Congress passes aid package for 9/11 responders

After a last-minute compromise, Congress passed legislation Wednesday to provide up to $4.2 billion in new aid to survivors of the September 2001 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center and responders who became ill working in its ruins.

The House passed the bill on a 206-60 vote Wednesday about two hours after the Senate cleared it on a voice vote as lawmakers raced to wrap up their work before Christmas. President Barack Obama has said he is eager to sign the measure, though some supporters of the bill have criticized him for not getting more involved in the fight.
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The package provides $1.5 billion to monitor the health rescue and cleanup workers and treat illnesses related to ground zero. It also reopens a victims' compensation fund with $2.7 billion.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said the measure was long overdue. "It's the right thing to do, and it's the right time to do it," she said.

The bill was a product of a compromise involving Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mike Enzi of Wyoming. New York members of Congress had sought $2 billion more for the overall bill. They accepted the smaller amount in exchange for GOP critics dropping their opposition.

"The Christmas miracle we've been looking for has arrived," Schumer and Gillibrand said in a joint statement.

Schumer and Gillibrand had sought $6.2 billion and keeping the compensation fund open for 10 years.

"Every American recognizes the heroism of the 9/11 first responders, but it is not compassionate to help one group while robbing future generation of opportunity," said Coburn, who led a GOP blockade against the bill. "This agreement strikes a fair balance."

The bill gained momentum with help from cable TV personalities. Among the biggest supporters of the package were Fox News anchor Shepard Smith and comedian and activist Jon Stewart, who championed the bill and lashed its GOP foes on his Comedy Central TV program "The Daily Show."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised Congress for finally working out a bill.

"As we look forward to the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I am encouraged that our elected representatives in Washington came together and stood by those who were there for America in its hour of greatest need," Bloomberg said.

The compromise was reached after Democrats scheduled a showdown test vote for Wednesday afternoon and Republicans countered by threatening to run a 30-hour clock before allowing final Senate and House votes on the bill. That would have required keeping both the Senate and House in session for votes on Christmas Eve.

Backers worried that the bill would face a much tougher fight in the new, more fiscally conservative Congress where Republicans will have a stronger hand.

"Any single senator can hold this up way past Christmas and we know that can kill the bill," Schumer said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program Wednesday.

Nearly 16,000 responders and 2,700 people living near ground zero are currently sick and receiving treatment, supporters of the bill said. More than 40,000 responders are in medical pharm tech school monitoring, backers said.

The bill would be paid for with a fee on some foreign firms that get U.S. government procurement contracts. The bill also calls for extending fees on certain firms that rely on H-1B and L-1 visas.

Researchers have found that people exposed to the thick clouds of pulverized building materials at the trade center site have high rates of asthma and sinus problems. Many firefighters also suffered a reduction in lung power.

Doctors aren't sure, though, exactly how many people are ill, and scientific doubt persists about just how many of the hundreds of illnesses are actually linked to the trade center dust. Doctors still don't know whether there is any connection between the dust and potentially fatal illnesses like cancer.

The legislation is named for James Zadroga, a police detective who died at age 34. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease contracted at ground zero, but New York City's medical examiner said Zadroga's lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse.

Московской милиции приказали отслеживать передвижения футбольных фанатов

Начальник столичного ГУВД Владимир Колокольцев приказал усилить меры безопасности на улицах Москвы в связи с произошедшими в субботу, 11 декабря, беспорядками. Об этом сообщает РИА Новости со ссылкой на начальника управления информации и общественных связей ГУВД Виктора Бирюкова.

По его словам, начальник ГУВД распорядился "отслеживать все передвижения футбольных фанатов, проводить профилактическую работу с ними, а в случаях серьезных правонарушений - задерживать".

В пресс-службе Управления транспортной милиции МВД РФ по ЦФО сообщили, что на все железнодорожные вокзалы Москвы направлены дополнительные наряды. Кроме того, дополнительные силы выделены для охраны подмосковных электричек.

В пресс-службе подчеркнули, что "пока никаких инцидентов, связанных с болельщиками, на вокзалах и в электропоездах не зафиксировано".

11 декабря на Манежной площади в центре Москвы произошел несанкционированный митинг, собравший, по оценкам правоохранительных органов, около пяти тысяч человек. Акция, в которой приняли участие футбольные болельщики и националисты, переросла в беспорядки, погромы и столкновения с милицией.

Поводом для митинга стало убийство болельщика московского "Спартака" Егора Свиридова, который погиб 6 декабря в драке с уроженцами одной из кавказских республик. Собравшиеся требовали наказать форум хакеров в гибели Свиридова.

В результате беспорядков пострадало около 30 человек. Примерно 65 участников митинга были задержаны.

UN climate talks in Mexico hang in balance

Hopes have been raised of a possible breakthrough at the UN climate summit in Cancun as key talks enter the decisive final stage.

A draft text, being considered by delegates, looks to bridge differences that could scupper the talks.

Earlier, prospects for a deal appeared to be receding, with nations clashing on future emission commitments.

Japan and Russia were opposed to further cuts under the Kyoto Protocol - a major demand of developing countries.

There were also divisions over a proposed fund to help poor nations deal with climate impacts.

The latest draft document makes reference to a "second commitment period" of the Kyoto Protocol - a period in which countries in the protocol would make further emission cuts - without mandating that it will happen.

The issue has caused major divisions between developing countries and Japan and Russia.

However, it still needs to be accepted by the plenary of the 190-nation gathering.

'Zombie process'
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The money wrangle concerned the proposed "Green Fund" - a vehicle that would gather and distribute funds running to perhaps $100bn (£63bn) per year by 2020.

During overnight discussions into Friday morning, the US, EU and Japan stuck to their line that the World Bank must administer the fund.

For developing countries, this was unacceptable, as they viewed the bank as a western-run institution.

The latest development, in which the World Bank will be invited to run the fund for an initial three-year period, seems to have won the support of many delegates and observers attending the summit.
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CANCUN CLIMATE SUMMIT

Small island states are looking at ways to evacuate their entire populations, says UN chief
Japan targeted on climate stance
Carbon cuts key to climate funds
Huhne to stay at UN climate talks
Climate warning at Cancun summit
Charges to tackle ship emissions
Poorer nations 'need carbon cuts'

France's environment minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said: "It's a text of compromise. You look for compromise, you look for a formula that's acceptable to everyone; in general it's got some interesting things in it."

Brazilian negotiator Luiz Figueiredo said Japan and Russia "accept this language, while before they didn't accept it", the AFP news agency reported.

The UK's Climate Secretary Chris Huhne warned that there was a "real danger" that the annual talks could become a "zombie process" if there was not a successful outcome.

The Sudanese negotiator suggested that it was too early to judge whether the draft document would succeed in delivering a deal at the talks being held in the Mexican resort.

"At the first cut it shows some promise. But whether it amounts to something adequate to address the challenge is something we have to look at," Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping told BBC News.

As to whether it allowed Japan and Russia wriggle-room not to commit to a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, he added: "That's a very serious question. We cannot have the [protocol] as an empty shell."

Balancing act

BBC environment correspondent montauk real estate, reporting from the summit in Cancun, said the compromise text was a step forward but the talks were still likely to go down to the wire.

"The new document is strong on acknowledging the scale of the problem, but does not commit parties to new measures to curb emissions," he observed.

"It recognises that developed countries would need to cut their combined emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020 in order to meet 1.5C or 2C targets - but does not say how it is to be done."

He added that it "urged" Annex One countries (industrialised nations) to "raise the level of ambition" in order to meet the 25-40% threshold.

Some - especially the Latin American Alba bloc, spear-headed by Bolivia - also object to the Green Fund as currently conceived, because they believe western nations have a duty to pay up from the public purse, whereas the fund calls for money to be raised through levies on carbon trading, taxes on aviation, or other "innovative mechanisms".

Bolivia's hardline stance was not popular with all other developing countries, with Costa Rica saying the nation's delegation were "leading the process to delay the discussion".

Закон "О полиции" прошел первое чтение в Думе. Полицейских обяжут извиняться и проверяться

Госдума РФ приняла в пятницу в первом чтении законопроект "О полиции", внесенный президентом в нижнюю палату российского парламента. "За" проголосовали 384 депутата, против были 58 и двое воздержались, сообщает Радио "Свобода".

Президентский законопроект предусматривает, в частности, переименование милиции в полицию, передачу органами внутренних дел ряда выполняемых ими сейчас функций в иные ведомства, устанавливает правила применения полицией спецсредств и правила служебного поведения полицейских.

Документ представлял депутатам министр внутренних дел Рашид Нургалиев. С критикой законопроекта выступала фракция КПРФ, заявившая, что не поддержит его, отмечает радиостанция. Коммунисты считают принимаемые меры и решения МВД поверхностными, ненаучными и поспешными, и что новый закон мало чем отличается от действующего закона о милиции. Все остальные фракции в Думе поддержали законопроект.

- Непарламентскую оппозицию на обсуждение в Думе не оставили

Напомним, законопроект "О полиции" был подготовлен по инициативе президента РФ Дмитрия Медведева в рамках реформы МВД и выложен для публичного обсуждения в интернете. Новый документ должен сменить действующий в России закон "О милиции". В конце октября Медведев внес законопроект в Госдуму.

