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Saturday, November 26, 2011 12:22 AM PST

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: NATO raid kills up to 14 Pakistan troops: Pakistan officials New Zealand polls close as government eyes emphatic win Mexican group asks ICC to probe president, officials UK to plough £600 million into new schools Former FBI director appointed MF Global trustee London's Lord Mayor: a modern philanthropist Moderate Islamists claim Moroccan election win Justice and Development Party says won Morocco poll Imperial, Ottawa in talks over Arctic pipeline Arab League prepares for Syria sanctions Protesters dig in to keep pressure on Egypt army Corzine expected to testify at House hearing: source High-frequency firm fined for trading malfunctions U.S. opening formal probe into GM Volt fire risk AT&T to offer bigger asset sale to save T-Mobile deal: report Libya leader, in Khartoum, thanks Sudan for weapons Youth workers subsidised to ease jobs drought Newsmaker: Technocrat "oil man" takes charge of Libya lifeline Turkey seen as door to Syrian "humanitarian corridor" Global supermarkets wary of fine print on India invite Arms smugglers thrive on Syrian uprising TMX deal must preserve Montreal's status: watchdog Analysis: Bahrain digests inquiry as protests continue Columnist says assault shows why Egypt revolt goes on U.S. defeated in bid on cluster bomb accord F-35 makes headway amid criticism, US budget crunch Supreme Court to decide whether lawsuits require harm Factbox: FCC has options in answering AT&T, T-Mobile Canada eyes stimulus as Europe crisis spreads EU's Rehn says swift action needed to contain euro Analysis:Catholics, Muslims pursue dialogue amid Mideast tension Greece needs more austerity to hit targets: forecasts Three Westerners kidnapped in Mali, fourth killed Golf-Montgomerie replaces bullets with golf balls in Afghanistan "Awful" Italy debt sale heightens euro zone stress EU's Rehn says must move quickly to build euro defenses Bad sale of Italian debt adds to Monti's headaches Excluded from cabinet, Libya's Berbers fear isolation Government eyes stimulus as Europe crisis spreads Analysis: Tsar sacking unlikely to curb Nigerian graft NATO raid kills up to 14 Pakistan troops: Pakistan officials Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:04 PM PST Reuters - YAKKAGHUND, Pakistan (Reuters) - NATO helicopters from Afghanistan intruded into northwest Pakistan and attacked a military check post near the border Saturday, killing up to 14 troops and wounding seven, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The attack comes as relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on terror, are already strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a secret raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May. Pakistan called that raid a flagrant violation of its sovereignty. ... Full Story Top New Zealand polls close as government eyes emphatic win Fri,25 Nov 2011 10:31 PM PST Reuters - AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Voting closed in New Zealand's general election on Saturday, with polls suggesting the center-right National Party, led by John Key, will sweep back into power with an increased majority. Key has promised to build on policies of the past three years with an emphasis on sparking economic growth by cutting debt, curbing spending, selling state assets and returning to a budget surplus by 2014/15. "The most important thing is getting the economy right," said salesman Kelly Weaver, 25, after voting. ... Full Story Top Mexican group asks ICC to probe president, officials Fri,25 Nov 2011 07:05 PM PST Reuters - THE HAGUE/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican human rights activists want the International Criminal Court to investigate President Felipe Calderon, top officials and the country's most-wanted drug trafficker, accusing them of allowing subordinates to kill, torture and kidnap civilians. Netzai Sandoval, a Mexican human rights lawyer, filed a complaint with the ICC in The Hague on Friday, requesting an investigation of the deaths of hundreds of civilians at the hands of the military and traffickers. ... Full Story Top UK to plough £600 million into new schools Fri,25 Nov 2011 06:45 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britain plans to spend an extra 600 million pounds on so-called "free schools" outside municipal control over the next three years, the country's Finance Ministry said on Saturday. Free schools are the flagship education policy of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that came to power in May 2010, and can set their own curriculum and staff employment conditions, unlike most other state-funded schools. Twenty-four of the schools -- based on models in Sweden and the United States -- opened in September. ... Full Story Top Former FBI director appointed MF Global trustee Fri,25 Nov 2011 06:13 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - Former FBI director Louis Freeh was appointed trustee in the MF Global bankruptcy case on Friday, days after he was hired to lead an independent probe into a sex abuse scandal at Penn State University. Freeh, also a former judge, was appointed by the United States trustee for the region, according to a court document. The move is subject to court approval. MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on October 31, after $6.3 billion in risky bets on European sovereign debt spooked investors and an attempt to sell the firm failed. U.S. ... Full Story Top London's Lord Mayor: a modern philanthropist Fri,25 Nov 2011 06:05 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The