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Teen Jackie Evancho first singer confirmed for Trump inauguration

Classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho, who charmed TV audiences as a child on ”America’s Got Talent” six years ago, will sing the U. S. national anthem at the inauguration of Donald Trump the first performer to be announced for the ceremony. Trump’s inaugural committee made the announcement on Wednesday, saying Evancho, 16, ”represents the best and the brightest of America.” ”I’m so excited. It’s going to be awesome,” Evancho said on the ”Today” show on Wednesday. Celebrity news website TMZ reported on Wednesday that Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli would also be singing at the Jan. 20 ceremony, but there was no official confirmation. As a tiny Evancho wowed Americans with her soaring soprano on classical arias like Puccini’s ”O mio babbino caro,” taking second place on ”America’s Got Talent.” She will follow in the footsteps of Aretha Franklin and Beyonce, who performed the ”The Banner” at President Barack Obama’s two inaugurations. After her ”America’s Got Talent” run, Evancho became the youngest solo artist to have a album in the United States. She met Trump at that time and has a photo on her Facebook page of the two of them standing together. The inaugural committee has said it has ” talent” offering their services for the ceremony, but Evancho is the first celebrity to be announced. The inaugural committee’s chairman, Tom Barrack, quashed speculation on Tuesday that rapper Kanye West, who had a surprise meeting that day with the Republican at Trump Tower in New York, would be performing. Country singer Garth Brooks is in discussions to perform, and, according to celebrity media, other names thought to be in talks include Kid Rock, rocker Ted Nugent and country star Lee Greenwood. Beyonce, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen and many other leading music stars backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election, and Elton John last month denied a report that he would be playing for Trump. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

U.S. IPOs set to rebound after dismal 2016

The Fed lifted interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, the second increase since the financial crisis. It also signaled a faster pace of rate hikes in 2017 as the Trump administration takes over with promises to boost growth through tax cuts, spending and deregulation. Public listings will also get a boost next year from private equity firms looking to exit their investments, executives at both the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange told Reuters. The potential pipeline of companies set to make their debuts in 2017 includes messaging app Snapchat’s parent Snap Inc and company Uber Technologies Inc [UBER. UL] both ”decacorns” or companies valued at tens of billions of dollars. ”We are going to see more companies go public now that we are through with the elections,” said John Tuttle, the global head of listings at NYSE. ”We have a clear picture of what the next four years will look like from a regulatory and policy standpoint. And companies like certainty.” IPOs in the United States in 2016 fell by more than a third from 2015. A quarter of the 102 companies that made their debuts this year are trading below their IPO price, according to Renaissance Capital, a manager of exchange traded funds. Joseph Brantuk, vice president and head of new listings and IPOs for Nasdaq, said there were currently 96 active applications for public listings in the United States in 2017. Of these, 53 could be listed on the Nasdaq. HEAVY WEIGHTS The U. S. IPO market in 2016 is on track for its worst year since the financial crisis in 2009, when just 56 companies listed their shares. Apart from uncertainty surrounding the U. S. presidential elections, investors this year were also skeptical of the Fed’s rate hike path mainly because policymakers signaled four raises but held back until their last meeting of the year. ”Higher interest rates may induce some private equity firms to take companies public,” said Jay Ritter, an IPO expert and a professor at the University of Florida. Higher interest rates make debt more expensive than equity as a funding source for companies to expand their business. Also, several private equity firms are nearing their exit period after holding on to their investments for five to six years. Venice, Snap could go public as soon as March and is expected to be valued at $ $25 billion. A listing by the company, which is backed by Sequoia Capital and T. Rowe Price, would be the largest U. S. technology IPO since Facebook Inc’s ( ) debut in 2012 with a value of $81. 2 billion. Investors also widely expect Uber to file for an IPO in 2017. The company was valued at about $63 billion after its latest round of funding in June. ( ) A public debut by music streaming service Spotify, one of Europe’s most valuable tech would be a boon for Europe where tech firms tend to sell early, getting swallowed up by bigger fish in Silicon Valley or China. Based on active IPO applications, Brantuk said technology, healthcare and financial sectors look the most active. ”We have never been busier.” (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. Jana Partners LLC stepped up its criticism on Wednesday of U. S. natural gas producer EQT Corp’s deal to buy Rice Energy Inc arguing that EQT could save as much as $4. 5 billion if it separated its pipeline assets instead.

Dollar soars to 14-year highs on Fed, Trump plans

The U. S. dollar surged to a high against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, on investor anticipation of a more hawkish Federal Reserve and a boost in U. S. economic growth under Donald Trump. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rival currencies, rose to a roughly high of 103. 560, on track for the biggest daily percentage gain in nearly six months. The dollar’s gains, which put it close a high against the euro and nearly a high against the yen, comes a day after the Fed raised interest rates for the first time in a year and signaled it was likely to increase them three more times in 2017, up from the two increases forecast at the central bank’s September meeting. A increase, 25 basis points, was widely expected by financial markets, but the signal that rates are likely to rise at a pace surprised investors and continued to fuel gains in the dollar on Thursday. Analysts said the dollar was also gaining on expectations that the Trump administration’s economic plans, including fiscal stimulus via infrastructure spending, would complement the Fed’s pace of rate increases and boost the dollar further. ”There is more belief that monetary policy will be tightened now that fiscal policy is likely to be more expansionary,” said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Credit Agricole in New York. The dollar was last up 0. 9 percent against the yen at 118. 11 yen after rising as much as 1. 4 percent to 118. 66 yen, its highest since early February. The euro was down 1. 2 percent at $1. 0406 after falling as much as 1. 6 percent to $1. 0367, its lowest since January 2003. Barclays expects the euro to reach parity with the dollar by the third quarter of 2017 and then to fall below $1, while JP Morgan Asset Management expects the two currencies to become equal in the first quarter of next year. The euro’s weakness accelerated after it broke below its 2015 low, since sell orders were likely triggered to prevent euro investors from suffering further losses, said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York. The euro’s last low was of 2015, when it touched $1. 0456. The dollar hit 1. 0344 Swiss francs, its highest against the currency since August 2010 . (Reporting by Sam Forgione; additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Steve Orlofsky) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

UK lawmakers want early talks on Brexit plans for banks

Britain must negotiate a Brexit bridging deal to avoid a ”cliff edge” that forces banks to move jobs before they know what the new trading relations with the European Union will be, British lawmakers said on Thursday. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will begin formal ”Article 50” divorce negotiations with the EU by the end of March. The House of Lords’ EU committee called on the government and the bloc to commit early to agreeing a transition period covering the time between Britain leaving the EU and the start of permanent trading relations. ”Negotiations on financial services should commence as early as possible after notification under Article 50, and the government should pursue an early announcement on a transitional period,” the report said. ”The more the new relationship departs from the status quo, the longer any further transitional period may need to be.” Kishwer Falkner, the committee’s chairman, said that even before the divorce talks start, the government should harden up evidence so that it knows exactly what’s required for financial services, Britain’s biggest economic sector. Currently 5, 476 banks, insurers and asset managers have a ”passport” rights under EU law to offer their services across the bloc from a single base in Britain. Financial services make up 7 percent of Britain’s economy and employ 1. 1 million people, with EU passporting worth about 40 billion pounds to 50 billion pounds ($50 billion to $63 billion) in annual revenues, the report said. If passporting is lost after Brexit, ”equivalence” meaning mutual recognition of EU and UK rules, offers an inadequate alternative in its current form, the report said. ”The government needs to determine as precisely as possible which firms currently rely on passporting and the degree to which equivalence provisions might provide a substitute,” Falkner said. A bespoke trade deal with the EU could tackle flaws in the equivalence regime and mitigate loss of market access. It was striking the some firms do not themselves know the extent of their reliance on EU passports, and it was in the national interest that they cooperated with the government to quantify this reliance, the report said. If passporting is not maintained, the government should seek a deal to bolster the equivalence regime to avoid sudden rule changes by Europe, the report said. Much of the report airs the views of banks, government ministers and the Bank of England, such as that firms may relocate to New York rather than to the continent, and Europe’s need for London’s financial services. ($1 = 0. 7883 pounds) (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Fall of Aleppo puts Iran on cusp of ’Shi’ite crescent’ of influence

Iran has played a pivotal role in Syrian President Bashar ’s campaign to crush rebel resistance in Aleppo and is now close to establishing a ”Shi’ite crescent” of regional influence stretching from the Afghan border to the Mediterranean Sea. Revolutionary Guards commanders and senior clerics in Tehran have this week praised Iran’s defeat of ”Wahhabi terrorists” in Syria and the country they characterize as the rebels’ patron, Sunni Muslim regional rival Saudi Arabia. There is little doubt the capture of Aleppo after years of fighting, and at the cost of thousands of lives, will make Assad unassailable to the rebels who have sought to end his rule. It is unlikely such a victory would have been possible without Iran’s steadfast supply of Shi’ite fighters, money and weapons. The central role the Shi’ite majority nation has played and the power it wields was starkly illustrated on Wednesday when the evacuation of districts was delayed after Tehran was said by opposition officials to have imposed new conditions. Iran demanded a simultaneous evacuation of wounded from two towns besieged by insurgents, according to rebel and U. N. sources. The civil war has pitted Assad, supported by Russia and Iran, against rebel groups backed by the United States, Gulf Arab powers and Turkey. Iran’s involvement over more than five years first by providing military advisers and then by training and arming Shi’ite militia has not only helped shape the Syrian conflict, it has strengthened its own hand across the region. For the first time, Tehran could exert authority over a vast sweep of the Middle East extending through Iraq and Syria into Lebanon an arc of influence that Sunni Arab powers, particularly Saudi Arabia, have been warning about for years. ”We know the Iranians are very patient,” said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut. ”They do not expect immediate rewards. So they persevered and they are reaping the fruits of their patience.” ”There is no doubt in my mind that this Shi’ite arc or crescent will be created,” he added. ”The Iranians will establish their sphere of influence from Iraq through Lebanon.” MEDITERRANEAN That is not only because of the imminent fall of Aleppo but also because of the gains the Shi’ government in Baghdad a close ally of Tehran has made in the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State, an Sunni group. Thousands of Shi’ite militia fighters trained by Iran are fighting on the side of the government in Iraq. Some have already fought in Syria to support Assad and pledged to go back if necessary. In Iraq they are battling for control of Tal Afar, a city between Mosul and Iraq’s western border with Syria which if retaken would allow Iran nearly unfettered military access all the way to the Mediterranean sea. Iran already has a great deal of influence in Lebanon, where it has deep historical ties with the Shi’ite community and funds Hezbollah, the country’s most powerful political and military movement, which is also fighting in Syria on behalf of Assad. Establishing such a ”Shi’ite crescent” would give Tehran immense political clout in the region as it vies with Riyadh and allow it to protect Shi’ite communities in these countries. It would also present a military threat to Israel, through Syria and Lebanon, which Iranian officials regard as a deterrent to any Israeli aggression towards Iran. For Saudi Arabia and other regional Sunni powers, increased Iranian power would come at cost to their own political, military and trading interests. But whether Iran can maintain such a large sphere of influence is uncertain, Khashan said. IRANIAN COMMANDERS From as early as 2012 Iran began arming, training and paying thousands of Afghan and Pakistani fighters, as well as Hezbollah militants from Lebanon, to fight on behalf of Assad, according to diplomats and analysts. Overseen by seasoned Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders, some of whom have combat experience dating back to the war in the 1980s, these fighters were able to hinder many Syrian opposition advances. Among those commanders is Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force the arm responsible for operations outside Iran who has been repeatedly photographed at frontline positions in Iraq and Syria in recent years. The presence of Soleimani, as well as other senior Guard commanders, on the ground was completely different to the approach of countries like Saudi Arabia who only sent money and military equipment to the opposition, diplomats and analysts said. ”The Saudis have kit. They don’t really have expertise. They provided kit. They provided money. That’s what they thought would be enough and it wasn’t,” said a Western diplomat in the Middle East who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly. ”That’s one thing the Iranians did that the other side didn’t invest capital on the ground.” Rebel fighters have said that when Iranian commanders were present on the ground the Syrian army performed much better, according to the Western diplomat. That decision to keep senior Iranian commanders at the frontline came at a cost, with at least half a dozen Iranian generals killed in Syria. But by using Shi’ite militia fighters from other countries, Tehran was able to keep the total number of Iranians killed in Syria relatively low. Analyst tallies of combat deaths in Syria indicate that hundreds of Iranian nationals likely fought there but it is not clear how many are in the country now. EXISTENTIAL THREAT In turn, the Revolutionary Guards and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were able to sell the war to the Iranian public. Hardline news outlets close to the Guards have been printing stories about the existential threat posed by Islamic State and the need to fight the group in Syria since Iran went public about its role in the conflict in 2012. Earlier this year, Khamenei said that if Iran was not taking part in the war in Syria then they would be fighting the same enemy inside Iran. Iranian religious singers, known as maddah, have regularly praised Shi’ite fighters heading to Syria and Iraq, known as ”defenders of the shrine” in popular videos posted online. At the Tehran book fair in May people could photograph themselves dressed up with a helmet and ammo belt against a backdrop of a cityscape that resembled Aleppo. ”It’s easier for the government to sell a war that isn’t that popular or essential if it’s not Iranian blood being spilled for the most part,” said the Western diplomat. ”By outsourcing it they’ve kept the pain away from most Iranians.” (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Pravin Char) CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis. WASHINGTON U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday it was important for U. S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to have a ”good exchange” over how they see the nature of the bilateral relationship.

Trump team says Twitter too small to be included in tech meeting

Donald Trump left Twitter off the invitation list for a meeting of technology company executives on Wednesday because it is too small, a spokesman for his transition team told Reuters. The omission of Twitter from the meeting surprised some in the industry given Trump’s prolific use of the social media platform during his election campaign and the company’s high profile in discussions over policy issues such as cyber security and the spread of violent online propaganda. ”They weren’t invited because they aren’t big enough,” the transition official said. With a market capitalization of $13. 85 billion, Twitter is smaller than Facebook and Amazon, companies that were included in the meeting in New York. The smallest company in attendance was electric car maker Tesla, with a market capitalization of $31. 92 billion. Twitter’s platform played a big role in Trump’s ability to speak directly to millions of voters. Trump leveraged his sizable following on Twitter to circumvent traditional media to speak directly to the public and to bash his opponents. During the Obama administration, Twitter was a regular participant in meetings meant to address technology concerns, especially given its use by groups such as Islamic State and the ease with which the site is used for online bullying. One source familiar with Trump’s relationship with Twitter said the decision to exclude Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey was motivated by the ’s ire at the company, which rejected an advertising deal with his campaign in October. Trump’s election campaign had offered to pay to have an emoji, or small picture, that would show up on tweets during the second presidential debate anytime Twitter users tweeted the phrase ”#Crooked Hillary,” Republican Trump’s nickname for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Twitter rejected the deal, saying it might mislead users who would not be able to tell that the campaign had paid for the emoji. The Trump transition spokesman said the emoji had nothing to do with the invitation omission. The official said Trump has had public spats with other tech leaders who were invited, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who hosted a fundraiser for Clinton. Trump, speaking to the group of technology officials at the meeting, acknowledged others had been left off the list, but he did not mention Twitter specifically. ”I won’t tell you the hundreds of calls we’ve had asking to come to this meeting,” he said to laughter in the room, ”and I will say Peter (Thiel) was sort of saying ’no that company’s too small,’ and these are monster companies.” (Addtional reporting by Emily Stephenson and Dustin Volz; editing by Grant McCool) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

California adopts first U.S. energy-saving rules for computers

California regulators on Wednesday adopted the nation’s first mandatory energy efficiency rules for computers and monitors devices that account for 3 percent of home electric bills and 7 percent of commercial power costs in the state. The state Energy Commission said that when fully implemented the plan will save consumers $373 million a year and conserve at least as much electricity annually as it takes to power all of San Francisco’s households. Final approval at a meeting of the commission in Sacramento capped several years spent developing the rules in collaboration with computer makers, consumer activists, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other environmental groups. The new rules will cut greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion to generate power by 700, 000 tons a year, the NRDC said. The standards work by setting benchmarks for machines’ overall energy use focusing on when they are turned on but left inactive and leave manufacturers flexibility to choose which efficiency measures are employed to meet the standards, an approach aimed at fostering innovation. The rules drew support from nearly 40 companies represented by the Information Technology Industry Council, including such Silicon Valley giants as HP Inc and Intel Corp. HP environmental compliance manager Paul Ford called the standards ”groundbreaking,” describing them as ”ambitious but achievable.” ”This is a big deal,” said Mark Cooper, a policy analyst for the Consumer Federation of America, adding that computer ownership per capita in California ranks second in the world behind Sweden. In California, computers and monitors draw an estimated 5, 610 of energy per year representing roughly 3 percent of residential electric bills and 7 percent of power costs for commercial users much of that while the devices sit idle. The NRDC has said the amount of power consumed by computers and monitors will be reduced by a third once there is a complete turnover in existing stocks of those devices. The first phase of the rules takes effect in January 2019 for desktop, laptop and notebook computers. The standards kick in for workstations and servers in January 2018 and for computer monitors in July 2019. consoles, industrial computers, servers, tablets and other handheld devices are exempt. The standards will add about $14 to average retail costs of desktops, which are far less energy efficient than laptops, but will save consumers more than $40 in electric bills over five years, according to commission estimates. Over half of desktops typically in use in California now meet the first tier of the standards, which grow more stringent in 2021. percent of laptops already comply. Computer monitors have farther to go, with a compliance rate of just 14 percent among the 25 million units now installed in homes and businesses statewide. The latest rules could set a new standard for manufacturers everywhere by virtue of the size of the consumer market in California, which often leads the way in U. S. environmental initiatives. If the same standards are adopted nationwide, they could save U. S. consumers about $2. 2 billion annually in electric bills while reducing energy generation by the equivalent output of seven power plants, the NRDC said. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Jonathan Oatis) HELSINKI Telecoms network equipment maker Nokia and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Technology have signed a patent licensing agreement, the companies said on Wednesday. SAO PAULO Financial technology firms in Brazil are targeting lending to and companies to fill a gap in the credit market left by large lenders deterred by rising delinquencies and narrow margins.

Trump endorses Romney niece Ronna Romney McDaniel for RNC chair

U. S. Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed a niece of former critic Mitt Romney to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee as he moved to put his stamp on the party leadership. The RNC named Michigan Republican Party chair Ronna Romney McDaniel as its deputy chair, and Trump said he looked forward to her taking over the party leadership. Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, will leave the RNC chairmanship when Trump takes office on Jan. 20. “I’m excited to have a highly effective leader in Ronna McDaniel as RNC deputy chair and I look forward to her serving as the party’s chairman in 2017,” Trump said in a statement. ”Ronna has been extremely loyal to our movement and her efforts were critical to our tremendous victory in Michigan, and I know she will bring the same passion to the Republican National Committee,” he added. The RNC’s 168 elected members will convene in January to elect their next chairman and Trump’s endorsement of McDaniel will likely carry enough weight to get her elected. McDaniel’s profile rose in Trump’s view when she helped him win Michigan in the Nov. 8 election. The state had not voted Republican in a presidential election since 1988 and was critical to Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Her selection came two days after Trump passed over Mitt Romney to be his secretary of state, instead choosing Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. Trump and Romney have gotten past their frictions during the Republican presidential nominating battle when the 2012 Republican nominee was critical of Trump’s candidacy. Bob Paduchik, a veteran Republican operative in Ohio who was Trump’s campaign manager in that state, was named deputy of the RNC. Trump’s victory in Ohio was also crucial to his victory. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Interested in serving Trump, Scaramucci looks to sell SkyBridge

SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund investment firm founded by outspoken industry defender Anthony Scaramucci, is for sale, according to a person familiar with the situation. Scaramucci, a fundraiser and adviser to Donald Trump, recently began an auction process for the New firm as he considers potential roles in the Trump administration, according to the person, who requested anonymity because the information is private. More than a dozen potential bidders, including wealth management and private equity firms, have signed agreements to review SkyBridge’s financial results, the person said. News of the potential sale was first reported by PE Hub. SkyBridge had $11. 8 billion in assets under management or advisement as of Oct. 31, 2016, down from $12. 9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015, according to firm’s website. Scaramucci, the firm’s partner, did not respond to requests for comment. An external spokesman for SkyBridge declined to comment. SkyBridge is best known for its funds of hedge funds, which have fallen out of favor with some investors in recent years because of their relatively high fees. The SkyBridge Hedge Fund Portfolios LLC Series G fell 1. 8 percent this year through November, according to performance information reviewed by Reuters. It also declined 3. 6 percent in 2015. Scaramucci is also known for organizing a major hedge fund conference each year in Las Vegas, known as SALT, and frequent appearances on television, especially Fox Business Network. (Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Tom Brown) Biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp will buy a stake in BeiGene Ltd and help develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational treatment for tumor cancers, the companies said on Wednesday. BRUSSELS French carmaker PSA Group secured unconditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday to acquire General Motors’ German unit Opel, a move which will help it better compete with market leader Volkswagen .

Some poor Venezuelan parents give away children amid deep crisis

Struggling to feed herself and her seven children, Venezuelan mother Zulay Pulgar asked a neighbor in October to take over care of her daughter, a victim of a pummeling economic crisis. The family lives on Pulgar’s father’s pension, worth $6 a month at the black market rate, in a country where prices for many basic goods are surpassing those in the United States. ”It’s better that she has another family than go into prostitution, drugs or die of hunger,” the unemployed mother said, sitting outside her dilapidated home with her son, father and unemployed husband. With average wages less than the equivalent of $50 a month at black market rates, three local councils and four national welfare groups all confirmed an increase in parents handing children over to the state, charities or friends and family. The government does not release data on the number of parents giving away their children and welfare groups struggle to compile statistics given the ad hoc manner in which parents give away children and local councils collate figures. Still, the trend highlights Venezuela’s fraying social fabric and the heavy toll that a deep recession and soaring inflation are taking on the country with the world’s largest oil reserves. Showing photos of her family looking plumper just a year ago, Pulgar said just one chicken meal would now burn up half its monthly income. Breakfast is often just bread and coffee, with rice alone for both lunch and dinner. Nancy Garcia, the neighbor who took in the girl, Pulgar’s child, works in a grocery store and has five children of her own. She said she could not bear to see Pulgar’s child going without food. ”My husband, my children and I teach her to behave, how to study, to dress, to talk. .. She now calls me ’mom’ and my husband ’dad,’” said Garcia. FOOD Every day at the social services center in Carirubana, which oversees Pulgar’s case, more than a dozen parents plead for help taking care of their children in this isolated, arid corner of Venezuela with a shaky water supply and little food. Last year, the rate was around one parent a day. ”The principal motive now is lack of food,” said Maria Salas, director of the small and understaffed center, echoing colleagues at two other welfare groups interviewed by Reuters elsewhere in the country. Salas added that her organization the Council of Protection for Children and Adolescents lacked the resources to deal with the situation and had asked authorities for help, even just a dining room, but had no luck. Not far from Salas’ office, long supermarket lines under a hot sun help explain why parents are finding life so tough, a scene repeated across the country of 30 million people. Venezuelans suffer shortages of the most basic goods, from food to medicine. Millions are going hungry amid inflation and a nearly 80 percent currency collapse in the last year. The government blames the United States and Venezuela’s opposition, yet most economists pin the responsibility on socialist policies introduced by former president Hugo Chavez, which his successor Nicolas Maduro has doubled down on even as oil prices the economy’s lifeblood plunged. Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The Caracas municipality of Sucre, which encompasses Petare, one of the region’s largest and poorest slums, has seen an ”exponential” increase in parents needing help, say officials. ”The parents come in crying,” said Sucre welfare director Angeyeimar Gil. ”It’s very dramatic to see parents’ pain when saying they can no longer look after their child,” she said. ”We’re seeing a lot of cases of malnutrition and children that come to hospital with scabies.” of 1, 099 households with children in Caracas, ranging across social classes, said they were not eating enough in a survey released last week by children’s’ rights group Cecodap. ABANDONED In some cases, parents are simply abandoning their kids. Last month, a baby boy was found inside a bag in a relatively wealthy area of Caracas and a malnourished boy was found abandoned in a cardboard box in the eastern city of Ciudad Guayana, local media reported. Gil said that she had helped find places in orphanages for two newborns recently abandoned by their mothers in hospitals after birth. There are also more cases of children begging or prostituting themselves, according to welfare workers. Abortion is illegal in Venezuela and contraception, including condoms, is extremely hard to find. Back in Carirubana, Pulgar was relieved that her child was being looked after properly by her neighbor. ”My girl has totally changed,” she said as another son clambered over her, adding that even her manner of speaking had improved. She said she would love to take the child back one day but does not see her situation improving. ”This is written in the Bible. We’re living the end times.” (Additional reporting by Liamar Ramos and Andreina Aponte in Caracas and Leonardo Gonzalez in Punto Fijo.; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer, Christian Plumb and Kieran Murray) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

White supremacist found guilty on all counts in Charleston church massacre

The jury in avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof’s federal hate crimes trial found him guilty on all counts on Thursday for gunning down nine black parishioners at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year. Twelve jurors deliberated for a little under two hours after six days of chilling testimony about the bloodshed during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015. The panel will return on Jan. 3 to decide whether Roof should be sentenced to death or life in prison. Roof, 22, showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were read on 33 charges of federal hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms violations. The victims’ family members, who sat through the trial as lawyers presented graphic crime scene photos and details about Roof’s months of planning for the attack, felt a sense of relief. ”I am just overjoyed that the judicial system, the jurors, saw fit to give us this triumph,” said Sharon Risher, 58, whose mother Ethel Lance was killed. “It gives us an opportunity to start the healing process. ” South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also welcomed the verdict. In the aftermath of the massacre, which intensified the debate about race relations in the United States, Haley led a push that removed the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds in Columbia. The flag was carried by Confederate forces during the Civil War and is viewed by many as a racist emblem. ”It is my hope that the survivors, the families and the people of South Carolina can find some peace in the fact that justice has been served,” the governor said in a statement. Roof’s trial was one of two racially charged proceedings that played out in recent weeks in courthouses across the street from each other in the heart of Charleston’s downtown. A state murder trial against a former North Charleston police officer who shot and killed a black man fleeing a traffic stop last year ended on Dec. 5 in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked. Roof’s guilt was not in dispute. He had offered to plead guilty if prosecutors would forgo seeking the death penalty, which they refused. During his trial, jurors watched his videotaped confession to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and heard eyewitness testimony from two survivors of the shooting. One of the survivors, retired nurse Polly Sheppard, said Roof told her she was being spared so she could recount the story of what he had done. Prosecutors said during closing arguments on Thursday that racial hatred drove Roof to kill innocent churchgoers as retribution for perceived offenses against his race. He spent months scouting potential sites for the attack, bought a gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and railed against blacks and Jews in his journal and online manifesto. After receiving a warm welcome from parishioners when he arrived at the Bible study, Roof waited until they had closed their eyes in prayer before opening fire, witnesses testified. ”You can see what kind of hatred he had: a vast hatred that was cold and calculated,” Assistant U. S. Attorney Nathan Williams said. Roof’s defense lawyers, hoping to keep him from the execution chamber, asked jurors to consider what factors had led Roof to commit the senseless act and suggested he might be delusional. The defense did not call any witnesses after the trial judge blocked them from presenting evidence of Roof’s mental state during the guilt phase of the trial. Roof plans to represent himself during the penalty phase. Roof also is due to stand trial next year on state murder charges. Malcolm Graham, younger brother of shooting victim Cynthia Hurd, said his family supports a death sentence for Roof. ”I didn’t really need to hear (jurors) pronounce him guilty. I knew he was guilty a year and a half ago,” Graham said in a phone interview. (Additional reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker) WASHINGTON The issuance of U. S. visas, passports and other travel documents should be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security from the State Department, a consulting company commissioned by U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recommended in a report. Gene Conley, the only man to win both a baseball World Series and an NBA championship in basketball, died on Tuesday at the age of 86, the Boston Red Sox said in a statement.

U.S. election agency breached by hackers after November vote

The security firm, Recorded Future, was monitoring underground electronic markets where hackers buy and sell wares and discovered someone offering credentials for access to computers at the U. S. Election Assistance Commission, company executives said. Posing as a potential buyer, the researchers engaged in a conversation with the hacker, said Levi Gundert, vice president of intelligence at the company, and Andrei Barysevich, director of advanced collection. Eventually they discovered that the hacker had obtained the credentials of more than 100 people at the election commission after exploiting a common database vulnerability, the researchers said. The hacker was trying to sell information about the vulnerability to a Middle Eastern government for several thousand dollars, but the researchers alerted law enforcement and said Thursday that the hole had been patched. The Election Assistance Commission said in a statement late Thursday that it had become aware of a ”potential intrusion” and was ”working with federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the potential breach and its effects.” ”The FBI is currently conducting an ongoing criminal investigation,” the statement added. The election commission certifies voting systems and develops standards for technical guidelines and best practices for election officials across the country. The researchers said the hacker had an unusual business model, scanning for ways to break into all manner of businesses and other entities and then moving rapidly to sell that access, rather than stealing the data himself. “We don’t think he actually works for any government or is super sophisticated,” Barysevich said. In the case of the election commission, the hacker used methods including an SQL injection, a well known and preventable flaw, obtaining a list of user names and obfuscated passwords, which he was then able to crack. Though much of the commission’s work is public, the hacker gained access to reports on flaws in voting machines. In theory, someone could have used knowledge of such flaws to attack specific machines, said Matt Blaze, an electronic voting expert and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers were confident that the hacker moved to sell his access soon after getting it, meaning that he was not inside the system before election day. The U. S. voting process is decentralized and there were no reports of widespread fraud in November. The Election Assistance Commission was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and is led by presidential appointees. (Editing by Jonathan Weber and Leslie Adler) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Wall Street rises, led by banks; Dow brushes against 20,000

U. S. stocks rose on Thursday, led by gains in bank shares, a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the second time in nearly a decade. The Fed sees three rate hikes next year instead of the two foreseen in September, partly as a result of the fiscal stimulus expected to hit under Donald Trump. Trump’s spending plans could trigger inflation and bring about higher interest rates, making banks a likely winning sector in the new administration. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York, said the advance in bank shares also reflects a rotation into a sector which had been stagnant during most of the rally that has seen major indexes hit record highs. He added that if Trump’s deregulation plans come through, lenders will benefit as they are ”one of the most regulated sectors. The one Trump sector you can be sure of is financials,” Hogan said. The S&P 500 has risen just under 6 percent since the Nov. 8 election, but its banks component . SPXBK has risen almost 25 percent since. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59. 71 points, or 0. 3 percent, to 19, 852. 24, the S&P 500 gained 8. 75 points, or 0. 39 percent, to 2, 262. 03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20. 18 points, or 0. 37 percent, to 5, 456. 86. The Dow came within 50 points of hitting 20, 000 for the first time. The strength of the rally in stocks has triggered concern that the market is technically vulnerable, or overbought, while the recent rally in the U. S. dollar, while indicative of a strong economy, has also raised alarms over the negative effect on earnings of companies with overseas exposure. ”The thought is that earnings will be better and the economy is strong enough to be able to withstand higher interest rates, and that is why we’re not seeing a decline in stocks,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. ”That being said, the stronger dollar and higher interest rates will at some point filter through to earnings. It’s just a matter of when and how.” Economic data on Thursday showed U. S. consumer prices moderated in November, but the underlying trend continued to point to firming inflation pressures. Yahoo YHOO. O fell 6. 1 percent to $38. 41 after the technology company disclosed a massive data breach that raised fears Verizon ( ) might kill a deal to buy its core internet business. Verizon was up 0. 3 percent at $51. 81. About 8. 18 billion shares changed hands in U. S. exchanges, above the 7. 4 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1. ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1. ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 37 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 161 new highs and 59 new lows. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Ecuador sends troops to Chinese copper exploration project after protest

Ecuador sent soldiers and police on Thursday to an isolated jungle area after a policeman was killed and several security officials injured in a violent protest against a Chinese copper exploration project amid conflicts between mining companies and indigenous communities. Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, declared a state of emergency in Morona Santiago province, home to the Carlos exploration project operated by the ExplorCobres company. His government said ”illegally armed groups” protested against the project on Wednesday. ”Violent people want to take over the mining camp,” Correa said on Twitter. ”We have one dead police officer and several others injured. Criminals!” In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China was paying close attention to the incident and was in touch with Ecuador about it, although, as far as he knew, no Chinese had been injured. China appreciates Ecuador’s steps to bring the situation under control, Geng said, noting Correa’s condemnation. ”China is willing to work with Ecuador to take effective steps to create a good environment for bilateral practical cooperation,” he told a daily news briefing. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Ecuador last month. Local media reported that the indigenous Shuar group, which accuses authorities of generating violence by kicking them out of their ancestral home to make way for mining developments, staged the protest. The head of Ecuador’s larger indigenous association, CONAIE, called on the church to mediate the conflict. ”These are no invaders, these are communities who have lived here for hundreds of years,” said Jorge Herrera. The incident highlights tensions facing Ecuador and much of Latin America how to develop vast mineral wealth while addressing deep inequalities, environmental concerns and indigenous rights. Reuters was not immediately able to reach ExplorCobres. China has been the largest financier of Ecuador, an OPEC nation, since 2009 and is heavily present in its oil industry. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Peter Cooney) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Trump ordered to give deposition in Washington restaurant suit