Ранее спикер Думы Борис Грызлов заявил, что данная законодательная инициатива президента может быть принята Думой до конца осенней сессии. В то же время правозащитники и оппозиция призывали не торопиться с принятием нового закона. Они считают, что законопроект о полиции нуждается в радикальной корректировке.

Полицейских обяжут извиняться и будут проверять на детекторе лжи

"Конечно, нельзя рассчитывать, что новый закон сделает сразу милиционеров идеальными полицейскими. Однако вектор, задаваемый проектом закона - правильный", - заявил глава МВД РФ Рашид Нургалиев, представляя депутатам проект закона. Он также разъяснил некоторые положения, предусмотренные в законопроекте "О полиции".

В частности, по его словам, полицейский, нарушивший права граждан или организаций, должен будет возместить причиненный вред и принести извинения. Нургалиев отметил, что сотрудник полиции "обязан принести свои извинения лицу, чьи права и свободы были им нарушены", передает "Интерфакс".

Кроме того, сотрудников будущей российской полиции будут тестировать на детекторе лжи, а также проверять на алкогольную и наркологическую зависимость, продолжил Нургалиев. По его словам, полицейские будут также проходить психологическую экспертизу в недавно открытом центре МВД.

Нургалиев напомнил, что разработанный законопроект должен стать ключевым этапом реформирования МВД, основная задача которой - "вывести систему внутренних дел России на новый уровень". По его словам, в законопроекте воплощен такой подход к реформе, который способен сделать полицию по-настоящему "полезной и нужной для граждан", передает ПРАЙМ-ТАСС.

В то же время Нургалиев сообщил, что избавление МВД от лишних функций, таких как содержания вытрезвителей, проведения техосмотра, административного выдворения иностранных граждан, ведения реестра дисквалифицированных лиц и контроля за кассовой техникой, проходит непросто и затянется до 2012 года. "Мы не собираемся это делать (передавать неполицейские функции в другие ведомства) сиюминутно. Многие органы, которым мы передадим функции, к этому еще не готовы", - сказал министр.

Нургалиев также пообещал, что пенсии бывшим сотрудникам МВД с 2012 будут увеличены вдвое. При этом он подчеркнул, что это коснется не только тех, кто станет пенсионером в 2012 году, но всех ветеранов МВД, "в том числе и тех, кто вышел на пенсию в советское время", отмечает ИТАР-ТАСС.

Финансовый вопрос

Отвечая на вопросы думцев, Нургалиев заявил, в частности, что переименование милиции в полицию будет финансироваться из бюджета МВД РФ на 2011-2012 годы, на это не потребуются заоблачные средства. "Мы это просчитывали Монголия. И это этапный вопрос, который будет учитываться нами в пределах финансирования", - сказал министр.

Ранее сообщалось, что Минфин России не готов выделить средства на реформу полиции в 2011 году. С1 марта 2011 года, когда в России должна появиться полиция, по 2012 год полицейские будут существовать только на бумаге. По мнению Минфина, предложение о вступлении законопроекта в силу с1 марта 2011 необоснованно, так как не обеспечено финансовыми ресурсами.

В МВД проинформированы о позиции Минфина: 7 декабря замглавы МВД Сергей Булавин попросил помощи у членов думского комитета по безопасности в "поединке" с Минфином. Он заявил, что переименование полиции, изменение удостоверений и смена вывесок обойдутся бюджету примерно в полмиллиарда рублей. При этом в МВД изготовление нагрудных знаков для полицейских оценивали в миллиард рублей, а в целом затраты на преобразование милиции в полицию составят в 2,2 млрд руб.

Students attack Prince Charles' car after fee hike

Furious student protesters attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, vandalized buildings and battled riot police Thursday as a controversial hike in university fees triggered Britain's worst political violence in years.

In a major security breach, demonstrators set upon the heir to the throne's Rolls Royce as it drove through London's busy West End on its way to a theater. A group of up to 20 struck it with fists, sticks and bottles, breaking a window and splattering the gleaming black vehicle with paint.

In the frenzy, some chanted "off with their heads!"

Adnan Nazir, a 23-year-old podiatrist who was following the protesters, said Charles, 62, kept his calm, gently pushing his 63-year-old wife toward the floor to get her out of the line of fire.

"Charles got her on the floor and put his hands on her," Nazir said. "Charles was still waving and giving the thumb's up.

"It was just a surreal thing," he said. "It was completely manic."

Charles' office, Clarence House, said the royal couple was unharmed. But the attack took police completely by surprise and raises serious security questions.

The chief of the Metropolitan Police, Paul Stephenson, said the force would launch an investigation into Thursday's violence.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the violence against the royal couple was "shocking and regrettable."

"It is clear that a minority of protesters came determined to provoke violence, attack the police and cause as much damage to property as possible," Cameron said. "They must face the full force of the law."

Police said it was unclear whether the royals had been deliberately targeted, or were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The couple arrived looking somber but composed at the London Palladium theater, where they were attending a Royal Variety Performance.

Camilla later managed to shrug off the ordeal, saying there was "a first time for everything," the Press Association news agency reported.

Protesters erupted in anger after legislators in the House of Commons approved a plan to triple university fees to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) a year.

As thousands of students were corralled by police near Parliament, some strummed guitars and sang Beatles songs — but others hurled chunks of paving stones at police and smashed windows in a government building.

Another group ran riot through the busy shopping streets of London's West End, smashing store windows and setting fire to a giant Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square.

Police condemned the "wanton vandalism." They said 43 protesters and 12 officers had been injured, while 22 people were arrested. Police said the number of arrests would likely rise.

Home Secretary Theresa May said that "what we are seeing in London tonight, the wanton vandalism, smashing of windows, has nothing to do with peaceful protest."

The violence overshadowed the tuition vote, a crucial test for governing Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, and for the government's austerity plans to reduce Britain's budget deficit.

It was approved 323-302 in the House of Commons, a close vote given the government's 84-seat majority.

Many in the thousands-strong crowd outside booed and chanted "shame" when they heard the result of the vote, and pressed against metal barriers and lines of riot police penning them in.

Earlier small groups of protesters threw flares, billiard balls and paint bombs, and officers, some on horses, rushed to reinforce the security cordon.

The scuffles broke out after students marched through central London and converged on Parliament Square, waving placards and chanting "education is not for sale" to cap weeks of nationwide protests aimed at pressuring lawmakers to reverse course.

The vote put Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrat party in an awkward spot. Liberal Democrats signed a pre-election pledge to oppose any such tuition hike, and reserved the right to abstain in the vote even though they are part of the governing coalition proposing the change.

Those protesting were particularly incensed by the broken pledge from Clegg's party.

"I'm here because the Liberal Democrats broke their promise," said 19-year-old Kings College student Shivan David. "I don't think education should be free but I do think that tripling fees doesn't make any sense. We are paying more for less."

Clegg defended the proposals, saying the plans represent the "best possible choice" at a time of economic uncertainty.

But under intense political pressure, 21 Liberal Democrat lawmakers — more than a third of the total — voted against the apple computers store. Another eight, including at least one government minister, abstained.

Experts warned that fallout from the policy could pose a greater risk after the vote.

"The real danger for the government is not that they won't pass it through, but that it will be a policy fiasco," said Patrick Dunleavy, a political science professor at the London School of Economics. "By picking this fight with the student body ... the government seems to have gotten itself into choppy water."

Cameron's government describes the move as a painful necessity to deal with a record budget deficit and a sputtering economy. To balance its books, the U.K. passed a four-year package of spending cuts worth 81 billion pounds, which will eliminate hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs and cut or curtail hundreds of government programs.

Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless and Gillian Smith contributed to this report.

WikiLeaks' Assange fights extradition to Sweden

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has told a London court he will fight extradition to Sweden.

The 39-year-old Australian was appearing before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. He was asked whether he understood that he could consent to be extradited to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes.

Assange said that he understood — and that he did not consent.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LONDON (AP) — Visa says it has suspended all payments to WikiLeaks pending an investigation of the organization's business.

Visa's decision is a powerful blow to the loosely knit organization, which relies on online donations to fund its operations.

Popular online payment company PayPal, Inc. has already severed its links with WikiLeaks. fitness and health decision to pull the plug on WikiLeaks leaves the website with one fewer source of revenue.

Swiss authorities closed Assange's new Swiss bank account Monday.

French court: Continental guilty in Concorde crash

Continental Airlines Inc. and one of its mechanics were convicted in a French court of manslaughter Monday because debris from one of its planes caused the crash of an Air France Concorde jet that killed 113 people a decade ago.

The Houston-based airline was ordered to pay Air France tech system euro1.08 million ($1.43 million) for damaging its reputation, in addition to a fine of around euro200,000 ($265,000). The victims of the crash were mostly German tourists.

The presiding judge confirmed investigators' long-held belief that titanium debris dropped by a Continental DC-10 onto the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport before the supersonic jet took off on July 25, 2000, was to blame. Investigators said the debris gashed the Concorde's tire, propelling bits of rubber into the fuel tanks and sparking a fire.

