Deutsche Post sees 3Q profits fall, cuts outlook

Deutsche Post AG slashed its earnings forecasts for both 2008 and 2009 on Monday, saying it expects pretax profit to fall 8 percent in the third quarter as the financial crisis takes its toll.

Separately, the mail and logistics company's Deutsche Postbank AG retail banking unit said it would raise capital by issuing new shares and said it expects a pretax loss of 449 million euros ($561 million) in the third quarter.

Parent company Deutsche Post forecast a roughly 8 percent reduction in earnings before interest and taxes "as the global economic environment deteriorated markedly."

It did not give an exact figure, but said last year's …

Obama surprises outgoing Gates with prestigious medal: ; US defense secretary ends more than 30 years of service to the nation

WASHINGTON - A visibly moved Defense Secretary Robert Gatespaused briefly at a Pentagon retirement ceremony rife with pomp andpageantry, collected himself and told his president: "You're gettingpretty good at this covert ops stuff."

Barack Obama, the eighth president Gates has served in more than30 years at the CIA and Department of Defense, had just presentedhim with the prestigious Medal of Freedom. And Gates was teasing hisboss about keeping the award a surprise, in a reference to how Obamahad kept the world in the dark about his plan to bring down al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Proving that there are sometimes second acts in America, the …

Troops Storm Pakistan Mosque Compound

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Government troops stormed the compound of Islamabad's Red Mosque before dawn Tuesday, prompting a fierce firefight with militants accused of holding scores of hostages, officials said. At least 40 rebels and three soldiers were killed.

Amid the sounds of rolling explosions, commandos attacked from three directions about 4 a.m. and quickly cleared the ground floor of the mosque, army spokesman Gen. Waheed Arshad said. Some 20 children who rushed toward the advancing troops were brought to safety, he said.

Well-trained militants armed with machine guns, rocket launchers and gasoline bombs put up tough resistance from the basement, Arshad said, adding …

Tailfins, V-8s and Corvettes: The wake of an icon

For generations, General Motors fueled America's love affair with the automobile, building cars that defined their owners' status in life and the industrial might of the nation. But less than a year after entering its second century, the company that survived wars, international rivalry and even the Great Depression is being driven by the government into bankruptcy court.

The GM that helped move the world from horses to Chevys and Cadillacs is expected to file for bankruptcy protection Monday. The new GM that emerges sometime in the future will be leaner _ unsaddled from much of its debt and labor cost disadvantages that contributed to tens of billions of dollars of …

A homecoming, of sorts: Game vs. DePaul brings KU's Self, Wright, Collins back to state

Bill Self hasn't patrolled a sideline in Illinois since vacatinghis coaching post in Champaign in April 2003.

But that's not to say the Kansas coach hasn't been working thestate.

"This is the first time I'm back coaching," Self said of hisSaturday visit to Allstate Arena with the No. 5 Jayhawks for a gameagainst

DePaul (1 p.m., ESPNU, 670-AM). "But we've been recruiting there.We want to have a presence in the area from a recruiting standpoint.

"But I'm also a good friend of [DePaul coach] Jerry [Wainwright],and we thought it would be a great game for Kansas and, we hope, forDePaul."

The Blue Demons have lost all seven previous meetings against theJayhawks, but this game will carry more significance than ever forthe visitors.

Illinois continues to be fertile recruiting territory for Self,whose roster includes sophomore forward Julian Wright of Homewood-Flossmoor and freshman guard Sherron Collins of Crane. Wrightarrives off a 21-point, 10-rebound performance in Kansas' overtimeupset of reigning NCAA champion and then-No. 1 Florida, a game thatearned him Big 12 player of the week honors.

This will be as close to home as Wright and Collins get allseason -- no small reason why Self scheduled the game.

"Tickets," he said, laughing. "That's the big issue with them.They came to me a month ago worrying about how many they could get.I know it will be a lot of fun for them."

The Demons understand that, too.

"You always want to play at home against kids you grew up withand have bragging rights in the summertime," said forward KarronClarke, a New York native. "You also get to see your friends andfamily who don't always get to see you play, so it's good to gohome. We know they'll have a lot of fans there rooting for them, andthat will boost their confidence."

As if the 6-8 Wright needs a confidence injection. He's averaging13 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and two blocked shots.

"I played against him in AAU ball and in a tournament inIndiana," said DePaul forward Wilson Chandler, who's likely to spendmost of the game trying to contain Wright. "He's a great player andvery versatile. Of course, he's even stronger now than in highschool."