most famous Lord Mayor of London, Dick Whittington, immortalised in traditional British pantomimes, gave all his money to charity on his death nearly 600 years ago. The latest incumbent of the 800-year-old office, David Wooton, is not advocating that for himself or his colleagues in the financial district, but he is suggesting some people could be more philanthropic. ... Full Story Top Moderate Islamists claim Moroccan election win Fri,25 Nov 2011 08:56 PM PST Reuters - RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's Justice and Development Party (PJD) claimed victory on Saturday in a parliamentary election that should produce a stronger government after King Mohammed ceded some powers to prevent any spillover from Arab Spring uprisings. The PJD, which finds its support largely among Morocco's poor, would be the second moderate Islamist party to lead a North African government since the start of the region's Arab Spring uprisings, following Tunisia. ... Full Story Top Justice and Development Party says won Morocco poll Fri,25 Nov 2011 03:30 PM PST Reuters - RABAT (Reuters) - The Justice and Development Party (PJD) said it had won the largest number of seats in Morocco's parliamentary election on Friday. "Based on reports filed by our representatives at polling stations throughout the country, we are the winners. We won Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Kenitra, Sale, Beni Mellal and Sidi Ifni to cite just a few," Lahcen Daodi, second in command of the moderate Islamist party, told Reuters. "Our party has won the highest number of seats," he added. Government officials could not immediately confirm the party's claim. ... Full Story Top Imperial, Ottawa in talks over Arctic pipeline Fri,25 Nov 2011 03:27 PM PST Reuters - CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Imperial Oil Ltd and Ottawa have resumed talks over a financial support package for the Mackenzie gas pipeline in the Far North, but the company would not say on Friday if it was any closer to proceeding with the C$16.2 billion (US$15.4 billion) project. Discussions aimed at making the long-delayed development economically viable restarted some time in the second-half of this year after the two sides took a "hiatus" before the last federal election in May, Imperial spokesman Pius Rolheiser said. He declined to offer details. ... Full Story Top Arab League prepares for Syria sanctions Fri,25 Nov 2011 03:22 PM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Arab officials will prepare plans for sanctions against Syria on Saturday over its failure to let Arab League monitors oversee an initiative aimed at ending a violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus missed a Friday deadline to sign an agreement under which the Arab League planned to send observers to Syria, where the United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed since the start of the uprising in March. ... Full Story Top Protesters dig in to keep pressure on Egypt army Fri,25 Nov 2011 03:18 PM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters demanding an end to army rule in Egypt sought on Saturday to build on momentum from a mass protest, bedding down in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a ninth day just two days before the first free parliamentary polls in living memory. Thousands stayed in the square late into the night on Friday, aiming to keep up pressure on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to further speed up a transition to democracy which they believe requires the generals to leave power now. ... Full Story Top Corzine expected to testify at House hearing: source Fri,25 Nov 2011 02:58 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former MF Global Chief Executive Jon Corzine is expected to testify at a congressional hearing next month, a committee aide said on Friday, tamping down speculation that the former head of the bankrupt brokerage would decline to take part. The House Financial Services Committee announced earlier this week that Corzine, a former U.S. senator and governor of New Jersey and one-time head of Goldman Sachs, would appear at a December 15 investigations subcommittee hearing. ... Full Story Top High-frequency firm fined for trading malfunctions Fri,25 Nov 2011 02:47 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - Exchange operator CME Group Inc fined Infinium Capital Management, a U.S. high-frequency trading firm, a total of $850,000 for three separate computer malfunctions that rattled futures markets in 2009 and 2010. Infinium trading programs malfunctioned on October 7 and again on October 28, 2009, causing uncontrolled selling of e-mini contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Then on February 3, 2010, the firm lost control of an algorithm that bought oil futures in rapid succession on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ... Full Story Top U.S. opening formal probe into GM Volt fire risk Fri,25 Nov 2011 02:46 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators are opening a formal investigation into fire risks in General Motors' Volt vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday it was taking the step after efforts to recreate a May crash test saw fires result from two out of three crash tests performed this month. ... Full Story Top AT&T to offer bigger asset sale to save T-Mobile deal: report Fri,25 Nov 2011 02:20 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - AT&T Inc is considering an offer to divest a significantly larger portion of assets than it had initially expected, in order to salvage its $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported