Sharapova wins the U.S. Open with a straight-sets victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Like patriotism, history's judgment is the last refuge of the scoundrel. We also have to look at what would have happened otherwise.

I would have liked to dedicate today's column to the more than 3,000 victims of the ghastly terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But this is also the fifth anniversary of the United States' Global War on Terror, or GWOT, and in war you wait until the fighting is over to honor its dead.

Trade Surplus Hits $100Bln The trade surplus widened to $100.1 billion in the first seven months as exports surged by almost one-third, the Federal Customs Service said on its web site Friday. The surplus widened from $78.6 billion in the same period last year, the report showed. Exports rose to $168.6 billion, the report showed, up 30 percent from the same period a year earlier. Imports grew 33 percent to $68.5 billion. (Bloomberg) $15.7Bln of Capital Inflow The country had a net inflow of capital of $15.7 billion in the first eight months, Interfax said Friday, citing Central Bank data. The bank now expects between $15 billion and $20 billion of net capital inflow in 2006, bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev told reporters in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, the news service said. (Bloomberg) Akhmetov to Buy Gas? A firm owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, has struck a deal to buy gas directly from Gazprom, cutting out gas trader RosUkrEnergo, Vedomosti reported Friday.

A new bill to introduce term deposits enabling banks to match maturities of their assets with liabilities will be sent to parliament next week, Sergei Aksakov, deputy head of the State Duma's Credit Organizations and Financial Markets Committee, said Friday.