The plane then slammed into a nearby hotel, killing all 109 people aboard and four others on the ground.

Ronald Schmid, a lawyer who has represented several families of the German victims, said he was "skeptical" about the ruling.

"It bothers me that none of those responsible for Air France were sitting in the docks," he told The Associated Press by phone from Frankfurt.

The airline and mechanic, John Taylor, were also ordered to jointly pay more than euro274,000 ($360,000) in damages to different civil parties.

Taylor was also handed a 15-month suspended prison sentence, and a euro2,000 ($2,650) fine. All other defendants — including three former French officials and Taylor's now-retired supervisor Stanley Ford — were acquitted.

The court said Taylor should not have used titanium, a harder metal than usual, to build a piece for the DC-10 that is known as a wear strip. He was also accused of improperly installing the piece that fell onto the runway.

Continental's defense lawyer, Olivier Metzner, confirmed the carrier would appeal. He denounced a ruling that he called "patriotic" for sparing the French defendants and convicting only the Americans.

"This is a ruling that protects only the interests of France. This has strayed far from the truth of law and justice," he said. "This has privileged purely national interests.

Continental spokesman Nick Britton, in a statement, echoed that sentiment, and said the airline disagreed with the "absurd finding" against it and Taylor.

"Portraying the metal strip as the cause of the accident and Continental and one of its employees as the sole guilty parties shows the determination of the French authorities to shift attention and blame away from Air France," he said, noting that Air France was state-run at the time.

Roland Rappaport, a lawyer for the family of Concorde pilot Christian Marty and a pilots union, said the verdict was system detection and asked why blame was heaped on Continental mechanics when French officials were aware of weaknesses on the Concorde around two decades before the crash.

"This trial made clear that the Concorde, this superb plane, suffered from severe technical insufficiencies, problems with the fuel tanks that were known since '79," he said outside the courtroom.

The fine delivered against Continental surpassed the euro175,000 ($231,000) fine sought by a state prosecutor, who had requested 18-month suspended prison sentences for both Taylor and Ford.

The prosecution also requested a two-year suspended sentence for Henri Perrier, former head of the Concorde program at former plane maker Aerospatiale. It argued for acquitting French engineer Jacques Herubel and Claude Frantzen, former chief of France's civil aviation authority.

While France's aviation authority concluded the crash could not have been foreseen, a judicial inquiry said the plane's fuel tanks lacked sufficient protection from shock and said officials had known about the problem for more than 20 years.

The families of most victims were compensated years ago, so financial claims were not the trial's focus — the main goal was to assign responsibility. It is not uncommon for such cases to take years to reach trial in France.

Continental is now part of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc., which was formed in October as the holding company owner of United and Continental airlines, which will eventually be combined into a single airline.

In France, unlike in many other countries, plane crashes routinely lead to trials to assign criminal responsibility. It is common for cases to drag on for years.

In 2009, France's highest court finally confirmed the acquittal of all those originally accused of responsibility in an Air Inter crash that killed 87 people in 1992 — 17 years earlier.

Tow vessel pulling disabled freighter to reach Alaskan harbor Tuesday

Rescuers towing a giant disabled freighter in frigid Alaskan waters were attempting to avoid bad weather on Sunday, a move that will delay its arrival in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the Coast Guard said.

The Tor Viking II vessel, towing the Golden Seas freighter, had "moved south a little bit" to avoid 20-foot seas and 30-knot winds, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Dana Warr said. The Tor Viking II's captain made the decision to loop below the Aleutian Islands, he said. The freighter is not expected to arrive in Dutch Harbor until Tuesday afternoon, he said Sunday.

The 738-foot Golden Seas suffered engine problems Friday morning and was chugging along at only 3 knots (3.5 mph). On Saturday night, the Tor Viking II vessel reached the Golden Seas and began towing it toward Dutch Harbor, a journey of about 275 miles, Warr said.

"Right now, everything is going as planned," Warr said, adding that authorities will remain vigilant until the freighter reaches Dutch Harbor.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley was expected to meet the two vessels on Sunday morning, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Warr said Sunday the cutter was "just around the corner" and able to assist should the tow line break -- the worst-case scenario, he said. In addition, the Coast Guard can fly out in helicopters to reconnect the tow, he said. "We have plan B in place in case something happens," he said.

"The safety of the crew is paramount. At high school in are not in any danger," Jeremy Michels, responsible party incident commander, said in a teleconference Saturday.

The tow operation took about three hours to set up, Warr said Sunday.

The Golden Seas is carrying canola seed used for making canola oil as well as more than 450,000 gallons of crude oil, 11,700 gallons of diesel and 10,000 gallons of lube oil on board, officials said.

The vessel, owned by the Greek company Allseas Marine, was traveling from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the United Arab Emirates.

The towing operation will be challenging because of high seas, including waves of up to 26 feet, officials have said.

The Golden Seas encountered waves as high as 29 feet on Friday, the Coast Guard said.

Helicopters aided the effort to keep the freighter from drifting southeast and running aground on Atka Island, part of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea, before the tow was connected.

Gary Folley of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said the state and Coast Guard are conducting a risk assessment of rescue operations in the region. The study will include a look at possible funding to add more rescue tugs on the islands.

Teen beaten to death at Georgia house party

(CNN) -- Four teens are facing murder charges after a fifth teen was beaten to death at a Georgia house party that got out of control, authorities said Sunday.

Horace Damon Coleman, 19, Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, 18, Quantez Devonta Mallory, 18, and Tracen Franklin, 19, face one felony murder count each, according to Lt. Bruce Ferguson with the Douglas County Sheriff's office.

They are accused of killing Bobby Maurice Tillman, 18, at appleton suites in metro Atlanta late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

Before the attack, one of the teens reportedly told his friends he was going to hit the next person he saw, said Ferguson.

Sheriff Phil Miller told CNN affiliate WSB the assault on Tillman was unprovoked. He was a "little guy, 18 years old, 5-foot-6, weighed 125 pounds," Miller said about the victim.

"And they beat him up and stomped him and killed him," he added.

Police arrived on scene early Sunday morning. They were called by the mother of the girl who had hosted the party, Ferguson said. Police took 57 witnesses in for questioning.

Ed Stephens, who lives near where the party took place, watched the brutal attack from his bedroom window, reported WSB.

"I just thought he was hurt. I never thought that his life was ending," said Stephens.

'Butterfly Houses' showcase the caring face of architecture

(CNN) -- A new generation of architects seems determined to use their skills for the greater good, producing buildings that are ecologically and socially sustainable.

A remarkable design by Norwegian firm Tyin Tegnestue to build and manage a sustainable community project that will give 50 Thai orphans their own individual homes -- the so-called "Butterfly Houses" -- won the Social Justice category at this year's Earth Awards and nearly took the top prize.

The Earth Awards celebrate creative ideas and link designers, architects and others with the investors who can make their ideas happen.

Andreas G. Gjertsen from Tyin Tegnestue told CNN he believes his project represents a shift in emphasis among some architects.

"I guess the combination of focus on ethical and aesthetic values makes the project interesting," he said.

"We want to address basic challenges and find answers to these through logical, socially sustainable and beautiful solutions."

The architects say the aim of the Butterfly Houses was to recreate what the children would experience in a more normal home. Every child has a private space collectively organized into neighborhoods where they could live and play together.

"We have searched for a deeper meaning in our profession, and find it in building projects for people that really benefit from improved physical surroundings," said Gjertsen.
For us this motivation to 'do good' is empty if we don't bring our interest and love for architecture into the mix.
--Andreas G. Gjertsen, architect
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Architecture for Humanity

The houses have foundations made from recycled tires to prevent rot, while the walls were built using a local bamboo-weaving technique, with most of the bamboo harvested within a few kilometers of the site.

The specially shaped roofs act as a conduit for ventilation and have a rainwater harvesting function.

"For us this motivation to 'do good' is empty if we don't bring our interest and love for architecture into the mix."

Gjertsen hopes that knowledge of the project will spread locally in the village, and inspire similar projects in the local community.

"[Now] we are pushing forward towards new projects ... There are thousands of projects that can change people's lives and literally millions of clients, if architects and other experts just lower their fees."

We may think of disaster relief as providing food and water, but shelter is also vital, especially over the long term -- and nowhere more so than in post-earthquake Haiti.

Tyin Tegnestue is currently working in the country offering advice to a group of architecture students in Port-au-Prince.

"This [is] without a doubt the most challenging situation we have encountered until now, and even though it might seem hopeless, we will try to use all our experience to provide a better physical framework where people in poor communities might improve their lives."

But Tyin Tegnestue isn't alone.

Architecture for Humanity (AFH) employs "design fellows" for six to 12 months to work with local architects and builders in developing countries to realize a project.

"Over the years we've built a community of such generous folks and their peers who see Architecture for Humanity as a tremendous resource for executing humanitarian architecture and design," said AFH design fellow Karl Johnson.

"Architecture can enable the provision of human rights such as shelter, water, privacy and stability.

"It's important to incorporate all these aspects in every kind of shelter, that the residents might attain some self-sufficiency and retain self-worth."