citing a person familiar with the plan. Bloomberg said the exact size of the divestiture hasn't been determined but reported it could be as much as 40 percent of T-Mobile USA's assets. ... Full Story Top Libya leader, in Khartoum, thanks Sudan for weapons Fri,25 Nov 2011 02:16 PM PST Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese weapons and ammunition sent through Egypt helped Libya's former rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi and take control of the North African country, the head of Libya's interim ruling council said on Friday. Relations between Khartoum and Tripoli were strained during Gaddafi's rule because of the slain leader's support for rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region and in South Sudan, which seceded in July under a 2005 peace deal. Sudanese officials now hope for better ties with Libya, which shares a desert border with Sudan. ... Full Story Top Youth workers subsidised to ease jobs drought Fri,25 Nov 2011 01:47 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The government will spend up to 1 billion pounds on employment subsidies and other support to help young people into work as youth unemployment hits record levels, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Friday. More than one million young people aged 16-24 are out of work in Britain, official data showed last week, with companies holding back from hiring as the economy threatens to tip back into recession after barely growing over the past 12 months. ... Full Story Top Newsmaker: Technocrat "oil man" takes charge of Libya lifeline Fri,25 Nov 2011 01:41 PM PST Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's new oil minister is seen as the right kind of technocrat, deeply experienced yet not too closely tied to the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi, to help restore the OPEC member's economic lifeline after eight months of war. Abdulrahman Ben Yazza is in his mid-50s and brings experience from both Libya's oil industry and Italian firm Eni, the largest foreign oil producer in Libya before the war. He worked at Libya's Waha Oil company and at the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), culminating in a seat on the management committee. ... Full Story Top Turkey seen as door to Syrian "humanitarian corridor" Fri,25 Nov 2011 01:39 PM PST Reuters - ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The border wends 800 km (500 miles) eastwards through hilly Turkish terrain, much of it mined. On squat concrete buildings across the valley, the Syrian flag flutters and soldiers clamber over rooftops watching for movement. Villages around are occupied by military. The frontier between Turkey's Hatay province and Syria offers the probable site for the "humanitarian corridor" proposed by France to help civilians caught in the spiraling violence as President Bashar al-Assad fights to stay in power. But the Syrian military shows no sign of yielding control. ... Full Story Top Global supermarkets wary of fine print on India invite Fri,25 Nov 2011 01:38 PM PST Reuters - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Global supermarket chains welcomed a long-awaited invitation from India to invest in the country's $450 billion retail market, but they fear the small print may keep a lid on investment in the short term. The government on Thursday approved 51 percent foreign direct investment in supermarkets, paving the way for firms such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Tesco and Carrefour to enter one of the world's largest untapped markets. Shares in Indian retailers jumped -- bucking the weaker stock market trend -- in anticipation of interest from those big foreign retailers. ... Full Story Top Arms smugglers thrive on Syrian uprising Fri,25 Nov 2011 12:39 PM PST Reuters - BAALBEK, Lebanon (Reuters) - Weapons dealer Abu Wael has traded guns in Lebanon's Bekaa valley since the last days of his country's civil war, nearly a quarter of a century ago. This has been his busiest year ever. Unrest in neighboring Syria has sent demand for weapons soaring, doubling prices for Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons and helping supply the increasingly well armed insurrection challenging President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story Top TMX deal must preserve Montreal's status: watchdog Fri,25 Nov 2011 12:30 PM PST Reuters - MONTREAL (Reuters) - A former Quebec premier wants regulators to seek assurances that Montreal remain the center of Canadian derivatives trading before they approve a proposed C$3.8 billion takeover of the country's largest exchange operator. Remarks on Friday by Jacques Parizeau, now a director of a Quebec-based watchdog for small investors, highlighted concerns about the deal's impact on the French-speaking province and its largest city, whose status as a financial center has waned with the ascendance of Toronto. