 13-season history – three times in the past year. “The guys are just as excited as I am. It’s fun.” |
31 CA fiscal official reviews city in pay scandal
By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 49 mins ago
| BELL, Calif. – California’s chief fiscal officer arrived in this blue-collar Los Angeles suburb Tuesday to review records after revelations of huge salaries led to the resignation of three administrators and forced City Council pay cuts.
State Controller John Chiang said he was responding to a city request for a review that could last up to six weeks.
If the review discovers anything requiring further investigation, the matter could be referred to the state attorney general and the Los Angeles County district attorney, Chiang said. |
32 NATO: 1 missing sailor killed in Afghanistan
By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 3 mins ago
| KABUL, Afghanistan – One of two U.S. sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week – a 30-year-old father of two – has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.
The search continues for the other missing sailor, said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The two Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sport utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area. The Taliban have said they killed one of the two men in a firefight, captured the other and are holding him in a “safe place” where he will not be found. |
33 Neb. town may halt immigration law to save money
By MARGERY A. BECK, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 6:58 am ET
| OMAHA, Neb. – Faced with expensive legal challenges, officials in the eastern Nebraska town of Fremont are considering suspending a voter-approved ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants until the lawsuits are resolved.
The City Council narrowly rejected the ban in 2008, prompting supporters to gather enough signatures for the ballot measure. The ordinance, which was approved by voters last month, has divided the community. Supporters say it was necessary to make up for what they see as lax federal law enforcement and opponents argue that it could fuel discrimination.
But the council’s president, Scott Getzschman, insisted the elected body was concerned about money, not about any lack of support for the ordinance. The City Council is scheduled to vote on suspending the ban on Tuesday night, a day before the city goes to court over the measure. |
34 Natural gas could lead to new Lebanon-Israel war
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 6:31 am ET
| BEIRUT – The discovery of large natural gas reserves under the waters of the eastern Mediterranean could potentially mean a huge economic windfall for Israel and Lebanon, both resource-poor nations – if it doesn’t spark new war between them.
The Hezbollah militant group has blared warnings that Israel plans to steal natural gas from Lebanese territory and vows to defend the resources with its arsenal of rockets. Israel says the fields it is developing do not extend into Lebanese waters, a claim experts say appears to be correct, but the maritime boundary between the two countries – still officially at war – has never been precisely set.
“Lebanon’s need for the resistance has doubled today in light of Israeli threats to steal Lebanon’s oil wealth,” Hezbollah’s Executive Council chief Hashem Safieddine said last month. The need to protect the offshore wealth “pushes us in the future to strengthen the resistance’s capabilities.” |
35 New Titanic expedition will create 3D map of wreck
By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 6:31 am ET
| RICHMOND, Va. – A team of scientists will launch an expedition to the Titanic next month to assess the deteriorating condition of the world’s most famous shipwreck and create a detailed three-dimensional map that will “virtually raise the Titanic” for the public.
The expedition to the site 2 1/2 miles beneath the North Atlantic is billed as the most advanced scientific mission to the Titanic wreck since its discovery 25 years ago.
The 20-day expedition is to leave St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Aug. 18 under a partnership between RMS Titanic Inc., which has exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. The expedition will not collect artifacts but will probe a 2-by-3-mile debris field where hundreds of thousands of artifacts remain scattered. |
36 18 states, DC are education reform grant finalists
By DORIE TURNER and CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press Writers
19 mins ago
| ATLANTA – Eighteen states and the District of Columbia were named finalists Tuesday in the second round of the federal “Race to the Top” school reform grant competition, giving them a chance to receive a share of $3.4 billion.
The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
The competition rewards ambitious reforms aimed at improving struggling schools and closing the achievement gap. Dozens of states have passed new education policies to foster charter school growth and modify teachers evaluations, hoping to make themselves more attractive to the judges. |
37 Ed Dept, civil rights leaders discuss reform
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO and DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writers
Mon Jul 26, 7:07 pm ET
| Civil rights leaders are criticizing Obama administration education reforms aimed at turning around low performing schools and closing the achievement gap for minority students.
Eight civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, contend in a document released Monday the Education Department is promoting ineffective approaches for failing schools. They also claim the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” grant competition – a program with a goal of spurring innovative reform in states – leaves out many minority students.
“We want to be supportive, but more important than supporting an administration is supporting our children across the country and ensuring that they have an opportunity to learn,” said John Jackson, president of the Schott Foundation for Education, one of the groups that developed the document. |
38 Kan. medical board files complaint over abortions
By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer
43 mins ago
| WICHITA, Kan. – A Kansas doctor who provided second opinions for a late-term abortion provider who was gunned down last year could face disciplinary action from a state medical regulatory board.
Dr. Ann Neuhaus provided the second opinions for Dr. George Tiller that are required under Kansas law for any abortion performed after the 21st week of pregnancy when a fetus is viable, or can survive outside the womb.
The Kansas Board of Healing Arts filed an 11-count disciplinary complaint against Neuhaus over some of her second opinions, alleging the Nortonville woman failed to properly evaluate whether an abortion of a viable fetus was necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother – as required by Kansas law. |
39 Fate uncertain for 12 Haitian kids airlifted to US
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
1 min ago
| Six months after a chaotic airlift to the United States, 12 Haitian children remain in a Roman Catholic institution near Pittsburgh, their fate in limbo while U.S. and Haitian authorities struggle to determine which nation should be their future home.
Their case is complicated and politically sensitive, and all parties say they want the best outcome possible for the children. Yet impatience in some quarters is growing.
“It’s astounding to me that the bureaucracy can’t get this done,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who took part in the airlift. “It’s unfair to these children. Let’s get them adopted by loving families.” |
40 NYC restaurants get ready to learn their ABC’s
By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 26 mins ago
| NEW YORK – New York City’s 24,000 restaurants include fast food outlets selling chicken by the bucket and temples of haute cuisine where multi-course tasting menus can cost hundreds of dollars per person – before the wine.
But whether they have three stars from Michelin or three flavors of milkshake, all the restaurants soon will share some common ground – a letter-based A, B or C – grading system aimed at informing diners about cleanliness and food safety.
And it has some restaurateurs worried that restaurants that earn a B or a C will go out of business as diners flock to the competitor with an A in the window. |
41 Heat brings out the cool in zoos across the nation
By SUE MANNING, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 1:29 pm ET
| LOS ANGELES – Otters sweltering in the summer sun suck on “fishsicles.” For carnivores like the Amur leopard, it’s “bloodsicles.”
Zoos across the country are using icy treats, shade, water and every conceivable form of cooling machine to help hundreds of thousands of animals, visitors and workers beat the heat this summer.
Even animals from Africa can have problems with extreme heat, says Lion Country Safari wildlife director Terry Wolf. |
42 New program rebuilding faces of soldiers, veterans
By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 27, 6:44 am ET
| SAN ANTONIO – Master Sgt. Todd Nelson lost his right eye and ear in a flash when a car bomb in Afghanistan exploded, sending fire up his arm and over his head.
Although it’s taken years of painstaking work, the military has given him a bright blue eye and ear lightly freckled and pinked from summer sun. They’re not flesh and blood, but the glass and silicon replicas are so realistic, so perfectly customized, that they’ve given Nelson something else: the ability to face the world without shocking it.
“Honestly, people really don’t know it’s artificial,” said Nelson, whose injuries three years ago included third-degree burns, a skull fracture and broken jaw. “In casual social interactions, I see much smaller cases where people stare.” |
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