A Washington judge has ordered Republican Donald Trump to give a deposition in a lawsuit against celebrity chef Jose Andres stemming from Trump’s disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants. District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Jennifer Di Toro ruled on Wednesday that Trump must testify in New York about Andres’ restaurant deal at Trump’s luxury Washington hotel. The deposition can last up to seven hours and will take place in the first week of January. His lawyers had sought to limit how long Trump could be questioned and what could be covered, contending he was extremely busy ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration. But Di Toro said in her order that limits on the deposition could harm preparations by Andres’ lawyers, and that Trump’s own statements were at the heart of the case. Trump is suing Andres for $10 million over breach of contract after Andres backed out of a plan to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel a few blocks from the White House. Andres, who was born in Spain and is a naturalized U. S. citizen, has said he canceled the project after Trump denounced Mexican immigrants in June 2015 as drug dealers and rapists. Andres has argued that the comments made it difficult to attract Hispanic staff and customers and to raise money for a Spanish restaurant. Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment. Chef Geoffrey Zakarian also pulled out of a restaurant deal at the hotel, citing Trump’s remarks. Trump has sued Zakarian for breach of contract and was deposed in that case in June. Andres suggested in a tweet on Tuesday that the two sides wrap up the lawsuit and donate money to a veterans’ group instead. ”Why keep litigating? Let’s both of us win,” he said. The hotel has drawn fire from critics who say it poses a potential conflict of interest since Trump is leasing the site, a historic former post office, from the federal government. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Mexico braces for fresh flood of Central American asylum seekers

Mexico expects a sharp increase in people seeking asylum from Central America next year, fleeing gang warfare and poverty in their home countries, a senior official said on Thursday. There has been a steady surge of Central Americans applying for asylum in Mexico since 2015. Cinthia Perez, a director of Mexico’s refugee agency COMAR, said in an interview that she is receiving about 9 percent more applications each month. There were 3, 424 asylum applications in 2015, and she predicts ending 2016 with around 8, 000. That figure could well rise to 22, 501 by the end of 2017 if the trend of 9 percent more applications each month continues. ”Everything seems to indicate that the number of applicants will keep rising,” Perez said, adding that violence and a widespread regional drought that had forced the rural poor into cities were the main causes driving asylum applications. She said 72 percent of applications have been accepted in 2016, up from just under 40 percent in 2013. Perez said there was evidence that more of those people granted asylum were choosing to stay in Mexico, but she acknowledged that some might use their refugee status to travel unimpeded up to the United States border. During fiscal year 2016, the United States detained nearly 410, 000 people along the southwest border with Mexico, up about a quarter from the previous year. The vast majority hail from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. COMAR was founded in 1980, during the height of the Guatemalan civil war, when tens of thousands of refugees flooded into Mexico. Until 2015, when the numbers of started rising drastically, the agency was a relative backwater inside the interior ministry. Last year, COMAR spent just over 26 million pesos ($1. 28 million) according to official data, a tiny amount relative to the problem. Perez said she was hoping for more funds in the 2017 budget, but acknowledged a sustained drop in government oil revenue made it unlikely. In September, after realizing COMAR was struggling, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stepped in and gave COMAR money to hire fresh staff. It remains to be seen how U. S. Trump will handle the issue of immigration, a topic he used to great effect in his election campaign. He vowed to deport millions of undocumented U. S. immigrants, build a wall along the Mexican border and possibly even impound remittances. Nonetheless, since he won the Nov. 8 vote, Trump has appeared to soften some of his immigration policy proposals. After Trump’s victory, Central American countries said migrants were surging north in order to reach the United States before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The foreign ministers of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala last month agreed to create a migrant protection network, liaise for coordination with U. S. authorities and to meet regularly. ($1 = 20. 3332 pesos) (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Simon Gardner and Grant McCool) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Lonza to buy U.S. drug capsule maker Capsugel from KKR for $5.5 billion

Shares of Lonza fell nearly 5 percent on concerns about the acquisition’s cost, more than 60 percent of the company’s market value, and a planned capital increase of up to 3. 3 billion Swiss francs ($3. 22 billion). The stock price had already fallen by 5. 3 percent on Monday after Reuters reported Lonza was in advanced talks to purchase Capsugel from the private equity firm. ”We like the logic of the deal, but think it is not a bargain,” analysts at Baader Helvea said. ”The pending capital raising will weigh on Lonza’s stock.” Lonza has long been seeking to bulk up with an acquisition. Earlier this year, it looked at U. S. company Catalent Inc to give it a wider range of active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug delivery products but failed to agree on price, sources have said. Morristown, New Capsugel manufactures empty hard capsules as well as finished dosage forms for oral or inhalable drugs. It has more than 4, 000 corporate customers and employs about 3, 600 people in 13 facilities on three continents. Lonza Chief Executive Officer Richard Ridinger said Capsugel’s drug delivery products complemented his company’s experience in pharmaceutical ingredients and contract manufacturing of active compounds. The drug industry has been working to switch some established injectable medicines to the oral delivery to boost patients’ acceptance. Lonza’s industry customers could now order ”either the whole menu or a la carte,” Ridinger told analysts in a conference call. ”There’s nobody on this planet who can offer that.” But some analysts said Lonza could be neglecting the biotech drug industry, with its focus on proteins that are typically for injection only. ”We are . .. surprised to see an acquisition that has synergies with chemical drug manufacturing rather than biological manufacturing,” said analyst Carla Baenziger of Swiss bank Vontobel. Lonza has secured debt financing of $6. 2 billion from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS Group AG. Jefferies LLC is Lonza’s lead financial adviser, the company said, while Goldman Sachs is sole financial adviser to Capsugel. Lonza said it expected to complete the deal in the second quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions. KKR PROFIT KKR acquired Capsugel from Pfizer Inc for $2. 38 billion in 2011. Under KKR, Capsugel made three more acquisitions in the area of solubility enhancement to expand its drug delivery offerings beyond just selling capsules. KKR now stands to receive $4. 1 billion from the sale of Capsugel, including dividends and paying off the company’s debt, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity discussing confidential figures. The private equity group only invested $1. 1 billion in Capsugel’s leveraged buyout, making this its profit over the past decade. ”The one insight we had is that this was a capsule business, but you can attach all sorts of technology and be a solutions provider to your customers,” said Pete Stavros, head of KKR’s industrials investment team. Lonza and Capsugel recorded combined 2015 revenue of 4. 8 billion francs and earnings of 1. 14 billion francs before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, excluding special items. Lonza said it expected to cut 30 million francs of annual operating costs by the third year after closing the deal and generate 15 million francs in yearly tax savings. By the fifth year, it expects annual savings of around 100 million francs. Lonza said it intended to maintain its current dividend policy and net debt leverage of roughly three times EBITDA. (Corrects timeframe on KKR’s profit in 17th paragraph.) (Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; editing by Lisa Von Ahn) Biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp will buy a stake in BeiGene Ltd and help develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational treatment for tumor cancers, the companies said on Wednesday. BRUSSELS French carmaker PSA Group secured unconditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday to acquire General Motors’ German unit Opel, a move which will help it better compete with market leader Volkswagen .

Trump’s pick for envoy to Israel expects embassy in Jerusalem

Donald Trump said on Thursday he will nominate bankruptcy attorney David Friedman as U. S. ambassador to Israel, and Friedman said he looked forward to taking up his post in Jerusalem, implying a move from Tel Aviv that would mark a break in longstanding U. S. foreign policy and anger the Muslim world. While campaigning for the presidency, Trump pledged to switch the embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been located for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel’s capital regardless of international objections. ”(Friedman) has been a friend and trusted advisor to me. His strong relationships in Israel will form the foundation of his diplomatic mission and be a tremendous asset to our country as we strengthen the ties with our allies and strive for peace in the Middle East,” Trump said in a statement issued by his team on Thursday. The Republican made clear during his campaign that he would support Israel in a number of critical areas, said he would not put pressure on Israel to engage in talks with the Palestinians. The United States and other powers do not regard Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Other nations embassies are located in Tel Aviv and do not recognize Israel’s annexation of Arab East Jerusalem following its capture in the 1967 Middle East war. One of the thorniest issues in the dispute is resolving the rival demands for Jerusalem’s future. Palestinians regard the ancient city which contains sites sacred to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths as the future capital of a separate state. Friedman, who specializes in litigation and bankruptcy law, said in the statement that he would work tirelessly to ”strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the U. S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a fractious relationship with Democratic President Barack Obama, has welcomed Trump’s election, chatting with him by phone and posting a video on Facebook promoting ties with the United States. In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in June, Friedman was asked whether Trump would support the creation of an independent Palestinian state a bedrock of U. S. foreign policy which supports a solution. ”The answer is — not without the approval of the Israelis,” said Friedman. ”If the Israelis don’t want to do it, so he doesn’t think they should do it. . .. He does not think it is an American imperative for it to be an independent Palestinian state.” There was no immediate comment from the Israel embassy in Washington on the news. ADVOCATE OF SETTLEMENT BUILDING Friedman is also considered on issues, including settlement building and has advocated for the annexation of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. The Obama administration has been highly critical of Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most countries view all Israeli settlements on occupied land that the Palestinians seek for their own state as illegal. The Palestinians, who want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, say settlements are a fundamental obstacle to peace. The last U. S. talks on statehood collapsed in 2014. J Street, a liberal group based in Washington, said it was ”vehemently opposed” to Friedman’s nomination. ”This nomination is reckless, putting America’s reputation in the region and credibility around the world at risk,” the statement said. The Zionist Organization for America, a conservative group welcomed the nomination, saying he had ”the potential to be the greatest U. S. ambassador to Israel ever.” Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East adviser to Republican and Democratic administrations, said Friedman’s nomination “was designed to send a signal that there will be significant break in tone, style and perhaps substance from the Obama administration” in its handling of the issue. “The peace process is just dead right now,” Miller said, alluding to the Obama administration’s failed efforts. But he said it was too early to see Friedman’s nomination as Trump’s disavowal of a solution. Miller noted that Trump’s aides have sent conflicting signals on whether they are serious about acting quickly on his promise to move the embassy, and that it was unclear whether that would happen. Presidential candidates have in the past promised to move the U. S. embassy to Jerusalem and then reneged, deciding ultimately that the city’s status should first be resolved by parties to the conflict. In early December, Obama renewed the presidential waiver, signed by every U. S. president for the past two decades, against moving America’s embassy to Jerusalem for another six months. It effectively means any action by Trump would be delayed until at least June. (Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Matt Spetalnick; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Jonathan Oatis and Simon ) SYDNEY The United Nations cultural body UNESCO has voted to leave the Great Barrier Reef off its ”in danger” list despite recent widespread destruction of the World Heritage Site. MINNEAPOLIS Kole Calhoun homered and Cameron Maybin stole home on a delayed steal in support of rookie starter Parker Bridwell’s six scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Angels avoided a sweep with a win against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Traces of explosives found in Egyptair crash: investigators

Egyptian investigators said on Thursday traces of explosives had been found on the remains of victims of an Egyptair flight that crashed en route from Paris to Cairo, but French officials warned against drawing conclusions on the cause of the crash. Flight MS 804 plunged into one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, killing all 66 people on board. Egypt’s investigation committee issued a statement saying the coroner had found traces of explosives on the remains of some victims. It gave no more details but said its findings were sent to prosecutors investigating foul play. ”The technical investigation committee . .. places itself and its expertise at the disposal of prosecutors,” it said. A judicial source said the prosecution had not received details about the explosives traces but would include the coroner’s findings in its inquiries. An Egyptian source familiar with the matter said Egypt had informed France months ago about its findings but French investigators had requested more time to study them. ”That is why it took so long to make an announcement,” the source said, declining to be named as the investigation is continuing. Paris newspaper Le Figaro reported in September that French investigators had seen traces of TNT on the plane’s debris but were prevented from further examining it. Egyptian officials denied at the time obstructing French inquiries. France has hinted at its frustration at the pace of the investigation but has stopped short of openly criticising Cairo, with which it enjoys broadly positive relations and which has ordered French Rafale fighter jets. SMOKE France’s foreign ministry said the causes were still being investigated and appeared to hint that it had been kept at arm’s length. ”France, like it has been from the beginning of this tragic accident, remains at the disposal of the relevant Egyptian authorities to contribute to this investigation, including with the means of its experts,” it said. In a rare statement on an ongoing foreign investigation, France’s BEA air crash investigation agency said on Thursday no conclusions could be drawn on what might have caused the crash. ”In the absence of detailed information on the conditions and ways in which samples were taken leading to the detection of traces of explosives, the BEA considers that it is not possible at this stage to draw conclusions on the origin of the accident,” a spokeswoman said. The BEA is accredited to the investigation because the Airbus aircraft was designed and built in France. Two Western sources briefed on the investigation expressed reservations about the explosives findings and said a technical cause remained the most likely. The pattern of wreckage also suggested the plane hit the sea intact at high speed, they said. One of the sources said the traces of explosives reportedly found appeared to be identical to samples previously held in stock, whereas there would usually be tiny forensic differences. Neither source agreed to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Airbus declined comment. Audio from the flight recorder mentions a fire on board the plane in its final moments and analysis of the flight data recorder showed smoke in the lavatory and avionics bay. The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a manslaughter investigation in June but said it was not looking into terrorism as a possible cause at that stage. No group has claimed responsibility for the crash. In October 2015, a bomb brought down a Metrojet plane carrying Russian holidaymakers home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm killing all 224 people on board. Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it smuggled aboard explosives in a soft drink can. (Additional reporting by Asma Alsharif, Haitham Ahmed in Cairo and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Janet Lawrence, Larry King and Andrew Hay) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

EU agrees Dutch demands on Ukraine deal to avoid ’present for Russia’

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to spell out limits to a landmark cooperation accord with Ukraine to address Dutch concerns and prevent the landmark deal from unraveling. The association agreement establishes closer political ties and aims to free up trade between Ukraine and the bloc as the former Soviet republic moves closer to western Europe and away from Moscow’s orbit. But the leaders agreed it did not make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, and did not entitle Kiev to financial aid or military assistance from the bloc. Neither did it give Ukrainians the right to live and work in the union. By imposing caveats on the deal, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte aims to ease the concerns of his voters, who rejected it in a referendum in April. Failure to secure the agreement of his fellow EU leaders would effectively have doomed the accord, which Rutte said would have been ”an enormous present for Russia”. He told reporters: ”It is in the Dutch interest that Europe is strong in its relationship with Russia, with Russia being increasingly aggressive in its foreign policy.” The Netherlands is the only EU country that has yet to ratify the deal, which would become void without its endorsement. Rutte will now take Thursday’s agreement to the Dutch parliament in an attempt to win its approval and overwrite the referendum result. ”Now the responsibility lies with the Netherlands. The ratification is important not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe’s geopolitical standing and credibility,” said Donald Tusk, the chair of EU leaders’ meetings. TACKLING CORRUPTION Poland and some other EU states were annoyed with the Dutch demands but in the end decided they did not want to jeopardize the entire agreement. ”We have saved the agreement with Ukraine and everything points to the fact now that it will be ratified in full,” said Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. The leaders also spelt out the need for Ukraine to fight endemic corruption. The accord has huge importance for Ukraine as a symbol of its future direction, 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A president in Kiev was toppled by mass street protests in early 2014 after he tried to ditch the EU agreement in favor of a deal with Moscow. Russia responded by annexing Ukraine’s peninsula of Crimea and went on to back a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine, a conflict that has killed nearly 10, 000 people to date. This has sent ties between Moscow and the EU to their lowest in decades, aggravating other disputes over trade, human rights and security, including the war in Syria. The bloc slapped sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, and the EU leaders agreed on Thursday to extend the main economic measures until . (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Elizabeth Piper) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Toyota unlocks its engine technology, could sell to rivals

Long guarded about what was beneath the hood of its pioneering Prius cars, Toyota Motor Corp plans to open up its powertrain technology to rivals, hoping this will boost sales and speed up the industry’s shift to vehicles. Announcing last week it would expand its gasoline hybrid technology development, the world’s largest automaker said it would consider selling complete powertrain modules engines, transmissions and other drive components to its competitors. The prospect of giving rivals access to ” ” powertrains comes as cars are increasingly dependent on computerized components, making it easier to design similar parts across model ranges. The industry has moved on from competing largely on mechanical engineering. That trend will likely accelerate as automakers face pressure from regulators to further cut car emissions and develop more electric vehicles. As cars become more like glorified computers, automakers are standardizing many mechanical parts and competing more on style and packaging giving drivers a bigger range of features from automated parking to cockpit concierges. For Toyota, this is a big departure from having a network of suppliers keeping much of their jointly developed technology exclusive so as to have an engineering competitive edge on rivals. ”Toyota suppliers produce a lot of technology which can only be used by Toyota,” Toshiyuki Mizushima, president of Toyota’s powertrain company, told reporters. ”We want to change that to a system where we develop technology with our suppliers at an earlier stage . .. so they can make that technology available to customers.” Mizushima, who joined Toyota a year ago from group company Aisin Seiki Co, noted, for example, that past versions of Toyota’s hybrid system didn’t fit other automakers’ cars, limiting suppliers’ options to sell to customers. Powertrains combine parts often made separately by several independent parts makers, but Toyota’s are unique in that they are made by its group suppliers, allowing engineers at the automaker and its suppliers to collaborate in development. ”Until now, we couldn’t sell the same inverter used in Toyota’s previous hybrid system to other customers because it wouldn’t fit the motor, or the voltage was different,” said Yoshifumi Kato, executive director of engineering R&D at Denso Corp, Toyota’s biggest supplier. ”We can avoid this issue if suppliers can sell the entire system.” The move should help auto parts companies such as Denso and Aisin spread their customer base and compete better against global rivals including Robert Bosch [ROBG. UL] and Continental. Currently, Toyota accounts for around half the annual sales at Denso and Aisin. SPREADING THE R&D BURDEN Mizushima said he would like to see Toyota offer its powertrain modules to all its rivals, in an industry where more automakers are setting up exclusive on parts. Nissan Motor Co this year launched the Infiniti QX30 luxury compact crossover using engines and other parts developed and made by Daimler AG’s Mercedes and its suppliers. Toyota already shares components for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd’s Subaru BRZ sports car under a joint development agreement. In opening up its proprietary technology, Toyota is acknowledging the escalating costs of R&D, as global automakers vie to develop hybrid and cars, cars and cars connected to mobile technology. Toyota’s R&D spend last year was 73 percent more than in 2010 at around $9 billion, while spending at Volkswagen ( ) its biggest competitor, more than doubled over the same period. As automakers are having to invest more, they are cramming as much technology as possible into each vehicle, while limiting price increases. Toyota and its suppliers expect their newer production platform will mean making a lot more of fewer common parts across its models, and selling them to other automakers to earn back more of the money spent on R&D. ”If we take a component developed with Toyota and sell a million to Toyota and another million to other customers, it would double our return on our development costs,” said Denso’s Kato. Toyota’s rivals, too, should be able to keep their own development and procurement costs down if they can source from Toyota, say industry consultants. ”It could be a for Toyota and its rivals because Toyota could develop another sales line, while customers could gain access to components which may be cheaper and of higher quality than the same parts developed ” said Takeshi Miyao, Asia managing director at Carnorama. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Maki Shiraki; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

Germany blocks small progress on banking union at EU summit

Germany prevented a new attempt to break the deadlock on a European Union’s plan to boost financial stability in the banking sector by watering down a joint statement of a EU leaders’ summit, EU officials said on Thursday. The banking union plan was launched in 2012 in the wake of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis and the global financial crisis that forced euro zone countries to provide almost 2 trillion euros in capital and guarantees to prop up their banks. After agreeing on a common supervision plan for euro zone lenders and a joint privately funded scheme to wind down ailing banks, the 19 countries of the bloc have lost momentum and have been stuck for months in talks on how to set up a European deposit insurance scheme (EDIS) to better protect savers, the third and last pillar of the plan. They also disagree on whether to set up a financial backstop for the bank fund, with Germany, euro zone’s largest economy, opposing moves towards risk sharing before southern European countries with shaky banking sectors have cleaned up their lenders and reduced their systemic risk. ”The European Council underlines the need to complete the Banking Union in terms of reducing and sharing risks in the financial sector, in the appropriate order,” read the conclusions of the regular summit of EU leaders. The appropriate order is understood by the Germans as meaning that, first, banks in countries like Italy or Portugal should become fitter, for instance by getting rid of bad loans. And only later, richer nations of the bloc would agree to put their money in common funds to shield deposits and lenders from future failures. An initial version of the summit conclusions, circulated among EU diplomats and seen by Reuters, said new risk reduction measures were already approved and paved the way for more risk sharing. The European executive commission proposed in November new capital rules for the bloc’s lenders, introducing in the EU stricter standards agreed at international level meant to make banks safer. But Germany and the Netherlands said the new measures were not enough to reduce risks and urged stricter requirements. They opposed the initial draft conclusions and successfully pushed for amending the text, two EU officials told Reuters. Officials said the fragility of the banking sector in Italy, where the country’s third largest lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( ) has been entangled for months in attempts to close a big capital shortfall, has made Berlin even less keen to agree on plans to share risks. (Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke; Editing by Jan Strupczewski) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

EU agrees on approach to Brexit talks, PM May left out in cold

European Union leaders agreed their plan for Brexit negotiations on Thursday, pledging to move swiftly and stick together to ensure Britain does not cherry pick a sweet deal that might inspire others to unstitch the bloc. Prime Minister Theresa May left before the other 27 leaders met briefly to formalize their plan for how to run Brexit talks. Before heading home, diplomats said May had assured her European partners that she would launch the process by the end of March despite how London judges rule in a constitutional court case that some say might jeopardize her timetable. ”It’s right that the other leaders prepare for those negotiations as we have been preparing,” May told reporters. The 27 issued a statement saying they were ”determined to see the Union succeed” and were ready to negotiate quickly to ”tackle the uncertainties” raised by the prospect of Brexit. But ”any agreement will have to be based on a balance of rights and obligations” they insisted, and reject British attempts to remain in the EU’s single market if it does not accept free immigration from the continent one of four key freedoms of the Union which British voters rejected in a June referendum. After months in which exasperated continentals have mocked divisions within May’s government over what kind of deal Britain should seek, her exhortations to the others to get on with their preparations sounded a shade ironic. But in fact Brussels did see a wobble in its facade of unity as the European Parliament grumbled that EU leaders were freezing it out of negotiations. After warnings from senior lawmakers that the legislature risked withholding its consent to any final divorce deal if it was not included throughout the talks, national leaders offered an olive branch, saying they could attend preparatory meetings. ’SMOOTH’ EXIT May, who was filmed looking unsure of herself as leaders gathered, left the summit with no mention of Brexit, focusing instead on Syria and a pledge to provide a further 20 million pounds (23. 8 million euros) of support for the most vulnerable fleeing Aleppo. She had sought to reinforce her message that, while still a member, Britain would play a full part in discussions on EU issues and keen to set a conciliatory tone for a ”smooth” exit, welcoming the meeting of the other EU leaders without her. The EU negotiating plan confirmed that a special set of institutions would be set up, mirroring existing EU forums but excluding Britain. Ministerial councils and councils of envoys would meet to keep national governments in overall control of negotiations led by French former minister Michel Barnier, the point man for the European Commission, the EU executive. EU governments are pressing May to start talks. But they are also perplexed by what they see as unrealistic ideas in Britain about what can be achieved by a complex and unprecedented exit that even few of its supporters thought likely before the vote. Some British ministers say they can secure a free trade deal with the EU by the time the withdrawal process is over. Few EU leaders share that view and nor do many British officials. Typically such deals can take up to a decade. The BBC quoted Britain’s envoy to Brussels on Thursday as warning the government about such a timeframe. (Editing by Catherine Evans and G Crosse) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Factbox: EU prepares for Brexit talks

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday how they will organize negotiations with Britain that they expect to start within four months. This is how the process looks: THE TIMELINE, AND HOW BRITS MAY BE OUT ON APRIL 1, 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May’s formal notification of British withdrawal from the EU treaty under Article 50 is critical. She repeated at the summit her plan to notify by the end of March. Article 50 sets a countdown to Brexit. With no deal, Britain would still be out but with loose ends. The deadline can be extended, but only if there is mutual consent unlikely. The EU wants a deal before an EU election in May 2019. But London judges may upset May’s timetable over legal bids to give lawmakers more say on Brexit. Political dynamics may also shift. On getting May’s letter, European Council President Donald Tusk will call a summit of the other 27 leaders within weeks France’s April 7 presidential election may affect timing. The 27 will mandate the EU executive, the European Commission, to negotiate according to guidelines fixed by the Council. One issue in arguments in Britain over how withdrawal can be triggered following the referendum in June is whether London could change its mind later and stay in. The view in London is no, but in Brussels most think it can. Negotiations will have to wind up about October 2018, the EU reckons, to give time for parliamentary ratification processes. QUICK, QUICK, SLOW THE BREXIT Divorce, transition, future. Barring a ”cliff edge” falling out, Britain and the EU would agree withdrawal terms by 2019 and an interim deal to avoid disruption during negotiation of a new trade accord that experts reckon could take five to seven years more. While there is a degree of consensus on what must be settled in the withdrawal treaty, which would need only majority backing among EU states, much beyond that is unclear mainly because it is unclear what Britain will ask for. Any transition deal would depend on having some idea what it was a transition to and it would probably have to be agreed by the 27 unanimously. Key parts of a future relationship will be terms of access to the EU single market for firms and how far Britain will accept immigration from the continent, arbitration by EU judges and to pay into EU budgets in return for access. DIVORCE, AND WHO GETS THE HOUSE AND THE KIDS These are the EU’s priorities for the withdrawal treaty: 1. The house, bank accounts and pensions. The British state, businesses and citizens contribute to and receive from the EU an annual net 10 billion euro budget payment a year. On leaving, London may keep paying for some years, for example to cover pensions of EU staff or agreed but not yet disbursed spending. EU officials’ rough estimates total about 50 billion to 65 billion euros. 2. The kids. More than 3 million EU citizens live in Britain and more than a million Britons live elsewhere in the EU. Neither side thinks mass deportations are desirable or likely. But EU leaders’ hard line against a quick deal on this shows reluctance to give up a politically powerful card. 3. The borders. They need to settle customs measures for goods and probably special arrangements for the only land border, on the island of Ireland. 4. Court cases. Among a host of issues to be settled will be agreeing how to handle outstanding cases involving Britain at the European Court of Justice. LOOK WHO’S TALKING THE NEGOTIATORS This is what in is called ”Chefsache” German for ’a matter for the bosses’. May and her 27 counterparts will take the final decisions. However, the details will first have to be worked on by legions of lesser officials. The Council president, Tusk, a conservative former prime minister of Poland, will hold the ring for the other 27 states. A Brexit Working Party headed by a Council staffer will liaise between the national leaders and the lead negotiator, Michel Barnier. President Juncker’s European Commission will do the heavy lifting of detailed negotiation and legal drafting. Barnier, a French former minister who irked London when financial services commissioner, runs the Commission’s Brexit Task Force. His deputy is German trade expert Sabine Weyand. His team will also feature a representative of the country holding the Council presidency Malta until June, then Estonia for six months, followed by Bulgaria, Austria and Romania. The European Parliament must approve any deal and will have representatives in meetings to prepare summits on Brexit. It will be kept updated on the progress of talks. Its point man is Guy Verhofstadt, a liberal former Belgian prime minister seen in London as an arch eurofederalist. Verhofstadt and fellow MEPs are angry not to have a bigger role in the actual negotiations. (Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Peter Cooney) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

MetLife expects $300 million boost to operating profit from interest rates

MetLife Inc ( ) expects higher U. S. interest rates to add $300 million to operating profits through 2019, the insurer said in a filing on Thursday. The New company, which provides life insurance, annuities and employee benefits, detailed anticipated benefits from higher U. S. interest rates in an filing with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the same time, MetLife said it would face challenges in some foreign businesses and expenses for a program. MetLife forecast an earnings bump of $45 million next year, followed by $105 million in 2018 and $150 million in 2019, because of interest rate hikes. The U. S. Federal Reserve raised rates a quarter point on Wednesday and signaled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as the Trump administration takes over with promises to boost growth through tax cuts, spending and deregulation. Additionally, MetLife disclosed it would incur $300 million in pretax expenses in 2017 for a program announced earlier this year. The company’s baseline operating earnings in its Latin American business would be about 10 percent lower in 2017, mostly due to Mexico’s declining peso, MetLife said. Uncertainty about potential changes to MetLife’s pension business in Chile could adversely impact operating earnings in Latin America by up to 5 percent, the company said. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn) WASHINGTON Federal Reserve policymakers were increasingly split on the outlook for inflation and how it might affect the future pace of interest rate rises, according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting on June released on Wednesday. One of the investors former drug company executive Martin Shkreli is accused of defrauding testified on Wednesday that Shkreli lied to him repeatedly, although he eventually made millions of dollars from the investment.

’Tiger’ Israel has wary eye on Iran after Syrian rebels lose Aleppo

The fall of Aleppo to Syrian government forces backed by Russia and Iran has heightened alarm in Israel about potential threats to its borders and a wider reshaping of the region. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left no doubt on Wednesday about the depth of Israel’s concern about Tehran, whose position and that of its proxies in Syria has been strengthened by the crushing of rebel resistance in Aleppo. At a meeting in Astana with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Netanyahu was asked whether he had a message for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next week. ”Don’t threaten us. We are not a rabbit, we are a tiger,” the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted Netanyahu as telling Nazarbayev. ”If you threaten us, you endanger yourself.” Asked by Nazarbayev if he seriously believed Iran wanted to destroy Israel, Netanyahu replied: ”Yes, I do.” The more than civil war in Syria has enabled Iran, whose Supreme leader has called for an end to the Jewish state, to steadily increase its influence across the region. Whether via its own Revolutionary Guard forces or Shi’ite Muslim proxies, especially Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, Tehran’s reach extends from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean Sea. As well as concerns about an increased flow of arms now Iran has access to a port on the Mediterranean at Tartus, on the southern Syrian coast, Israel worries Hezbollah, emboldened by Iran’s patronage, may launch new attacks on its territory. There have been isolated border incidents in recent months, and Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006 in which more than 1, 000 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed. Large populations in Israel and Lebanon were displaced and major infrastructure in southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut was destroyed. While Hezbollah’s ranks have suffered in the fighting in Syria Israeli officials estimate 1, 700 fighters have been killed and 7, 000 wounded the group has restocked its weaponry and retains an arsenal of at least 100, 000 rockets, Israeli and independent analysts say. In recent weeks, unclaimed airstrikes have targeted southern Syria and near Damascus. Syria has pointed the finger at Israel, which has made no comment. But Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said last week Israel was working ”to prevent the smuggling of sophisticated weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah.” WARY OF IRAN Avi Dichter, the chair of Israel’s foreign affairs and defence committee and the former head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, said Iran had tried several times in the past to move forces into the Syrian Golan Heights, next to territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Those moves were repelled, Dichter told Reuters. But he said that, with Iran flush with cash and confidence after last year’s agreement restricting Iran’s nuclear program, it was possible further attempts would be made to test Israel’s responses. ”Iran has a strategic plan,” he said. ”It might bring Iranian troops closer to Israel, either Revolutionary Guards, who are pure Iranians, or others, like Hezbollah or the Basij militia, which might be a very good cover for them.” Beyond the threat from Iran and its proxies, Dichter has warned that Israel, widely thought to be the only nuclear capable state in the Middle East despite maintaining a policy of ambiguity, must not put too much confidence in Russia. The Israeli government sees Moscow as an ally but Dichter says it could shift position if its interests are threatened. Dichter believes Russia has aspirations in the Middle East which could bring fundamental changes to the borders of the region, depending largely on how incoming U. S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin interact. ”Those two leaders might not just think but act in order to create what we call a new Middle East,” Dichter said. He called Russia the ”supreme decider” in Syria but made clear the immediate concerns were Iran and Hezbollah. ”We have no intention to allow Hezbollah to test their sophisticated weapons because there are no other targets in the Middle East except Israel when Hezbollah and Iran think about an offensive initiative,” said Dichter. ”By all means Israel is going to stop it, never mind whether by alerts or activities or any other tools.” (Editing by Timothy Heritage) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Data Dive: What a quarter point costs you

If you have the average amount of credit card debt, the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point could cost you about $3. 50 extra a month in interest charges. Keep that debt going over 5 years, and it’ll cost you about $200 or more, since the Fed already signaled that there may be more rate hikes on the way in 2017. That’s assuming a credit card debt of $16, 000 and an interest rate of 18. 76 percent, which are the averages in a U. S. household that has debt, according to an that was included as part of a study released this week by the consumer finance website NerdWallet. The important thing about these numbers is not the dollar amount of the increase, which at this point is not huge. What should grab people’s attention is the top part of the calculation, which makes it abundantly clear what credit card debt costs you. Most people prefer to ignore this reality, which is how enough people rack up significant debt that the average is $16, 000, which costs $250 a month and over $3, 000 a year to maintain. ”Everyone’s eyes glaze over and it sounds like gibberish to them. The point of the tool is that interest rates have a real impact on you and it’s not that hard to understand the bottom line,” said Sean McQuay, NerdWallet’s credit card expert. That bottom line has been rising over the past 13 years, as the cost of living has outpaced income growth. Over that time, income has risen by 28 percent but cost of living increased by 30 percent, according to NerdWallet. Consumer debt loads have burgeoned even with a few years of economic recovery. Soon Americans will owe more than they did in December 2007, before the Great Recession started. Of particular concern is that higher income does not seem to stop consumer debt from growing, so reducing consumer debt is not just a matter of increasing incomes. NerdWallet found that average annual credit card interest costs rise significantly with income, with the most paid by those making over $150, 000 a year. ”It’s not like the wealthy are better at managing their money than poor people are,” said McQuay. ”The fact that Americans have a hard time matching spending to income doesn’t change relative to income. We all have bigger eyes than we have stomachs.” Source: NerdWallet SYDNEY The United Nations cultural body UNESCO has voted to leave the Great Barrier Reef off its ”in danger” list despite recent widespread destruction of the World Heritage Site. MINNEAPOLIS Kole Calhoun homered and Cameron Maybin stole home on a delayed steal in support of rookie starter Parker Bridwell’s six scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Angels avoided a sweep with a win against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Viewsroom: Can Big Oil’s man be diplomat-in-chief?