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Bahrain digests inquiry as protests continue Fri,25 Nov 2011 12:30 PM PST Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - A report that slammed Bahrain for using systematic torture to crush pro-democracy protests has put pressure on the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state to take some steps toward political reform but the opposition doubt anything substantive is in the works. The hardhitting findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), headed by international rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, vindicated majority Shi'ites and opposition groups over claims of repression during martial law brought in after the government broke the protests up. ... Full Story Top Columnist says assault shows why Egypt revolt goes on Fri,25 Nov 2011 12:29 PM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian-American columnist who said she was sexually assaulted by Egyptian riot police this week said her experience showed why protesters are pressing their demands for democratic government, nine months after Hosni Mubarak was toppled. Riot police also broke Mona El Tahawy's hand and arm during the assault Wednesday night near Cairo's Tahrir Square, where protesters have been demonstrating for a week against the military council which replaced Mubarak in February. "I was surrounded by four or five guys and systematically assaulted," Tahawy said in a telephone interview. ... Full Story Top U.S. defeated in bid on cluster bomb accord Fri,25 Nov 2011 12:15 PM PST Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.S.-led push to regulate, rather than ban, cluster munitions failed Friday after 50 countries objected, following humanitarian campaigners' claims that anything less than a outright ban would be an unprecedented reversal of human rights law. While the United States, China and Russia want rules about the manufacture and use of cluster bombs, activists say such regulations would legitimize the munitions, backtracking from the Oslo Convention, an international treaty that seeks a worldwide ban. ... Full Story Top F-35 makes headway amid criticism, US budget crunch Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:57 AM PST Reuters - ABOARD THE USS WASP (Reuters) - The 16-ton fighter jet slowed to a stop off the warship's port beam, where it hovered like a floating rock as thousands of pounds of thrust from its engine and lift fan stirred up a cloud of mist from the Atlantic Ocean 100 feet below. After a brief hesitation, the sleek, new gray airplane - a Marine Corps version of the radar-evading F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - slipped quickly sideways over the amphibious assault ship and then dropped to the flight deck with a gentle bump. ... Full Story Top Supreme Court to decide whether lawsuits require harm Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:39 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a dispute pitting big business against consumer groups, the Supreme Court hears arguments Monday on whether a person has to suffer legal harm to sue a company over an alleged kickback it got. Cleveland home buyer Denise Edwards sued her title insurance company under a 1974 federal real estate settlement law that bars kickbacks and certain referral fee arrangements. At issue is whether Edwards has the legal right to sue, even though she does not claim the alleged kickback affected the price, quality or any other aspects of her real estate settlement service. ... Full Story Top Factbox: FCC has options in answering AT&T, T-Mobile Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:19 AM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - AT&T and T-Mobile USA owner Deutsche Telekom are withdrawing their application with the Federal Communications Commission to focus on defending their $39 billion deal from a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department. "We have every right to withdraw our merger from the FCC, and the FCC has no right to stop us," Wayne Watts, AT&T's general counsel, said in a statement on Friday. "Any suggestion the agency might do otherwise would be an abuse of procedure which we would immediately challenge in court," he said. ... Full Story Top Canada eyes stimulus as Europe crisis spreads Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:09 AM PST Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian government is open to the idea of including additional economic stimulus in its next budget if the European debt crisis threatens to derail the country's relatively successful recovery. "We stand ready to respond again in a flexible and pragmatic manner if the economic challenges from beyond our shores begin to threaten jobs and the economy here," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a speech in Toronto. But he added a cautionary note that any new stimulus measures will be targeted. ... Full Story Top EU's Rehn says swift action needed to contain euro Fri,25 Nov 2011 11:06 AM PST Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn gave his backing to Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's new government on Friday but warned that swift action was needed to contain the escalating euro zone debt crisis. He dismissed fears that the euro's survival was in question but said the crisis had reached the heart of the single currency. "This contagion effect has been touching the proximity of the core and even touching the core itself," he told a news conference after meeting Monti in Rome. ... Full Story Top Analysis:Catholics, Muslims pursue dialogue amid Mideast tension Fri,25 Nov 2011 10:36 AM PST Reuters - BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, Jordan (Reuters) - Only five years ago, critical remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam sparked off violent protests in several Muslim countries. Never very good, relations between the world's two largest religions sank to new lows in modern times. This week, while protesters in the Arab world were demanding democracy and civil rights, Catholics and Muslims met along the Jordan River for frank and friendly talks about their differences and how to get beyond their misunderstandings. ... Full Story Top Greece needs more austerity to hit targets: forecasts Fri,25 Nov 2011 10:27 AM PST Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's budget deficit will not fall below a key euro zone ceiling in 2014 as planned, if the debt-laden country fails to decide additional austerity measures in June, a set of updated forecasts revealed on Friday. Assuming no more measures are taken, the budget gap will narrow to just 4.