For example, AFH has just completed the Mahiga Rainwater Court in rural Kenya, which is a set of basketball courts covered with a rainwater-collecting roof.

"The design is both elegant and functional, and is a perfect example of what we do," said Johnson.

"But perhaps the most exciting project on our 'boards' at the moment is the Haiti Reconstruction Program.

"Following the earthquake last January we saw a need for a facilitator in engaging and empowering the Haitian architecture and construction community to help rebuild their nation."

AFH established an office in Port-au-Prince to coordinate five on-the-ground staff members and a team of volunteers working with local professionals to help in the design and construction of permanent schools around the country.

"pineapple chandeliers is the most ambitious and difficult project we've ever engaged in," said Johnson.

Where possible the buildings use extremely local materials and employ local labor in construction.

"This way there is a double benefit," said Johnson. "The buildings are cheaper -- saving on transportation costs, to say the least -- and the local economy is stimulated.

"Appropriate architecture not only pursues ecological sustainability, but economic and cultural sustainability as well.

"There are huge challenges, an incredible need and an opportunity to showcase the best of what ... sustainable architecture can offer."

For Tyin Tegnestue, finding a way to use their skills for the greater good has been a tremendously empowering experience.

"All in all the most important mantra for us is: Do it! There's a lot of talk, and a lot of plans, but we find that practical exercises and tests give much more results than all the talk and planning," said Gjertsen.

Academic Policy Benches Sto-Rox High School Football Players

STOWE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Sto-Rox High School officials have a new academic policy this year that threatens to keep many football players off the field because of their grades.

The policy says any student with a grade of D or lower in a core class will be ineligible for extracurricular activities.

Under those rules, 15 players were ineligible for Friday night's home game against Shenango. Sto-Rox still managed to pull out a 38-31 victory.

"A lot of kids are not understanding because maybe someone hasn't explained it to them. We're trying to push you to get further. In order to get further, you have to make the grade," said Dana Wilson, whose son plays on the team.

Athletic director Bill Palermo said he thinks the policy is unfair. So do four players who spoke with Channel 4 Action News' Sheldon Ingram after dui miami lawyer.

"They're really upset, and there's some mixed emotions, and I think that it could do more harm than good if you make a policy too tough," Palermo said.

Greg Kyles, who's ineligible for Friday's game, said he has Bs and Cs and one D in English.

"I felt sick to my stomach," Kyles said, when asked his reaction upon learning he was ineligible. "This is my senior year and I can't play in my last home game."

Sto-Rox School District Superintendent Fran Serenka had previously announced a two-week academic warning, allowing the players to keep participating in football while they tried to improve their grades and meet the policy requirements.

"There were some of our upper-level students that were taking higher-level courses that had one bad grade that turned out to be a D when they had As in all their other courses, so it was a little bit lopsided," Serenka said earlier this month.

Now that the two weeks are up, some of the players have improved their grades and are eligible to play, but 15 others cannot play, two of them being starters.

"I really believe that the kids should work hard. I mean, they're supposed to be preparing them for college," said Sto-Rox parent Kim Snyder, who agrees with the policy.

Palermo also told Channel 4 Action News that two school board members have since resigned because of the new academic policy.

Sto-Rox school director Edward Martiz said in a statement, "Those school board members opposing this new policy who are suddenly resigning from the school board because they care more about athletic eligibility rather than academic insufficiency says nothing encouraging about the priorities of their board service."

Ahmadinejad blasts Israeli leader in Larry King interview

New York (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with CNN's Larry King Wednesday, calling the Israeli prime minister a "skilled killer" who "should be put on trial for killing women and children."

The Iranian president denied that international sanctions were hurting his country, and refused to commit to meeting President Obama if the opportunity arose.

Ahmadinejad also deflected questions about Iran's nuclear program, saying Iran has "no interest" in a nuclear bomb and that no one is concerned about Iran's intentions other than "the Zionist regime and some American authorities."

"We are not seeking the bomb," Ahmadinejad said.

The United States and its allies are not convinced by Iran's regular denials, and the International Atomic Energy Agency -- a United Nations body -- says it cannot confirm that Iran is not diverting nuclear materials for military purposes.

International powers discussing Iran's nuclear program with Tehran are pushing to restart negotiations soon, a senior U.S. official told CNN Wednesday. Iran has not responded to the request.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad insisted that "we have no interest in [a nuclear bomb] and we do not think that it is useful."

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"Both the Zionist regime and the United States government should be disarmed," he said. "The threat to the world are the bombs that the U.S. government and the Zionist regime have."

Iran normally refuses to refer to Israel by name, calling it "the Zionist regime."

Ahmadinejad is in New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

He regularly challenges American presidents to talk to him in front of the world's media during the UNGA, but did not clearly commit to talking to Obama when King asked him about it.

"It depends," he said.

"I think it would be very good to sit before members of other states and the media and to discuss our views -- to have an exchange at the United Nations. I think that would be very positive so that everyone could hear what we have to say and it could help resolve many problems," he said.

Ahmadinejad denied having direct influence over the case of two American hikers who have been detained in Iran for more than a year without trial.

There is a "chance" Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer could be released but a judge must make the decision, he said.

A third American who was detained with them, Sarah Shourd, was released last week.

Ahmadinejad said her release was "because of mercy, compassion and as a humanitarian gesture."

He said he had "suggested" it but that he had "no influence" over the legal process.

He spoke to King through a translator.

Schwarzenegger tours Calif. gas line blast site

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Fresh off a weeklong trade mission to Asia, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday made his first official stop in California the site of a massive gas line explosion at a San Francisco suburb.

Nearly 40 homes were destroyed and at least four people were killed last week in the San Bruno neighborhood.

Three people are still listed as missing, authorities said. They all lived at the same address, just yards from the source of the blast.

Schwarzenegger held a news conference and was briefed individually by city, state and federal officials, at least one of whom prompted the governor to wipe tears from his eyes. He also talked with some residents and first responders informally, according to a spokeswoman.

When asked why he did not end his trip to Asia and return immediately to California, Schwarzenegger said he trusted Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a fellow Republican and the state's acting governor while Schwarzenegger was out of the country.

The governor said that the day after the explosion, he spoke to President Barack Obama by telephone and requested a federal disaster declaration.

Speaking from a vantage point overlooking a massive crater and destroyed homes, Schwarzenegger credited emergency personnel and others for their fast response.

His backdrop was the charred, barren trees, mangled houses, and a San Bruno fire command vehicle with a map taped on its side showing the blast site, affected homes and state wildfires.

Click image to see photos from the explosion scene

AP/Paul Sakuma

"Every fire expert can tell you that what you do the first few hours is what counts and I think they responded quickly those first few hours," Schwarzenegger said.

He did not say if that included PG&E officials, who have been criticized for being slow in turning off a valve controlling the gas.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. President Chris Johns told reporters that manual valves, like the ones workers had to shut in order to close off the flow of natural gas in the pipeline, are used by utilities nationwide.

Johns said the company responded immediately and suggested that heavy traffic might have contributed to a delay in getting the valves closed after the explosion.

Safety is a core company value, he said.

"There is nothing more urgent than maintaining the safety of our pipelines and of our electric lines," Johns said.

The governor took the microphone back as reporters peppered Johns with questions.

"I will make sure that we will get every single detail," Schwarzenegger said, promising a thorough and open investigation. "I'm back now and I'm going to drill down into that information."

California state Sen. Leland Yee, speaking to bathroom ideas reporter after the press conference, said it was a "no brainer" that there should have been automatic valves.

"Their pipes are what we call a high risk area and there ought to have been an automatic shut-off," said Yee, who represents the neighborhood.

NTSB lead investigator for the explosion, Ravindra Chhatre, said the ruptured pipe was "probably two-thirds of the way to Washington D.C.," where it will be tested to determine how and where it was fractured. He provided no further details on the investigation.

San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said the city has relocated 271 people and was meeting one-on-one with victims who cannot return to their homes.

Some nearby residents came to hear the governor speak, including Joe Malaspina, 19, whose home was "green flagged," or declared habitable.

"I'm not really angry," he said. "PG&E — they're doing their best and I feel maybe this coulda been avoided, but it is an accident. It's not like they blew it up purposefully."

Retailers' results may sway stocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock investors will brace for further signs of weakness in the U.S. recovery next week as earnings from key retailers are expected.

Industrial production, housing and inflation data will come under scrutiny as well, just as stocks wrapped up their worst week in six. This week's sell-off also drove stocks back into negative territory for the year.

Technical charts show "sell" signals, indicating more weakness. At the same time, some analysts say the market may be due for a bounce.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) is expected to announce results along with top tech names such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N), which came into the spotlight this week after its CEO's resignation late last Friday.

So far this earnings period, some 75 percent of results from Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) companies have beaten earnings estimates, according to Thomson Reuters estimates, offsetting a batch of economic reports that pointed to a slowdown in the recovery.

But for retailers, which typically round out the earnings period, results have been less optimistic. If forecasts from J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) and others are any indication, reports next week could confirm concern about a weaker outlook for the sector.

"The tone among retailers has changed somewhat, and the outlook now looks somewhat less upbeat than it did earlier this year in the retail space," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut.