(Reuters Breakingviews) Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is well versed in international dealmaking. But he’s too close to Russia even for some Senate Republicans. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs shuffles the top ranks and Wells Fargo’s regulatory hubris comes back to bite. Listen to the podcast: LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) Worldpay discovered on Wednesday that a couple of birds in the bush are sometimes worth a bit more than one in the hand. A day after Britain’s biggest payment processor said it had received approaches from both Vantiv and JPMorgan, the company plumped for the former’s offer of nearly $10 billion in a mix of cash and shares. That took the shine off the share price of both the buyer and its target. Perhaps because the deal only makes sense with some very charitable HONG KONG Tencent’s require some Hollywood stardust. The tech giant’s publishing arm may raise up to $800 million in a Hong Kong listing, according to IFR. Catering to bookworms isn’t very lucrative, even if more and more readers are paying for electronic literature. The real payoff will lie in turning stories into blockbuster films, video games and merchandise.

Targeting U.S. automaker signals possible China retaliation over Trump talk

China’s plan to punish a U. S. automaker accused of is a sign of how Beijing could retaliate if Donald Trump upends decades of relations between the two nations. Trump’s assertion that the United States need not be bound by the policy that Taiwan is part of ”one China” would erode a bedrock of U. S. ties that has underpinned the vast increase in trade and cooperation between what are now the world’s two largest economies. Few expect the disagreement will lead to outright military confrontation, nor even the kind of economic war that many feared could be launched by Trump’s threat during the U. S. presidential campaign to slap tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese imports. However, a rising China has plenty of other ways to push back hard if Trump presses on the Taiwan question, which most analysts see as the most sensitive part of the U. S. relationship. In what might be a shot across the bow of the Trump administration, due to take office on Jan. 20, the official China Daily newspaper quoted a state planning official saying China will soon penalize an unnamed U. S. automaker for monopolistic behavior. While the official said no one should read ”anything improper” into this, shares of General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co skidded. Auto industry sources have told Reuters this specific investigation was already underway before Trump’s recent comments. However, the manner in which it was announced, by saying only that it was a U. S. automaker before a formal announcement of fines, has raised questions around whether officials might be seizing on the case to send a shot across the bow of the incoming Trump administration. Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump, said on Wednesday Trump’s team was aware of the report but it would be premature to comment. In Washington, a Democratic congressional aide said China’s threat to fine the automaker was a ”good sharp reminder” to Trump that ”they have cards to play too and that if he is thinking that he can enter into negotiations be it on Taiwan, trade, North Korea, whatever as if the United States is the sole global superpower . .. then he is going to need to think again.” China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, did not responded to Reuters requests for comment on the China Daily story. China’s Foreign Ministry said it did not know any details about the case. ”China welcomes foreign companies, including American ones, to invest in and operate in China. At the same time they must respect China’s laws and rules. This point is very clear,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said when asked if this was China sending a message to Trump. Pressure on other U. S. companies, such as Boeing Co ( ) and General Electric Co ( ) with large interests in China could be one of the most tangible tools of retaliation, together with new limits on access to the country’s huge markets. U. S. business interests in China are estimated at more than $500 billion. Wider economic steps such as China, America’s biggest creditor, selling a significant part of its $1. 16 trillion of U. S. Treasuries, or weakening its currency seem unlikely, the first because it would slash the value of China’s U. S. bond portfolio and the second because it could accelerate capital flight, experts said. Beijing could speed up a military that had begun to slow along with Chinese economic growth, carry out naval exercises close to Taiwan which it regards as a renegade province and withhold diplomatic cooperation on issues such as Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs. ”Taiwan policy is what China considers a core interest . .. and it’s prepared to go to great lengths to defend it,” said Eric Altbach, senior vice president at the Albright Stonebridge Group consultancy in Washington and a former deputy assistant U. S. trade representative for China affairs. A ROCKY FIRST YEAR? The consensus within the Obama administration is that Trump, who irked China by taking a phone call from Taiwan’s president, was not fully aware of the potential backlash from Beijing over his questioning of the ”one China” policy, a U. S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The hope is that by the time Trump takes over from President Barack Obama, he will recognize that China has advanced so far economically, diplomatically and militarily that it is unwise to pick fights with Beijing over such a bedrock principle, he added. A former senior U. S. official took a more pessimistic view. ”Trump has basically guaranteed that the first year in the China relationship will be a combative, competitive one, and the question is how bad it will get,” he said. ”The Chinese now are basically putting together their list on how to retaliate.” There are at least three ways in which the matter could play out, U. S. China experts said. Trump could backtrack over time, much as former U. S. President George W. Bush did. A second track would be if Trump goes on questioning the ”one China” policy without taking concrete action. The third, considered unlikely by U. S. officials past and present, would be a drift toward military confrontation. ’JUST CAUSE TO DISPATCH TROOPS’? Asked if Trump’s ”one China” stance could lead to this, a source with ties to the Chinese leadership told Reuters: ”We will see what Trump says and does after he becomes president.” A second source with leadership ties said they expected tensions with the United States over Taiwan. But the source said Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has sounded a more nationalistic line than his recent predecessors, could also use the issue to further cement his grip on power. ”If (Taiwan) is emboldened by the U. S. support and does something drastic, it could be an opportunity for us. There will be just cause to dispatch troops,” the second source said. While the possibility of Taiwan declaring independence and hence triggering a Chinese invasion seems low, the mere softening in the U. S. commitment to the policy would likely play out in China’s defense posture. ”It will alter Chinese defense priorities. I think that’s inevitable now,” said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst. He said Xi may increase Chinese military spending for 2017 and place new emphasis, over time, on gaining the amphibious capabilities necessary to actually invade Taiwan. ”Xi Jinping has to respond to this internally, domestically, and while he doesn’t want an open fight with Trump, he will have to show . .. resolve,” he said, citing higher military spending, more defense exercises and tougher rhetoric on Taiwan. ”We can anticipate that unless this issue is taken off the table.” (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast) NEW YORK Tesla Inc shares slid more than 7 percent on Wednesday, their biggest percentage decline in more than a year, on delivery numbers, yet the luxury electric carmaker’s stock price remained above analysts’ median target. STOCKHOLM All Volvo car models launched after 2019 will be electric or hybrids, the company said on Wednesday, making it the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine.

U.S. tax reform proposal on border trade faces growing opposition

A sweeping tax reform proposal meant to boost U. S. manufacturing faces mounting pressure from industries that rely heavily on imported goods as Donald Trump and congressional Republicans work to finalize new tax legislation. As Republican members of the House of Representatives tax committee prepared to discuss tax reform this week, the panel received a letter from 81 industry groups rejecting the proposal known as ”border adjustability.” A lynchpin of the House Republican ”Better Way” agenda and viewed favorably by Trump’s team, the policy would help manufacturers by exempting export revenues from corporate taxes. But it would tax imports, hitting industries. House Republicans hope to persuade Trump to back the policy as a means to fulfill his campaign pledge to create jobs. This week, incoming Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus expressed support for the approach as a possible alternative to tariffs. Trump and House Republicans have not reached agreement on border adjustability but could iron out most of their remaining differences on tax reform in two to three weeks, ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration, former Trump adviser Stephen Moore told reporters in Michigan. In a Dec. 13 letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and incoming top Democrat Richard Neal, groups representing the auto and retailing industries, among others, said: ”Companies that rely on global supply chains would face huge business challenges caused by increased taxes and increased cost of goods.” They warned of ”reductions in employment, reduced capital investments and higher prices for consumers” as potential consequences. ”The Better Way tax reform proposal, without the border adjustment provision, can provide the basis for the strong economic growth we all seek,” it said. Border adjustability has come under fire from Koch Industries, the private conglomerate controlled by billionaires Charles and David Koch, who support Republicans and other conservatives in Congress. Advocates of border adjustability say the House tax plan would collapse without the more than $1 trillion in revenues the provision would raise to help pay for tax cuts. In a statement, Brady urged companies to focus on the entire plan, which would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and end taxation of U. S. corporate profits overseas. Neal said he was encouraged that Republicans are considering incentivizing manufacturing and exports but added: ”There are genuine concerns that this could result in an increase in consumer prices.” (Additional reporting by Tim Branfalt in Lansing, Michigan; Editing by Alan Crosby and Dan Grebler) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Yahoo under scrutiny after latest hack, Verizon seeks new deal terms

Yahoo Inc YHOO. O came under renewed scrutiny by federal investigators and lawmakers on Thursday after disclosing the largest known data breach in history, prompting Verizon Communications Inc ( ) to demand better terms for its planned purchase of Yahoo’s internet business. Shares of the Sunnyvale, internet pioneer fell more than 6 percent after it announced the breach of data belonging to more than 1 billion users late on Wednesday, following another large hack reported in September. Verizon, which agreed to buy Yahoo’s core internet business in July for $4. 8 billion, is now trying to persuade Yahoo to amend the terms of the acquisition agreement to reflect the economic damage from the two hacks, according to people familiar with the matter. The U. S. No. 1 wireless carrier still expects to go through with the deal, but is looking for “major concessions” in light of the most recent breach, according to another person familiar with the situation. Asked about the status of the deal, a Yahoo spokesperson said: ”We are confident in Yahoo’s value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon.” Verizon had already said in October it was reviewing the deal after September’s breach disclosure. Late on Wednesday, it said it would ”review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions” about whether to proceed. The company declined to comment beyond that statement on Thursday. Verizon has threatened to go to court to get out of the deal if it is not repriced, citing a material adverse effect, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. No court in Delaware, where Yahoo is incorporated, has ever found that a material adverse effect has occurred that would allow companies to terminate a merger agreement. Nevertheless, the threat of a court case on the issue has been successfully used by companies to renegotiate deals, and experts said that some concessions from Yahoo are likely, given the magnitude of the cyber security breaches. Renegotiating the deal’s price tag would be the simplest but also least likely scenario because the impact of the data breaches will not be apparent for some time, according to Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. A more likely concession would be for Yahoo to agree to compensate Verizon after the close of the deal, based on the liabilities that occur. The two companies may also agree to extend the close of the deal to allow for more time for information to come in on the impact of the breaches, Gordon suggested. Verizon shares rose 0. 4 percent to close at $51. 81, in line with the S&P 500 Index . Yahoo closed down 6. 1 percent at $38. 41. BIGGEST BREACH Yahoo said late on Wednesday that it had uncovered a 2013 cyber attack that compromised data of more than 1 billion user accounts, the largest known breach on record. It said the data stolen may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The company added that some of its partners were affected. One such partner, Europe’s Sky Plc ( ) said Yahoo provides email services to its 2. 1 million Sky. com email account holders, but it was unclear how many of those accounts were affected. The announcement followed Yahoo’s disclosure in September of a separate breach that affected over 500 million accounts, which the company said it believed was launched by different hackers. The White House said on Thursday the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing the breach. Several lawsuits seeking status on behalf of Yahoo shareholders have been filed, or are in the works. Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said he was looking into Yahoo’s cyber security practices. ”This revelation warrants a separate and I plan to press the company on why its cyber defenses have been so weak as to have compromised over a billion users,” he said in a statement. Warner, who will become the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee next year, described the hacks as ”deeply troubling.” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged anyone with a Yahoo account to change their passwords and security questions and said he is examining the breach’s circumstances and the company’s disclosures to law enforcement. Germany’s cyber security authority, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) advised German consumers to consider switching to safer alternatives for email, and criticized Yahoo for failing to adopt modern encryption techniques to protect users’ personal data. ”Considering the repeated cases of data theft, users should look more closely at which services they want to use in the future and security should play a part in that decision,” BSI President Arne Schoenbohm said in a statement. The latest breach drew widespread criticism from security experts, several advising consumers to close their Yahoo accounts. ”Yahoo has fallen down on security in so many ways I have to recommend that if you have an active Yahoo email account, either direct with Yahoo of via a partner like AT&T, get rid of it,” Stu Sjouwerman, chief executive of cyber security firm KnowBe4 Inc, said in a broadly distributed email. A Yahoo spokesperson, in response to criticism of the company’s security measures, said on Thursday: ”We’re committed to keeping our users secure, both by continuously striving to stay ahead of online threats and to keep our users and platforms secure.” (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Jessica Toonkel in New York and Dustin Volz in Washington; Additional reporting by Liana Baker, Anna Driver, Eric Auchard and Michael Erman; Writing by Jim Finkle and Jonathan Weber; Editing by Bill Trott and Bill Rigby) NEW YORK Tesla Inc shares slid more than 7 percent on Wednesday, their biggest percentage decline in more than a year, on delivery numbers, yet the luxury electric carmaker’s stock price remained above analysts’ median target. NEW YORK In the world of financial technology, where startups are the focus of M&A chatter, a $10 billion combination of two processors whose roots date to the 1970s might seem unusual.

U.S. states sue Mylan, Teva, others for fixing drug prices

Two years after high generic drug prices became a public controversy, legal cases are starting to land. Twenty states filed a lawsuit Thursday against Mylan NV ( ) Teva Pharmaceuticals ( ) and four other generic drug makers, saying they conspired over steak dinners and ”girls nights out” on pricing of two common generic drugs, according to a copy of the complaint. The civil lawsuit, led by antitrust investigators in Connecticut, comes one day after the U. S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against two generic drug industry executives, alleging that they colluded to fix prices and split up market share. [nL4N1E94KE] Taken together, the cases are part of a broader generic drug pricing probe that remains under way at the state and federal level, as well as in the U. S. Congress. In 2014, media reports of sharply rising drug prices led to Congressional hearings. ”We believe that this is the tip of the iceberg,” Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen told Reuters in an interview. ”Price fixing in the generic industry is widespread and pervasive, and it involves many other drugs and a number of other companies.” Both of the Justice Department defendants are expected to plead guilty. It is typical for the department to file one lawsuit about an ongoing issue and use evidence from those defendants to build subsequent cases against others. Several companies have publicly disclosed receiving subpoenas from the Justice Department related to generic drug pricing issues. Among them: Mylan, Allergan ( ) which later sold its generic business to Teva, Lannett Co ( ) Impax Laboratories ( ) Par Pharmaceuticals, which is owned by Endo Pharmaceuticals ENDO. O, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Taro Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Mayne Pharma Group ( ). FROM $20 TO $1, 849 IN SEVEN MONTHS The drugs involved in Thursday’s lawsuit include the version of a common antibiotic, doxycycline hyclate; and glyburide, an older drug used to treat diabetes. Doxycycline, for example, rose from $20 for 500 tablets to $1, 849 between October 2013 and May 2014, according to Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who had been pressing for action on high drug prices. The lawsuit, filed in the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, names Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc as a ”ring leader” of the price manipulation, and also lists Mayne Pharma ( ) Aurobindo Pharma ( ) and Citron Pharma LLC as participants. The two executives charged in Wednesday’s Justice Deparment filing were from Heritage. According to the complaint, Heritage, Teva, Aurobindo and Citron conspired to raise prices on glyburide; Heritage, Mylan and Mayne conspired to allocate and divide the market for doxycycline. Heritage, part of India’s Emcure Pharmaceuticals, referred back to its Wednesday comment, which blamed the former executives for the and said they had been terminated. Mylan denied the charge. ”To date, we know of no evidence that Mylan participated in price fixing,” spokeswoman Nina Devlin said by email. Teva spokeswoman Denise Bradley said the company has ”not found evidence that would give rise to any civil or criminal liability.” The other three companies had no immediate comment. The lawsuit alleges that drug companies either set prices or allocated markets to prop up prices. Employees knew the conduct was illegal and either deleted emails or made efforts to avoid communicating in writing, the lawsuit alleges. The attorneys general asked the court to order the companies to disgorge gains, which were not defined, pay attorneys’ fees and stop collusion. The states’ complaint names but does not individually charge former Heritage CEO Jeffrey Glazer and former Heritage Vice President of Commercial Operations Jason Malek, the two men charged a day earlier by the Justice Department. The states’ suit puts Glazer and Malek at the center of the alleged schemes. [nL4N1E94KE] The names of the other individuals referenced in the states’ lawsuit and the content of their text messages and other communications are redacted. Some of the alleged collusion occurred at industry conferences and dinners, the complaint said. Female sales representatives gathered for a “Girls Night Out” where they discussed sensitive information, the complaint says. In one case, it says that Mylan agreed to “walk away” from one large national wholesaler and one large pharmacy to allow Heritage to win business. Malek, it says, was in charge of communicating with Teva, and he was able to reach a deal to raise prices on glyburide, the suit alleges. Connecticut’s Jepsen said Assistant Attorney General Joseph Nielsen was prompted to investigate by a 2014 article about rising generic drug prices. In September of this year, he said, Connecticut began pitching other states to join the lawsuit. To date, the other states that have joined include Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. Jepsen said he expects more to sign onto the case. (Reporting by Diane Bartz and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Caroline Humer, Nick Zieminski and Linda Stern) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Murdoch’s Fox agrees $14.6 billion Sky deal to expand empire

Rupert Murdoch’s Century Fox ( ) has struck a $14. 6 billion deal to buy European firm Sky ( ) that unites a media empire across two continents and helps it take on rivals like Netflix ( ) in the battle for viewers. Fox said it would pay 10. 75 pounds per share or 11. 7 billion pounds for the 61 percent of Sky it does not already own to control a business with 22 million customers in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria. People familiar with the matter told Reuters the American media corporation pounced after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June sent the pound down about 15 percent against the U. S. dollar and Sky’s share price tumbling. The Murdoch family have never wavered in their ambition to take full control of Sky, despite the damaging failure of a previous attempt five years ago when their British newspaper business became embroiled in a scandal. The agreement comes just over a week after Fox first approached Sky and follows several days of haggling in London which resulted in Fox lifting its offer three times to secure the backing of Sky’s independent directors, according to two people familiar with the situation. The deal values all of the company at 18. 5 billion pounds. James Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox and chairman of Sky, said the company had led the way in delivering premium content like English Premier League soccer and the ”Game of Thrones” fantasy drama across multiple platforms including satellite, broadband and mobile. ”Sky is much more than a satellite distribution company, it’s a creative, commercial and consumer powerhouse,” the son of business patriarch Rupert told analysts on a call. The deal is the latest one to marry distribution with content after AT&T Inc ( ) announced an $85 billion bid to buy Time Warner Inc ( ) earlier this year. PHONE HACKING After winning the backing of Sky’s independent directors, Fox will need to secure regulatory approval in Europe and Britain and win over those Sky shareholders who believe the price is too low. Four shareholders told Reuters on Thursday that, while they thought the bid was still on the low side, they were being pragmatic due to Fox’s ownership of 39 percent and would accept the offer. Fox will pay a break fee if it fails to pull off the deal, and has opted for a scheme of arrangement. This means that the bid must win the backing of shareholders representing 75 percent of the Sky stock not owned by Fox. Rupert Murdoch has dominated Britain’s media and political landscape for decades, with former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron securing the media mogul’s blessing and the backing of his papers. Critics say this has given him too much sway in Britain. The of the Sky deal shows he believes the reputational damage caused by the scandal at the News of the World tabloid is behind them. Since the scandal exploded in 2011, he has split his business into two parts, with Fox housing the TV assets and his newspapers owned by News Corp ( ). James Murdoch said he expected the deal to pass ”regulatory muster” and, as long as regulators looked at the facts around media ownership, no ”meaningful concessions” would be required. But critics will argue that despite the split, Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan still control both firms. BREXIT BARGAIN The new Sky offer has already sparked concern, with several politicians attending a debate in parliament this week to urge the government to properly scrutinize the deal. The price of 10. 75 pounds per share, representing a premium of around 40 percent on the day before the initial proposal was received, has also disappointed several shareholders who accused Sky of selling out too cheaply to their founder and biggest shareholder. Sky’s stock is in a trough, down 32 percent this year before Murdoch made his move, on worries about the strength of the economy in Britain after Brexit, its biggest market, while investment in content and a new mobile service has weighed on earnings. But investors say Sky has a reputation for seeing its investments pay off and that the firm’s earnings will rebound. Shares in Sky were trading almost a pound below the offer price ahead of a regulatory process that is likely to take some time. Fox said it expected the acquisition to complete before the end of 2017. Fox will take on about $10 billion of debt to fund the deal, but said it would pay this down as quickly as possible. Deutsche Bank, Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan advised Fox while Morgan Stanley, PJT Partners and Barclays advised Sky. (Additional reporting by Sophie Sassard and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Pravin Char) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. Jana Partners LLC stepped up its criticism on Wednesday of U. S. natural gas producer EQT Corp’s deal to buy Rice Energy Inc arguing that EQT could save as much as $4. 5 billion if it separated its pipeline assets instead.

Rising rents lift U.S. inflation; labor market tightens

Rising rents lifted underlying U. S. inflation in November, pointing to a steady of price pressures in the economy that could support more interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve next year. The prospects of further monetary policy tightening in 2017 were also bolstered by other data on Thursday showing a drop in the number of Americans filing for unemployment aid last week. The Fed raised interest rates on Wednesday for the second time since the financial crisis and forecast three rate hikes in 2017. In addition to rising oil prices and a tight job market, inflation is likely to get a boost from U. S. Donald Trump’s proposed expansionary fiscal policy agenda. ”Inflation is moving in the right direction, all the conditions for stronger inflation are in place. I don’t think the Fed is behind the curve. We expect the next rate increase in March,” said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in Westchester, Pennsylvania. The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index excluding volatile food and energy costs rose 0. 2 percent last month after edging up 0. 1 percent in October. Rents accounted for most of the increase in the core CPI last month. The core CPI advanced 2. 1 percent in the 12 months through November after a similar gain in October. The overall CPI rose 0. 2 percent as gasoline price increases slowed and food costs remained soft. With oil prices hovering around $50 per barrel, gasoline prices are likely to push higher. The overall CPI shot up 0. 4 percent in October. In the 12 months through November, the CPI increased 1. 7 percent, the biggest gain since October 2014. It rose 1. 6 percent in the year to October. The Fed has a 2 percent inflation target and tracks an inflation measure which is currently at 1. 7 percent. In raising its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 0. 50 percent to 0. 75 percent, the U. S. central bank on Wednesday noted that inflation had increased since ”earlier this year” and said it expected it to rise to its target ”over the next couple of years.” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the rate hike was ”a vote of confidence in the economy.” The incoming Trump administration plans to boost infrastructure spending and cut taxes to foster a faster pace of economic growth. The fiscal stimulus, however, will come at a time when the economy is expected to be at full employment. ”Inflation is warming up and there will only be more price pressures if Trump and his advisors can pump up the volume on economic growth,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York. In a second report, the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 4, 000 to a seasonally adjusted 254, 000 for the week ended Dec. 10. It was the 93rd straight week that claims were below 300, 000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller. The dollar . DXY soared to a high against a basket of currencies as the data backed the Fed’s hawkish stance. Prices for U. S. government bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark Treasury note hitting more than a high. Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. UPBEAT DATA Other reports on Thursday also struck a positive note, with upbeat assessments on manufacturing and the housing market. The National Association of Home Fargo Housing Market Index, a measure of homebuilder confidence, surged this month to its highest level since July 2005. Builders anticipated strong sales despite rising mortgage rates. Separately, the New York Fed said factory activity expanded in New York State in December, driven by a surge in new orders. The Philadelphia Fed also reported a pickup in manufacturing in the region this month. Both regional Fed surveys showed manufacturers reporting they were paying higher prices for inputs. In New York State, factories were also increasing prices for their goods. Rising input costs and prices for manufactured goods should feed through to higher inflation over time. Last month, gasoline prices rose 2. 7 percent after jumping 7. 0 percent in October. Housing continued its upward march in November, with rents increasing 0. 3 percent last month. Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence also gained 0. 3 percent after a similar rise in October. There were increases in the prices of a range of other goods and services last month including used cars and trucks, which rose for the first time since February. The cost of motor vehicle insurance increased 1. 0 percent. But consumers got some relief. Food prices were unchanged for a fifth straight month and food consumed at home declined for a seventh consecutive month. While the cost of doctor visits increased 0. 6 percent, prices for prescription medicine fell 0. 6 percent and the cost of hospital services slipped 0. 1 percent. Apparel prices also fell, reversing October’s increase. Airline fares declined for a second straight month and prices for new motor vehicles were down. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ U. S. jobless claims interactive U. S. inflation (CPI interactive) Homebuilder sentiment interactive (NAHB) New York manufacturing graphic ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

U.S. challenges China’s grain import quotas at WTO

The USTR said global prices for the three commodities were lower than China’s domestic prices, yet the country did not maximize its use of TRQs, which offer lower duties on a certain volume of imported grains every year. The USTR said that limited market access for shipments from the United States, the world’s largest grain exporter, and other countries. The TRQs for the three commodities were worth more than $7 billion in 2015, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture. China would have imported up to $3. 5 billion more of the crops last year if the quotas had been fully used, the Office of the U. S. Trade Representative said on Thursday. ”The United States will aggressively pursue this challenge on behalf of American rice, wheat, and corn farmers,” U. S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement. It was the second challenge to China’s agricultural policies by the U. S. Trade Representative since September and the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world’s largest economies. China on Monday launched a complaint at the WTO against the United States and Europe after they failed to treat China as a market economy and ease their calculations of duties on Chinese goods. The United States in September charged that China’s domestic grain price supports exceeded agreed upon limits when Beijing joined the WTO in 2001. The USTR has since requested that the WTO launch a dispute settlement panel to investigate the matter. Industry groups said Thursday’s action would benefit all global grain exporters that have struggled recently with low prices and historically large supplies. ”This troublesome administration of China’s wheat TRQ is restraining export opportunities for U. S. wheat farmers and farmers from Canada, Australia and other wheat exporting countries to the detriment of Chinese consumers,” said Alan Tracy, president of the trade promoting group U. S. Wheat Associates. China is second largest importer of U. S. agricultural products behind Canada, with $20. 3 billion in purchases last year, according to USDA data. Thursday’s action was the 15th trade enforcement challenge against China by the Obama administration at the WTO since 2009. (Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Trott) SINGAPORE Most Asian stock markets fell on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed a lack of consensus on the future pace of U. S. interest rate increases, while oil prices inched higher following a steep decline a day earlier. WASHINGTON Federal Reserve policymakers were increasingly split on the outlook for inflation and how it might affect the future pace of interest rate rises, according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting on June released on Wednesday.

EU agrees to extend Russia sanctions until mid-2017 in a signal to Trump

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine until though some wanted a longer timespan over fear U. S. Donald Trump would ease pressure on Moscow. The decision was expected and the formal process to extend the sanctions on Russia’s defense, energy and financial sectors will take place early next week. ”Some of our colleagues would prefer maybe 12 months but . .. what is possible is maintaining our current format, it means six months,” European Council President Donald Tusk said. The bloc slapped sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and stepped them up as Moscow went on to support a separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s industrial east. It has extended them by six months each time ever since as Moscow says it would never give back Crimea and the conflict in east Ukraine which has killed 10, 000 people to date is not resolved despite peace mediation by Germany and France. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko welcomed the decision: ”I am sincerely grateful for unwavering unity and solidarity of the European leaders in restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Crimea.” THE TRUMP EFFECT Poland was among the EU states that wanted a longer extension of the sanctions, but Italy has been a leading voice in the bloc in calling for business ties with Moscow. The decision was also meant as a signal to Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20 and has worried the EU with his promises to seek a rapprochement with Russia. ”It would send a very bad signal Trump if we shied away from this extension, or prolonged them by a shorter period of time,” a senior EU official said. But in front of cameras, EU leaders were more cautious, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the extension was agreed ”based on the current situation” rather than attempts to ”anticipate what the new American president might do.” ”It’s still too early to assess responsibly what is the possible policy of the new american administration on Russia,” said Tusk. Despite threats in October by some EU leaders, the bloc has shied away from slapping new sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Syria. In a separate decision on Thursday, EU leaders agreed to spell out limits to a landmark cooperation accord with Ukraine in order to address Dutch concerns and prevent the deal from falling through. (Additional reporting by Vey and Andreas Rinke) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Facebook to roll out new tools to tackle fake news

Facebook Inc ( ) said on Thursday it will introduce tools to prevent fake news stories from spreading on its platform, an in response to rising criticism that it did not do enough to combat the problem during the U. S. presidential campaign. The social network company stressed that the new features are part of an ongoing process to refine and test how it deals with fake news. It has faced complaints this year involving how it monitors and polices content produced by its 1. 8 billion users. Facebook said users will find it easier to flag fake articles on their News Feed as a hoax, and it will work with organizations such as website Snopes, ABC News and the Associated Press to check the authenticity of stories. If such organizations identify a story as fake, Facebook said, it will get flagged as ”disputed” and be linked to the corresponding article explaining why. The company said disputed stories may appear lower in its news feed, adding that once a story is flagged, it cannot be promoted. A few weeks ago, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said it was a ”crazy idea” that fake or misleading news on Facebook helped swing the election in favor of Republican Donald Trump. But criticism persisted amid reports that people in the United States and other countries have fabricated sensational hoaxes meant to appeal to conservatives. Critics said fake news often was more widely read than news reported by major media organizations. Ahead of the Nov. 8 election, Facebook users saw fake news reports saying Pope Francis endorsed Trump and that a federal agent who had been investigating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was found dead. The effort by Facebook is intended to focus on the “worst of the worst” of clear hoaxes created by “spammers for their own gain,” Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s vice president in charge of its News Feed, said in a blog post. Some conservative writers quickly pounced on the announcement, decrying it as a covert attempt to muzzle their legitimate content. “Translation: A group of incredibly biased fake news outlets will bury dissenting opinions,” Paul Joseph Watson, of the website Infowars, which routinely peddles unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, said on Twitter. Facebook has struggled throughout the year to mollify conservatives who fear the company may be censoring them. The company fired contractors who managed the site’s trending news sidebar after a report by Gizmodo in May quoted an anonymous employee claiming the site routinely suppressed conservative news. On Thursday, Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president for U. S. public policy, met with Trump at his Manhattan tower. (Additonal reporting by Narottam Medhora and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

Trump taps Montana Congressman Zinke to lead Interior Department

Donald Trump on Thursday named U. S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy SEAL commander who questions whether humans are largely the cause of climate change, as his choice for secretary of the interior. If the Senate confirms Zinke, a Republican, to lead the Interior Department, he will head an agency that employs more than 70, 000 people across the country and oversees more than 20 percent of federal land, including national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. As a U. S. congressman, Zinke took several stances favoring coal, which is high in carbon emissions when burned. Coal output suffered during the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama as the development of competing fuels natural gas and solar and wind power soared. Zinke, 55, pushed to end a moratorium on federal coal leases on public lands by 2019, saying it had resulted in closed mines and job cuts. He also helped introduce a bill expanding tax credits for power plants that bury carbon dioxide emissions underground to fight climate change, a measure supported by coal interests and some moderate environmental groups. In introducing the bill, Zinke said he wanted to keep ”coal, oil and gas communities viable for generations to come.” The Interior Department includes the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has oversight over offshore oil drilling and wind power; and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Trump’s potential Cabinet is filling with nominees from top fossil states. He tapped Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, an ardent opponent of Obama’s measures to curb climate change, to run the Environmental Protection Agency and Rick Perry, a climate skeptic and former governor of Texas, to head the Department of Energy. Zinke would replace Sally Jewell, who in January put a temporary ban on coal mining on public lands, canceled leases for drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic coasts, expanded wildlife protections and cracked down on methane emissions from the energy industry on tribal and public lands. The choice of Zinke surprised some observers because Republican officials had wanted him to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Tester in Montana’s 2018 Senate race. HUNTING AND FISHING Many environmental groups oppose Zinke for his commitment to fossil fuels and his view that the science on climate change is ”unsettled.” Bradley Campbell, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation feared that Zinke would be given the task of unraveling Obama’s protections of the environment and federal lands. Considering Zinke’s history on climate and his defending fossil fuel interests, ”it is likely that we will be facing an uphill battle,” Campbell said. Zinke, a regular hunter and fisherman, impressed Trump’s son, Donald Jr. who shares those interests. Land Tawney, the president and chief executive officer of the outdoors group Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, said Zinke would bring a conservationist voice to Trump’s leadership team. Zinke is a proponent of keeping public lands under federal ownership, which puts him at odds with some in his party who would like to privatize the lands or put them under control of the states. ”He’s been great at keeping public lands in public hands and goes against the Republican establishment,” Tawney said. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici, Eric Walsh and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis) NEW YORK Six in 10 American voters support the new ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States unless they can show they have a close relative here, according to opinion poll results released on Wednesday. LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a bilateral meeting with U. S. President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday, a British government official said on Wednesday.