For a DePaul team struggling at 2-4, facing the 6-1 Jayhawkswould seem to be a one-sided challenge. Self believes differently.

"They're like us," Self said, mindful that his team also lost athome to unranked Oral Roberts. "If you look at them, they werefabulous last year in their game against Syracuse, and they returnthe core of those players. I love Chandler, and I recruited SammyMejia at Illinois.

"They're a team that will get better and better and by the end ofthe season be a postseason team. They have the personnel and thecoach."

Self pointed out that Wainwright's Richmond team upset theJayhawks in Lawrence, Kan., three seasons ago. But Wainwright saidthat team was different than the Demons, though he doesn't discounthis current talent.

"I had three senior guards on that team, and one was a fifth-year senior," Wainwright said. "That week, we won on Saturday atTemple, Thursday at Kansas and Sunday at Xavier. They could reallyshoot the ball."

Shooting is only one of the problems the Demons are strugglingwith after a 1-2 showing at the Maui Invitational. The losses cameto then-No. 20 Kentucky and surging Purdue.

"But they took Kentucky to the last 30 seconds," said Self, whoreceived a five-year contract extension Thursday that increases hissalary to more than $1.3 million a year. "Obviously, their coachwants to see the team that played against Syracuse and Kentucky toshow up."

A capacity crowd will be showing up for the game, as well as fora tribute to Ray Meyer, the legendary DePaul coach who died in Marchat 92.

"It will be a packed and emotional arena," Self said. "I havesome friends there still -- but probably not near the number who areupset with me."

tginnetti@suntimes.com

Italy recalls Brazil envoy over fugitive's asylum

Italy recalled its ambassador to Brazil on Tuesday in an escalating dispute over Brazil's decision to grant asylum to an Italian fugitive sentenced to life in prison for political slayings in the 1970s.

The Italian foreign minister said Brazil's decision this month not to extradite Cesare Battisti, a former member of a radical leftist group, was "unacceptable."

"We didn't expect this from Brazil, a country that is a friend," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

The Foreign Ministry said Ambassador Michele Valensise was being called back from the embassy in Brasilia "for consultations" about what to do next.

Brazil's Foreign Ministry said its decision complied with Brazilian law. But it also reached out to Italy, saying in a statement that it was confident "that the historic and cultural ties that link Brazil and Italy will continue to guide our efforts to strengthen even more the solid bilateral relations in many sectors."

Battisti, 54, escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder, allegedly committed when he was a member of the far-left Armed Proletarians for Communism.

A court convicted him in absentia for the killings of a prison guard and a butcher.

Battisti, who says he is innocent, lived in Mexico before moving to France in 1990 and reinventing himself as a mystery writer. He later went to Brazil, where he was arrested in 2007 based on an Italian warrant.

Brazilian officials said the Jan. 13 decision to grant Battisti refugee status was based on a fear of persecution if he was sent back to Italy. Italy calls him a terrorist who does not deserve refugee status.

"Battisti is a terrorist. He assassinated innocent people. He's been condemned by Italian courts," Frattini said told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a meeting in Rome. "The Italian government is exploring all the legal opportunities, for example to go before the Supreme Court of Brazil."

EU gives Spain one month to comply with order to scrap conditions on Endesa takeover

The European Commission on Thursday gave Spain one month to scrap conditions limiting a foreign takeover of its largest utility, Endesa SA.

The action was a last warning to Madrid that it must comply with a European Union order issued in December or face a lawsuit at the EU's court of justice. The Luxembourg-based court could impose hefty fines on the Spanish government if it is found to have violated EU competition rules.

"If there is no satisfactory reply within one month the Commission may decide to refer Spain" to court, the EU executive said in a statement.

An EU investigation last year found that Spain's energy commission, CNE, violated the rights of Italian utility Enel SpA and Acciona SA to invest, set up a business and move goods anywhere in the 27-nation European Union.

The investigation called the CNE practices protectionist.

Spain is unlikely to win a court case; the EU court ruled in March that Spanish regulators had no right to shield Endesa from an earlier takeover bid launched by Germany's E.ON AG in 2006.

The Spanish government had favored a Spanish suitor for Endesa, even though management opted for the E.ON offer. The government then granted powers to the CNE, which placed a string of tough conditions on the bid.

That ruling however, came too late for E.ON, which abandoned its bid for Endesa after strong resistance from Madrid.

Endesa meanwhile became a target for two Italian energy companies _ Acciona SA and Enel SpA _ which now face the same objections from Spain.