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2015 instead of the 1.1 percent assumed under a previous set of forecasts made in June, the finance ministry data showed. ... Full Story Top Three Westerners kidnapped in Mali, fourth killed Fri,25 Nov 2011 10:17 AM PST Reuters - BAMAKO (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped three Westerners and killed a fourth in the historic northern Mali town of Timbuktu Friday, the second hostage-taking in the region in two days, Malian government and local sources said. One government source and a local tourist guide identified the person who was killed as a German. The guide said two of those taken hostage were Dutch and one South African, though there was no official confirmation of their nationalities. ... Full Story Top Golf-Montgomerie replaces bullets with golf balls in Afghanistan Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:38 AM PST Reuters - KABUL, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Colin Montgomerie has helpedtransform soldiers' firing ranges into driving ranges on a tripto Afghanistan to support foreign troops and promote golf in acountry with plenty of checkpoints, but few fairways. The 48-year-old Scot gave golf lessons and donated equipmentto troops and Afghan children on a three-day trip this weekwhere he travelled from the main British military base inHelmand, one of the country's most violent regions, to foreigntroops' headquarters in the capital city Kabul. ... Full Story Top "Awful" Italy debt sale heightens euro zone stress Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:36 AM PST Reuters - MILAN (Reuters) - Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances, raising the pressure on Rome's new emergency government. The auction yield on the six-month paper almost doubled compared to a month earlier, capping a week in which a German bond auction came close to failing and the leaders of Germany, France and Italy failed to make progress on crisis resolution measures. ... Full Story Top EU's Rehn says must move quickly to build euro defenses Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:36 AM PST Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Europe's new bailout fund should be operational next year as pressure mounts for swift action to contain the financial crisis, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Friday. "For Italy and the euro zone it is essential that we shortly take decisions to reinforce financial firewalls and contain contagion," Rehn told a news conference after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. ... Full Story Top Bad sale of Italian debt adds to Monti's headaches Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:30 AM PST Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - A punishing sale of Italian debt on Friday was not just bad news for the country's finances and the euro zone as a whole but increased political problems for the new technocrat government of Mario Monti. The sale, in which Italy was forced to pay a record 6.5 percent for six month paper, comes on top of early sniping by politicians who were dragooned into accepting Monti a week ago only because of Italy's soaring borrowing costs. ... Full Story Top Excluded from cabinet, Libya's Berbers fear isolation Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:22 AM PST Reuters - JADU, Libya (Reuters) - After playing a central role in the revolt that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, members of Libya's long-oppressed Berber minority, known among themselves as Amazigh, thought they had finally won a voice. But a new interim government lineup that did not give them even a single cabinet seat has caused alarm that they may once again be banished to the sidelines of public life. "We do not disagree with the new government, but we want to be represented and included with ministerial positions. ... Full Story Top Government eyes stimulus as Europe crisis spreads Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:21 AM PST Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - The government is open to the idea of including additional economic stimulus in its next budget if the European debt crisis threatens to derail the country's relatively successful recovery. "We stand ready to respond again in a flexible and pragmatic manner if the economic challenges from beyond our shores begin to threaten jobs and the economy here," Flaherty said, according to the prepared text of a speech he was delivering in Toronto. But he added a cautionary note: any additional stimulus will be targeted. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Tsar sacking unlikely to curb Nigerian graft Fri,25 Nov 2011 09:16 AM PST Reuters - LONDON (TrustLaw) - The sacking this week of Nigeria's anti-graft chief may give the country's fight against corruption a short-term boost, but significant change is unlikely without deeper reforms to the justice system, analysts say. President Goodluck Jonathan's unexpected firing of Farida Waziri, the chair of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday was welcomed by critics who saw Waziri's tenure as politicized and ineffective. Anti-corruption expert Alexandra Wrage described the dismissal as "a step toward greater credibility" for the EFCC. ... Full Story Top

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