From New York to London, rapid talks seal Sky-Fox deal

British business veteran Martin Gilbert was at his desk in early December when he received the call he had been expecting for years. James Murdoch wanted to meet. Days later, Gilbert, the deputy chairman of Sky SKYB. A, was in the New York offices of Century Fox ( ) meeting James, brother Lachlan, father Rupert and the U. S. firm’s finance director John Nallen. The topic was Fox’s 39 percent holding in Sky. Five years after a phone hacking scandal at one of Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers derailed a previous bid to take full control of the European firm, the family decided the time was right to try again, convinced that a deal would enable them to better take on the likes of Netflix. ”We had been on bid alert due to the fall in the pound and we’d been preparing for this for months, or even years, ever since the last bid failed,” a person familiar with the situation said, in reference to the fall in sterling following the British vote to leave the EU. ”We knew they needed to be prepared.” With James Murdoch both the chairman of Sky and the CEO of Fox, it fell to Gilbert to push for the best deal for Sky’s independent shareholders. According to the source, Gilbert was told that Fox had three options. They could sell their stake, and potentially attract a rival takeover, they could maneuver to buy the rest of the firm at a offer or they could negotiate on price in return for Gilbert’s support. With Gilbert agreeing to talks, the focus moved to London where both sides engaged in a frantic round of meetings to haggle over the price the Murdochs needed to pay to unite their empire across two continents. In meetings near the fashionable King’s Road, at Sky’s offices and in the premises of their advisers and lawyers, Fox agreed to increase its offer three times before both sides settled on the 10. 75 pounds per share offer. As the talks ran into the weekend the normal Sunday British roast dinner was skipped in favor a simple lunch and afternoon tea. Sunday was spent at the offices of Sky’s advisers PJT Partners while the teams moved to the premises of lawyers Herbert Smith for the final 24 hours before the deal was sealed. Fox, a second source said, knew they had to get the price right as a leak just two days after the New York meeting alarmed some Sky shareholders who said the firm was being sold off too cheaply. Those familiar with the talks said the atmosphere was completely different to five years ago, when the phone hacking revelations exploded into one of the biggest media scandals to hit Britain, damaging the Murdochs’ reputation. ”Martin made a decision which I completely agree with which was to go quick and friendly,” the second person close to the talks said, on the condition of anonymity. ”This was the best way to drive the price up as opposed to a big public fight which would have made it likely to end up with no deal at all given the sensitivity of the situation.” A range of code names were used during the talks, including on one document Red Fox and Blue Sky. The two sides said on Thursday they had agreed a deal valuing Sky at 18. 5 billion pounds, with Gilbert recommending the offer to shareholders. While some London investors have denounced the bid as too low, several in the top 50 said they would be pragmatic and accept it. ”We did the best we could,” the first source said. ”We got the best we could out of Fox.” (Editing by Adrian Croft) Biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp will buy a stake in BeiGene Ltd and help develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational treatment for tumor cancers, the companies said on Wednesday. BRUSSELS French carmaker PSA Group secured unconditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday to acquire General Motors’ German unit Opel, a move which will help it better compete with market leader Volkswagen .

Trump builds team of bosses to shake up Washington

With more than 20 nominees now selected, Donald Trump’s cabinet appears much like the himself: mostly older, white males, many of them wealthy, who see themselves as and and prize action over deliberation. Trump, who says Washington is ”broken” and controlled by special interests, has largely eschewed technocrats with long government experience. Instead, he has built a team of bosses. Trump’s roster of agency heads and advisers conspicuously lacks intellectuals, lawyers, and academics of the sort sought by some past presidents. In their place are titans of business and finance from the likes of Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs and no fewer than three retired generals in key positions. MORE FROM REUTERS: Many of them are people used to getting their way but will now have a boss to answer to Trump while navigating the sometimes frustrating and sprawling bureaucracy of the U. S. government. The incoming Trump administration is poised to undo as much of President Barack Obama’s accomplishments as possible, while also attempting to advance a conservative policy agenda in areas such as taxes and healthcare. A former senior U. S. official who knows Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO who is Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, and Marine General James Mattis, Trump’s pick for defense secretary, predicted a massive clash of egos in the cabinet. Tillerson and Mattis are “accustomed to dominating whatever space they find themselves in, and that probably will now include the Situation Room and even the Oval Office. ” Trump’s transition team has said the cabinet is intended to be a mix of experienced Washington hands and newcomers. But former presidents who brought in outside blood have at times seen political neophytes make costly errors, experts said. Of the 21 cabinet members and White House advisers chosen to date by Trump, 16 are white men. There are four women, none of whom hold what might be considered a agency post. There is one one and one . There are no Hispanics. Like the magnate who chose them, several have no government experience. Others have been hostile toward the agencies they will lead if the U. S. Senate confirms them early next year. Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University, said Trump is building a cabinet in his own image: with experience. ”Surrounding yourself with military guys and money guys sends a certain message,” Zelizer said. ”A certain kind of cutthroat aggressive dealmaker is how [Trump] imagines himself to be.” Obama, who leaves office in January, relied on experienced hands to form his cabinet in 2008. He named his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, as his secretary of state. Robert Gates, who served the previous administration, remained at the Pentagon, and Obama made longtime Justice Department official Eric Holder attorney general. Some of Trump’s picks do have similar experience, and he has packed his transition teams at various agencies with government veterans and a Reuters review found earlier this month. NEW CHALLENGES The newcomers to Washington will rise to the administrative challenge, said those who know them. Republican Representative Tom Price, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is ”decisive by nature,” said fellow Republican lawmaker Tom Cole. He credited Price’s career as a surgeon, which is also the former profession of Ben Carson, Trump’s choice for secretary of housing and urban development. Carson, said Henry Brem, a neurosurgeon who worked with Carson at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, has a ”cool head” and is unafraid to give strong opinions. ”He’s a gentleman, he speaks his mind, he has great ideas — and nobody in the world intimidates him. ” Rick Perry, Trump’s choice for energy secretary, served three terms as governor of Texas and had to ”balance a very conservative and increasingly ideological grassroots (support base) with a very influential business community,” said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. ”Whether he can do that do that in a bureaucratic setting, in an environment as competitive as a cabinet with a lot of obviously large egos, I think is another question,” Henson said. Several of Trump’s picks have never held any sort of government post and have little, if any, background in including Tillerson, Treasury nominee Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, Commerce pick Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor, and Gary Cohn, the Goldman Sachs executive who would chair Trump’s economic council. In 2008, Mnuchin purchased IndyMac, a lender that failed during the financial crisis and helped transform it into OneWest, now a thriving retail bank in southern California. Kevin Kelly, a managing partner at Recon Capital Partners, an investment firm in Stamford, Connecticut, said that kind of savvy could make government more effective. Those with corporate experience are used to having to please shareholders, board members, employees, and the community, Kelly said. ”It takes a very precise and dedicated person to deliver across those constituencies.” TOO MUCH DISRUPTION? The outsider approach hasn’t always worked. In 2001, President George W. Bush’s treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill, the former chief executive of aluminum producer Alcoa Inc, rattled markets with a series of careless remarks that seemed to herald economic policy shifts that differed with the White House’s stance. He ultimately was fired. ”Management of large, public agencies is really difficult and requires bringing in experienced and knowledgeable people and working in ways that doesn’t alienate people,” said Thomas Mann, an expert on governance at the Brookings Institution. Anthony Scaramucci, an adviser to the Trump transition, has acknowledged that too much inexperience could be harmful to Trump’s young administration. ”Washington is a very healthy immunological system,” he said. ”You’ll see a organ rejection if you put too many disruptors in Washington.” (Reporting by James Oliphant and Emily Stephenson; Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner, Roberta Rampton, Phillip Stewart, John Walcott, Susan Cornwell, Ernest Scheyder, editing by Ross Colvin) NEW YORK Six in 10 American voters support the new ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States unless they can show they have a close relative here, according to opinion poll results released on Wednesday. LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a bilateral meeting with U. S. President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday, a British government official said on Wednesday.

Peace prospects dead if Trump moves U.S. embassy to Jerusalem: Palestinian aide

A senior Palestinian official warned on Friday that implementation of Donald Trump’s pledge to relocate the U. S. embassy to Jerusalem would destroy any prospects for peace with Israel, even as a spokesman for the U. S. said he remained committed to the move. Saeb Erekat, of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, issued the grim prediction just a day after Trump announced his decision to nominate as ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a hardliner who supports continued building of Jewish settlements and shifting the embassy from Tel Aviv. Speaking to foreign journalists, Erekat said Jerusalem was a issue to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians, who also want it as the capital of a future independent state. Successive U. S. administrations have avoided formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. If Trump makes good on his campaign promise, it would decades of U. S. policy, enrage the Muslim world and draw international condemnation. Jerusalem is home to sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians. “No one should take any decisions which may preempt or prejudge (negotiations) because this will be the destruction of the peace process as a whole,” Erekat said, according to a transcript provided by an aide. The last U. S. talks on statehood collapsed in 2014. He further warned of dire consequences if Israel annexes settlements built on occupied land. Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer and close friend of Trump who has no diplomatic experience, has advocated the idea of Israel annexing the West Bank, as it did with Arab East Jerusalem following its capture in the 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognized internationally. Erekat said he would like to look Trump and Friedman in the eye and tell them “if you were to take these steps of moving the embassy and annexing settlements in the West Bank, you are sending this region to more chaos, lawlessness and extremism.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a fractious relationship with President Barack Obama, was satisfied with Friedman’s appointment, according to the Israeli website Ynet, and several members of his government welcomed the choice. Liberal groups have raised objections over positions he has stated in writings and press interviews, which they see as a rejection of a solution, a longtime bedrock of U. S. Middle East policy, and alignment with Israel’s far right. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the ”remains firmly committed” to relocating the embassy but that it was “premature” to present a timetable for such a move. U. S. analysts said that while Friedman’s appointment could signal a break with longstanding U. S. policy as well as Obama’s sometimes tough approach to ally Israel, U. S. ambassadors typically do not drive Middle East policy and it was still unclear how far Trump would be prepared to go. Friedman, who must be confirmed by the U. S. Senate, declined to answer questions when contracted by Reuters. ”I’ll do that at some point, but I’m not providing any comments just yet,” he said. In Thursday’s announcement, Friedman said he looked forward to doing the job “from the U. S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.” “Appointing David Friedman . .. is a positive declaration of intent,” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked tweeted. ”David is a true friend of Israel.” Friedman has also called liberal Jewish Americans supporting a solution “worse than kapos,” a reference to Jewish prisoners in World War Two concentration camps assigned by Nazi guards to supervise fellow inmates. J Street, a liberal group, told supporters Friedman’s appointment was “unacceptable” and it would fight to persuade U. S. senators not to confirm his nomination. (Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Exclusive: Televisa affiliate surfaces in widening FIFA bribery probe

An unnamed company described in a sweeping probe of corruption in soccer’s world governing body FIFA matches the description of a close affiliate of Grupo Televisa ( ) the largest broadcaster in Latin America, according to a Reuters review of U. S. and Swiss government documents. In court papers filed on Tuesday, U. S. prosecutors said an affiliate of a major broadcasting company headquartered in Latin America helped to pay millions of dollars in bribes to obtain the rights for the next four World Cup tournaments in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Reuters has determined that the affiliate is Mountrigi Management Group Ltd. a Swiss company formed by Televisa that obtained the rights to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 games in those countries and across the region. Swiss company registration documents show that Mountrigi and Televisa are registered in that country under the same address and share several board members. The court documents do not state that either the companies or their executives are targets of the investigation. Neither company has been charged with wrongdoing. ”We have no knowledge it refers to us,” a Televisa spokesman said in an email, adding that the Department of Justice has not contacted the company to ask about the FIFA case. In the court documents, prosecutors said ”Broadcasting Company Executive #1” helped pay the bribes to the FIFA official. The Televisa spokesman denied the documents referred to one of its executives. Reuters was unable to determine the identity of the executive. ”We are certain all of the people from Mountrigi or Televisa that have dealt with FIFA have acted correctly and have not paid any bribes nor any kickback to FIFA official related to the acquisition of rights,” the Televisa spokesman said. Willi Dietschi, a Swiss attorney who is listed in Swiss company registration documents as the president of the board of directors of both Mountrigi and Televisa’s corporate entity in Switzerland, referred questions to the Latin American broadcaster. John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York located in Brooklyn, which is handling the case, declined to comment. The reference marks the first time a Mexican company has come under scrutiny by U. S. prosecutors in the sweeping FIFA investigation. Mexican broadcasters have played an outsized role in international soccer since the early days of the sport’s move into lucrative television markets. So far 43 individuals and businesses from 20 countries have been indicted by U. S. prosecutors on racketeering, money laundering and other charges arising from the probe. Twenty people and two related companies have pleaded guilty. OTHER BROADCASTERS Other unnamed broadcasters have previously been referred to by prosecutors in the investigation, which exploded on to the international stage in May 2015 when agents swept into a luxury hotel in Zurich and arrested more than half a dozen top FIFA officials. An unnamed Miami sports marketing company that appeared in the indictment coinciding with the arrests turned out to be Media World, an affiliate of Spanish media giant Imagina Group. Later that year the FBI raided Media World’s offices, and two executives pleaded guilty in the case. They have yet to be sentenced. Another sports marketing company described in a superseding indictment as having paid bribes has longstanding ties to the U. S. entertainment company 21st Century Fox [NWSNA. UL] according to securities filings and other government documents. Fox has not been accused of wrongdoing and has declined to comment on the case. A media company could potentially be held criminally liable for bribery if it benefited from a wrongful payment and its employees had knowledge of or were willfully blind to the transaction, legal experts have said. LATEST ALLEGATIONS The allegations relating to the Latin American broadcaster surfaced in papers filed on Tuesday in Brooklyn as part of a hearing on a deferred prosecution agreement between U. S. authorities and another company, the Argentine sports marketer Torneos y Competencias. Torneos agreed to pay more than $112 million in penalties for wire fraud conspiracy. In the criminal charging documents filed against Torneos, prosecutors allege that a subsidiary called TyC International obtained the rights to broadcast future World Cup tournaments through a series of contracts with a major Latin American broadcaster’s affiliate. That affiliate went on to pay millions of dollars in bribe and kickback payments to a FIFA official with ”enormous influence” to secure the World Cup rights, prosecutors allege. Those rights were awarded long before the host countries were even picked for some of the tournaments. After FIFA awarded the World Cup rights in 2018 to Mountrigi Management, the company licensed them to TyC international, FIFA documents show. Torneos declined to comment. The FIFA corruption case is ongoing. (Editing by Amy Stevens and Edward Tobin) LONDON Rafa Nadal continued his imperious run of form as he swept aside American Donald Young in the Wimbledon second round on Wednesday. LONDON French Open Dominic Thiem takes on France’s Gilles Simon at Wimbledon on Thursday, hoping to make inroads into what has been the weakest grand slam for one of the next generation of men’s tennis.

Obama points finger at Putin for hacks during U.S. election

President Barack Obama on Friday strongly suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally authorized the computer hacks of Democratic Party emails that American intelligence officials say were aimed at helping Republican Donald Trump win the Nov. 8 election. But with only a month left in office, during a somber press conference before leaving for a family holiday in Hawaii, Obama spoke despairingly about the ”nasty” state of U. S. politics, saying the chasm between Democrats and Republicans has made it possible for Russia to cause mischief. Obama said he has ”great confidence” in intelligence reports he has seen showing that Russians hacked into emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee and to John Podesta, who was campaign chairman for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The leaked emails revealed details of paid speeches Clinton gave to Wall Street, party infighting and comments from top aides to Clinton who were shocked about the extent of her use of a private server to send emails while secretary of state. The leaks led to embarrassing media coverage and prompted some party officials to resign. Obama, who campaigned vigorously for Clinton, said she was treated unfairly and found the media coverage of her troubling. ”This happened at the highest levels of the Russian government,” Obama said when asked whether Putin was personally involved in the hacks. He added that ”not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.” Obama said he warned Putin in September to stop meddling in American political campaigns, telling his Russian counterpart to ”cut it out” during a encounter in China at a Group of 20 meeting. Obama said he did not believe that U. S. electronic voting systems were tampered with. Obama, however, stopped short of directly blaming Putin and said he also wanted to give U. S. intelligence officials more time to produce a report that is due before he leaves office on Jan. 20 and Trump is sworn in as his successor. RETALIATION FOR CYBER ATTACKS Obama called Russia a smaller and weaker country than the United States that ”does not produce anything that others want to buy, except oil and gas and arms.” The comments underscored what Obama called the ”sadly deteriorated” relationship between Washington and Moscow, which are also at odds over Russia’s role in Syria’s civil war and its aggressive actions in Ukraine. Russia has denied U. S. accusations that it was behind the hacks. Two senior government officials told Reuters that the Federal Bureau of Investigation backs the CIA’s view that Russia indeed intervened to help Trump win the presidential election. Trump has maintained that he won the election fairly and has bristled at suggestions that Moscow influenced the outcome. But at one point during the heated presidential campaign, he publicly encouraged Russia to hack Clinton’s emails. Trump spoke glowingly in the campaign about Putin, and since winning the election he has named top aides who have ties to Russia, including his nominee for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. Obama left open the door to U. S. retaliation against Russia to discourage further cyber attacks countermeasures that may be up to Trump to implement. Obama said he has had ”cordial” discussions with Trump since the election and has stressed that he would do everything he can to ensure a smooth transition. But the outgoing president also criticized Trump’s fellow Republicans broadly. Referencing polls showing that more than of Republicans approve of Putin, who used to lead the KGB spy agency, Obama said that conservative icon ”Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave.” ”In some cases, you have voters and elected officials who have more confidence and faith in a foreign adversary than they have in their neighbors,” Obama said. CHINA AND SYRIA Adding to the gloomy tone of Obama’s remarks, he addressed two other difficult foreign policy issues that will outlast his time in the White House. Obama warned about the economic and geopolitical consequences of any breakdown in the U. S. relationship, and said Trump should think carefully about the diplomatic repercussions if he decides to ”upend” longstanding U. S. diplomatic norms. Trump angered China earlier this month when he took a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan’s president, Tsai the first call of its kind since 1979 when President Jimmy Carter acknowledged Taiwan as part of ”one China.” Obama also condemned attacks on Syrian civilians trying to flee the city of Aleppo, blaming President Bashar and his allies in Russia and Iran for ”atrocities.” Obama defended his decision to keep U. S. troops out of Syria and avoid military intervention, although he acknowledged the protracted anguish has weighed on him. ”Everything else was tempting because we wanted to do something and it sounded like the right thing to do, but it was going to be impossible to do this on the cheap,” he said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Jeff Mason and Julia Harte; Writing by Richard Cowan and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

China to return seized U.S. drone, says Washington ’hyping up’ incident

China will return an underwater U. S. drone seized by a naval vessel this week in the South China Sea, both countries said on Saturday, but Beijing complained that Washington had been ”hyping up” the incident. U. S. Donald Trump, who has vowed to take an aggressive approach in dealing with China over its economic and military policies, jumped on the unusual drone seizure with a pair of provocative tweets, accusing Beijing of stealing the equipment. The drone, known as an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) was taken on Thursday, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory. The Pentagon went public with its complaint after the action and said on Saturday it had secured a deal to get the drone back. ”Through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the UUV to the United States,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement. The drone, which the Pentagon said was operating lawfully was collecting data about the salinity, temperature and clarity of the water about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, off the Philippines. It was seized just as the USNS Bowditch was about to retrieve it, U. S. officials said. China’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese naval vessel discovered a piece of ”unidentified equipment” and checked it to prevent any navigational safety issues before discovering it was a U. S. drone. ”China decided to return it to the U. S. side in an appropriate manner, and China and the U. S. have all along been in communication about it,” the ministry said on its website. ”During this process, the U. S. side’s unilateral and open hyping up is inappropriate, and is not beneficial to the smooth resolution of this issue. We express regret at this,” it added. ’KEEP IT!’ Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, waded into the dispute on Twitter early on Saturday from his seaside resort club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he plans to spend the holidays. ”China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act,” he said. After China said it would return the drone, Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump, tweeted a link to a news story, saying: ”@realdonaldtrump gets it done.” There was, however, no evidence that Trump had played any role. U. S. officials said the negotiations took place in Beijing during the overnight hours in the United States. Miller did not respond to requests for comment. Hours later, while riding in a motorcade back to his resort, Trump tweeted his second jab. ”We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back let them keep it!” he said. Trump has previously threatened to declare China a currency manipulator and force changes in U. S. trade policy, which he says has led to the greatest theft of American jobs in history. Trump has also raised questions about the most sensitive part of the U. S. relationship: whether Washington would stick to its nearly policy of recognizing that Taiwan is part of ”one China.” After his Nov. 8 election victory, Trump accepted a congratulatory phone call from President Tsai of Taiwan, prompting China to lodge a diplomatic protest. President Barack Obama said on Friday it was fine for Trump to review Washington’s policy toward Taiwan, but he cautioned that a shift could lead to significant consequences in the U. S. relationship with Beijing. ”There’s probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance and where there’s also the potential, if that relationship breaks down or goes into a mode, that everybody is worse off,” Obama told reporters. HEIGHTENED TENSIONS The drone incident has raised fresh concerns about China’s increased military presence and aggressive posture in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the waterway. New satellite imagery shows China has installed weapons, including and systems, on all seven artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, a U. S. research group said this week. Without directly saying whether the U. S. drone was operating in waters Beijing considers its own, China’s Defense Ministry said U. S. ships and aircraft have for a long period been carrying out surveillance and surveys in ”the presence” of Chinese waters. ”China is resolutely opposed to this, and demands the U. S. stops this kind of activity,” it said. China will remain on alert for these sorts of activities and take necessary steps to deal with them, the ministry said without elaborating. The Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, earlier cited an unidentified Chinese source as saying they believed the issue would be resolved smoothly. (Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jonathan Landay in Washington, Josephine Mason and Meng Meng in Beijing; Editing by G Crosse and Paul Simao) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

U.S. housing starts tumble from nine-year high; permits suggest strength

U. S. homebuilding fell more than expected in November, tumbling from a high as construction activity declined broadly, the latest sign of slower economic growth in the fourth quarter. But the housing market remains on solid ground, with Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showing permits for the future construction of homes, the biggest segment of the market, rising to a high in November. ”The economy won’t be flying as high without new construction that leads to additional consumer purchases of furniture and appliances and cars. The economy has some risks to the downside,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York. Groundbreaking on new housing projects dropped 18. 7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1. 09 million units, the Commerce Department said. Last month’s percentage decline was the largest in nearly two years, and unwound the bulk of October’s 27. 3 percent surge. Housing starts data are choppy with much of the volatility coming from the segment of the market. October’s starts were revised up to a 1. 34 rate, the highest since July 2007, from the previously reported 1. 32 million rate. Economists had forecast housing starts slipping to a 1. 23 rate last month. The report came on the heels of data this month showing a widening in the trade deficit in October and weak retail sales and industrial production in November. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting GDP rising at a 2. 4 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter after increasing at a brisk 3. 2 percent rate in the third quarter. Residential construction has been a drag on economic growth since the second quarter, but economists expect it will contribute to GDP this quarter. Despite the weak report, the PHLX housing index . HGX rose 0. 4 percent, tracking a broadly firmer U. S. stock market. Shares in the nation’s largest homebuilder, D. R. Horton ( ) gained 0. 6 percent and Lennar Corp ( ) advanced 0. 3 percent. U. S. Treasury debt prices rose marginally, while the dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies after scaling a high on Thursday. PERMITS DATA UPBEAT Starts fell in all four regions last month. October’s surge in home building had widened the gap between permits and starts. With last month’s drop in groundbreaking activity, building permits are now leading starts, which augurs well for the housing market. Permits fell 4. 7 percent in November to a 1. 20 rate. They have remained above the 1. 20 level for three straight months, the longest stretch since 2007. permits rose 0. 5 percent last month to their highest level since November 2007. Building permits for units, however, dropped 13. 0 percent. ”The trends in the data still appear to be moving higher over time, which is a favorable signal regarding upcoming construction activity,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. Economists expect housing to continue growing even with mortgage rates having jumped to their highest in more than two years following the election of Donald Trump as the next president. Trump has advocated for an expansionary fiscal policy, which could fan inflation pressures. A survey on Thursday showed homebuilders’ confidence in December hitting its highest level since July 2005, with builders anticipating strong sales. Since the Nov. 8 presidential election, the fixed mortgage rate has increased about 60 basis points to average 4. 16 percent in the week ending Dec. 15, the highest since October 2014, according to data from mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates could rise further after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to a range of 0. 50 percent to 0. 75 percent. The U. S. central bank forecast three rate hikes in 2017. Last month, home building fell 4. 1 percent to an pace after hitting a high in October. Housing starts for the volatile segment tumbled 45. 1 percent to a pace. (Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

U.S. dollar holds near 14-year highs as rally loses steam

The U. S. dollar edged lower against a basket of major currencies on Friday, but still held near highs touched after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, with halting the greenback’s rally. The dollar index . DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last at 102. 900, not far from Thursday’s high of 103. 560 but down 0. 12 percent on the day. The index gained 1. 2 percent on Thursday to mark its biggest daily percentage gain in nearly six months a day after the U. S. central bank raised interest rates for the first time in a year. The Fed also signaled it was likely to hike rates three more times in 2017, up from the two increases forecast at the central bank’s September meeting. The projections, combined with expectations that U. S. Donald Trump’s incoming administration may boost domestic economic growth with fiscal stimulus, sent the dollar shooting higher and brought parity with the euro back in play. ahead of the weekend and expectations of a squeeze on dollar liquidity heading into dampened the dollar’s gains on Friday, analysts said. ”The scale of the move since the FOMC meeting has been significant, and you would expect to see some kind of on dollar longs,” said David Gilmore, partner at FX Analytics in Essex, Connecticut. The euro was last up 0. 2 percent against the dollar at $1. 0433 after hitting a nearly low of $1. 0364 on Thursday, with the current level putting it about 4 percent away from parity with the dollar. The dollar was down 0. 2 percent against the yen at 117. 94 yen after hitting a roughly month high of 118. 66 yen on Thursday. Despite Friday’s losses, the dollar remained on track to notch its biggest weekly percentage gains against the euro, yen, and Swiss franc in four weeks. The euro was on track to decline 1. 2 percent against the dollar, while the dollar was set to gain 2. 2 percent against the yen and about 1 percent against the Swiss franc for the week. ”We’re probably starting to thin out for the holidays as well,” said Win Thin, global head of emerging market currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar was last down 0. 3 percent at 1. 0268 francs after touching 1. 0344 francs on Thursday, its highest since August 2010. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Additional reporting by Patrick Graham in London; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli) SINGAPORE Most Asian stock markets fell on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed a lack of consensus on the future pace of U. S. interest rate increases, while oil prices inched higher following a steep decline a day earlier. WASHINGTON Federal Reserve policymakers were increasingly split on the outlook for inflation and how it might affect the future pace of interest rate rises, according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting on June released on Wednesday.

Prison Officers regain control over rioting inmates in UK jail disturbance

Prison officers regained control of inmates at a prison in Birmingham, England on Friday more than 12 hours after rioting broke out among some 300 prisoners. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said officers have control of all four wings of the jail. Prisoners took over of at least two wings of HMP Birmingham jail on Friday, authorities said, in the latest and most serious disturbance at a British prison this year. The trouble erupted at the prison in central England, which can hold 1, 450 male prisoners, shortly after 0900 GMT, forcing staff to withdraw, according to G4S, the private firm that runs the jail. ”Our teams withdrew following a disturbance and sealed two wings, which include some administrative offices,” said Jerry Pethericka, Managing Director for G4S custodial and detention services. ”The disturbance has since spread to two further wings. All staff have been accounted for.” The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) which represents jail staff, said the incident involved about 300 inmates. ”It’s understood a set of keys giving access to residential areas was taken from an officer and that offenders have since occupied some blocks and exercise facilities,” West Midlands Police said in statement. G4S said extra officers had been sent to the jail near Birmingham city center which was built in 1849. Specialist riot control officers and dog units had also been deployed to attempt to regain control. The company said due to the severity of the incident, the Prison Service had taken charge of the operation. ”The situation is contained, the perimeter is secure and there is no risk to the public,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement. ”We are absolutely clear that prisoners who behave in this way will be punished and could spend significantly longer behind bars,” There have been several serious incidents in jails this year including an alleged murder, and last month prisoners took over parts of Bedford prison in central England before police and extra prison officers were drafted in to restore control. A week after the Bedford incident, thousands of prison officers in England and Wales walked out in protest at rising levels of jail violence and concerns about the health and safety of staff and inmates. The government has unveiled plans to reform prisons and improve safety, but the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) said jails were in a parlous state because of a decline in pay and the cutting of staff numbers. ”The prison service is around 800 uniformed staff short and the cavalry of the promised additional 2, 500 staff are months and years away from arriving,” it added in a statement. (Reporting by Michael Holden and Bhanu Pratap; Editing by Stephen Addison, Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Hay) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Opposition protest brings Polish parliament to a halt

A protest by opposition lawmakers against a plan to curb media access to the Polish parliament brought the chamber to a halt and forced the postponement of a key budget vote on Friday. The demonstration began when a lone opposition MP ascended the parliamentary podium with a placard reading ”free media” and was excluded from further debate or votes by speaker Marek Kuchcinski, who is from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Other opposition members then joined MP Michal Szczerba on the podium, chanting ”free media” and ”no censorship” in the first such protest in the chamber for a decade. As their occupation continued on Friday afternoon, the head of the PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told reporters those taking part would face consequences. ”We will not be terrorized. With utmost certainty we will pass the budget,” Kaczynski said. Szczerba is from the centrist Civic Platform party, which lost power to PiS in elections in October 2015. Rules proposed by the head office of the Sejm, the lower house, would ban all recording of parliamentary sessions except by five selected television stations and limit the number of journalists allowed in the building. They are due to take effect next year. ”This restriction, first of all, does not hit journalists, but the rights of citizens to be fully informed about what people elected by them to the parliament do,” said a statement signed by Poland’s largest independent news outlets on Friday. Since coming to power, the PiS has tightened its control over public news media and state prosecution and moved to weaken the country’s highest court. ”I don’t believe there is anything wrong here, I don’t believe this restricts the rights of journalists,” Beata Mazurek, a spokeswoman for the party, was quoted by Polish media as saying on Thursday. ”INSPIRED BY EU” The Sejm’s office said the proposals were partly ”inspired” by how journalists were regulated in the European Parliament and other countries’ assemblies. According to a document published on the Sejm website, 300 permanent and 200 temporary media accreditations have been issued this year, and when the Sejm is in session up to 300 daily passes are granted. ”The changes will not only increase the safety and professionalism for both journalists and politicians, but will also improve the image of Sejm and Senat (the upper house),” the document says. ”The Polish parliament has been very open to journalists for 27 years (since the first democratic election),” the leader of the opposition Polish Peasant Party, Wladyslaw told Polskie Radio 24 on Friday. ”It has served the development of democracy in Poland, it has served to ask tough questions. Now, there will be one message. This is not good for the public opinion.” (Additional reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Andrew Roche) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Tech drags Wall Street lower; China tension weighs

U. S. stocks fell on Friday, weighed by a more than 4 percent drop in Oracle shares, while recently battered stocks in the real estate and utilities sectors posted the largest gains. Oracle dropped 4. 3 percent to $39. 10 after its adjusted revenue missed analysts’ estimates. The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P and the tech sector. Analysts said that investors were anxious and turned to defensive sectors in stocks as well as U. S. Treasuries after a report that a Chinese Navy warship seized a U. S. underwater drone on Thursday in international waters in the South China Sea. The news about the drone seizure ”turned it to a day,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. ”At a minimum the headline hits you. It’s not often you have two world powers getting this frontal.” The Dow Jones industrial average fell 8. 83 points, or 0. 04 percent, to 19, 843. 41, the S&P 500 lost 3. 96 points, or 0. 18 percent, to 2, 258. 07 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 19. 69 points, or 0. 36 percent, to 5, 437. 16. The Dow rose for its sixth consecutive week but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted slight weekly declines. Utilities and real estate were the sectors on the S&P, in a rotation out of recent winning sectors. U. S. stocks have been on a tear since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with the S&P rising 5. 5 percent on bets that Donald Trump’s expected deregulation and infrastructure spending will boost the economy. However, there are some concerns that the rally may have little support as policy will take time to be implemented and likely will change as it makes its way through Congress. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1. ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1. ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 22 new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 172 new highs and 41 new lows. About 10. 84 billion shares changed hands in U. S. exchanges, well up from the 7. 53 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Praxair, Linde close to finalizing merger terms: sources

The move comes after Danbury, Praxair provided new assurances to Munich, Linde over corporate governance and jobs, the sources said. Its previous bid to create a $65 billion industrial gas giant failed in September amid disagreements over these issues. A final term sheet may be finalized by the two companies by next Wednesday or Thursday, the sources said, cautioning that it was always possible for disagreements to arise. The sources asked for anonymity because the negotiations are confidential. Praxair and Linde offered no immediate comment. Linde and Praxair, alongside rivals Air Liquide SA and Air Products and Chemicals Inc, are struggling with slower economic growth that has weakened demand from the manufacturing, metals and energy industries and put pressure on smaller players, leading to further consolidation in the sector. Earlier on Friday, Juergen Wechsler, head of the IG Metall union in Bavaria, said ”powerful forces” within the company are now at work to ensure that a consensus is reached about a combination. German unions IG BCE and IG Metall have struck a deal with Linde’s management to avoid forced redundancies in Germany before 2021, Buechele said. ”We will try to save as much as we can,” Wechsler told Reuters. ”It is about employees, locations, headquarters, and about ” he said, adding that unions had already been given assurances including a guarantee that a site in Dresden will not be closed. Wolfgang Buechele, the recently departed chief executive of Linde had sought up to 4, 000 job cuts in Germany after the company broke off initial merger talks. On Dec. 7, Buechele paved the way to a revived deal by stepping down with immediate effect. ”With the resumption of the talks, a successful merger is now drawing near,” Buechele said in a statement at the time. Among other concessions Praxair has made to Linde to structure the deal as close to a merger of equals as possible, it has agreed for the combined company to have a second base in Munich, in addition to its headquarters in Connecticut, according to the sources. The combined company will also have two stock listings, one in New York and one in Frankfurt, according to the sources. (Reporting by Jens Hack in Munich and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Tina Bellon, Bernard Orr) Biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp will buy a stake in BeiGene Ltd and help develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational treatment for tumor cancers, the companies said on Wednesday. BRUSSELS French carmaker PSA Group secured unconditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday to acquire General Motors’ German unit Opel, a move which will help it better compete with market leader Volkswagen .