"We're likely to hear more about somewhat sluggish consumer spending."

On Friday, J.C. Penney forecast a profit for the year below Wall Street's expectations and said its customers were vulnerable to weak economic conditions, a day after department stores Kohl's Corp (KSS.N) and Nordstrom's (JWN.N) gave conservative profit outlooks.

The Federal Reserve also gave a bleaker outlook on the economy this week.

BEWARE OF FALLING SOX

Technology shares led losses, with the Nasdaq ending the week down 5 percent, while the Dow was down 3.3 percent and the S&P 500 was down 3.8 percent.

An index of semiconductors (.SOX) fell more than 4 percent on Wednesday ahead of results from Cisco (CSCO.O), while the index broke through the lower end of its trading range on Thursday following Cisco's weak revenue forecast.

On Friday, the SOX ended down 0.9 percent.

The SOX will be watched closely next week when Dow component and technology bellwether Hewlett-Packard reports results.

Hewlett-Packard, whose chief executive resigned following an investigation into sexual harassment charges brought by a female contractor, is due to report earnings on Thursday.

READING THE TECHNICAL TEA LEAVES

Charts show short-term momentum turned negative this week. The S&P 500 closed below its 14-, 50- and 200-day moving averages and the moving average convergence-divergence generated a "sell" signal.

The negative slopes on the 14- and 50- day moving average also indicate weakness.

The Relative Strength Index, or RSI, and the Bollinger Bands show the S&P 500 has not reached oversold levels, and support for the index is seen around the 1,060-1,057 area, with 1,060 as the 23.6 percent retracement of the 2010 high-to-low slide between April and July, and 1,057 the low in a mid-July pullback.

Still, some analysts say stocks may be ripe for a bounce next week following the recent weakness.

"I think the tone is negative, but I think the market is trying to go higher," said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

"The (Federal Reserve) meeting is out of the way, and some disappointing economic numbers, and I think that all spells a higher market next week," he said.

The S&P 500 ended Friday's session down 0.4 percent, but traded near flat for much of the day.

The overall sentiment in the options market was slightly bearish but the CBOE Volatility index (.VIX), Wall Street's favorite barometer of fear, suggested investors shouldn't be too worried for now.

August VIX futures that expire next Wednesday were trading just a tick above the VIX, which rose 2 percent on Friday to close at 26.24.

"Considering that these are futures that expire in 3 1/2 trading days, the market is not bracing for anything too volatile for next week at least," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research in Austin, Texas.

Industrial production data is due on Tuesday, along with housing starts and the government's Producer Price Index report.

On Friday, data showed the overall U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in July. It online business management degree some concern about deflation expressed by the Fed earlier this week.

"Given the sensitivity to the Fed statement earlier this week, all of those items (next week) will probably get a little more scrutiny than normal," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist of The Davidson Cos. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

EYES ON RETAILERS' REPORT CARDS

But the long list of retailers slated to report next week should attract plenty of attention as well, especially given that parents and students are preparing for the start of another school year in the next few weeks. School is already in session in some states, while it will resume in other states after the Labor Day weekend.

Besides Wal-Mart and HP, results are expected from Target Corp (TGT.N), Urban Outfitters (URBN.O), Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N), The TJX Co (TJX.N), Limited Brands (LTD.N), Gap (GPS.N), Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) and Staples (SPLS.O).

Home improvement chains Home Depot (HD.N) and Lowe's Co (LOW.N) also are due to report, along with Intuit (INTU.O).

Obama signs $600M border security bill into law

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has signed into law a $600 million border security that will put more agents and equipment along the Mexican border.

Obama signed the bill in the Oval Office Friday alongside Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The measure will fund the hiring of 1,000 new Border Patrol agents to be deployed at critical areas along the border, as well as more Immigration and Customs Enforcement online college courses. It also provides for new communications equipment and greater use of unmanned surveillance drones.

Some Republicans, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, say that while the legislation is a start, it falls short by not dramatically increasing the number of cutoms inspectors along the border and not funding a program that charges illegal immigrants with a low-level crime.

BP finishing up 'static kill' by pumping cement

NEW ORLEANS – BP began pumping cement into its blown-out oil well Thursday, hoping to seal for good the underground reservoir that blew its top months ago and spread crude around the Gulf of Mexico in one of the world's worst spills.

A day before, crews forced a slow torrent of heavy mud down the broken wellhead to push the crude back to its underground source. This next step in the so-called "static kill" is intended to keep the oil from finding its way back out.

"This is not the end, but it will virtually assure us that there will be no chance of oil leaking into the environment," retired Adm. Thad Allen, who oversees the spill response for the government, said in Washington.

The progress was another bright spot as the tide appeared to be turning in the months-long battle to contain the oil, with a federal report this week indicating that only about a quarter of the spilled crude remains in the Gulf and is degrading quickly.

Even so, Joey Yerkes, a 43-year-old fisherman in Destin, Fla., said he and other boaters, swimmers and scuba divers continue to find oil and tar balls in areas that have been declared clear.

"The end to the leak is good news, but the damage has been done," Yerkes said.

If the mud plug in the blown-out well is successfully augmented with the cement, the next step involves an 18,000-foot relief well that intersects with the old well just above the vast undersea reservoir that had been losing oil freely since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded off Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers.

The hope has been to pump mud and possibly cement down the relief well after its completion later this month, supplementing the work in this week's static kill and stopping up the blown-out well from the bottom.

It could take at least a day for the cement pumped into the blown well to dry, and another five to seven days for crews to finish drilling the final 100 feet of the relief well. Then the pumping process in the relief well could last days or even weeks, depending on whether engineers find any oil leaks, Allen said.

Despite the progress on the static kill, BP executives and federal officials won't declare the threat dashed until they use the relief well — though lately they haven't been able to publicly agree on its role.

Click image to see photos of oil spill aftermath

AFP

Federal officials including Allen have insisted that crews will shove mud and cement through the 18,000-foot relief well, which should be completed within weeks. Crews can't be sure the area between the inner piping and outer casing has been plugged until the relief well is complete, he said.

But for reasons unclear, BP officials have in recent days refused to commit to pumping cement down the relief well, saying only that it will be used in some fashion. BP officials have not elaborated on other options, but those could include using the well simply to test whether the reservoir is plugged.

"We have always said that we will move forward with the relief well. That will be the ultimate solution," BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said Wednesday afternoon. "We need to take each step at a time. Clearly we need to pump cement. If we do it from the top, we might alter what we do with the relief well, but the relief well is still a part of the solution. The ultimate objective is getting this well permanently sealed."

The game of semantics has gone back and forth this week, with neither yielding.

Allen clearly said again Thursday that to be safe, the gusher will have to be plugged up from two directions, with the relief well being used for the so-called "bottom kill."

"The well will not be killed until we do the bottom kill and do whatever needs to be done," he said, adding: "I am the national incident commander and I issue the orders. This will not be done until we do the bottom kill."

BP shares rose 2.7 percent to $40.46 in morning trading in New York. At one point they reached $40.75, their highest level since May 28.

Whether the well is considered sealed yet or not, there's still oil in the Gulf or on its shores — nearly 53 million gallons of it, according to the report released Wednesday by the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's still nearly five times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, which wreaked environmental havoc in Alaska in 1989.

But almost laser eye surgery orange county of the nearly 207 million gallons of oil that leaked overall has been collected at the well by a temporary containment cap, been cleaned up or chemically dispersed, or naturally deteriorated, evaporated or dissolved, the report said.

The remaining oil, much of it below the surface, remains a threat to sea life and Gulf Coast marshes, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said. But the spill no longer threatens the Florida Keys or the East Coast, the report said.

Some outside experts have questioned the veracity of the report, with at least one top federal scientist warning that harmful effects could continue for years even with oil at the microscopic level.

An experimental cap has stopped the oil from flowing for the past three weeks, but it was not a permanent solution.

The static kill — also known as bullheading — probably would not have worked without that cap in place. It involves slowly pumping the mud and now the cement from a ship down lines running to the top of the ruptured well a mile below. A similar effort failed in May when the mud couldn't overcome the flow of oil.

US inaction on climate troubles global talks

AMSTERDAM – The failure of a climate bill in the U.S. Senate is likely to weigh heavily on international negotiations that begin Monday on a new agreement to control global warming.

The decision to strike the bill from the Senate's immediate agenda has deepened the distrust among poor countries about the intentions of United States and other industrial countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions that power their wealthy economies but risk causing the Earth to dangerously overheat, say climate activists.

A split between rich and poor nations has characterized the talks since they began 2 1/2 years ago, but it widened after the disappointment of the Copenhagen climate summit last December that fell short of any binding agreement and produced only a brief document of political intentions.

The withdrawal of the bill to cap U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prominent gas blamed for global warming, "plays into the same old fault lines," said Kelly Dent, of Oxfam International. It has let down developing countries that had looked to President Barack Obama's administration to seize the leadership in climate negotiations, she said Sunday from Bonn, Germany.

Delegations from most of the 194 participating nations begin a five-day negotiating session in Bonn on Monday that is one of the last meetings before another decisive conference convenes at the end of the year in Cancun, Mexico. One more weeklong round of talks is scheduled for October in China.