U.S. to disclose estimate of number of Americans under surveillance

The U. S. intelligence community will soon disclose an estimate of the number of Americans whose electronic communications have been caught in the crosshairs of online surveillance programs intended for foreigners, U. S. lawmakers said in a letter seen by Reuters on Friday. The estimate, requested by members of the U. S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, is expected to be made public as early as next month, the letter said. Its disclosure would come as Congress is expected to begin debate in the coming months over whether to reauthorize or reform the surveillance authority, known as Section 702, a provision that was added to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008. ”The timely production of this information is incredibly important to informed debate on Section 702 in the next Congress — and, without it, even those of us inclined to support reauthorization would have reason for concern,” said the letter signed by 11 lawmakers, all members of the House Judiciary Committee. The letter was sent on Friday to National Intelligence Director James Clapper. It said his office and National Security Agency (NSA) officials had already briefed congressional staff about how the intelligence community intends to comply with the disclosure request. Clapper’s office confirmed the letter had been received but declined further comment. The lawmakers termed their letter an effort to ”memorialize our understanding” of the intelligence community’s plan to provide an estimate in real numbers, not percentages, as soon as January that can be shared with the public. The government has long held that calculating the number of Americans subject to Section 702 surveillance might be technically impossible and would require privacy intrusions exceeding those raised by the actual surveillance programs, which were originally intended to counter foreign espionage. Intelligence officials have said that online data about Americans is ”incidentally” collected under Section 702, due to a range of technical and practical reasons. Critics have assailed such collection as surveillance of Americans without a warrant. Section 702 will expire on Dec. 31, 2017, absent congressional action. It enables two internet surveillance programs called Prism and Upstream that were revealed in a series of leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden more than three years ago. Prism gathers messaging data from Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Microsoft, Apple and other major tech companies that is sent to and from a foreign target under surveillance. Upstream allows the NSA to copy web traffic flowing along the internet backbone located inside the United States and search that data for certain terms associated with a target. Clapper, who is stepping down next month, suggested in April that providing an estimate of Americans surveilled under Section 702, a figure some have said could tally in the millions, might be possible, while defending the law as ”a prolific producer of critical intelligence.” Republicans James Sensenbrenner, Darrell Issa, Ted Poe and Jason Chaffetz signed the letter, in addition to Democrats John Conyers, Jerrold Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hank Johnson, Ted Deutch, Suzan DelBene and David Cicilline. (Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Tom Brown) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

U.S. lawmakers press Heritage Pharma on high prices for antibiotic

Two U. S. lawmakers are questioning whether Heritage Pharmaceuticals misled them in response to a 2014 congressional inquiry about the rising price a common antibiotic, after 20 U. S. states this week accused the company of price fixing. In a Dec. 16 letter to Heritage seen by Reuters, Maryland Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said they feared the company was ”disingenuous at best” in October 2014 when it told them it had not seen any significant price increases for its doxycycline hyclate product. ”We are very concerned that you made these assertions to Congress on behalf of Heritage during the exact time period that its executives were engaged in a price fixing scheme to prevent competition from driving down prices of doxycycline hyclate,” they wrote. In response to Friday’s letter, the company said it does not make the same version of doxycycline hyclate that the lawmakers asked about in 2014. Heritage makes a delayed release version, not the immediate release version that was the subject of the 2014 inquiry. Heritage said it explained this to the lawmakers in its 2014 response. The letter to Heritage comes after criminal and civil charges were filed by the Justice Department and 20 states in connection with an alleged price fixing scheme involving doxycycline hyclate and glyburide, a diabetes drug. On Wednesday, the Justice Department criminally charged Heritage’s former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Glazer and former Heritage Vice President of Commercial Operations Jason Malek, accusing them of colluding with other generic manufacturers in schemes that entailed allocating market share and conspiring to raise prices. The next day, 20 states filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Heritage, along with Mylan NV, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Mayne Pharma Group, Citron Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. saying they colluded to fix prices. The lawsuit characterized Heritage as the ”ringleader,” with Glazer and Malek overseeing and running the scheme. Mylan and Teva have previously denied the states’ civil charges. Sanders and Cummings launched a congressional inquiry into rising generic drug prices on Oct. 2, 2014, including the price of doxycycline hyclate. As part of that, they sent a letter to Glazer while he was still CEO of Heritage to inquire about the prices. Gary Ruckelshaus, who was then Heritage’s outside counsel and now serves as vice president and general counsel, responded later that month and said Heritage ”has not seen any significant price increases” for the drug. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Obama defends U.S. approach toward war in Syria

President Barack Obama on Friday defended the U. S. approach toward the civil war in Syria, saying he understood the desire for action to end the conflict but it would have been impossible to do ”on the cheap” without a full U. S. military intervention. ”Unless we were all in and willing to take over Syria, we were going to have problems,” Obama told a news conference, noting that it would have required ”putting large numbers of U. S. troops on the ground, uninvited, without any international law mandate.” Obama’s remarks came as efforts to evacuate civilians from the last areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo ground to a halt on Friday after weeks of bombardments by the Syrian army that have deprived insurgents of nearly all their territory in the city, a divided zone during the nearly civil war. A Syrian official source said the evacuation was halted because rebels had sought to take out people they had abducted with them, and they had also tried to take weapons hidden in bags. This was denied by rebel groups. Obama denounced claims from the regime of Syrian President Bashar and its allies that all innocent civilians who were trapped in Aleppo had been able to leave, saying the reports were efforts to ”obfuscate the truth”. ”Humanitarian organizations who know better and who are on the ground have said unequivocally that there are still tens of thousands that are trapped and are prepared to leave,” Obama said at Friday’s news conference. ”So right now our biggest priority is to get them out.” Obama also addressed Donald Trump’s vow at a rally in Pennsylvania on Thursday to ”get the Gulf states to give us lots of money” to help ”build safe zones in Syria”. He said any safe zones would need to be maintained by forces unless Trump can secure the cooperation of the Assad regime and its allies. The United States will continue pressing the United Nations Security Council to help improve the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged city, and to monitor for any potential use of chemical weapons in Syria, Obama said. ”Responsibility for this brutality lies in one place alone: with the Assad regime and its allies, Russia and Iran,” he said. ”This blood, and these atrocities, are on their hands.” (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and David Alexander; Editing by James Dalgleish) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Dollar’s post-Fed rally pauses, U.S. stocks end lower

The dollar and U. S. stocks dipped on Friday, taking a breather following this week’s big moves after the Federal Reserve signaled a faster pace of U. S. interest rate increases next year. U. S. Treasury debt yields inched higher, continuing a trend. Markets appeared to be adjusting for what is expected to be a quiet holiday period for economic data. News that a Chinese warship has seized an underwater drone deployed by a U. S. oceanographic vessel in the South China Sea sparked some worries about geopolitical tensions and added to some of the pressure in stocks, Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group, Salt Lake City, Utah, and other market watchers said. But he said it has mostly been a day where investors have been digesting recent market moves. ”Whether it’s stocks soaring or bonds selling off equally as violently or the dollar going up, there’s been a lot of adjustment in the market in a very short period of time,” Ware said. ”Depending on the asset class and which side of the trade you’re on, there are a lot of folks saying . .. I’m not as comfortable putting on new trades in the same direction until we get a bit of a reprieve.” Bond yields have surged and the dollar rallied to highs since the Fed on Wednesday raised rates for the first time in a year and signaled three more rate increases in 2017. The dollar has strengthened to almost parity with the euro. U. S. stocks ended lower and the S&P 500 posted a slight loss for the week, weighed down by a 4. 3 percent drop in Oracle shares. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 8. 83 points, or 0. 04 percent, to 19, 843. 41, the S&P 500 lost 3. 96 points, or 0. 18 percent, to 2, 258. 07 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 19. 69 points, or 0. 36 percent, to 5, 437. 16. World stocks as measured by the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 46 countries, were last down 0. 01 percent. European shares closed up 0. 3 percent. Merger and acquisition speculation around drug maker Actelion and insurer Generali helped the benchmark index set an high earlier. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, edged lower but held near highs touched after Wednesday’s Fed meeting. It was last at 102. 81 down 0. 2 percent on the day. Benchmark U. S. Treasury note yields posted six straight weeks of gains. In late trading, prices were down yielding 2. 600 percent, up from Thursday’s 2. 578 percent. On the week, yields have gained 13 basis points. In commodities, a strong dollar and signs of mounting supply in London Metal Exchange warehouses dragged copper prices lower. Other industrial metals also slipped. Benchmark LME copper closed down 1. 7 percent at $5, 635 a tonne. Oil rose after Goldman Sachs boosted its price forecast for 2017 and producers showed signs of adhering to a global deal to reduce output. Brent futures rose $1. 19 to settle at $55. 21 a barrel, while U. S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1 to settle at $51. 90. For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters: =Opener=http: . apps. cp. extranet. thomsonreuters. ? pageId=livemarkets (Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Obama says China would not take change in U.S. policy on Taiwan lightly

President Barack Obama said on Friday it was fine for Donald Trump to review Washington’s ” ” policy toward Taiwan, but he cautioned that a shift could lead to significant consequences in the U. S. relationship with Beijing. ”For China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their docket,” Obama told a news conference. ”The idea of one China is at the heart of their conception as a nation and so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what . .. the consequences are.” China lodged a diplomatic protest earlier this month after Trump, a Republican, spoke by phone with President Tsai of Taiwan. The telephone call was the first of its kind by a U. S. or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of ”one China”. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, to be taken back by force if necessary. Obama noted that, under the policy, China had recognized Taiwan was its own entity that did things its own way, while Taiwan had agreed that, with some autonomy, it would not declare independence. ”That status quo, although not completely satisfactory to any of the parties involved, has kept the peace and allowed the Taiwanese to be a pretty successful . .. economy and a people who have a high degree of ” Obama said. The Democratic president said he had advised Trump that foreign policy had to be conducted in a systematic, deliberate, intentional way. ”There’s probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance and . .. where there’s also the potential, if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full conflict mode, that everybody is worse off,” he said of the U. S. ties. He said Beijing would not treat a departure from U. S. policy toward Taiwan lightly. ”The Chinese will not treat that the way they’ll treat some other issues. They won’t even treat it the way they treat issues around the South China Sea, where we’ve had a lot of tensions,” he said. Taiwan reiterated it was committed to keeping the status quo in its relations with China and in promoting peace and stability, and thanked Washington for deepening U. S. relations. A statement from Taiwan’s Presidential Office said Tsai’s government looked forward to strengthening that relationship under Trump’s administration. (Additional reporting by Julia Harte and David Alexander; Additional reporting by J. R. Wu in TAIPEI; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Paul Tait) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Protests flare over Venezuela cash chaos; three deaths reported

Protests and looting broke out in parts of Venezuela on Friday due to a lack of cash after the socialist government suddenly pulled the nation’s largest banknote from circulation in the midst of a brutal economic crisis. An opposition legislator said there were three deaths amid violent scenes in the southern mining town of Callao but there was no confirmation of that from the government. Waving the bills, pockets of demonstrators blocked roads, demanded that stores accept the cash, and cursed President Nicolas Maduro in a string of towns and cities around Venezuela, witnesses said. Dozens of shops were looted in various places. Last weekend, Maduro gave Venezuelans three days to ditch the bills, arguing that the measure was needed to combat mafias on the Colombia border despite warnings from some economists that it risked sparking chaos. Opposition leaders said the move was further evidence he is destroying the OPEC nation’s economy and must be removed. Authorities have thwarted a referendum sought by the opposition against the leftist leader. That might enable him to complete a term ending in early 2019, but increases the prospect of social unrest. With new bills originally due on Thursday still nowhere to be seen, many Venezuelans were unable to fill their vehicles’ fuel tanks to get to work, buy food or purchase Christmas gifts. Adding to the chaos, many cash machines were broken or empty. And large lines formed outside the central bank offices in Caracas and Maracaibo where the bills could still be handed over and deposited for a few days more. ’MOCKERY’ ”This is a mockery,” said bus driver Richard Montilva as he and several hundred others blocked a street outside a bank in the town of El Pinal in Tachira state near Colombia. First Justice lawmaker Angel Medina said large numbers of shops had been ransacked, destroyed and burned in El Callao, with three people killed and many injured. Reuters could not independently confirm his statements. Speaking in general terms, Maduro condemned the violence around the country, and said two banks had been attacked by people linked to the opposition coalition. He said the new bills would come into circulation soon, appealed for the population’s ”comprehension” and urged Venezuelans to use electronic transactions where possible. About 40 percent of Venezuelans do not have bank accounts. Outside the central bank in Caracas, thousands of Venezuelans lined up to swap the bills before a final Tuesday deadline as National Guard soldiers kept watch. An orange and avocado vendor offered to buy the notes up for 80 bolivars each. Maduro’s measure has stoked anger among Venezuelans already weary of long lines for food and medicine amid product shortages and inflation. He blames the crisis on an ”economic war” waged against his government to weaken the bolivar currency and unseat him. Critics scoff at that explanation, pointing instead to state controls and excessive money printing. ”I want a change in government. I don’t care about changing the bills; they’re not worth anything anyway,” said Isabel Gonzalez, 62, standing in line at the central bank on Friday. She said she had just enough cash to get a bus home. (Additional reporting by Girish Gupta, Deisy Buitrago and Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Jonathan Oatis and Richard Borsuk) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

U.S. dollar net longs steady; yen shorts rise: CFTC, Reuters data

U. S. dollar net long positions were little changed this week, affirming a trend in place for the last several weeks since the election of Donald Trump as U. S. president. The value of the dollar’s net long position was $28. 01 billion in the week ended Dec. 13, marginally down from $28. 14 billion the previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said investors were taking profits on their long dollar position. ”Being a dollar bull has paid off handsomely over the past two months with the greenback rising 15 percent against the Japanese yen and more than 7. 5 percent against the euro,” said Lien. ”Both the speed and velocity of the move has been incredible and when such abrupt fluctuations occur, it is natural to expect .” She still believes the dollar is a buy on dips, unless U. S. data, Federal Reserve comments, and U. S. interest rates suggest otherwise. Net shorts on the yen rose to their largest since early December last year, at 63, 429 contracts. Data such as Japan’s Tankan report on the economy has been weaker than expected, prompting a in the yen. But declines in the yen should prove supportive of a Japanese economy dependent on exports. The Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision next week could lead to a modest rebound for the yen against the dollar, especially if no changes are made, as expected, said James Chen, head of research at Forex. com in Bedminster, New Jersey. For the most part though, remains on an upward path. The next major upside targets for the currency pair are the 120. 00 yen level followed by the key 122. 00 resistance. Sterling net short contracts, meanwhile, continued their decline, falling to 72, 343, their smallest since the third week of September. The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U. S. dollar position is derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, sterling, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars. Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12, 500, 000 yen) $6. 885 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 62, 432 74, 367 Short 125, 861 108, 304 Net 429 937 EURO (Contracts of 125, 000 euros) $11. 623 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 123, 597 123, 390 Short 211, 110 237, 946 Net 513 556 POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62, 500 pounds sterling) $5. 722 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 40, 515 43, 169 Short 112, 858 120, 407 Net 343 238 SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125, 000 Swiss francs) $3. 124 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 5, 600 9, 859 Short 30, 888 35, 256 Net 288 397 CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100, 000 Canadian dollars) $1. 666 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 24, 035 21, 538 Short 45, 904 39, 696 Net 869 158 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100, 000 Aussie dollars) $ . 01 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 40, 290 48, 274 Short 26, 817 27, 403 Net 13, 473 20, 871 MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500, 000 pesos) $1. 422 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 19, 001 18, 619 Short 76, 660 72, 685 Net 659 066 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100, 000 New Zealand dollars) $0. 267 billion Dec. 13, 2016 Prior week week Long 29, 402 27, 641 Short 33, 104 31, 593 Net 702 952 (Reporting by Gertrude ; Editing by James Dalgleish) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Macedonia’s election commission orders re-run in one polling station

Macedonia’s state election commission said on Friday it had annulled ballots cast at a single polling station and ordered a new vote there after accepting that one woman had been prevented from voting in Sunday’s parliamentary election. The ballot at the polling station with just 800 voters in the western town of Gostivar could potentially change the result of the election, which veteran leader Nikola Gruevski won with the slimmest of majorities. Ethnic Albanian party Besa had asked the election commission to overturn the result, saying the woman had not been allowed to vote because records erroneously showed she had already done so. Albanians, who make up about a third of the former Yugoslav republic’s 2. 1 million people, form a majority in Gostivar. State Election Commission chief Aleksandar Cicakovski said that appeal had been accepted and a fresh vote ordered. Preliminary results of the snap vote on Sunday showed Gruevski’s winning 51 seats in Macedonia’s parliament. The Social Democratic Union (SDSM) led by Zoran Zaev, Gruevski’s main rival, won 49 seats, helped by the first significant shift toward the party by Albanian voters since a 2001 conflict. Under Macedonia’s constituency system, that change means the result in Gostivar just one of 2, 973 polling stations in which 1. 19 million people voted on Sunday could affect the final result of the election. said it would appeal the electoral commission’s decision. The administrative court should decide whether to allow the appeal within 48 hours. Up to a thousand supporters protested in front of the State Election Commission headquarters in Skopje on Thursday and Friday, claiming the party’s victory was being stolen by the opposition and commission officials. The national election was called after Gruevski stepped down in January and handed over to a caretaker government following opposition allegations that he and his counterintelligence chief had tapped the phones of more than 20, 000 people. In an deal, both main parties agreed to hold early elections and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations which sparked a national crisis. (Reporting by Kole Casule; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Catherine Evans) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Deutsche Bank’s staff pay stays high, come rain or shine

Deutsche Bank has continued to pay staff roughly the same amount as it did a decade ago, despite the financial crisis and a collapse in profits, according to a Reuters analysis of its financial reports. Germany’s biggest bank paid its staff more than 13 billion euros ($13. 6 billion) in total last year, including benefits and bonuses, despite making a loss of almost 6. 8 billion euros. That level of pay was about the same as in 2007, when it made a profit of around 6. 5 billion euros. This year, staff received more than 9 billion euros in the nine months to September, while profit in that time was about 500 million euros, according to its reports. The payouts show how Deutsche Bank, which recently had to deny speculation that it would be rescued by Germany as it faces a heavy U. S. penalty for selling toxic mortgage securities, rewards staff at a steady level despite sliding profits. Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the pay figures. By comparison Swiss rival UBS reduced its staff costs by almost 1 billion Swiss francs to just under 16 billion francs ($15. 55 billion) in 2015, compared with 2010. It made a net profit of more than 7. 5 billion Swiss francs in 2010 and more than 6 billion Swiss francs last year. Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, as it retrenched in investment banking, and Barclays, which did not, also reduced staff costs over this time. Stubbornly high costs at Deutsche Bank have frustrated shareholders, and the staff expenses over almost a decade illustrate the scale of the challenge facing its Chief Executive John Cryan to turn the group around. JOB CUTS High pay has also grated with many ordinary Germans, who often criticize the bank for its aggressive pursuit of success on Wall Street, while losing touch with its roots in Frankfurt. ”The bank has consistently paid bonuses and high salaries to reward success success that has not materialized,” said Dieter Hein, an analyst from Fairesearch in Frankfurt. ”As profits collapsed, pay has even increased. This is absurd.” In 2007, Deutsche Bank paid employees a total of just over 13 billion euros. While the figure dipped the following year, it rebounded in 2010 to 12 billion euros and rose higher still as profits shrank. Its downward profit spiral reached a nadir in 2015, when it made the loss of more than 6. 7 billion euros. But overall staff costs are likely to come down at Deutsche, as Cryan reassesses a strategy to revive the flagging group, which has seen sharp falls in its stock price and even some customers withdrawing funds. The bank said in October last year that it planned to cut 9, 000 staff. Executives are also examining a further 10, 000 job cuts, a source recently told Reuters. On pay, the bank has introduced new rules to tie bonuses to overall group performance, although salaries, which have risen across the industry, are not affected by that change. U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Commentary: Mr. Trump, here’s what other presidents learned from the CIA

Presidential transitions are perilous times. One tradition of creating continuity is for in waiting to be briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Some can’t get enough of the stuff. Some as they gear up in great haste to take office. Until now, none has denigrated the CIA, and declared, in the words of Donald J. Trump, — declining to hear almost everything and anything the spies have to say. This willful ignorance has no real precedent. It may well be that Trump really doesn’t want to know about Russia’s hacking the 2016 election, an epochal event that he actually happened. He may think he that he doesn’t need to know more about North Korea’s nukes, Syria’s army and the fall of Aleppo, or the correlation of forces in the Middle East. He may spend the next five weeks — or the next four years — saying, in effect, my mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with facts. But he could learn a lot by reading up about the CIA’s opening the for prospective presidents over the past 40 years. In 1976, the Director of Central Intelligence — George H. W. Bush — prepared to fly down to Plains, Georgia, to brief Jimmy Carter. Getting there was half the problem for the world’s premier intelligence service. The CIA’s Gulfstream jet couldn’t make a landing on the sod airstrip in Plains. A quick call to the Pentagon gleaned the information that Bush would have to helicopter in to Peterson Field, but the CIA’s navigators couldn’t find it on the map. They called down to Plains. They were directed to Peterson’s field — a peanut farmer’s plot on the edge of town. What Bush gave Carter wasn’t brief. It was a tour of the world — the Soviet Union, China, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Iraq and more. Carter wanted to know about America’s strategic nuclear arsenal and its spy satellites. He sought a . Eight CIA experts joined Bush and Carter in Plains two weeks later for a deeper dive. And in a final meeting on November 19, 1976, Bush revealed two really deep secrets. One was that a number of foreign leaders, including King Hussein of Jordan, were . The other was that Bush wanted to stay on at the CIA. “If I had agreed to that,” Carter said years later, “he never would have become president. ” A very different scene unfolded when the CIA’s briefers met Ronald Reagan at Wexford, a sumptuous Virginia estate once owned by John and Jackie Kennedy, in 1980. Reagan gave them an hour: 15 minutes on Saddam Hussein, 15 minutes on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 15 minutes on the Saudis, and 15 minutes on Iran. Members of Reagan’s entourage ran in and out of the room like characters in a screwball comedy. The hour went by quickly. Then, in late 1988 and early 1989, came Bush 41’s turn to be briefed. He had loved his year as director of Central Intelligence — the CIA must have seemed to him like his Yale fraternity, Skull and Bones, but with a budget. Before and after his inauguration, he soaked up daily briefs and wanted more — the raw intelligence underlying them, direct reports from CIA station chiefs overseas, imagery. But the CIA couldn’t deliver insight or foresight on the fate of its main enemy, the Soviet Union. It had “no idea in January 1989 that a tidal wave of history was about to break upon us,” said Bob Gates, who ran the CIA for Bush 41 and the Pentagon under Bush 43 and Barack Obama. In December 1992, Bill Clinton had few profound ideas about America’s strategic interests after the Cold War. His CIA briefers drove over to the Arkansas governor’s mansion in Little Rock from their rooms at a $38. Comfort Inn, but they drove back wondering whether the cared much about what they said. He chose a new CIA director, Jim Woolsey; they met exactly twice during the next two years. “I didn’t have a bad relationship with the president,” Woolsey reflected. “I just didn’t have one at all. ” Things were very different eight years later. Alarms flashed red: ’s leader, Osama bin Laden, loomed large. Clinton had grave fears; so did CIA director George Tenet. After the Supreme Court declared Bush 43 the victor in December 2000, both men warned him about the group. The president and the met alone for two hours in Crawford, Texas. Clinton remembers telling him: “Your biggest threat is bin Laden. ” Bush swore he never heard that. The question remains whether Bush was listening. By contrast, Barack Obama paid attention to his CIA briefers while a howling recession pounded the United States at the end of 2008. Does the CIA have the ’s ear? Does he believe what he hears? Does Donald Trump truly disbelieve that Russia wants to disrupt democracies? The dilemma that will face American intelligence in the Trump administration was defined long ago by Richard Helms, who ran the CIA under Presidents Johnson and Nixon. “If we are not believed,” Helms said, “we have no purpose. ” (Tim Weiner is a Pulitzer reporter. His books include ”Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. ”) The views expressed in this article are not those of Reuters News. Iraqi officials have declared that Islamic State’s caliphate is finished. On June 29, after months of urban warfare and U. S. air strikes, Iraqi forces say they are on the verge of expelling the militants from their last holdouts in Mosul. “Their fictitious state has fallen,” an Iraqi general told state TV after troops captured a symbolically important mosque in Mosul’s old city. In Syria, U. S. rebels are moving quickly through the eastern city of Raqqa, another capital of the Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon must face North Korea’s nuclear reality: Pyongyang’s bomb is here to stay. When the two presidents hold their first summit on Friday, they need to drop quixotic efforts to stop Kim Jong Un from building a nuclear arsenal and instead focus on preventing its use.

U.S. intelligence agencies feud with Republicans over Russian hacking

Republican members of Congress are complaining that U. S. intelligence agencies are refusing to brief them widely on a classified CIA report that concluded Russia hacked Democratic Party data in an effort to help Donald Trump win the presidency. The Republicans said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has refused their requests for full briefings of Congress’ two intelligence committees. U. S. government officials said the leaders of Congress and the chairmen of the two intelligence committees, known as the ”Gang of Eight,” have been briefed on the Central Intelligence Agency’s conclusion. Nevertheless, Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and is a member of Trump’s transition team as well as the Gang of Eight, has called for a briefing for his entire committee on the CIA assessment. ”The committee is vigorously looking into reports of during the election campaign, and in particular we want to clarify press reports that the CIA has a new assessment that it has not shared with us,” Nunes said. Representative Ron Johnson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said his panel also has asked for a briefing but the CIA refused. ”It is disappointing that the CIA would provide information on this issue to the Washington Post and NBC but will not provide information to elected members of Congress,” Johnson said in a statement on Friday. Three U. S. government sources, who all asked for anonymity to discuss classified information, told Reuters that while the full congressional committees have not been briefed, the congressional leadership has, which is the standard procedure for briefing Congress on sensitive intelligence. The sources said that Nunes was personally briefed on the CIA finding. A congressional official denied Nunes was briefed, however. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement that because President Barack Obama last week ordered the intelligence community to conduct a ”review of foreign efforts to influence recent presidential elections — from 2008 to the present,” the agencies would not comment further until the study is completed. BRIEFING TO FOLLOW ODNI, which oversees all 16 U. S. intelligence agencies, said that when the review is complete, the U. S. intelligence community ”stands ready to brief Congress.” The office said it also would make the study ”available to the public consistent with protecting intelligence sources and methods.” The CIA based its conclusion about Russia hacking to influence the election not on irrefutable evidence but largely on its analysis of the fact that the Russians hacked both political parties while only publicizing information damaging to Democrats and their presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, said a U. S. official familiar with the agency’s work, who also requested anonymity. Two of the government sources said on Friday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation now backs the CIA assessment that the Russian hacks were aimed at helping Trump win. The ODNI also agrees with the assessment, all three government sources said. There was no immediate comment from the FBI. The FBI, which has responsibility for counterintelligence investigations inside the United States, initially did not endorse the CIA’s finding because it did not meet the standards of evidence necessary to win a conviction in a U. S. court or identify individuals whose hacking violated American law, one source said. The debate over Russian hacking also is opening a rift between Trump and some Republican members of Congress. The continues to dismiss the intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the hacking. On Friday, Senator Richard Burr, Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced his committee will conduct a review in the new year of U. S. intelligence on Russian activities and its cyber activity more broadly. The review will include questioning of both Obama and Trump officials, “including the issuance of subpoenas if necessary to compel testimony,” Burr said in a statement. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Warren Strobel, John Walcott and Tom Brown) NEW YORK Six in 10 American voters support the new ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States unless they can show they have a close relative here, according to opinion poll results released on Wednesday. LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a bilateral meeting with U. S. President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday, a British government official said on Wednesday.

As Gambians lose fear, President Jammeh’s isolation grows

Lawyers, trade unions, teachers and journalists have joined a growing chorus of demands for Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to accept his defeat in a Dec. 1 election, as people lose their fear of the man who has ruled them for the past 22 years. As lawyers prepared to attend a meeting of the Gambian Bar Association on Monday, the intelligence service rang them with threats and monitored the ritzy Coco Ocean Hotel where they gathered, said the association’s Secretary General Aziz Bensouda. But since the shock opposition victory that brought Gambians out on the streets of the capital Banjul in boisterous celebration, the familiar menacing tactics have lost their usual effectiveness. ”The intimidation did not work,” said Bensouda. ”At the end, no one feared anything.” After first conceding defeat to challenger Adama Barrow, Jammeh last week rejected the voting results and his party is challenging them at Gambia’s Supreme Court. Whether the small West African country can achieve its first peaceful transition of power in more than 50 years is an important question for a region long used to authoritarian rulers and sporadic coups. A top United Nations official said this week that Jammeh would face strong sanctions if he tried to cling to power beyond the end of his elected term next month. Following the bar association meeting, dozens of lawyers stood on the tiled steps of the resort’s meeting room at dusk and accused Jammeh of ”treason” for refusing to step down. Just a few onlookers were present, but the statement prompted an unprecedented cascade of similar denunciations. The next day, the Gambia Teachers Union called Jammeh’s refusal to leave office a ”recipe for chaos and disorder which undoubtedly endangers the lives of all Gambians.” On Wednesday, the Gambian press union, one of the most harshly persecuted groups under Jammeh, said he must back down. ”The defeat was conceded. There is, therefore, no turning back,” it said. Transport and medical unions and the Chamber of Commerce echoed that call in statements on Thursday. ”ILLUSION SHATTERED” The public demands have left Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup and once vowed to rule for ”a billion years” looking isolated both internationally and domestically in the country of 1. 8 million. Gambians are now openly speaking out against him in places they didn’t dare before in taxis, markets and on the phones and computers they used to worry were tapped. ”The illusion of Jammeh as Gambia’s and overlord has been shattered for ever. The fear among Gambians is gone,” said Jeffrey Smith from campaign group Vanguard Africa. The lawyers who first spoke out against Jammeh had frustrations to voice. Their jobs had long been a struggle. Gaining access to detained clients was often impossible in the face of recalcitrant security officials. Many received death threats for representing Jammeh’s political opponents. With Gambians too fearful to serve on the Supreme Court and the High Court, lawyers and judges have had to be brought in from abroad to fill key positions. So when the association brought forward this week’s meeting to discuss the president’s defiance, its attendance ballooned from the usual couple of dozen members to nearly 100. As they scoured the constitution for legal arguments against Jammeh, the tense atmosphere was suddenly broken. ”A senior lawyer said, ’Let’s just call it what it is. It is treason.’ The room exploded in applause,” said Bensouda, who was present. The lawyers voted to approve that wording, then celebrated with a meal of shrimp and beef brochettes. Many hugged and laughed. ”We have compromised ourselves for too long and have not stood up because of fear,” said Bensouda. ”When Jammeh lost the election, it solidified everyone.” (Editing by Joe Bavier and Mark Trevelyan) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Sumner Redstone to step down from Viacom board

The ailing, old Redstone, who has not attended an annual investor meeting since 2014, will continue to participate in meetings in a ” ” role, according to the filing. It was Redstone’s decision to step down, according to a source familiar with the situation, who did not want to be named because discussions were private. Redstone’s decision marks the end of an era for the elder media mogul, who once considered Viacom his crown jewel. He bought Viacom through a hostile takeover in 1987, and later added Paramount Pictures and CBS. He split Viacom from CBS in 2006. However, Redstone’s health and mental capacity has been a point of inquiry as of late. The media mogul has trouble speaking and needs care, according to court documents filed in a suit by his former girlfriend questioning his mental capacity. Redstone and his daughter Shari Redstone control Viacom, which owns cable networks including Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, and CBS Corp ( ) home to HBO and shows like ”The Big Bang Theory,” through their privately held movie theater company National Amusements Inc. The announcement that Redstone is stepping down from the board came just days after he and Shari Redstone withdrew a proposal for CBS and Viacom to explore a merger. Redstone resigned as executive chair of the board last February to become chairman emeritus. He was replaced by Executive Officer Philippe Dauman, who departed in August after losing a fight for control of the company to the Redstones. Redstone stepped down as executive chair of CBS when he became chairman emeritus at Viacom. A CBS spokesman declined to comment if Redstone would step down from the CBS board. CBS’ proxy comes out in the spring because it operates on a different fiscal calendar than Viacom. Viacom is working to turn itself around as it has suffered from declining ratings and advertising revenue. Shares of Viacom rose 2. 5 percent to $35. 77 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading. (Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Anna Driver, Nick Zieminski and Meredith Mazzilli) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

Fed’s Lacker says more than three rate hikes likely needed in 2017

The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates more than three times next year and faces challenges in gradually cooling off the U. S. economy, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday. ”If we get behind, it’s hard to really calibrate,” Lacker said during a panel discussion in Charlotte, North Carolina. The U. S. central bank raised its target range for rates by a quarter of a point on Wednesday and projected three more hikes next year. Lacker, who did not have a vote but participated in the Fed’s policy meetings this year, said the U. S. economy would likely receive some fiscal stimulus under the Trump administration. He said the Fed would still be able to raise rates gradually, but perhaps not as slowly as is expected by the majority of policymakers. The Fed raised rates only once in 2016, which followed a single rate hike last year. Before the two hikes, rates had been held near zero since 2008 to nurse the economy back from recession. Lacker said he will be looking out for signs of rising inflation given the apparent strength of the labor market, but that it would likely be a couple of years before policymakers know if they waited too long to raise rates in 2016. (Reporting by Jason Lange in Charlotte, North Carolina; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao) SINGAPORE Most Asian stock markets fell on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed a lack of consensus on the future pace of U. S. interest rate increases, while oil prices inched higher following a steep decline a day earlier. WASHINGTON Federal Reserve policymakers were increasingly split on the outlook for inflation and how it might affect the future pace of interest rate rises, according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting on June released on Wednesday.

’Trump trade’ drives ninth biggest weekly rush to stocks: BAML

Global equity funds received $21 billion in the past week their inflow ever as investors embraced the ’Trump trade’ while money flowed out of bonds for seventh week in a row, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday. The BAML figures, which track flows through Wednesday, showed overall equity inflows of $63 billion since Donald Trump’s U. S. presidential election win on Nov. 8, partially reversing the $151 billion outflows seen from January to October. The bulk of the latest gains came from an $18. 5 billion rush into U. S. stocks, but European and emerging equity funds also saw inflows of $700 million and $1 billion respectively, the data showed. ”Forced buying means the risk rally is broadening; (there are) rising inflows to laggards,” analysts at the bank added. Materials, financial, energy and industrial firms have seen the biggest boost since Trump’s victory, with ETF holdings of materials assets up 25 percent and more than a fifth for financials. Bond funds, however, saw a $4. 4 billion exodus for their longest losing streak in three years, while gold lost $700 million. Emerging debt funds lost $1. 2 billion for their sixth week of outflows. But in line with the enthusiasm for reflation trades, almost $5 billion moved into riskier bonds the most in nine months while securities, TIPs, received $300 million for their 25th week of inflow out of 27. BAML said there were still ’winter risk’ worries about a potential sharp fall in China’s currency and another spell of outflows from the world’s economy. The yuan has hit lows to the dollar while local bond yields have spiked this week. ”Risks of sharper devaluation of China currency plus trade and geopolitical tensions with the United States are keeping clients long US and Japan, short Europe & emerging markets and preventing ’full capitulation’ into risk assets,” BAML added. (Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Hugh Lawson) LONDON New Saba Capital Management, famed for its winning bet against the JPMorgan Chase trader known as the ’London Whale’ is closing its office in London’s Mayfair district, two sources close to the situation told Reuters. ROME Italian prosecutors have decided to take Morgan Stanley to court over allegations that the U. S. bank caused 2. 7 billion euros ($3. 1 billion) in losses to the state in relation to derivative transactions, a source familiar with the matter said.

Gunmen burn buses, Aleppo convoy goes through

Armed men burned five buses that were supposed to be used for an evacuation near Idlib in Syria on Sunday, stalling a deal to allow thousands to depart the last rebel pocket in Aleppo, where evacuees crammed into buses for hours before departing the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the evacuation of the villages near Idlib had been postponed as a result of the incident. Five buses leaving Aleppo were held, packed with evacuees, for hours before they could drive the 5 km (3 miles) to territory outside. In return for the evacuation of fighters, their families and other civilians from Aleppo, the mostly Sunni insurgents had agreed that people in the villages of and Kefraya, Shi’ite villages that they have besieged near Idlib, should also be allowed to leave. Videos posted on social media showed bearded men with guns cheering and shouting ”God is great” after torching the green buses before they were able to reach the villages. State media said ”armed terrorists” a term it uses for all groups fighting President Bashar had carried out the attack. Mayadeen television and the Observatory blamed the rebel group formerly known as the Nusra Front. Rebel officials said an angry crowd of people, possibly alongside ”operatives” was responsible. Although the Aleppo evacuation convoy was eventually cleared to drive to there was no official word on what impact the bus burning would have on the departure of more convoys from the city and the two villages. While the Observatory said the convoy of five buses had reached a United Nations official in Syria said only that they had left east Aleppo, adding: ”The evacuations are on”. Robert Mardini, regional director for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is at the forefront of the operation, tweeted that the buses and one ambulance of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent ”just left dark & cold E #Aleppo” adding: ”Hopeful operation will proceed smoothly.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s main foreign backer, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the rebels’ main supporter, agreed by telephone on Sunday that the disruptions must be quickly overcome, sources in Erdogan’s office said. The commander of forces allied to Assad said there was still a chance for states with influence over rebel groups to find a way to evacuate civilians safely. In a statement carried by a military news outlet run by Damascus’s ally, the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the allied forces leadership said responsibility for the delay in the evacuation falls with ”terrorists and their state sponsors”. Some 40 km (26 miles) to the northeast, hundreds of fighters and their families in Aleppo sat or stood in buses, hoping the evacuation would resume after a hiatus. Syrian state television, citing its correspondent in the city, said buses had started to leave east Aleppo where over 15, 000 people had gathered in a square to wait, many after a night sleeping in the streets in freezing temperatures. Aleppo had been divided between government and rebel areas in the nearly war, but a lightning advance by the Syrian army and its allies began in following months of intense air strikes, forcing the insurgents out of most of the territory within a matter of weeks. ”EVERYONE IS WAITING” According to Syria’s TV news, about 1, 200 civilians would initially be evacuated from east Aleppo and a similar number from the two villages. A document cited by television and passed to Reuters by rebels and activists said the entire deal would see 2, 500 citizens leave and Kefraya in two batches, in exchange for the evacuation of people from east Aleppo in two corresponding batches. Following this, another 1, 500 would leave and Kefraya in exchange for the evacuation of 1, 500 from the towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Lebanon, which are besieged by forces. Once evacuees from the villages have safely arrived in government areas, Aleppo fighters and more of their family members will be allowed to leave, in return for subsequent batches of people departing and Kefraya, TV reported. In the square in Aleppo’s Sukari district, organizers gave every family a number to allow them on buses. ”Everyone is waiting until they are evacuated. They just want to escape,” said Salah al Attar, a former teacher with his five children, wife and mother. Thousands of people were evacuated on Thursday, the first to leave under a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Assad. They were taken to districts of the countryside west of Aleppo. Turkey has said Aleppo evacuees could also be housed in a camp to be constructed near the Turkish border to the north. UNITED NATIONS VOTE The chaos surrounding the evacuation reflects the complexity of Syria’s civil war, with an array of groups and foreign interests involved on all sides. The United Nations Security Council agreed on Sunday on a compromise draft resolution on U. N. officials monitoring the evacuations from Aleppo. It will vote on the text on Monday. Russia said it would veto an earlier draft by France but circulated an alternative version. ”We expect to vote unanimously for this text tomorrow at 9 a. m. (1400 GMT),” U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told reporters after more than three hours of negotiations. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: ”I think we have a good text, we agreed to vote tomorrow morning.” Russia, which has provided military backing to Assad, has vetoed six Security Council resolutions on Syria since the conflict started in 2011. China joined Moscow in vetoing five resolutions. A crackdown by Assad on protesters in 2011 led to civil war, and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. Half of Syria’s 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400, 000 killed. (Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Angus McDowall in Beirut, Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Anna Willard; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Mary Milliken) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

With bylaw tweaks, Apple grants activist one of three wishes

Apple Inc’s board relaxed some rules for director nominations by outside investors but stopped short of broader changes sought by an activist shareholder. The new bylaws disclosed in a securities filing late on Thursday dealt with the mechanics of ”proxy access,” the sometimes controversial process allowing outside investors to nominate their own candidates to a company’s board. Just how much influence to give such investors has been a hot topic with the rise of activist shareholders who some executives fear may not have corporate interests at heart. At Apple, this debate played out several years ago when billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn successfully urged an increase in share buybacks. Apple, the world’s publicly traded company, moved last year to allow a group of up to 20 shareholders owning at least 3 percent of its stock to include their own director candidates, constituting up to 20 percent of the board, in its proxy materials. Thursday’s filing said shareholders also could a director candidate regardless of the level of support he or she had won in earlier elections. Previously, shareholders were prohibited from candidates who had gotten less than 25 percent at either of the company’s last two annual meetings. Apple also extended a procedural deadline for nominating shareholders and director candidates, and it limited its board’s direction to unilaterally interpret certain provisions, according to the filing. An Apple representative said the company would not comment beyond the filing. Independent shareholder James McRitchie, who has pressed Apple to grant more proxy access rights, said the changes were welcome, especially on the question. But he said Apple failed to address two of his other, larger concerns. McRitchie said in a telephone interview that he would prefer there be no limit to the number of investors needed to reach the 3 percent threshold for nominating a director and that the board should change its terms to allow investors to nominate up to two directors to its board, up from one currently. Both ideas, along with a request to do away with the limits on are in a shareholder proposal McRitchie submitted to the company for a vote at its next annual meeting, expected early next year. The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October rejected a request by Apple to exclude the proposal. An agency lawyer said officials were ”unable to conclude” Apple’s current policies compare favorably with the activists’ submission, as the company had argued, according to correspondence on the SEC’s website. McRitchie, who owns about 600 shares of Apple, said he might be amenable to a compromise, but Apple has not spoken to him about one. ”I’m a bug that’s too small to register on their thick hide,” he said. (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

Tax accounting software firm Avalara prepares IPO: sources

Avalara’s offering would be another indication that the market for technology IPOs is thawing. Accounting software maker BlackLine Inc raised $146 million in an IPO in October, and is currently trading 45 percent above its IPO price. Avalara has interviewed investment banks in recent days to hire underwriters for an IPO, the sources said, asking not to be named because the plans are not yet public. Avalara spokeswoman Sheri Renner declined to comment on ”future financings.” Software companies have raised $1. 4 billion year to date through IPOs, down roughly 33 percent from this time last year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Silicon Valley Bank estimates only 15 IPOs in 2016 were backed by venture capital, but it expects 30 to 45 of these IPOs next year. Founded in 2004, Avalara simplifies tax management through its software that helps companies figure out how to comply with tax law in different jurisdictions. The company has raised more than $300 million in venture capital, including from Warburg Pincus, TCV, Sageview Capital and Battery Ventures. Warburg Pincus alone invested $100 million in the company in 2014. Avalara has acquired more than a dozen companies, including, in 2013, PC Matrix Master, a database of tax information. If the company also decides to explore a sale in parallel to an IPO it opens the door to private equity firms, which have shown an interest in buying tax compliance software in the past. HG Capital, for example, acquired Sovos Compliance, a tax compliance company owned by Vista Equity Partners, earlier this year. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley, Bernard Orr) Biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp will buy a stake in BeiGene Ltd and help develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational treatment for tumor cancers, the companies said on Wednesday. BRUSSELS French carmaker PSA Group secured unconditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday to acquire General Motors’ German unit Opel, a move which will help it better compete with market leader Volkswagen .

Trump says picks Mulvaney to be White House budget director

Donald Trump said on Saturday he has chosen U. S. Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina to be his White House budget director, turning to a fiscal conservative to help pursue his policy agenda. The nomination to be director of the White House Office of Budget and Management will require Senate confirmation. The announcement was made as Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, began his holiday vacation at his oceanfront club in nearby Palm Beach, Florida. Mulvaney, 49, was an outspoken critic of former House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who resigned in 2015 amid opposition from fellow Republicans who were members of the House Freedom Caucus. Mulvaney’s selection points to a strategy by Trump to cut government where he can. The in recent days has, for example, railed against what he has labeled a far too expensive new version of the Air Force One aircraft he will fly that Boeing is supposed to build. In a statement announcing his selection, Trump called Mulvaney a strong voice in Congress for ”reining in spending, fighting government waste and enacting tax policies that will allow working Americans to thrive.” ”With Mick at the head of OMB, my administration is going to make smart choices about America’s budget, bring new accountability to our federal government, and renew the American taxpayer’s trust in how their money is spent,” Trump said. Mulvaney said the Trump administration ”will restore budgetary and fiscal sanity back in Washington”. ”Each day, families across our nation make disciplined choices about how to spend their money, and the federal government should exercise the same discretion that Americans do every day,” Mulvaney said. Trump on Friday night vowed to seek approval from Congress to spend $1 trillion in new spending to rebuild America’s crumbling network of roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure as a way to create jobs and make some needed repairs. ”We are going to fix our country. It’s time. We have no choice. It’s time,” Trump said in Orlando, Florida. Democratic President Barack Obama had sought infrastructure spending but was thwarted by Republicans in Congress. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Dale Hudson) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Dozens of vehicles crash on icy Baltimore road, killing two

The accident on Interstate 95, which occurred at about 5 a. m. (1000 GMT) left two people dead, including the driver of the fuel truck, said Lieutenant Kevin Ayd, spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. The fiery pileup was one of dozens of crashes in the area as freezing rain slowly accumulated into an icy sheet on roadways in the early morning darkness. A second crash occurred at about the same time along Interstate 95 in Baltimore, part of a major corridor along the U. S. East Coast. One person was killed in that accident when one of the drivers exited his vehicle and was struck by oncoming traffic. Fatal crashes peppered other parts of the country hit with plunging temperatures and rain and snow. In Indiana, state police said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that the department has responded to more than 380 crashes, more than 60 injury crashes and four fatal crashes since 10 p. m. local time on Friday. In Charlotte, North Carolina, two people died in separate crashes after their cars veered off icy roads and struck trees early on Saturday, local broadcaster WBTV reported. In Missouri, state police said on Twitter that residents should consider if travel is ”absolutely necessary” as temperatures hovered near freezing and forecasts called for more rain and snow. State police reported six deadly car crashes since Friday morning, though it was unclear how many were caused by foul weather. In the pileup in Baltimore, a bystander’s video shows the skidding fuel truck hitting a barrier and flipping over in a gap between the north and southbound lanes. As the fireball spread, approaching cars and trucks can be seen attempting to stop but instead plowing into one another. ”I want to share my deepest condolences to those affected by this morning’s crash,” Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said in a statement. ”Today’s icy road conditions remind us all that it is imperative to exercise extreme caution due to severe weather.” The crash forced the closure of the northbound lanes on the highway. Photos posted online showed dozens of emergency vehicles and tow trucks on the scene. ”We do not know when will be reopened,” Ayd said. He urged motorists to stay off the road until conditions improve. Warnings and advisories remained in effect throughout much of the country, as a strong cold front moves across the Eastern United States, the National Weather Service said. Heavy snow and freezing rain will hit the northeast, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions while freezing rain shifts from the to portions of the northeast, the NWS said. Warmer air moves into these areas on Sunday, turning the precipitation to rain, and strong thunderstorms are possible in the lower Mississippi Valley, the NWS said. (Reporting By Frank McGurty; Editing by Franklin Paul and Chris Reese) WASHINGTON U. S. Representative Steve Scalise, shot and wounded during a baseball practice last month, developed an infection and was readmitted to an intensive care unit, MedStar Washington Hospital Center said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Venezuela postpones currency move after chaos, protests

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suspended on Saturday the elimination of the country’s largest denomination bill, which had sparked cash shortages and nationwide unrest, saying the measure would be postponed until early January. The surprise pulling of the 100 bolivar note from circulation this week before new larger bills were available led to vast lines at banks, looting at scores of shops, protests and at least one death. Maduro, speaking from the presidential palace, blamed a ”sabotage” campaign by enemies abroad for the delayed arrival of three planes carrying the new 500, 2, 000 and 20, 000 bolivar notes. ”One plane, contracted and paid for by Venezuela, was told in flight to change direction and go to another country,” he said, without specifying who had given the orders. ”There’s another which was not given flyover permission.” The 100 bolivar bills, officially out of use since Thursday and worth just 4 U. S. cents at the black market currency rate, can now be used until Jan. 2, Maduro said. Many Venezuelans had found themselves without the means to pay for food, gasoline or Christmas preparations in a country already reeling from a profound economic crisis. About 40 percent of Venezuelans do not have bank accounts, and so cannot use electronic transactions as an alternative to cash. Adding to the chaos, Venezuela has the world’s highest rate of inflation, meaning large bags of cash must be humped around to pay for basic items. ’STUPID AND DESTRUCTIVE’ In the southern mining town of El Callao, a boy was shot dead during looting on Friday, authorities confirmed. An opposition legislator reported three fatalities. The Democratic Unity opposition coalition said the socialist leader should resign for incompetence and for inflicting yet more suffering on Venezuelans. ”We have a government utterly stupid and destructive in economic management, whose only goal is to keep power at whatever price,” said opposition leader Julio Borges. Maduro had justified the 100 bolivar note’s elimination as a way of strangling mafia and smugglers on the frontier with Colombia. He has also closed border crossings with Colombia and Brazil until Jan. 2. Earlier on Saturday, about 400 people in western Tachira state jumped fences and defied security personnel to surge into Colombia in search of food and medicines, which are scarce in Venezuela, witnesses said. In southern Bolivar state, people broke into dozens of shops and warehouses in various towns, witnesses and business leaders said. Authorities declared a curfew in Ciudad Bolivar and the state governor said 135 people had been arrested. Security forces fired teargas in Venezuela’s largest second city, Maracaibo, to stop looters, witnesses said. Some protesters burned 100 bolivar bills. Addressing thousands of supporters at a rally in Caracas, Maduro blamed the opposition for stirring violence and said some members of the Justice First and Popular Will parties were arrested for colluding with mafias. The successor to Hugo Chavez, whose popularity has plunged during three years of recession, says domestic political foes supported by the United States are sabotaging the economy to undermine his government. Critics say it is time for Maduro to go after 18 years of socialist policies have wrecked the economy. But authorities have stymied an opposition push for a referendum to remove him before the next presidential election due in late 2018. (Additional reporting by María Ramírez in Ciudad Guayana, Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal; editing by Chris Reese, G Crosse) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

U.N. Security Council lifts North Korea sanctions on five ships

The United Nations Security Council said on Saturday it had lifted sanctions on five ships that were blacklisted in March for ties to North Korea’s arms trade. The ships were among 31 vessels sanctioned by the council on March 2 because they were linked to Ocean Maritime Management (OMM) a North Korean shipping firm known to transport arms and other illicit goods for the secretive state. The Security Council sanctions committee for North Korea decided the five vessels ”are not economic resources controlled or operated by Ocean Maritime Management Company, Limited and therefore not subject to the asset freeze.” The ships removed from the blacklist are Dawnlight, Every Bright, Gold Star 3, Orion Star and South Hill 5. The Security Council listed the vessels as part of sweeping sanctions adopted in March, following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January. Just a few weeks later the council removed four ships from the list at China’s request. The Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea last month that aim to cut the Asian state’s annual export revenue by more than a quarter in response to Pyongyang’s fifth and largest nuclear test in September. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chris Reese) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Polish opposition keeps blocking parliament in standoff with government

Polish opposition leaders said on Saturday they would maintain their blockade of parliament’s main hall and called for popular protests against a government that has accused it of trying to seize power. Poland’s biggest political standoff in years began on Friday when opposition lawmakers objected to plans by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to curb media access to parliament, and blocked the plenary hall podium ahead of a budget vote. About two dozen members of the Civic Platform (PO) party have taken turns to occupy the podium and the party’s leader said they would remain there for the next few days. PiS lawmakers moved voting to another area without media access, prompting accusations they had passed the 2017 budget illegally, breaching the constitution. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said the protest was just whining by parties that lost an election in 2015 after eight years in government. But striking a more conciliatory tone, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski moved to organize a meeting between the speaker of the upper house of parliament and the media late on Saturday night to discuss the new plan for journalists’ access. Several thousand people protested in Warsaw and other cities after police broke up a blockade of the entrances to parliament in the early hours of Saturday. Poland’s Western allies have expressed concerns over government plans to reform the constitutional court, saying it contravened democratic standards. But despite criticism at home and abroad, the euroskeptic PiS enjoys steady support among many Poles eager to hear its message of higher welfare, more Catholic values in public life and less dependence on foreign capital. ”The situation . .. has nothing in common with the real condition of our country,” Prime Minister Szydlo said in a televised address. ”On the contrary, it reflects a sense of helplessness and frustration on the part of those who lost power and don’t have nay ideas how to attract Poles to their views.” Earlier on Saturday, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, a former head of the PO Poland’s largest opposition party urged the government to ”respect and regard the people, constitutional principles and morals.” ”Those who undermine the European model of democracy (and) attack the constitution and good customs, expose all of us to strategic risks. By throwing away the spirit of freedom and community, they write the next act of Poland’s solitude,” Tusk, who has a feud with PiS head Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told a conference in Wroclaw. At Saturday’s protests in a freezing Warsaw, opposition leaders served hot tea to the police and some of the 5, 000 demonstrators who held banners saying ”Free media” and carried Polish and European Union flags. ”If it becomes clear that it is impossible to talk to (PiS lawmakers) we should have early elections,” Ryszard Petru, head of the liberal Nowoczesna grouping, told the protesters. A snap election is unlikely, however, as PiS has a majority in parliament and could block any vote of no confidence. One EU diplomat said the protests highlighted divisions in Poland but did not represent a growing movement. ”The people who have gone out to the streets are essentially those who are from the beginning,” said the diplomat. ”I am not getting a feeling that people are ready to go up and protest. It doesn’t mean they won’t one day,” (Additional reporting by Karol Wittenberg, Wojciech Zurawski, Pawel Sobczak and Justyna Pawlak; Writing by Justyna Pawlak and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Turkey’s Erdogan blames Kurdish militants after bomb kills at least 13, wounds 56

A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying military personnel in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday, an attack President Tayyip Erdogan blamed on Kurdish militants. The blast near a university campus comes a week after deadly twin bombings targeted police in Istanbul and may further infuriate a public smarting from multiple attacks by Islamic and Kurdish militants this year, and a failed coup in July. It could also increase tension in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have waged a violent insurgency that has seen some of the worst fighting in the last year. ”The style and goals of the attacks clearly show the aim of the separatist terrorist organization is to trip up Turkey, cut its strength and have it focus its energy and forces elsewhere,” Erdogan said in a statement. ”We know that these attacks we are being subjected to are not independent from the developments in our region, especially in Iraq and Syria.” Erdogan frequently refers to the PKK as ”the separatist terrorist organization”. The PKK, which wants autonomy for the Kurdish minority, is considered a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. Turkey, a NATO member and part of the U. S. coalition against Islamic State, has also been angered by Washington’s backing of Syrian Kurdish fighters against the Sunni hardline group. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish militia as an extension of the PKK and is worried the advance of Kurdish fighters across its borders in Syria and Iraq could inflame Kurdish militants at home. BESIKTAS ATTACK Erdogan confirmed that 13 people had been killed and 55 wounded in Saturday’s blast. Officials later raised the number of injured to 56, including four in critical condition. Broadcaster NTV and other local media later put the death toll at 14. All of those killed and 48 of the wounded were military personnel, the military said. The bus was mainly carrying privates and corporals, it said. The bus was stopped at a red light near the campus of Erciyes University in Kayseri when a car approached it and then detonated, NTV said. Militants have previously targeted buses carrying military or security forces. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but government officials likened the attack to last Saturday’s dual bombings outside the stadium of Istanbul soccer team Besiktas, later claimed by a PKK offshoot. people died and more than 150 were wounded in that incident. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said similar materials were used in both attacks. In comments probably aimed at Washington, he called on Turkey’s allies to stop support for militants. ”This is what we expect from our friends: Not just a few messages of condemnation, but for them to fight on an equal ground against these terrorist organizations with us,” Kurtulmus said in a television interview. The United States condemned the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Erdogan in a telegram that Russia was ready to increase cooperation against terrorism, Russian news agencies reported. Anadolu news agency said 15 people had been detained in relation to the attack. Turkey faces multiple security threats including spillover from the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria. It has faced attacks from Islamic State, Kurdish and leftist militants. PARTY OFFICE STORMED Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmus said the attack had deliberately targeted Kayseri because the city is known for its strong nationalist sentiment. Later on Saturday, a crowd stormed the local headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliament’s opposition party. The office was vandalized and some documents set on fire, a party spokesman said. The HDP condemned the bus bombing and called for an end to politics and language that creates polarization, hostility and violence. Thousands of Kurdish politicians, including the two leaders of the HDP, have been detained in recent months on suspicion having links to the PKK. The crackdown has coincided with widespread purges of state institutions after July’s failed coup, which the government blames on followers of a U. S. Muslim cleric. Turkey says the measures are necessary to defend its security, while human rights groups and some Western allies accuse it of skirting the rule of law and trampling on freedoms. (Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Gulsen Solaker in Ankara and Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Catherine Evans) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

West Africa bloc to take ’necessary actions’ to uphold Gambia vote result

The West African regional bloc said on Saturday it would take all necessary actions to uphold the result of a Dec. 1 election in Gambia, where veteran President Yahya Jammeh says he will not step down after losing to Adama Barrow. ECOWAS leaders said in a communique marking the end of a summit in the Nigerian capital that they would attend the Jan. 18 inauguration of Barrow, ”who must be sworn in” and guarantee the safety of the . Barrow’s surprise victory and Jammeh’s initial decision to step down was seen across Africa as a moment of hope. Jammeh announced on Dec. 9 that he would reverse that position and called for a fresh vote. That move was widely condemned, including by ECOWAS leaders who say it violates the principle of democratic accountability. Jammeh’s party is now challenging the result in Gambia’s Supreme Court. ECOWAS agreed to ”respect the will of the Gambian people” and said the group had nominated Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to mediate. ”The authority (ECOWAS) shall undertake all necessary actions to enforce the result of the election,” the group added, calling on all stakeholders inside and outside the country to show restraint. ”(ECOWAS) calls on the Gambian defense and security to perform their role in a nationalistic manner and protect lives and property,” the final communique said. A Gambian delegation led by Works Minister Bala Garba Jahumpa had arrived while the summit was already in progress to affirm Jammeh’s stance, diplomats said. ECOWAS measures could include sanctions, which could hurt Gambia because ECOWAS member Senegal is the country’s only neighbor. Jammeh’s 22 years in power have been marked by allegations of human rights abuses and repression against perceived political opponents. ECOWAS chairwoman Ellen Johnson Sirleaf went to Gambia this week accompanied by the leaders of several West African countries including Nigeria and Ghana, whose President John Mahama lost a Dec. 7 election and said he would step down. (Additional reporting by Paul Carsten; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Catherine Evans) UNITED NATIONS The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. WARSAW U. S. President Donald Trump meets eastern NATO allies in Warsaw on Thursday amid expectations he will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to counter threats from Russia after unnerving them in May by failing to endorse the principle of collective defense.

Congo opposition says not planning mass protest at end of Kabila term

Democratic Republic of Congo’s main opposition bloc said on Saturday it was not planning a march against President Joseph Kabila when his mandate expires on Monday, a decision that could defuse anticipated protests. The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to cling to power, and the decision not to stage a mass protest was announced hours after talks between the opposition and ruling coalition failed to reach a compromise on Kabila’s political future. ”We are not going to have a march to give these bandits the opportunity to fire on the population,” opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters. He said he expected people to remain vigilant and protest ”each in his own way”. However, it is not clear how much influence a largely discredited political opposition holds over an angry and impoverished population and authorities were bracing for unrest. Kabila, who has ruled since 2001, is barred by the constitution from standing in the next election, which was originally scheduled for last month. The government says it cannot organize a presidential vote until 2018 and the constitutional court ruled in May he can stay on until then. Delegates at the political talks said they would resume on Wednesday once the Catholic bishops mediating the negotiations have returned from a trip to Rome to meet Pope Francis. In a statement, the opposition said differences remained over how the country would be governed after Monday and whether Kabila would commit to not changing the constitution to seek a third term. Kabila says he is committed to respecting the constitution but has refused to promise not to change it. The presidents of neighboring Rwanda and Congo Republic changed their constitutions last year to allow themselves to stand for third terms. While Tshisekedi said the talks had ”failed” another opposition leader, Joseph Olengankhoy said they had made ”significant progress”. Government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters he was confident the two sides would reach a compromise after the bishops met in recent days with Kabila and the main opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi. Mende said authorities had taken measures to prevent violence on Monday. Police in Kinshasa have set up checkpoints to search cars and the government has asked telecoms companies to cut most social media services from Monday. Congo has not seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960 and world powers fear protests, particularly in the sprawling capital of Kinshasa, could spark violence in the chronically unstable central African giant. (Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Helen Popper) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Austria searches freight trains in new frontline on illegal migration

Austrian police have started searching freight trains traveling from Italy at night to tackle illegal migration and avert further deaths after two stowaways died earlier this month. A man and a woman from Eritrea who had hidden on a train bringing trucks from Italy were crushed to death in Austria’s Tyrol province, likely having lost consciousness due to freezing winter temperatures. Since early November, police have picked up about 90 African migrants heading for Germany on railways in Tyrol, which are used by most cargo trains going from Italy across the Alps. Austrian police found 71 dead migrants locked into a lorry in August 2015, and many officials fear another disaster. ”Illegal migrants always try to scout out new ways to get north. We have reacted to this phenomenon of freight train stowaways and intensified controls” said Manfred Dummer from Tyrol police about the new search regime that started this week. Police stop and search all goods trains coming from Italy between local time in the shadows of the ski slopes of the sleepy border town of Steinach, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) closer to Italy than Woergl, where the two migrants died. ”Every kilometer that they’re not on the train at these temperatures is vital,” Dummer said. With temperatures of minus 4 degrees Celsius (24. 8 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, about 10 policemen and rail security officers in Steinach train station carefully searched about 10 freight trains, some of which were about 600 meters (1, 970 feet) long. Austria championed the de facto closing this spring of the Balkan route which hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war, violence and destruction in the Middle East and Afghanistan used to reach western Europe last year. Countries such as Macedonia and Hungary have strongly tightened controls of road traffic and green border regions or have erected fences. This, and a deal the European Union reached with Turkey to stem the flow, have resulted in more and more people resorting to traveling across the Mediterranean in flimsy boats to reach Italy. Most of them want to go north to Austria, Germany or Scandinavian countries some as stowaways on freight trains. Gerald Tatzgern, who heads the trafficking unit at the Interior Ministry, says police pick up about 100 to 150 illegal immigrants a day in Austria. The majority of those are found on passenger and freight trains. Tatzgern singled out Bulgaria and Serbia as hubs for traffickers smuggling Afghans between cargo on trains, sometimes in groups of up to 30 people in one wagon. Last month, one migrant died from an electric shock received after climbing on the roof of a truck transported on a train in Austria’s Styria province. In another recent case, a group of people had been locked into a freight train wagon in Turkey and were found barely alive in Austria. ”They had very little water left, it was tight,” Tatzgern said. ”We avoid catastrophes on a daily basis.” (Editing by Helen Popper) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Syrian rebel group blames Iran for holding up Aleppo evacuation