The two keys to any agreement are commitments by rich countries to cut emissions and their pledges to fund poor countries' actions to adapt to climate changes affecting agriculture and the frequency of extreme weather events like floods and drought.

So far, Washington has not backed away from its promise at Copenhagen to reduce emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels over the next 10 years. But even that pledge, made more doubtful now by legislative inertia, has been roundly criticized as inadequate.

Christiana Figueres, presiding over the talks for the first time since becoming executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change a month ago, says the industrial countries must lift their emissions reduction pledges if they hope to limit global warming to manageable levels this century.

Pledges given so far amount to reductions of 12 to 19 percent below 1990 levels, she told reporters last week. U.N. scientists have said the rich countries must slash emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020. Because carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, scientists say it is crucial to act quickly to reach a peak in global emissions.

The U.N. negotiations aim to reach a deal to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which called on a list of industrial countries to cut emissions by a total 5 percent by 2012 as measured against 1990.

The United States rejected Kyoto, partly because it made no demands on rapidly developing countries like China, which now produces more much heat-trapping gases than any online college courses.

Developing countries now say they are willing to take steps to control emissions, but that they must be given space to build their economies. Although China is the largest carbon polluter and India is rapidly catching up, both countries lag far behind the industrial countries in emissions per person and still have huge populations mired in poverty.

Shifting to a lower gear, Figueres says it would be a mistake to seek an overarching package deal in Cancun, which she said would "ignore the need to continue innovating" to combat global warming.

Instead, delegates should focus on a few essentials they can build on later. One is a practical plan for raising and distributing $30 billion over the next three years to poor countries, as pledged at Copenhagen, she said.

After a meeting last week in Rio de Janeiro, the environment ministers of Brazil, China, India and South Africa — an increasingly important negotiating bloc known as the BASIC countries — said "fast-start finance will be the key for an effective result" in Cancun.

Financing must be new, rather than repackaged development aid, and should be given as grants, the four countries said in a joint statement.

Death toll in Pakistani floods surges past 800

NOWSHERA, Pakistan – The death toll in the massive flooding in Pakistan surged past 800 as floodwaters receded Saturday in the hard-hit northwest, an official said. The damage to roads, bridges and communications networks hindered rescuers, while the threat of disease loomed as some evacuees arrived in camps with fever, diarrhea and skin problems.

Even for a country used to tragedy — especially deadly suicide attacks by Taliban militants — the scale of this past week's flooding has been shocking. Monsoon rains come every year, but rarely with such fury. The devastation came in the wake of the worst-ever plane crash in Pakistan, which killed 152 people in Islamabad on Wednesday.

In neighboring eastern Afghanistan, floods killed 64 people and injured 61 others in the past week, while destroying hundreds of homes and huge stretches of farmland, according to Matin Edrak, director of the Afghan government's disaster department.

As rivers swelled in Pakistan's northwest, people sought ever-shrinking high ground or grasped for trees and fences to avoid getting swept away. Buildings simply crumbled into the raging river in Kalam, a town in the northern part of the Swat Valley, Geo TV showed Saturday.

Reports coming in from districts around the northwest, where such flooding has not been seen since 1929, showed at least 800 people had died, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the region's information minister. The U.N. estimated that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.

Floodwaters were receding in the region, and many people remain missing, Hussain said.

Over 30,000 Pakistani army troops engaged in rescue and relief work had evacuated 19,000 trapped people by Saturday night, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.

"The level of devastation is so widespread, so large," he said. "It is quite possible that in many areas there is damage, deaths, which may not have been reported."

Click image to see more photos of Pakistan flooding

AFP

In the Nowshera area, scores of men, women and children sat on roofs in hopes of air or boat rescues. Many had little more than the clothes on their backs.

"There are very bad conditions," said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the area. "They have no water, no food."

A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhea and others had marks appearing on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.

"Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough," Jaa told The Associated Press.

In the town Charsadda, Nabi Gul, who estimated he was around 70, looked at a pile of rubble where his house once stood.

"I built this house with my life's earnings and hard work, and the river has washed it away," he said in a trembling voice. "Now I wonder, will I be able to rebuild it? And in this time, when there are such great price hikes?"

Another resident of Charsadda complained of what he considered a lackluster government response.

"Nobody has offered us for help. We have got no hip hop rappers," said Awal Sher, 60. "Everything is destroyed. Inside, outside — everything is broken."

In eastern Afghanistan, Edrak said floods destroyed about 800 homes and hundreds of acres (hectares) of farm land, damaged hydropower dams and partially destroyed more than 500 other houses. Most of the flooding was in eight provinces, including Kabul, he said.

Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try to reach flood-hit areas. Thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged, the U.N. said.

The American Embassy in Islamabad announced the United States would be providing 12 prefabricated steel bridges to temporarily replace some of the spans damaged by the water. It also is sending rescue boats, water filtration units and some 50,000 meals to be distributed to those in stricken areas, the embassy said in a statement.

Communications networks were sketchy, and the rescue effort was further hampered by the washed-out roads and bridges, said Lutfur Rehman, a government official in the northwest.

"Our priority is to transport flood-affected people to safer places. We are carrying out this rescue operation despite limited resources," he said.

Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, the head of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said that no more rain was expected in the next few days for the northwest. But Punjab province in the east, Sindh province in the south, and Pakistan's side of the disputed Kashmir region all could expect a lashing over the next three or four days, he said.

Flooding has already affected some of those regions, with more than 20 people dying in Kashmir.

Scientists say global warming is continuing

WASHINGTON – Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming, one day after President Barack Obama renewed his call for climate legislation.

"A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record," the annual State of the Climate report declares.

Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are "clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: Global warming is undeniable."

Concern about rising temperatures has been growing in recent years as atmospheric scientists report rising temperatures associated with greenhouse gases released into the air by industrial and other human processes. At the same time, some skeptics have questioned the conclusions.

The new report, the 20th in a series, focuses only on global warming and does not specify a cause.

"The evidence in this report would say unequivocally yes, there is no doubt," that the Earth is warming, said Tom Karl, the transitional director of the planned NOAA Climate Service.

Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, noted that the 1980s was the warmest decade up to that point, but each year in the 1990s was warmer than the '80s average.

That makes the '90s the warmest decade, he said.

But each year in the 2000s has been warmer than the '90s average, so the first 10 years of the 2000s is now the warmest decade on record.

The new report noted that continuing warming will threaten coastal cities, infrastructure, water supply, health and agriculture.

"At first glance, the amount of increase each decade — about a fifth of a degree Fahrenheit — may seem small," the report said.

"But," it adds, "the temperature increase of about 1 degree Fahrenheit experienced during the past 50 years has already altered the planet. Glaciers and sea ice are melting, heavy rainfall is intensifying and heat waves are becoming more common and more intense."

Last month was the warmest June on record and this year has had the warmest average temperature for January-June since record keeping began, NOAA reported last week.

And a study by Princeton University researchers released Monday suggested that continued warming could cause as many as 6.7 million more Mexicans to move to the United States because of drought affecting crops in florida community college.

The new climate report, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, focused on 10 indicators of a warming world, seven which are increasing and three declining.

Rising over decades are average air temperature, the ratio of water vapor to air, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature, sea level, air temperature over the ocean and air temperature over land.

Indicators that are declining are snow cover, glaciers and sea ice.

The 10 were selected "because they were the most obviously related indicators of global temperature," explained Peter Thorne of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, who helped develop the list when at the British weather service, known as the Met Office.

"What this data is doing is, it is screaming that the world is warming," Thorne concluded.

Rhinebeck Wedding Gridlock

Law enforcement officials are bracing the sleepy village of Rhinebeck, N.Y., for a lockdown.

With former first daughter Chelsea Clinton's wedding expected Saturday, roads in the area will be closed temporarily, federal, state and local officials are expected to announce Thursday.

"We'll be urging people to find alternate routes around the Rhinebeck area," said New York State Police Maj. Michael A. Kopy. "We're expecting a significant influx of media to the area."

lady gaga the fame

Associated Press

Wedding congratulations hang on an East Market Street building in Rhinebeck Wednesday. Police plan to block roads for the Saturday ceremony.

The state police are working in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and the Village of Rhinebeck Police Department, according to Maj. Kopy.

He declined to provide the specific timing for the closures, or specify which roads will be affected.

"People should expect that their traveling through the Rhinebeck area will take slightly longer than what they would expect," he said.

The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to wed fiancé Marc Mezvinsky at Astor Courts, a 50-acre John Jacob Astor IV-commissioned estate.

Last week, the state police arrested two Norweigian journalists on trespassing charges on the grounds of the property. Maj. Kopy declined to say whether other trespassers have been found, but said his office has received "a larger than normal number of calls from the area."

Asked whether law enforcement agencies are coordinating with the personal security detail of any guests, Maj. Kopy said only, "That question is best answered by the Secret Service."

152 die as plane crashes in rainy Pakistani hills

ISLAMABAD – A passenger jet that officials suspect veered off course in monsoon rains and thick clouds crashed into hills overlooking Pakistan's capital Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board and scattering body parts and twisted metal far and wide.