A senior Syrian rebel blamed Iran and its Shi’ite militias on Saturday of holding up the evacuation of civilians trapped in the remaining rebel bastion in Aleppo and urged Russia to live up to its commitment to implement the deal. Munir al Sayal, the head of the political wing of the Ahrar al Sham rebel group involved in negotiations over the deal, said Iran was insisting people be allowed to leave two besieged Shi’ite villages before letting the Aleppo evacuation happen. He said Russia was failing to restrain its ally. ”Iran and its sectarian proxies are using the humanitarian situation of our people in besieged Aleppo and preventing civilians from leaving until the evacuation of their groups in and Kefyra,” Sayal told Reuters in a telephone interview. The operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the last area of Aleppo was suspended on Friday, its second day, after militias demanded that wounded people also be brought out of and Kefraya, and protesters blocked the road out of Aleppo. Sayal said Shi’ite fighters led by Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia and other Iraqi Shi’ite groups were behind the detention of hundreds of people trying to leave on Friday, leading to some deaths before they were turned back, in an effort to disrupt the evacuation. Numerous rebels and east Aleppo residents shared reports and videos of people fleeing the sound of shooting, being detained and returning home badly beaten and robbed of their possessions near a checkpoint as they tried to leave the city on Friday. ”These sectarian militias are responsible but we warn them the safety of our people in Aleppo is the priority and all options are open toward achieving that goal,” said Sayal, whose armed group has a countrywide presence and is particularly active in northwestern Syria. The Shi’ite militias have played a leading role in the siege of Aleppo and in the Syrian army’s retaking of near full control of the city. A picture of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in a street in Aleppo was circulating on social media on Saturday by supporters. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the photo. Sayal said Moscow’s assertion that most civilians had already been evacuated from Aleppo showed Russia was trying to renege on its responsibilities under the deal. Thousands of hungry and cold civilians needed to be evacuated as soon as possible, he said. The agreement to evacuate the civilians and fighters was reached mainly between Russia, whose aerial bombing of Aleppo played a critical role in the defeat of the insurgents, and Turkey, which backs the mainstream rebels, acting as a for the main insurgent groups. ”Russia has failed to restrain the sectarian Shi’ite militias in Aleppo to complete the deal and Moscow should abide by its commitments,” Sayal said. ”There are still civilians in Aleppo who need to be evacuated in harsh weather conditions and Russian statements that besieged Aleppo is empty is absolving itself from following up on the agreement,” he added. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Supporters, opponents of embattled Park stage big rallies in Seoul

Supporters of South Korean President Park rallied on Saturday for her reinstatement while opponents gathered to repeat their demands that the leader impeached over a corruption scandal step down immediately. The Park supporters, who last held a major rally in began their demonstration first. Later, protesters packed the streets of central Seoul for an eighth straight weekend. Many of the opponents were angry that Park’s lawyers argued on Friday that the impeachment had no legal basis. ”This is my first time out here, but yesterday when I heard about her opinion against the impeachment submitted to the Constitutional Court, whatever pity I had felt for her disappeared,” Roh 55, said. Park’s lawyers struck a defiant note in their first comments since the impeachment vote, saying the motion should be overturned by the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to review it. The lawyers’ submission to the court rejected all the points made in the impeachment motion approved by a wide margin by parliament on Dec. 9 which accused her of violating her constitutional duty and breaking the law. Park’s presidential powers have been suspended since the vote for impeachment, which set the stage for her to become South Korea’s first elected leader to be thrown out of office. The Constitutional Court must first uphold the motion. Park, 64, is accused of colluding with friend Choi who has been indicted and is in custody, to pressure big businesses to make contributions to foundations backing presidential initiatives. Saturday’s rally near the court a few blocks from the presidential Blue House drew largely older people who said those behind the movement to oust her were misguided. ”The people who love this country have come out to save the country despite the hardship,” Kim 69, said with the national flag draped over her. MEDIA BLAMED She blamed the media for fuelling sentiment, focusing their coverage too much on the views of younger and liberal voters and on criticism that Park received cosmetic procedures while in office. ”What’s so wrong about a woman getting Botox shots? Why is that a problem?” Kim said. Park’s supporters have been in the minority in the weeks of protests demanding her removal. Organisers of Saturday’s rally estimated the crowd at about 300, 000. It was largely peaceful as were the previously rallies, with songs and speeches striking a festive tone mixed with angry calls for her to quit. Park has indicated she would not step down, fuelling concern that the political crisis could drag on for months. She has denied wrongdoing but apologised for carelessness in her ties with Choi. If the impeachment is upheld or Park steps down voluntarily, a new election has to be held in 60 days to pick a new leader who will serve a single term. Park’s term was originally set to end in February 2018. (The story is refiled to correct president’s name to Park in paragraph 1) (Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait and Richard Borsuk) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Column: How part-time work hurts U.S. workers’ retirement security

The Great Recession took any number of wrecking balls to the retirement security of American workers, including wages and pension benefits, home equity and savings. But one of the less understood areas of hurt continues to this day: work. The recession pushed the U. S. labor force to 20. 1 percent in January 2010 from just under 17 percent, and it remains high today at 18. 3 percent of the workforce, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. New research from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows who that trend is hurting most when it comes to saving for retirement: young people, Latinos and . These workers tend to be employed in “ ” industries where work is more prevalent, including retail trade, arts, entertainment, recreation, hospitality and food service. And they are far less likely to have a retirement plan or other benefits, such as health insurance and paid time off. The availability of a workplace plan is a key component of success in building savings for retirement. Often, enrollment is automatic when workers start new jobs, as are the pretax contributions that follow. “It’s all about providing access,” said John Scott, director of Pew’s retirement savings project. “For the most part, people take advantage of the opportunity to save if it’s easy. ” For young people, lack of access is especially troubling because getting an early start on retirement saving is the financial equivalent of fruit. The magic of compounding means that early starters can do more with less, accumulating savings with lower contribution rates. For minority workers, the access problem is a key driver of retirement security later in life namely, the yawning racial divide in retirement savings that has been evident for years. Savings among nonwhite households near retirement (age ) average $30, 000 four times less than white households, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. Pew’s research, based on U. S. Census Bureau survey data, found that 56 percent of workers in lower hour industries do not have access to a 401( k) or other retirement plan, compared with just 29 percent of fulltime workers in higher hour industries. And when a plan is offered, participation rates also are lower than average for workers. CLOSING THE GAP The gaps affect millennials and minorities disproportionately. Nearly 39 percent of millennials work in industries, compared with 20 percent of older workers. Meanwhile, 28 percent of Hispanics and 26 percent of work in lower hour jobs, compared with 23 percent of whites. The gaps could close somewhat if the economy continues to expand, creating more jobs in industries, such as manufacturing, construction, technology, education and healthcare. But policy advocates also have called for structural changes to workplace savings plans to encourage higher coverage rates for workers. A study by the U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published in October noted that even workers can be excluded from retirement plans if they work less than 1, 000 hours annually (about 19 hours weekly). The Obama administration proposed in its 2017 budget to drop that ceiling to 500 hours annually over a period. The GAO’s study concluded that plan rules on eligibility and vesting pose a significant barrier that should be tackled through reforms of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). For example, “last day” rules used by some plans require workers to be employed on the last day of the year to receive an employer match. And some plans prohibit participation by workers younger than 21 years old. GAO also urged Congress to consider of rules on vesting in light of rising workforce mobility. The report found, for example, that if a worker leaves two jobs after two years, at ages 20 and 40, where the plan requires three years for full vesting, the employer contributions forfeited could be worth $81, 743 at retirement (in future dollars). Finally, improving overall availability of workplace saving should be a priority, since roughly half of all workers have no access to a workplace retirement plan. Some states, led by California and Illinois, are creating their own programs for uncovered workers that would require employer participation ( ). In September, the Senate Finance Committee sent legislation to the full Senate (the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2016) calling for changes to ERISA to allow employers from different industries to band together to create “pooled plans” as a way of reducing expense and administrative burdens of plan sponsorship. If you are curious about how retirement coverage stacks up where you work, check this interactive tool created by Pew (( ) which lets users visualize retirement plan access and participation rates by a variety of factors, including age, gender, state, income level and industry. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) (Editing by Matthew Lewis) Longtime Wells Fargo & Co executive David Carroll will retire from his role as head of wealth and investment management next month, saying on Thursday he is leaving because he wants to pursue ”another chapter in my life.” NEW YORK The New York City and State pension funds and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System are fighting the of six board members at drugmaker Mylan Inc and its 2016 executive pay including Chairman Robert Coury’s compensation of more than $97 million.

Heimlich, developer of maneuver to save choking victims, dead at 96

(This December 17, 2016 story was corrected to recast paragraph 14 and show that Red Cross adopted Heimlich method in 1976) By Bill Trott Heimlich, a doctor who developed a technique to dislodge airway blockages, died at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati of complications from a massive heart attack he suffered on Monday, his family said in a statement. A thoracic surgeon who often feuded with the established medical community, Heimlich said the maneuver which was named after him saved more than 100, 000 lives. He claimed to have used it himself last May on another resident of the Cincinnati retirement home where he lived. ”It made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives,” he once told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Heimlich came up with the technique in 1974 after reading about the high rate of deaths in restaurants that first were attributed to heart attacks, but later found to have been caused by diners choking on food. An ordinary person could be a hero with ”the Heimlich Maneuver” it requires no equipment, no great strength and only minimal training. The popular wisdom at the time called for repeatedly slapping the back of person struggling with an obstruction of the passage to the lungs. But Heimlich, who was then at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, believed the back slaps could force the blockage deeper. To prove his method, he took anesthetized lab dogs, blocked their windpipes with hunks of meat attached to strings in case of emergency and developed a technique that would send his name around the world. The Heimlich Maneuver called for the rescuer to stand behind the choking victim, apply the of a fist to a spot just under the diaphragm and between the lungs. By pushing sharply on that spot, a surge of air from the lungs would then expel the blockage. ”Dad was a hero to many people around the world for a simple reason: He helped save untold numbers of lives through the innovation of procedures and devices,” his family said in the statement. ”But he was not only a physician and medical inventor, he was also a humanitarian and a loving and devoted son, husband, father and grandfather.” Heimlich wrote about his discovery for a medical journal and it began to spread due to media coverage. A man in Washington state who came to a neighbor’s rescue was credited with being the first person to use the Heimlich Maneuver shortly after reading a newspaper story about it. The charismatic doctor also busily promoted the technique, including appearances on television talk shows with Johnny Carson and David Letterman. Heimlich collected anecdotes about Heimlich rescues throughout his life. Among them were the aide who saved Ronald Reagan during his 1976 presidential campaign and Tom Brokaw coming to the aid of fellow NBC newsman John Chancellor. Actress Cher was saved by director Robert Altman and Clint Eastwood once prevented a partygoer from choking. In 2015, a boy was able to clear a classmate’s blockage after learning the move watching the cartoon ”SpongeBob SquarePants.” ’ONLY METHOD’ Some members of the medical community had been slow to accept the Heimlich Maneuver, partly because there had been no official human trials, but in 1976 the Red Cross included it in guidelines for clearing obstructed air passages. In 1984, Heimlich was given the prestigious Lasker Award for public service. A year later C. Everett Koop, then the U. S. surgeon general, said the Heimlich method should be ”the only method” used for choking victims. In 1986, it was officially recommended as the primary technique by the Red Cross, although the organization would reverse that decision in 2006, saying ”abdominal thrusts” should only be a secondary method. As the Heimlich Maneuver became part of American culture, its namesake sought more innovation. He thought his technique should also be used to clear mucus from the lungs during an asthma attack and was better than cardiopulmonary resuscitation for drowning victims claims that were dismissed by authorities such as the Red Cross and the American Medical Association. Heimlich damaged his credibility further by espousing malaria therapy, saying the high fevers of malaria stimulated the body’s immune system enough to counter AIDS, cancer and Lyme disease. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discounted that theory, but under Heimlich’s direction, human malaria therapy trials were conducted in Mexico, China and Africa because they would never have been permitted in the United States. ”I don’t follow all the rules if there’s a better, faster way to do it,” he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1994 interview. ”If your peers understand what you’ve done, you are not being creative.” His fiercest critic turned out to be son Peter, who had once played in a band called Choke and done the music for Heimlich’s promotional film. The son devoted himself to debunking Heimlich’s work first in a pseudonymous blog and denounced him as the creator of ”a remarkable unseen history of fraud.” Heimlich’s work with malarial therapy to fight AIDS was briefly a popular cause in the especially in Hollywood, where celebrities hosted fundraisers for his research and donors included Jack Nicholson, Bob Hope and Ron Howard. Dr. Edward Patrick, a longtime collaborator who died in 2009, issued a press release in 2003 saying he was the of the Heimlich Maneuver. Heimlich also was credited with inventing a valve that bears his name and is used to prevent air from filling the chest cavity in trauma cases. Heimlich and Jane Murray, daughter of dance school magnate Arthur Murray and a proponent of alternative medical methods, were married from 1951 until her death in 2012. They had four children. (Additional reporting by Frank McGurty, editing by G Crosse) (Reuters Health) After surgery, people who get cosmetic procedures to remove excess tissue may have a better quality of life than those who don’t get this additional work done, a recent study suggests. LONDON tourism involving patients who travel to developing countries for treatment with unproven and potentially risky therapies should be more tightly regulated, international health experts said on Wednesday.

Hurdles emerge for stocks after rally

Benchmark U. S. stock index rallies, in anticipation of fiscal stimulus measures by the incoming administration of Donald Trump, could also be laying the seeds for equity market troubles from a stronger dollar and rising bond yields. The S&P 500 stock index has surged over 8 percent since the Nov. 8 election, due in large part to sectors that are expected to benefit from an inflationary policy. The S&P financial sector . SPSY has led the charge, with a gain of more than 17 percent. ”We are putting fuel on the fire here potentially, because nothing has actually happened, everybody is acting like it is already happening,” said Richard Bernstein, chief executive officer of Richard Bernstein Advisors in New York. Those expectations, along with improving economic data and the U. S. Federal Reserve’s recent decision to raise interest rates while signaling a quicker pace of hikes next year, have also served to strengthen the dollar and push bond yields higher. It is the rising dollar that risks undercutting the earnings of large multinational firms, just when the overall earnings from S&P 500 companies were ending an earnings recession in the latest quarter. And while rising bond yields may be beneficial to banks, they lift the overall cost of capital for companies and shrink the relative valuation advantage stocks have had over fixed income investments since the financial crisis. ”The thought is that earnings will be better and the economy is strong enough to be able to withstand higher interest rates, and that is why we’re not seeing a decline in stocks,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. ”That being said, the stronger dollar and higher interest rates will at some point filter through to earnings. It’s just a matter of when and how.” The dollar . DXY hit a high of 103. 56 against a basket of major currencies following the Fed’s announcement on Wednesday. Stocks also appear to be getting pricey, with the current ratio for the S&P 500 at 20. 8, well above its average of 16. 6, according to Thomson Reuters data. Higher bond yields is also increasing bonds’ attractiveness over equities. The S&P 500 dividend yield is 2. 07 percent versus a yield of almost 2. 6 percent for the benchmark U. S. Treasury US10YT=RR after its sixth straight week of gains. ”That is a big valuation disconnect, that will continue to keep people invested in bonds,” said Greg Peters, Senior Investment Officer at PGIM Fixed Income in Newark, New Jersey. These twin challenges for equities could be mitigated, however, should the economy continue to improve. A climb in rates and the dollar are hallmarks of economic growth, provided the increases happen at a steady pace. ”This economy is in good shape in our view,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. ”So, rates are rising for the right reasons and the economy is proving that, and that should be a potential positive for equities.” (Additional reporting by Caroline Valtekevitch and Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Daniel Bases and Nick Zieminski) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs to settle U.S. rate-rigging lawsuit for $56.5 million

Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( ) has agreed to pay $56. 5 million to resolve a U. S. class action lawsuit accusing it and other banks of rigging an interest rate benchmark used in the $553 trillion derivatives market. The proposed settlement was disclosed in papers filed in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. It came after seven other banks agreed in May to pay a combined $324 million to resolve the litigation. As part of the deal, Goldman has also agreed to provide lawyers for the plaintiffs evidence including transaction data, documents and witness interviews, which could be used in litigations against the remaining banks, the court papers said. Neither a spokesman for Goldman Sachs nor a lawyer for the plaintiffs immediately responded to a request for comment late on Friday. The case is one of many pending in Manhattan federal court accusing banks of conspiring to rig rate benchmarks, securities prices or commodities prices. In the lawsuit, several pension funds and municipalities accused 14 banks, including those that settled, of conspiring to rig the ”ISDAfix” benchmark for their own gain from at least 2009 to 2012. Companies and investors use ISDAfix to price swaps transactions, commercial real estate mortgages and structured debt securities. The lawsuit accused the banks of executing rapid trades before the rate was set each day. It said the banks also caused UK brokerage ICAP Plc IAP. F to delay trades until they moved ISDAfix where they wanted, and post rates that did not reflect market activity. U. S. and European regulators have also examined whether ISDAfix was set properly. The U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has secured settlements of $115 million with Barclays Plc in May 2015 and $250 million with Citigroup Inc in May 2016. To date in the class action, seven other banks have settled, including JPMorgan Chase & Co( ) Bank of America Corp( ) Credit Suisse Group AG ( ) and Deutsche Bank AG( ). The remaining defendants are BNP Paribas SA( ) HSBC Holdings Plc( ) Morgan Stanley( ) Nomura Holdings Inc( ) UBS AG ( ) Wells Fargo & Co ( ) and ICAP, lawyers for the plaintiffs said. The case is Alaska Electrical Pension Fund et al v. Bank of America Corp et al, U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. . (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Richard Borsuk) LONDON New Saba Capital Management, famed for its winning bet against the JPMorgan Chase trader known as the ’London Whale’ is closing its office in London’s Mayfair district, two sources close to the situation told Reuters. ROME Italian prosecutors have decided to take Morgan Stanley to court over allegations that the U. S. bank caused 2. 7 billion euros ($3. 1 billion) in losses to the state in relation to derivative transactions, a source familiar with the matter said.

Airbnb seeks to raise an additional $153 million

Airbnb Inc is looking to raise an additional $153 million as an extension of a recent funding round, boosting its coffers as the company pushes forward with global expansion. Airbnb on Friday authorized the sale of up to $153 million in equity to investors, according to venture capital database CB Insights, which obtained the company’s financial filing. The funding is an extension of a round in September, when Airbnb raised more than $555 million, according to financial filings. Investors have valued the company at $30 billion. The price for the sale is $105, up from the $93. 09 share price the company commanded in its 2015 financing round, according to CB Insights. Airbnb, which provides a platform for homeowners to rent out their house or a room, has enjoyed tremendous growth but has also faced an intensifying global battle with regulators who say the service takes affordable housing off the market and drives up rental prices. Several dealmakers have said they expect the company to go public next year. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Bernard Orr) Delta Air Lines Inc said it expects a closely watched performance metric to be near the upper end of its forecast, citing improving revenues. TOKYO Aeon Co Ltd Japan’s largest retailer by sales, on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit, as its restructuring efforts helped to improve performance at its struggling general merchandising stores.

Uber fires back at California DMV in self-driving car spat

Uber Technolgies Inc [UBER. UL] on Friday again defied a demand by California regulators that the firm apply for a permit to test cars, setting up a possible legal battle. Uber said its cars, unveiled to the public on Wednesday, would remain on the road, and reiterated its defiance of an order from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to ”cease” operations. ”We respectfully disagree with the California Department of Motor Vehicles legal interpretation of today’s autonomous regulations,” Anthony Levandowski, vice president of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, said on a call with reporters. The California Attorney General added a warning on Friday, sending Uber a letter requesting it ”immediately remove its ’ ’ vehicles from the state’s roadways” until the company complies with regulations. If not, the Attorney General will seek injunctive relief, the letter said. Uber argues that its cars despite their name are not capable of driving ’without . .. active physical control or monitoring,’ as California law defines autonomous vehicles, and so do not have to meet state regulations. The California DMV requires that companies testing autonomous vehicles apply for and receive a permit. Regulations also require that manufacturers provide the DMV with accident reports. Levandowski rejected the suggestion that Uber was trying to skirt the accident disclosures. ”We think that’s a very important part of building trust and understanding,” he said. ”The problem is that (the regulation) doesn’t apply to us.” Another 20 companies exploring cars, including Alphabet’s Google, Tesla Motors and Ford Motor Co, have obtained a DMV permit for 130 test cars. Despite having its cars on the road for more than a month, Uber has not. In a letter to Uber on Wednesday, the DMV’s chief counsel said the agency ”will initial legal action” if ”Uber does not confirm immediately that it will stop its launch and seek a testing permit.” Uber cars are equipped with a driver and an engineer in the front seats to take over in situations such as a construction zone, pedestrian crossing or taking a left turn across a lane of traffic. Levandowski compared the cars to Tesla’s Autopilot system and other driver assistance systems that are common on new cars. ”This type of technology is commonplace on thousands of cars driving in the Bay Area today, without any DMV permit at all,” he said. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Andrew Hay, Bernard Orr) HONG KONG Chinese Ofo said on Thursday it has raised more than $700 million in its latest funding round that was led by Alibaba Group and two others, in the largest such in the business that has drawn keen investor interest. BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said.

North Carolina lawmakers pass curbs on incoming Democratic governor

North Carolina’s legislature passed a series of measures on Friday to curtail the executive authority of Democratic Roy Cooper just weeks before he is to succeed a Republican in the executive mansion. The bills, passed in the last hours of a special ”lame duck” session called to help victims of Hurricane Matthew, strip the governor from the power to make cabinet appointments without Senate confirmation, name people to be trustees of the University of North Carolina and the ability to control hiring for about 1, 200 state employees. ”What is happening now may look like partisan political games, but the result will hurt North Carolinians,” Cooper said on Twitter Friday. He has threatened to sue the legislature and the outgoing Republican governor, adding that ”the courts will have to clean up the mess the legislature made.” Cooper beat incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory by a 10, 000 vote margin in a election whose results took a full month to count before a winner was announced Dec. 8. McCrory on Friday signed one of the measures, lessening the governor’s control over the state elections board, and is expected to approve the latest actions before turning over the weakened office to Cooper on Jan. 7. Republican lawmakers called the changes justified by the state’s constitution and meant as a check on executive power. ”This bill is a good step forward in reasserting legislative authority vested by the constitution and entrusted to the members of this body,” Representative David Lewis, a Republican and a sponsor of the bill, said during debate on Thursday. The legislation and related bills came as a surprise, filed late on Wednesday on the heels of a special session of the General Assembly called to consider relief for Hurricane Matthew victims. Their introduction and passage led to protests in both House and Senate chambers. “The process, the content the intention of these bills, they are an affront to the values of our democracy,” said Ticie Rhodes, 57, of Raleigh, retired teacher and counselor who was protesting with her church. protesters were arrested on Friday, including a man in a Santa Claus suit, Raleigh television station WRAL reported. Reuters was not able to immediately reach General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock for comment. McCrory praised the elections bill on Friday, saying it ”lays important groundwork to ensure a fair and ethical election process in North Carolina.” But Cooper has said they would curtail his ability to improve health care, education and the environment for North Carolinians. (Additional reporting by Frank McGurty in New York; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Lisa Shumaker) MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. NEW YORK The U. S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program.

Jordan declares end of castle siege, says four gunmen killed

Jordanian security forces said they killed four ”terrorist outlaws” after flushing them out of a castle in the southern city of Karak where they had holed up after a that killed nine people. An official statement said the four assailants, who shot at police targets in the town before heading to the castle, carried automatic weapons. Large quantities of explosives, weapons and suicide belts were seized in a hideout, the statement said. It made no mention of their identity or whether they belonged to any militant group, raising speculation they could have been tribal outlaws with a vengeance against the state rather than Islamic State fighters, who control parts of neighboring Syria and Iraq. A Canadian woman, three other civilians and five police officers were among the nine killed during the exchange of gunfire between the assailants and security forces. At least 29 people were hospitalized, some with serious injuries. Earlier, government spokesman Mohammad said a manhunt to ”eliminate” the gunmen had entered its final phase. Jordan’s position made it vulnerable to spillover of violence, Momani said. ”When we are in a region engulfed with fire from every side you expect that such events happen,” the official said. Witnesses said exchanges of fire continued for several hours between the gunmen and security forces. Police said earlier they had rescued 10 tourists and trapped inside the historic site when the gunmen went into the castle. A former government minister from Karak city, Sameeh Maaytah, said there were signs Islamist militants may have been behind the attack. ”This was a group that was plotting certain operations inside Jordan,” Maaytah told news channel . Video footage on social media showed security forces taking groups of young Asian tourists up the castle’s steep steps to its main entrance as gunshots were heard overhead. The castle is one of Jordan’s most popular tourist attractions. Prime Minister Hani al Mulki told parliament ”a number of security personnel” had been killed and that security forces were laying siege to the castle. The Canadian government confirmed one of its nationals had been killed. Police and witnesses said gunmen had earlier gone on a shooting spree aimed at officers patrolling the town before entering the castle, perched on top of a hill. They used one of the castle’s towers to fire at a nearby police station. Police said the gunmen had arrived from the desert town of Qatraneh nearly 30 km northeast of Karak city, a desert outpost known for smuggling, where many tribal residents are heavily armed and have long resisted state authority. They had fled to Karak after an exchange of fire with the police at a residential building, security forces said. Jordan is one of the few Arab states that have taken part in a U. S. air campaign against Islamic State in Syria. But many Jordanians oppose their country’s involvement, saying it has led to the killing of fellow Muslims and raised security threats inside Jordan. Several incidents over the past year have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the uprisings, civil wars and Islamist militancy that have swept the Middle East since 2011. Last November three U. S. military trainers were shot dead when their car failed to stop at the gate of a military base and was fired on by a Jordanian army member in an incident which Washington did not rule out political motives. (Reporting by Suleiman al Khalidi; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Grant McCool) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Apple appeals against EU tax ruling, Brussels says no cause for low tax bill

Apple Inc. ( ) appealed on Monday against a $ tax demand as the European Union issued details of its ruling that the iPhone maker won sweetheart tax deals from the Irish government which amounted to illegal subsidies. The tech giant’s combative stand its lead lawyer told Reuters that Apple was a ”convenient target” for an EU antitrust chief driven by ”headlines” underlined its anger with the European Commission, which it says ignored evidence from Irish experts before the decision on Aug. 30. The Obama administration also voiced displeasure at what it said was the European Union helping itself to cash that should have ended up in the United States while many in Silicon Valley saw it as further proof that an envious Europe, having lost out on new tech markets, is trying to rig regulations against them. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has rejected those claims and on Monday, while making no new comment on a case which is also being appealed by the Dublin government, the EU executive published an edited text of her judgment. Apple’s Irish tax arrangements have allowed it to pay tax at a rate of 3. 8 percent on $200 billion of overseas profits over the past 10 years, according to a Reuters analysis of corporate filings. This is a fraction of the tax rate in the countries where Apple’s products are designed, made and sold. The low rate is achieved by Apple telling U. S. authorities that the profits are earned by Irish units. Meanwhile, Apple and Ireland agree the profits are generated in the United States. Among elements revealed by the Commission’s edited text was a record of a meeting between an Apple tax adviser and the Irish revenue service in 1990 in which they discussed setting an apparently arbitrary ceiling on the profit on which Apple’s Irish unit would be taxed locally. A year after Apple’s Irish branch had recorded a net profit of $270 million, its tax adviser proposed that no more than $ million a year be taxed in Ireland, since the rest was attributable to technology and marketing businesses elsewhere. ”[Apple’s tax adviser] confessed there was no scientific basis for the figure. However the figure was of such magnitude that he hoped it would be seen to be a proposal,” the excerpt cited in the Commission judgment read. The reference is part of the Commission’s case that Ireland gave Apple special treatment to induce it to base its European operations in the country and channel profits through Ireland. While independent tax experts scanned the documentation for more clues to Vestager’s overall approach, another element that stood out was its concern about the way Dublin did not set time limits on its rulings on how Apple’s income would be taxed. That could signal trouble for other multinationals facing Brussels’ ire, not just in Ireland but in several other EU countries. U. S. TAX REFORM Apple lodged its appeal at the EU’s General Court, setting up a legal battle that has strained Transatlantic relations and could remain a factor after celebrity businessman Donald Trump succeeds Obama in the White House next month. The U. S. Treasury Department said in a statement it continued to believe‎ that ”the Commission is retroactively applying a sweeping new state aid theory that is contrary to legal principles, calls into question the tax rules of individual countries, and threatens to undermine the overall business climate in Europe‎. Moreover, it threatens to erode America’s corporate tax base.” The Irish government, which faces anger at home among opposition politicians that it is trying to turn down a huge tax windfall, separately published its legal arguments against the Commission’s case on Monday, saying Brussels had exceeded its powers and stepped on EU states’ sovereignty. Lawyers have previously said it was impossible to predict how EU courts will rule in an area that has not been tested before. Ireland’s tax treatments, now amended, have allowed Apple to avoid tax on tens of billions of dollars of . S. profit. The Commission says the Irish units conducted key functions for developing the Apple brand and that Dublin underestimated their importance when determining their taxable profit. Apple says all the research and development takes place in the United States, which is also where key decisions about its products are made, meaning taxes should be paid there. Under U. S. tax law, however, companies pay tax on global profits but only when they are repatriated to the United States. The incoming Trump administration could change this. (Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Cupertino, California, Conor Humphries in Dublin and Tom Bergin in London; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Adrian Croft) NEW YORK John McAfee, the creator of eponymous antivirus computer software, has settled a lawsuit against Intel Corp over his right to use his name on other projects after the chipmaker bought his former company. YORK A startup has joined up with Mastercard Inc to launch a payment card that allows users to retroactively choose a different credit or debit card for a purchase they have already made, in what they called ”financial time travel”.

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor dies at age 99

Edward Lozzi, who was a longtime publicist for Gabor, said the actress passed away at her Los Angeles home after years of decline and illness. She would have turned 100 in February. Gabor, by most accounts, had a personality that generally outshone her acting skills. Her bubbly demeanor and looks helped land her a string of wealthy husbands. She had a penchant for calling everyone ” ” in her thick Hungarian accent. Along with her two sisters, Eva and Magda, she became a fixture on Hollywood’s social circuit in her prime. She was once branded ”the most expensive courtesan since Madame de Pompadour,” but Gabor insisted that only her marriage to husband No. 2, hotel mogul Conrad Hilton, was financially motivated. In fact, marriage could have been the Gabor family business and Zsa Zsa, the company’s CEO. Her nine marriages topped the five by Eva, who starred in the 1960s sitcom ”Green Acres,” and the six of Magda, whose Hollywood career was mostly based on being the third Gabor sister. While her acting skills were rarely lauded, Zsa Zsa Gabor carved out a career in her early days in Hollywood. Her finest film roles came with ”Moulin Rouge,” where she earned good reviews, in 1952 and ”Lili” in 1953. She appeared in more than 30 movies and by the 1970s she began to reject smaller roles, saying: ”I may be a character but I do not want to be a character actress.” Gabor eventually ended up in films with such titles as ”Queen of Outer Space” and ”Picture Mommy Dead.” Greater success came with nightclub and TV appearances where she disclosed she called everyone ” ” because she could not remember names well, and she relied on jokes based on her marriages, haughty demeanor and taste for opulence. ”I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house,” she was quoted as saying. In the final episode of the 1960s television series ”Batman,” Gabor played the guest villainess, Minerva, who used hair dryers to steal information from men’s brains. Gabor, one of the last stars of Hollywood’s golden age, was not seen in public in her final years as she struggled with her health, including broken bones and cuts from a car accident. She also suffered a stroke and a broken hip, enduring complications from hip replacement surgery. She had much of her right leg amputated in 2011 because of an infection. Gabor’s most recent stint at the hospital came just days after her 99th birthday last February for breathing difficulties. GABORS GO HOLLYWOOD Born Sari Gabor into a wealthy family, she was named Miss Hungary in the 1930s. When World War Two approached, Zsa Zsa and her sisters headed for the United States, leaving behind her first husband, Burhan Belge, a Turkish diplomat. Soon after arriving in Hollywood, where Eva was working as an actress, Gabor married Hilton, with whom she had a daughter, Francesca, who died in January 2015. In 1949, after divorcing Hilton, Gabor married British actor George Sanders, whom she later was to call her one true love. Sanders would end up married to Magda. Eva Gabor died in 1995 and Magda in 1997. In addition to Belge, Hilton and Sanders, Zsa Zsa Gabor was married to New York businessman Herbert Hutner, oilman Joshua Cosden, Barbie doll designer Jack Ryan, her divorce lawyer Michael O’Hara, Count Felipe de Alba of Mexico and Frederic Prinz von Anhalt. The marriage to de Alba was annulled because her divorce from O’Hara was not final at the time of the wedding. The 1986 marriage to von Anhalt, which lasted until her death, was by far her longest. Throughout her Hollywood heyday, Gabor listed her birthday only as Feb. 6, steadfastly refusing to reveal the year. A former spokesman, John Blanchette, said she was born in 1917. In 1989, Gabor’s temper landed her in jail for three days after she slapped a policeman who had stopped her because of an expired license tag. She emerged from jail complaining about the food. ”Zsa Zsa did not suffer fools well,” said Lozzi, who represented her during that period. ”Her beautiful lips and mouth would also be her worst enemy when and if she turned on the verbal machine gun.” She sued Francesca in 2005, saying her daughter had taken out a loan against Gabor’s Bel Air, California, home and used the transaction to steal $2 million. (Reporting by Bill Trott in Washington; Additional reporting by Frank McGurty in New York and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Diane Craft and Peter Cooney) MONTREUX, Switzerland Usher and The Roots, and Trombone Shorty gave shows at the Montreux Jazz Festival on Wednesday night, bringing American funk, and R&B to the famed stage. PARIS Karl Lagerfeld presented Chanel’s haute couture collection under a version of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday.