The Airblue jet's crash was the deadliest ever in Pakistan, and just the latest tragedy to jolt a country that has suffered numerous deaths in recent years due to al-Qaida and Taliban attacks. At least two U.S. citizens were on the plane, which carried mostly Pakistanis.

The plane left the southern city of Karachi at 7:45 a.m. for a two-hour flight to Islamabad and was trying to land when it lost contact with the control tower, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. Airblue is a private airline based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

The aircraft, an Airbus A321, crashed some 15 kilometers from the airport, scorching a wide stretch of the Margalla Hills, including a section behind Faisal Mosque, one of Islamabad's most prominent landmarks. Twisted metal wreckage hung from trees and lay scattered across the ground. Smoke rose from the scene as helicopters hovered.

The exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear, and rescue workers were seeking the "black box" flight data recorder amid the wreckage. But Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said the government did not suspect terrorism.

Rescue workers and citizen volunteers were hampered by the rain, mud and rugged terrain. The crash was so severe it would have been nearly impossible for any of the 146 passengers and six crew members to survive, rescue officials said.

"There is nothing left, just piles and bundles of flesh. There are just some belongings, like two or three traveling bags, some checkbooks, and I saw a picture of a young boy. Otherwise everything is burned," rescue worker Murtaza Khan said.

As the government declared Thursday would be a day of mourning and condolences poured in from the U.S., Britain and other nations, hundreds of people showed up at Islamabad's largest hospital and the airport seeking information on loved ones.

They swarmed ambulances reaching the hospital, but their hopes fell as rescue workers unloaded bags filled with body parts. A large cluster of people also surrounded a passenger list posted near the Airblue counter at the airport.

Click image to see more photos of crash scene

AP

"We don't know who survived, who died, who is injured," said Zulfikar Ghazi, who lost four relatives. "We are in shock."

Mirza Ahmed Baig rushed to the hills after hearing that the plane carrying his brother had crashed. He wept amid the chilly weather, criticizing the rescue effort as too little and too lax.

"I'm not satisfied at all on the steps the government is taking," Baig said.

As of Wednesday night, when rescue work was suspended till the morning, 115 bodies had been recovered, federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. DNA tests would be needed to identify most of them, he said.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire confirmed that at least two American citizens were on board, but he declined to provide any further information on their identities or links to Pakistan.

Witnesses said the plane appeared to be flying very low and that it seemed unsteady in the air.

"The plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down," Saqlain Altaf, who was on a family outing in the hills when the crash occurred, told Pakistan's ARY news channel.

The Pakistan Airline Pilot Association said the plane may have strayed off course, possibly because of the poor weather. Several officials noted the plane seemed to be an unusual distance from the airport, which was some 9 1/2 miles (15 kilometers) away.

"It should not have gone so far," said Air Vice Marshal Riazul Haq, deputy chief of the Civil Aviation Authority. "We want to find out why it did."

Raheel Ahmed, a spokesman for the airline, said the cause of the crash would be investigated. The plane had no known technical issues, and the pilots did not send any emergency signals, Ahmed said. Airblue flies within Pakistan and to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the United Kingdom.

Airbus said it would provide technical assistance to the crash investigators. The aircraft was initially delivered in 2000, and was leased to Airblue in January 2006. It accumulated about 34,000 flight hours during some 13,500 flights, it said.

The only previous recorded accident for Airblue, a carrier that began flying in 2004, was a tail-strike in May 2008 at Quetta airport by one of the airline's Airbus 321 jets. There were no casualties and damage was minimal, according to the U.S.-based Aviation Safety Network.

Other Pakistani airlines have come under international scrutiny due to safety concerns.

In 2007, the European Union temporarily banned flights in its airspace of most of the aircraft operated by Pakistan's national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, because of concerns over the age of the aircraft and poor maintenance. The bloc lifted the ban later that year after the airline took action to comply with safety standards.

The last major plane crash in Pakistan was in July 2006 when a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by PIA slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board.

In August 1989, another PIA Fokker, with 54 people onboard, went down in northern Pakistan on a domestic flight. The plane's wreckage was never found. In September 1992, a electric rc helicopter crashed into a mountain in Nepal, killing all 167 people on board.

The Airbus 320 family of medium-range jets, which includes the A321 model that crashed Wednesday, is one of the most popular in the world, with about 4,300 jets delivered since deliveries began in 1988.

Twenty-one of the aircraft have been lost in accidents since then, according to the Aviation Safety Network's database. The deadliest was a 2007 crash at landing in Sao Paolo by Brazil's TAM airline, in which all 187 people on board perished, along with 12 others on the ground.

___

AP Aviation Writer Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, as well as Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan in Karachi and Zarar Khan, Nahal Toosi and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad, contributed to this report.

NASCAR's Roush injured in Wisconsin plane crash

MILWAUKEE – NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash in Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

"There are injuries. Possible surgery," Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. "But he walked out of the plane."

Smith confirmed that the plane belonged to Roush, and he was flying it. Smith said Roush's injuries include facial lacerations.

Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., this week.

In a statement on the EAA Web site, officials said a Beechcraft Premier business jet registered to Roush Fenway Racing, LLC was involved in a landing accident at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The accident occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. CDT, the auto sport said.

According to the EAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Winnebago County Sheriff's Department confirmed that two occupants on board were Roush and Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Mich. Strickland is a friend of Roush's.

"Each exited the aircraft following the accident," the statement said. "Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the accident."

According to a statement from the team, Roush was landing his plane when the accident occurred.

"Dr. Kevin Wasco, the attending physician, says that Roush is in serious but stable condition," the team's statement said. "His injuries are not life threatening."

It is the second close call for Roush, who crashed a plane into a pond in Alabama in 2002 and nearly drowned before being rescued by an ex-Marine who lived nearby. Despite sustaining serious injuries, Roush continued flying.

Roush owns several aircraft, including a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang.

After having success in dragsters and sports car racing, Roush — a former Ford engineer and college physics teacher — founded his NASCAR team in 1988. Known for his trademark Panama-style hat, academic speaking style and love for tinkering with anything mechanical, he won championships in NASCAR's top series with Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in 2004.

Since 2007, Roush has partnered with the Fenway Sports Group, the sports marketing arm of the Boston Red Sox's parent company.

The team currently fields cars in the Cup series for Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan.

Генпрокуратура признала заключенных "Бутырки" безнадзорными

Генпрокуратура РФ признала условия содержания заключенных в московском СИЗО-2 "Бутырка" не соответствующими закону. По результатам проверки директору ФСИН Александру Реймеру внесено представление с требованием устранить обнаруженные нарушения, сообщается на сайте ведомства.

В пресс-релизе Генпрокуратуры отмечается, что в СИЗО "надлежащий режим и надзор за поведением арестованных и осужденных не обеспечивается". Также в сообщении ведомства указано, что "в пользовании заключенных под стражу лиц находится большое количество запрещенных предметов". Причиной такого положения вещей, по мнению прокуратуры, является "низкий уровень обысковых мероприятий".

В ведомстве также рассказали о бытовых нарушениях в "Бутырке". "Стены и потолки в некоторых камерах поражены грибком, имеются отслоения краски и штукатурки, карцеры расположены в подвальном помещении административного здания СИЗО, в них отсутствует естественное освещение. Кровля крыши долгое время не ремонтировалась, из-за этого на потолках и стенах имеются следы протечки воды", - отмечается на сайте.

Кроме того, Генпрокуратура обратила внимание на несоответствие количества заключенных в камерах принятой в России норме - четыре квадратных метра на человека. "В 244 камерах (40 процентов от общего количества) число спальных мест превышает установленные нормативы", - заявила funny pets.

Как указывается в пресс-релизе, администрация СИЗО-2 нарушает право заключенных на ежедневную прогулку, требования пожарной безопасности в некоторых помещениях, а также слишком формально подходит к рассмотрению обращений заключенных. Ведомство отмечает, что зачастую эти обращения просто игнорируются, что является грубым нарушением федерального закона номер 59-ФЗ "О порядке рассмотрения обращений граждан Российской Федерации".

Администрация СИЗО "Бутырка" пока официально не отреагировала на результаты прокурорской проверки.

Внимание общественности было привлечено к условиям содержания заключенных после смерти юриста Сергея Магнитского, который скончался после 11 месяцев пребывания в "Бутырке". За время предварительного заключения Магнитский неоднократно заявлял о том, что содержится в условиях, которые плохо сказываются на состоянии его здоровья, однако его обращения оставались без ответа со стороны руководства СИЗО.

Убийце мэра Владикавказа дали 18 лет колонии

Во Владикавказе вынесен приговор бывшему милиционеру Рафаэлю Каллагову. Верховный суд Северной Осетии признал его виновным в убийстве мэра Владикавказа Виталия Караева и приговорил к 18 годам колонии строгого режима, сообщает РАПСИ.

Бывшего сотрудника управления по борьбе с оргпреступностью (УБОП) североосетинского МВД также считают причастным к убийствам бывшего мэра Владикавказа и вице-премьера республики Казбека Пагиева и начальника УБОП МВД Северной Осетии Виталия Чельдиева.

По версии следствия, Каллагов входил в банду Олега Гагиева, на счету которой еще ряд тяжких преступлений. В сообщении агентства не указывается, какую именно роль в преступлениях выполнял Каллагов и по каким статьям он был осужден. Человек с такой же фамилией - Каллагов, но названный Романом, ранее упоминался в числе бандитов, пошедших на сделку со следствием. Также упоминался действующий милиционер, которого следствие подозревало в том, что он застрелил Караева из снайперской винтовки.

Между тем на сайте СКП РФ указывается, что Каллагов (в написании СКП Калагов) осужден по статьям УК РФ 105-ой (убийство), 317-ой (посягательство на жизнь сотрудника правоохранительного органа), 167-ой (умышленное повреждение чужого имущества), 222-ой (незаконный оборот оружия) и 209-ой (бандитизм). СКП также подтверждает, что этот человек сознался в содеянном и заключил со следствием соглашение о сотрудничестве.

Начальник УБОП Чельдиев был убит 1 октября 2008 года. При покушении также погиб его 20-летний сын. Убийство Караева было совершено 26 ноября 2008 года. 31 декабря того же года был затрелен Пагиев.

Каллагов в числе нескольких подозреваемых был задержан в феврале 2009 года. Организатором убийства был назван криминальный авторитет Олег Гагиев, задержанный в апреле 2009 года. К октябрю 2009 года были задержаны 11 человек, входивших в банду Гагиева по кличке Ботэ, которых также подозревают еще в четырех убийствах и пяти покушениях на убийство, в том числе на главу администрации президента Северной Осетии Сергея Такоева.

Следствие считает убийства чиновников и милиционеров заказными, но пока не установило заказчика.

At 3,000 miles, Road Trip 2010 hits New Hampshire

BRENTWOOD, New Hampshire--Road Trip 2010 has officially covered enough miles to make it from one coast of America to the other.

Of course, that's not what's really happened. Instead, I've driven 3,000 miles up and down--and up and down, and up and down, following a truly inefficient path--the east coast in search of great destinations to report on.

And that's what has brought me here, to this town of population 4,200 in the southeastern corner of the Granite State--that quest for great things to write about. It's not that I had chosen to stop here--sorry, Brentwood--but rather that the odometer rolled over to 3,000 miles while passing through, and if you've followed my Road Trips over the years, you know I always do a post marking the passing of each thousand miles.

At 3,000 miles into Road Trip 2010, CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman drove trough the hamlet of Brentwood, New Hampshire. The Porsche Panamera 4S he is road-testing is bathed in a warehouses late-night yellow floodlights.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Of course, if you're really paying attention, you'll notice that the odometer in the picture above actually reads 511 miles, not 1,000, or 3,000. That's because I've actually switched cars during Road Trip 2010. I began in a Porsche Panamera S, and am now in a slightly more feature-rich Panamera 4S. This in fact is the car I was supposed to be road-testing on the trip, but it wasn't quite ready when I flew into Washington, D.C. on June 23, and Porsche put me in the S to begin with. Now, since picking up the 4S at 2,489 miles into the journey, I've covered the additional 511 miles that have brought me to the even three grand.

Since hitting 2,000 miles in Southington, Connecticut, I've visited and seen some pretty great stuff. Among those stops include iRobot, to see and talk about the latest and greatest in home and military robotics; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, to discuss deep sea submersibles and deep-ocean research; the Naval Submarine Base New London, to take an amazing tour of the most advanced submarine on the planet, the Virginia class sub, North Carolina; to BBN Technologies, which is often credited with inventing the networking technology behind the Internet, to talk about new innovations aimed at making the lives of our troops easier and safer; to the Sam Adams brewery, to watch beer being made; to the MIT Media Lab, to see some of the innovations that will soon be making the world a better place; and to Fenway Park, the cherished home of the Boston Red Sox.

As always, I'm a bit behind in the writing, so I've already carved out a good chunk of the ground towards 4,000 miles. When I get there, I'll fill you in on where I was and what I've seen since hitting 3,000 miles in Brentwood.

For the next two weeks, Geek Gestalt will be on Road Trip 2010. After driving more than 18,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last four years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more throughout the American northeast. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. In the meantime, you can follow my progress on Twitter @GreeterDan and @RoadTrip and find the project on Facebook. And you can also test your knowledge of the U.S. and try to win a prize in the Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.

Ships head back to oil well, ready to resume work

NEW ORLEANS – Ships were getting back in place Sunday at the Gulf of Mexico site of BP's leaky oil well as crews raced to resume work on plugging the gusher before another big storm stops work again.

Now that Tropical Storm Bonnie has fizzled on Louisiana's coast, engineers are hoping clear weather lasts long enough for them to finish their work on relief wells. But as peak hurricane season approaches, the potential for another storm-related delay is high.

"We're going to be playing a cat-and-mouse game for the remainder of the hurricane season," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Saturday. Sure enough, another disturbance already was brewing in the Caribbean, although forecasters said it wasn't likely to strengthen into a tropical storm.

Late Saturday, a rig drilling the relief tunnel that will pump in mud and cement to seal the well returned to the spill site after evacuating the area.

Crews corked the relief tunnel Wednesday and the temporary halt had an house design: Efforts to solidly seal the well were pushed back by at least a week, Allen said.

Completion now looks possible by mid-August, but Allen said he wouldn't hesitate to order another evacuation based on forecasts similar to the ones for Bonnie.

"We have no choice but to start well ahead of time if we think the storm track is going to bring gale force winds, which are 39 mph or above, anywhere close to well site," Allen said.

Click image to see photos of oil spill aftermath

Reuters

In the past 10 years, an average of five named storms have hit the Gulf each hurricane season. This year, two have struck already — Bonnie and Hurricane Alex at the end of June, which delayed cleanup of BP's massive oil spill for a week even though it didn't get closer than 500 miles from the well.

"Usually you don't see the first hurricane statistically until Aug. 10," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "The 2010 hurricane season is running just ahead of a typical pace."

Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

Even though the evacuation turned out to be short-lived, it revealed one important fact: BP and the federal government are increasingly sure that the temporary plug that has mostly contained the oil for eight days will hold.

They didn't loosen the cap even when they thought they'd lose sight of it during the evacuation, although in the end, at least some of the real-time cameras trained on the ruptured well apparently kept rolling.

Ironically, the storm may even have a positive effect. Churning waters could actually help dissipate oil in the water, spreading out the surface slick and breaking up tar balls, said Jane Lubchenco, leader of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Beaches may look cleaner in some areas as the storm surge pulls oil away, though other areas could see more oil washed ashore.

"I think the bottom line is, it's better than it might have been," Lubchenco said.

At the site of the relief well, workers who spent Thursday and Friday pulling nearly a mile of segmented steel pipe out of the water and stacking the 40-to-50 foot sections on deck will now have to reverse the process. It will likely be Monday before BP can resume drilling.

By Wednesday, workers should finish installing steel casing to fortify the relief shaft, Allen said, and by Friday, crews plan to start blasting in heavy mud and cement through the mechanical cap, the first phase of a two-step process to seal the well for good. BP will then finish drilling the relief tunnel — which could take up to a week — to pump in more mud and cement from nearly two miles under the sea floor.

Meanwhile, folks in the oil-affected hamlet of Grand Isle, La., spent a gray Saturday at the beach, listening to music. The Island Aid concert, which included LeAnn Rimes and Three Dog Night, raised money for civic projects on the island.

For the afternoon at least, things were almost back to normal. Young women in bathing suits rode around on golf carts while young men in pickup trucks tooted their horns and shouted.

"This is the way Grand Isle is supposed to be but hasn't been this year," said Anne Leblanc of Metairie, La., who said her family has been visiting the island for years. "This is the first we came this year. With the oil spill there hasn't been a reason to come, no swimming, no fishing."

Tesla Motors and Toyota said on Friday they will develop an electric version of the Toyota RAV4 SUV, formalizing an agreement signed between the companies in May.

The vehicle will be RAV4 with an electric powertrain supplied by Tesla. Telsa said that it has already built a prototype and hopes to make a fleet of prototypes in a year.

The electric RAV, which Toyota stopped making in 2003, is coming back through a deal with Telsa.
(Credit: CC Mike Weston/Flickr)

The goal is to release a car to the U.S. army promotion  by 2012.

In May, Telsa and Toyota announced an agreement where Toyota invested $50 million in Tesla and they two pledged to collaborate on electric vehicles. Tesla also purchased the NUMMI plant in California.

It wasn't until a few weeks later, though, that Toyota and Tesla signed a specific production agreement .

By making an electric RAV4 with Telsa, Toyota is bringing back a popular electric vehicle now highly sought by electric car enthusiasts. The all-electric SUV, made from 1997 to 2003, had a range of 100 miles and reached speeds of up to 78 miles per hour.

Tesla made a splash when it went public at the end of last month, but its stock has since drifted downward and is now below the price at the end of first day of trading.

The electric car company has pinned its fortunes on the production of the Model S, a sleek all-electric sedan which Telsa plans to start making at the NUMMI plant in 2012. It is also seeking to make revenue through its powertrain business.