Ukraine to nationalize its biggest lender, PrivatBank

The Ukrainian government announced on Sunday that it will nationalize PrivatBank, the country’s biggest lender, in one of the biggest of the banking system since the country plunged into political and economic turmoil two years ago. In a statement late on Sunday, the government made no mention of the size of the potential burden to the state budget, but said it would ensure a stable transition and the smooth functioning of the bank. The Finance Ministry will take over PrivatBank, which is by one of Ukraine’s richest men, the powerful oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk said depositors’ money was safe and secured by the state, and that the bank was functioning normally. ”The private shareholders of PrivatBank proposed to the government that it become the bank’s owner in the interests of its clients,” the government said in a statement. ”The transition period begins on 19 December. The state will ensure a smooth transition and the stable functioning of the bank.” Under banking reforms, Ukraine is meant to shut lenders that cannot meet capitalization targets, but with nearly $6 billion in private deposits 36. 5 percent of Ukraine’s total PrivatBank is considered too big to fail. The bailout could fuel instability in Ukraine, where opposition parties have repeatedly called for snap elections to unseat the leadership that took power after the 2014 Maidan protests. The opposition has harnessed the anger of depositors from banks that were previously shut down in a sweeping cleanup of the financial system, mobilizing rallies and demanding the central bank chief’s resignation. The announcement comes just days before parliament has to vote on next year’s budget, which must stick to a shortfall of 3 percent of economic output, as agreed with Ukraine’s international backers. There was no official statement from PrivatBank. Oleg Gorokhovsky, PrivatBank’s deputy chairman, wrote on Facebook that the bank had seen increased withdrawals in recent days of 2 billion hryvnia ($76 million) daily against previous peaks of around 1. 5 billion hryvnia ($57 million). ”Of course, the bank needed a capital increase and to improve the collateral for loans,” he said. The plan was to do this over a period to 2018. However, Gorokhovsky said after the outbreak of violence in the east and against the backdrop of a sinking economy, the bank experienced what he described as a series of ”information attacks” that led to an outflow of funds from individuals and corporate clients. ”The decision on a voluntary and peaceful transfer of the bank to state ownership was made at a time when we realized that we could not survive the (latest) information attack,” he wrote. Over the past few months the central bank has repeatedly declined to comment on speculation that PrivatBank would be taken under state control due to an inability to meet an recapitalization target. Recapitalizing PrivatBank and other large lenders and reducing their lending to shareholders was one of the tasks mandated by a $17. 5 billion International Monetary Fund program. Kolomoisky’s control of strategic industries, including energy and media holdings, has put him at the center of ongoing power battles among the political elite since street protests ousted Viktor Yanukovich and the rebellion erupted in the east. PrivatBank’s nationalization is the culmination of the banking sector cleanup, which has closed dozens of lenders that were seen as little more than personal piggy banks for their owners. (Additional reporting by Alexei Kalmykov; writing by Alessandra Prentice and Matthias Williams) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Hundreds arrested in Venezuela cash chaos, vigilantes protect shops

Security forces have arrested more than 300 people during protests and lootings over the elimination of Venezuela’s largest currency bill, President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday. The socialist leader pulled the 100 bolivar note this week before new bills were in circulation, creating a national cash shortage on top of the brutal economic crisis overshadowing Venezuelans’ Christmas and New Year holidays. After two days of unrest over the measure including one death and dozens of shops ransacked Maduro on Saturday postponed the measure until Jan. 2. That helped stem violence, though there were still reports of more lootings in southern Ciudad Bolivar on Sunday. The detainees include leaders and members of the opposition Popular Will and Justice First parties, Maduro said on state TV, accusing them of following U. S. instructions to incite chaos. ”Don’t come and tell me they are political prisoners . .. They are the two parties of the ’gringos’ in Venezuela,” he added, accusing President Barack Obama of wanting to engineer a coup against socialism in Venezuela before leaving office. From Venezuela’s southern jungle and savannah to the Andean highlands in the west, groups of hundreds of protesters have been burning bolivar notes, cursing Maduro and decrying scarcities of food and medicines. The worst looting was on Friday and Saturday, especially in El Callao and Ciudad Bolivar in the southern state of Bolivar, and police have used teargas to control crowds in some places. shops have been particularly targeted, witnesses say, and a boy was shot dead in El Callao on Friday. The governor of Bolivar state said there were 262 arrests there, with lootings from food shops to science laboratories. The local business group said 350 businesses had been ransacked in Ciudad Bolivar, including 90 percent of food outlets. In Santa Elena de Uairen, near the border with Brazil, shopkeepers and inhabitants formed vigilante groups to join police and soldiers after six shops were ransacked on Saturday. ”We’re not lowering our guard, we’re forming protection brigades,” said local business group leader Gilmer Poma. Food prices were reduced in some establishments in Santa Elena as a way to defuse tensions. ’CRUEL JOKE’ Maduro, a former bus driver and foreign minister who replaced Hugo Chavez in 2013, has seen his popularity plunge during a recession. He justified the currency measure as a way of suffocating mafia on Venezuela’s borders. But opponents say it is further evidence of disastrous economic policy in a nation reeling from runaway prices and shortages of basics. They want him to resign. ”The only person guilty of the chaos and violence of recent days is Nicolas Maduro,” the Justice First party said, accusing intelligence agents of taking advantage of the situation to frame opposition leaders with false evidence. With the 100 bolivar bill originally out of circulation from Friday, many Venezuelans had found themselves unable to purchase food or fill up cars in the busy to Christmas. ”As if we don’t have enough to cope with anyway, now they inflict this craziness on us,” said a grandmother in Caracas, Zoraida Gutierrez, 74, who spent a day lining up under the sun to deposit cash she had under her bed. ”It’s like a cruel joke.” Despite Maduro’s suspension of the measure on Saturday, some businesses were still refusing the notes on Sunday. Maduro has been urging Venezuelans to use electronic transactions instead of cash where possible, but 40 percent of the country’s 30 million people are without bank accounts. State TV showed a plane arriving on Sunday afternoon with a first batch of new currency notes. Central Bank Vice President Jose Khan said they were 13. 5 million 500 bolivar bills. The government is introducing larger bills of up to 20, 000. With many people already skipping meals to get by and forced to sacrifice traditional Christmas food and presents, this week’s confusion has further exasperated many. Maduro’s popularity recently hit a record low of under 20 percent, according to local pollster Datanalisis. But Venezuelan authorities thwarted an opposition push this year for a referendum to remove him. That put Maduro on track to finish his term in early 2019 but increased the potential for social unrest due to the lack of an immediate electoral outlet. (Additional reporting by María Ramírez in Ciudad Bolivar; Editing by Mary Milliken) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

As yuan weakens, Chinese rush to open foreign currency accounts

Zhang Yuting lives and works in Shanghai, has only visited the United States once, and rarely needs to use foreign currency. But that hasn’t stopped the accountant from putting a slice of her bank savings into the greenback. She is not alone. In the first 11 months of 2016, official figures show that foreign currency bank deposits owned by Chinese households rose by almost 32 percent, propelled by the yuan’s recent fall to lows against the dollar. The rapid rise almost four times the growth rate for total deposits in the yuan and other currencies as recorded in central bank data — comes at a time when the yuan is under intense pressure from capital outflows. The outflows are partially a result of concerns that the yuan is going to weaken further as U. S. interest rates rise, and because of lingering concerns about the health of the Chinese economy. U. S. Donald Trump’s threats to declare China a currency manipulator and to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports into the U. S. as well as tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, have only added to the fears. “Expectations of capital flight are clear,” said Zhang, who used her yuan savings to buy $10, 000 this year. ”I might exchange more yuan early next year, as long as I’ve got money.” Household foreign currency deposits in China are not huge compared to the money that companies, banks and wealthy individuals have been directing into foreign currency accounts and other assets offshore. All up, households had $118. 72 billion of foreign money in their bank accounts at the end of November, while total foreign currency deposits were $702. 56 billion. But the high growth rate in the household forex holdings are symbolic of a growing headache for the government as it struggles to counter the yuan’s weakness. Since October, the government has acted to slow outflows by tightening existing measures, such as approvals for foreign currency transfers, and has leant on banks to be stricter, making it harder for companies and individuals to change money and transfer money abroad. More measures may be in the cards. On Wednesday, a group of central bank advisers signaled their readiness to defend the yuan and said depreciation pressures would ease as the economy stabilized. This has all started to have an impact at local bank branch level. Individuals are permitted by current law to convert the equivalent of $50, 000 a year into foreign currency but according to some bankers they are taking steps to try to slow the flow in the current environment. Two banking executives said some banks were threatening to put people who changed the daily maximum of $10, 000 on consecutive days on blacklists. A person who is blacklisted may be from changing money for a period of time, one said. Banks under pressure to minimize outflows are also offering deals and giveaways for people who voluntarily convert their forex savings back into yuan. Bank of Communications is entering any customer who changes more than $1, 000 into yuan the chance to be part of a lucky draw, with various prizes, such as portable printers. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on its website offers preferential exchange rates for transactions. ”We’re not seeing capital flight or lack of confidence in the local currency,” said Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ. But, he added, ”the more you see people converting, reflected in foreign currency deposits in the banking segment, it means obviously there’s pressure on the local currency.” DIVERSIFYING AWAY In November, households added a net $5. 65 billion to onshore foreign currency deposits, which was more than a quarter of the total increase, which includes deposits by companies, central bank data showed. The deputy head of a district branch of one of China’s biggest banks said she’d noticed an uptick in ordinary people shifting money from yuan into dollar accounts. ”Everyone’s following the trend,” she said. The biggest monthly rise in the foreign currency account deposits so far this year came in January, when the annual $50, 000 conversion quota was reset and individuals rushed to change yuan into dollars. While foreign currency deposits are a type of capital outflow, Julian China economist at Capital Economics, said they were preferable to money actually leaving the country. ”Regulators have a lot of control over what happens to those deposits, and they can control the rate of inflows into onshore FX deposits,” he said. Zhang, the accountant, has withdrawn her dollars in cash, concerned that a further fall in the yuan could lead to tougher measures from the state, such as forcing her to sell dollars in a bank account. There is no indication the government is considering anything of that nature. (Additional reporting by Jackie Cai; Editing by Martin Howell) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Pain before gain for Indian banks after Modi’s cash gamble

India’s shock move to abolish banknotes was expected to deliver a windfall to lenders, and banks have indeed seen coffers swell after people deposited 12. 4 trillion rupees($183 billion) in cash into the system. But while banks may benefit in the longer term, ”demonetization” has hit them hard in the immediate aftermath, with demand for credit plummeting and additional costs incurred to make the transition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to remove 500 and 1, 000 rupee notes to funnel illicit cash into the formal financial sector has led to a severe cash shortage as the central bank has replaced barely a third of the notes that had been in circulation. That has hit business confidence and dented demand for loans, hurting banks that were already battling the weakest loan growth in nearly two decades. Not that they have resources to process loans anyway. Removing 86 percent of currency in circulation from Asia’s economy has proved harder than expected, and staff have focused mainly on customers changing old money for new. ”Our top priority is to provide relief to our customers, while lending could wait for some time,” said Vaibhav Anand, who manages a branch of Bank of India ( ) in Parliament Street, near Modi’s office in New Delhi. For a sector that has long struggled with low profitability and sour loans currently totaling $136 billion, even a temporary hit is painful. And the impact could be longer than expected, if businesses recover slowly. The government needs a healthy banking sector to channel loans and fuel private investment to power an economy that grew 7. 3 percent in the fastest pace among large countries but below 8 percent needed to sustain full employment. Avtar Singh, owner of a small auto parts manufacturer in Ludhiana, in the northern state of Punjab, was applying to increase his credit limit to 20 million rupees from 15 million to expand his business. Now, no bank official has time for him, and 40 of his 150 employees have stopped working since he can’t pay all the salaries. ”No bank is ready to give a new loan to us, as all of their staff are busy exchanging currency,” said Singh. ADJUSTING EXPECTATIONS State Bank of India ( ) chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya told Reuters the country’s largest bank by assets would likely miss previous forecasts of boosting loans by at least 10 percent in the year to March 31, although it would give a fresh outlook after the current quarter ends. ”Our (loan) sales teams are not operating in full force,” said Bhattacharya, referring to the slowdown in retail loans. She added that early repayments of outstanding loans from people using old notes also contributed to the overall credit slowdown. ”We will have to work full steam in the fourth quarter ( ) to make up.” SBI shares have surged as much as 14. 3 percent since Modi announced the measure on Nov. 8. They have steadily lost ground, but are still up about 5 percent over that period. Other banks are also likely to face difficulties, with bigger banks impacted more, given that smaller lenders had already been reducing their loan books as they focused on cleaning up balance sheets. Jefferies, a brokerage, expected banking sector loan growth to fall to 6 percent in the year to March. That would make it the slowest since 1962, according to Reuters calculations. By comparison, loans grew 10. 9 percent last fiscal year and 9 percent in the previous fiscal, itself the slowest since 1994. TALLYING COSTS Banks are seeing temporary costs pile up, as they pay overtime to employees and hire additional security guards to manage crowds depositing old banknotes before a deadline or swapping them for new ones. Lenders also need to recalibrate cash machines after the government issued new banknotes that were different sizes to the abolished ones. Those costs could reach 351 billion rupees ($5. 2 billion) for banks, estimated Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a business information provider. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also ordered that banks waive fees for ATM transactions and card payments until the end of the year, depriving them of a lucrative source of income. Banks had at least hoped that a rally in bond markets since Modi announced demonetization would boost treasury gains, given lenders own around half of government debt. But those hopes were dashed after the RBI unexpectedly held rates last week, sending markets lower. Analysts still believe the longer term impact on banks could be positive, channeling more funds into the formal economy and driving up sales of credit cards and other services. But Vinod Kathuria, an executive director at Union Bank of India ( ) said it would take at least two quarters for loan growth to return to normal. For Singh, the small business owner, that will feel like an eternity. ”My sales were growing at about 15 percent a year, but now I am expecting a fall of about 20 percent this year,” he said. ”Small businesses have been ruined.” (Additional reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury in MUMBAI and Rajesh Kumar Singh in NEW DELHI; Editing by Rafael Nam and Mike ) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Indian PM’s camp seeks support from unlikely quarter: Muslim women

When Narendra Modi stood before faithful followers in October, on a stage swathed in the saffron colours of his Hindu nationalist movement, the Indian leader made an unexpected overture. ”It is the responsibility of the government and people of the country to give justice to Muslim women,” the prime minister declared. Modi’s public political career took off as chief minister of Gujarat state in 2001, just before rioters killed about 1, 000 people, mostly Muslims, leading to accusations that he turned a blind eye to the murder and rape going on around him. Modi denies involvement in the 2002 riots, but his rise to national power in 2014 was accompanied by groups of hardline Hindus attempting mass conversions of Muslims and cases of beating and whipping of Muslim men in broad daylight. Now, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is challenging an Islamic practice, known as ”triple talaq” that allows a man to divorce his wife simply by uttering the word ”talaq” three times. The proposal is a bold ploy to win approval and votes from Muslim women and chip away at an important bloc of voters there are around 170 million Muslims in India that has thus far viewed Modi with suspicion. The outreach could help decide the outcome of a bellwether state election early next year. Uttar Pradesh, with nearly 40 million Muslims out of 200 million people, is a key test of Modi’s popularity as he prepares to seek a second term in 2019. Some Muslim women there have said they support Modi’s proposal, although they are less sure about him. There is fierce opposition, meanwhile, from influential Muslim elders and teachers. ”They are using this tactic to attack Islam, to attack Muslims,” said Abul Qasim Nomani, vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband madrassa, the largest Islamic seminary in India, located in Uttar Pradesh. ”Muslim women are being used as showpieces to fight a battle against Islam,” added the his face framed by a white beard and prayer cap. A madrassa official sitting beside him muttered: ”This is like a wolf advocating for the rights of goats.” MIXED REACTIONS Triple talaq is banned in some Muslim countries, including India’s neighbour and rival Pakistan, but is allowed under Indian rules designed to protect religious communities. The BJP and its ideological surrogates are betting that by confronting divisions within India’s Muslim population about those traditional divorce practices, they can win in two ways. The move will appeal to the Hindu majority, by emphasizing the need to counter Islamic influence in society, while at the same time splintering off Muslim voters. That may help Modi curb electoral damage from another big political gambit the recent abolition of high value banknotes that has led to cash shortages and dented key sectors of the economy. It is difficult to tell on the streets of Uttar Pradesh, a poor state where water buffalos trudge through wheat fields and traffic alike, how much traction Modi and his Hindu supporters will get from the initiative. His coalition won 10 percent of the Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh during 2014 national elections, according to a survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. A separate survey covering 10 other states found last year that 92 percent of Muslim women supported a ban on the immediate triple talaq divorce, raising the possibility that some, in the moment of pushing a voting machine button, might defy their community and choose the space next to the BJP’s lotus flower. The chairwoman of the Muslim women’s advocacy group that did the national survey, Zakia Soman, ran children’s schools in the relief camps for victims of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. ”It is true that Muslims can’t trust him (Modi) after the Gujarat riots, but triple talaq is a separate issue,” Soman said in a telephone interview. ”Muslims will have to compartmentalize each issue for their own well being . .. if the prime minister does the correct thing and thinks of (the) greater good, then it is natural for him to win votes from Muslim women.” ”DON’T INTERFERE WITH KORAN” The idea of expanding an existing article of the nation’s constitution that calls for a ”uniform civil code” to one that explicitly bans polygamy and the use of triple talaq in the Muslim community has been debated for decades. As it stands now, that section of the constitution says a code should exist but does not describe its parameters. Modi’s government, though, has signalled that it wants to change the status quo. A senior BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh said the party planned to highlight triple talaq during election campaigning there. The government filed a motion in support of a Supreme Court case this year in which a Muslim woman opposed triple talaq. And in October, the nation’s Law Commission issued a public statement inviting formal discussion on the uniform civil code. Indresh Kumar, who heads a division dedicated to Muslim issues within the hardline Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which helped create the BJP, said he thinks women voters will respond to Modi’s call for change. ”Our views are offending Muslim politicians and secular political parties,” he said, ”because they did not have the courage to bring about a reform and improve lives of millions of Muslim women.” The high profile given to the subject has sparked accusations of hypocrisy, given what has happened in the country of 1. 2 billion people since the BJP’s victory. Hindu activists have in recent years held what they call large ”ghar wapsi’s” or homecomings, to convert people to Hinduism. Groups of Hindu vigilantes have grabbed headlines for assaulting Muslims accused of harming cows, an animal held sacred in Hinduism. At the same time, there have not been similar grassroots uproars about many issues that plague the Hindu community. For instance, there are reports of Hindu women committing suicide because of pressures on families to deliver large dowry payments, in a system that echoes feudal customs. And about a third of child brides in the world live in India. In interviews this month in Uttar Pradesh, many Muslims, men and women, said they were opposed to triple talaq, but voiced conflicted emotions about the prospect of Modi’s involvement. ”If it’s repealed, women will get more freedom,” said Reshma Khatoon, a teacher at the Zainabya Girls Inter College in the city of Muzaffarnagar, scene of deadly communal riots in 2013 that left thousands of Muslims displaced. ”There’s been a lot of discussion, it comes up when women sit together.” Wearing a black sweater and traditional Muslim hijab head covering, Khatoon glanced around a table where other teachers from the school were seated. She said: ”I also believe in the Koran. Nobody should interfere with this.” (Editing by Mike ) SYDNEY The United Nations cultural body UNESCO has voted to leave the Great Barrier Reef off its ”in danger” list despite recent widespread destruction of the World Heritage Site. MINNEAPOLIS Kole Calhoun homered and Cameron Maybin stole home on a delayed steal in support of rookie starter Parker Bridwell’s six scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Angels avoided a sweep with a win against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Australia’s budget drips with red ink, top credit rating at risk

Australia’s conservative government on Monday forecast a A$10 billion deterioration in its budget deficit over the next four years but still hoped to snatch a surplus by 2021 and forestall a damaging downgrade of its top credit rating. There have been fears the update could trigger a cut in the country’s prized rating and push up borrowing costs on over a trillion dollars of federal, state and bank debt. S&P Global Ratings, which put Australia on negative watch back in July, said the update had no immediate impact on the rating, but it again warned more revenue or saving steps would be needed to get back to surplus. ”The government’s worsening forecast. ..further pressures the rating,” S&P said. ”We remain pessimistic about the government’s ability to close existing budget deficits and return a balanced budget by the year ending June 30, 2021.” Facing slower economic growth and a seemingly intractable deficit, Treasurer Scott Morrison reaffirmed an aspiration to return to surplus by 2021 through a mixture of spending cuts and measures. Many of the most contentious measures, however, are blocked in the Senate while record low wages growth and lacklustre nominal growth have badly crimped the government’s revenue take. Australia is among a dozen countries with the top rating from all three credit agencies. Fitch and Moody’s responded quickly by saying the budget outlook was still consistent with their ratings. A downgrade would likely nudge up borrowing costs on the Federal government’s A$465 billion in debt and on some states’ A$327 billion of borrowings. Australia’s major banks and their A$500 billion debt pile could also be downgraded. A downgrade would also be a political nightmare for the Liberal National government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which has long sold itself as a competent economic manager that can be trusted to balance the books. GROUNDHOG DAY Morrison took to the airwaves on Monday to essentially blame the opposition Labor Party for blocking budget savings measures in parliament, though many of the proposals are deeply unpopular with voters as well. The budget update showed the government expected a A$36. 5 billion deficit for the year to June, slightly narrower than the initial forecast of A$37. 1 billion. It then projected a steady, if slow, improvement to A$10 billion by and a surplus the year after. Yet the total for the deficit was still expected to be A$10 billion more than estimated back in June, largely due to weaker revenues. ”Australia’s push back toward an underlying budget surplus has felt a bit like ’Groundhog Day’. It’s there in the forecasts but continually recedes into the distance,” says CBA chief economist Michael Blythe. The Treasurer also revised down estimates for gross domestic product growth for this year and next after the A$1. 6 trillion economy surprisingly contracted by 0. 5 percent in the September quarter, the first shrinkage since 2011. It now expects GDP growth of 2 percent in down from 2. 5 percent, and a pick up to 2. 75 percent in . One bright spot has been a recovery in prices for many of Australia’s major commodity exports, with coal and iron ore surging in the past few months. If sustained, that will add billions to the tax take. Even if the country is downgraded, analysts said they doubted that it would have much of an impact on bond yields or investor confidence. ”Our feedback from clients across Asia is that they seem quite relaxed about the issue, with many noting that their mandates allow purchases of AA rated securities and any rise in yields would allow them to purchase AUD bonds at better levels,” said Andrew Ticehurst, an economist at Japanese broker Nomura. (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Eric Meijer) U. S. credit card processor Vantiv agreed to buy Britain’s Worldpay for 7. 7 billion pounds ($10 billion) on Wednesday in a move expected to trigger further deals. MEXICO CITY A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Yahoo security problems a story of too little, too late

In the summer of 2013, Yahoo Inc launched a project to better secure the passwords of its customers, abandoning the use of a discredited technology for encrypting data known as MD5. It was too late. In August of that year, hackers got hold of more than a billion Yahoo accounts, stealing the poorly encrypted passwords and other information in the biggest data breach on record. Yahoo only recently uncovered the hack and disclosed it last week. The timing of the attack might seem like bad luck, but the weakness of MD5 had been known by hackers and security experts for more than a decade. MD5 can be cracked more easily than other ”hashing” algorithms, which are mathematical functions that convert data into seemingly random character strings. In 2008, five years before Yahoo took action, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute issued a public warning to security professionals through a U. S. vulnerability alert system: MD5 ”should be considered cryptographically broken and unsuitable for further use.” Yahoo’s failure to move away from MD5 in a timely fashion was an example of problems in Yahoo’s security operations as it grappled with business challenges, according to five former employees and some outside security experts. Stronger hashing technology would have made it more difficult for the hackers to get into customer accounts after breaching Yahoo’s network, making the attack far less damaging, they said. ”MD5 was considered dead long before 2013,” said David Kennedy, chief executive of cyber firm TrustedSec LLC. ”Most companies were using more secure hashing algorithms by then.” He did not name specific firms. Yahoo, which has confirmed it was still using MD5 at the time of the attack, disputed the notion that the company had skimped on security. ”Over the course of our more than history, Yahoo has focused on and invested in security programs and talent to protect our users,” Yahoo said in a statement to Reuters. ”We have invested more than $250 million in security initiatives across the company since 2012.” COMPETING PRIORITIES The former Yahoo security staffers, however, told Reuters the security team was at times turned down when it requested new tools and features such as strengthened cryptography protections, on the grounds that the requests would cost too much money, were too complicated, or were simply too low a priority. Partly, that reflected the internet pioneer’s financial struggles: Yahoo’s revenues and profits have fallen steadily since their 2008 peak while Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Inc and others have come to dominate the consumer internet business. ”When business is good, it’s easy to do things like security,” said Jeremiah Grossman, who worked on Yahoo’s security team from 1999 to 2001. ”When business is bad, you expect to see security get cut.” To be sure, no system is completely . Hackers have managed to break into passwords that were encrypted using more advanced technologies than MD5. Other Internet companies, such as LinkedIn and AOL, have also suffered security breaches, though none nearly as large as Yahoo’s. ”This could happen to any large corporation,” said Tom Kellermann, a former World Bank security manager and security industry executive. Kellermann, now CEO of investment firm Strategic Cyber Ventures, said he was not surprised that it had taken Yahoo several years to identify the massive attacks. ”Hackers often have a capacity to burrow deeper than we thought into a system and remain for years,” he said. Reuters could not determine how many companies besides Yahoo were using MD5 in 2013. Google, Facebook and Microsoft Corp did not immediately respond to requests for comment. According to another former security veteran at Yahoo, even when the company was growing quickly, security sometimes took a back seat as the company focused on system performance to keep up with the growth. Then, when growth stalled, senior security staff left for other companies and the chances of getting approval for expensive upgrades dropped further, the person said. ”Any changes to the user database took forever because they were understaffed, and it’s an system everything depends on it,” said the former Yahoo employee. Yahoo declined to comment on details of its security practices, but said it routinely conducted drills to test and improve its cyber defenses and highlighted campaigns such as a ”bug bounty” program in which it pays hackers to find security flaws and report them to the company. TWO BIGGEST BREACHES Last September, Yahoo disclosed a 2014 cyber attack that affected at least 500 million customer accounts, the biggest known data breach at the time. Following last week’s news of the even bigger 2013 breach, U. S. federal investigators and lawmakers said they are scrutinizing Yahoo’s security practices, and Verizon Communications Inc is seeking to renegotiate a July deal to buy Yahoo’s internet business for $4. 8 billion. The former Yahoo employees said the company’s security problems began before the arrival of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer in 2012 and continued under her tenure. Yahoo had suffered attacks by Russian hackers for years, two of the former staffers said. In 2014, Yahoo hired a new security chief, Alex Stamos, and one of the security crews he led known internally as ’The Paranoids’ thought they were making headway against the hackers, former employees said. In 2015, when the security crew discovered a hidden program attached to Yahoo’s email servers that was monitoring all incoming messages, their first thought was that the Russian hackers had come back. It turned out that the program had been installed by Yahoo’s email engineers to comply with a secret surveillance order requested by a U. S. intelligence agency, as Reuters previously reported. Stamos and some of his staff left Yahoo soon after that, creating further disruptions to security operations. This week, in addition to disclosing the 2013 hack, Yahoo said someone had accessed its proprietary computer code to learn how to forge ”cookies,” which would allow hackers to access an account without passwords. Yahoo said it connected some activity to the same actor it believed was responsible for the 2014 data theft. ”They burrowed in and got access to everything,” said Dan Guido, chief executive of cyber security firm Trail of Bits. On Thursday, Germany’s cyber security authority criticized Yahoo for failing to adopt adequate encryption techniques and advised German consumers to switch to other email providers. Yahoo told Reuters it was committed to keeping users secure by staying ahead of new threats. ”Today’s security landscape is complex and but, at Yahoo, we have a deep understanding of the threats facing our users and continuously strive to stay ahead of these threats to keep our users and our platforms secure.” (Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco, Jim Finkle in Boston and Dustin Volz in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Rigby) BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said. MEXICO CITY Billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil argued on Wednesday against rules brought in by an overhaul of the country’s telecommunications industry, saying in a statement they were unfair and had led to a loss of its business rights.

Saudi Arabia, U.S. play down reports of curbs on military support

Saudi Arabia and the United States on Sunday played down media reports that Washington had decided to limit military support, including planned arms sales to the kingdom, over its war in Yemen. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel said that Riyadh had not been officially informed of such decisions, which he described as contradicting the reality, while visiting U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested the issue related more to a long procurement process than restrictions on military support. U. S. officials have said Washington decided to curb backing for Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen, including halting the supply of some munitions, because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties. Yemen’s war has killed more than 10, 000 people and triggered humanitarian crises, including chronic food shortages, in the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula. Jubeir, speaking in Arabic, told a joint news conference with Kerry: ”This news that has been leaked contradicts reality. The reality is that converting regular bombs to smart bombs would be welcome because smart bombs are more accurate. ”The kingdom has received nothing official from the American government in this regard,” he said in answer to a question on reported delays of U. S. weapons supplies. Kerry appeared to play down the reports of delays to weapons supplies, suggesting procurement was often a slow process, and adding he had worked hard to move sales ”forward”. YEMEN TRUCE Kerry also said that he agreed in talks with Jubeir and other Gulf Arab foreign ministers to push for a ”cessation of hostilities, which we all will work on in the next several days with hopes that within two weeks it might be possible to achieve it . ..”. Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab coalition that has been fighting against Houthis who forced Yemeni President Mansour Hadi from power nearly two years ago. The conflict has displaced some three million people, according to the United Nations. ”Our immediate priority is to end the bloodshed and that’s why reestabilishing the ceasefire is so critical,” Kerry told the news conference. ”We think we’ve found the path to move forward and invite the parties, President Hadi, the Houthis and the supporters of both sides to take advantage of this moment to try to come to the table and to try to frame an end,” he added. Saudi Arabia has been subjected to frequent raids and missile attacks by the Houthi movement. Responding to a question on whether Saudi Arabia was reconsidering its investment strategy over risks in the United States related to Donald Trump’s election and potential lawsuits under the U. S. Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA, Jubeir said: ”The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has tremendous investments in the United States and we review those investments on a regular basis. There are issues associated with risk, but our objective is to increase those investments. We won’t decrease them.” Jubeir also said he had spent time in the United States recently to try to get to know the policies and positions of the next administration. He also said he had dealt with Congress to press for amendments of the JASTA law, which grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U. S. soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government. (Reporting by Katie Paul, Sami Aboudi, and Ali Abdelati in Cairo; Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Andrew Bolton) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Polish leaders try to defuse media row on third day of protests

Street protests and a by opposition lawmakers against Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party over its proposals to curb media access to parliament extended to a third day on Sunday as leading politicians scrambled to defuse the row. Since coming to power in late 2015, Poland’s government has repeatedly come under fire at home and from Brussels for what critics say are undemocratic moves designed to tighten its grip on power, including taking greater control of state media and changes to the constitutional court. But proposed new rules restricting the media’s access to parliament have triggered the biggest political standoff between the conservative PiS and the more liberal opposition yet. Efforts to find a compromise, including those by powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have not been successful. PiS ally President Andrzej Duda met several opposition leaders on Sunday in a bid to find a resolution and was due to meet the head of the Civil Platform (PO) Poland’s largest opposition party, later on in the day, his spokesman said at a news conference. At a rally in Warsaw, First Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski told supporters the party would not heed calls by some opposition members to concede on the new rules. ”Let us not get provoked,” Glinski said. ”The primary weapon of the opposition is urging emotional conflict, hatred. That’s what happened in parliament, it was a of negative emotions.” The speaker of the upper house of parliament, Stanislaw Karczewski, is due to meet media representatives on Monday to discuss concrete proposals, he was cited as telling media late on Saturday, after an initial meeting ordered by Kaczynski failed to produce results. In Warsaw, thousands of protesters gathered first in front of constitutional court before moving on to parliament. The constitutional court has been the target of some of the PiS’ most disputed moves, including changes to its sitting judges and to its operating rules. The crowd carried banners expressing support for the outgoing head of the court, Andrzej Rzeplinski, whose term is ending on Tuesday. Meanwhile a crowd of PiS supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace, carrying Polish white and red flags and chanting ”God, honor and motherland”. The PiS government remains popular with many Poles keen on its promises of higher welfare, more Catholic values in public life and a tougher stance toward Brussels and Russia. FRUSTRATION Critics see the curbs on media coverage of parliament as yet another attempt by PiS to widen its control. If implemented as planned on Jan. 1, all recording of parliamentary sessions would be banned except by five selected television stations and the number of journalists allowed in the building would be limited to two per media outlet. Duda’s spokesman also said the president had ordered a legal analysis of Friday’s events in parliament. When opposition members began their protest that day, they blocked the plenary hall podium ahead of a budget vote. PiS lawmakers moved the vote to another hall, sparking accusations that they had passed the 2017 budget illegally. ”We don’t know if there were enough deputies for a quorum,” said Ryszard Petru, head of another opposition grouping, the liberal Nowoczesna. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo dismissed the as frustration by parties that lost an election in 2015 after eight years in government. However, there were signs of a more conciliatory approach from her office on Sunday. ”It might be necessary . .. to admit that our politicians have inadequately communicated the proposed changes to the journalists, to our society and the opposition used this as a pretext,” Paweł Szefernaker, the secretary of state in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, told the Radio ZET station. (Writing by Lidia Kelly and Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Keith Weir and Raissa Kasolowsky) QAMISHLI, The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a ”declaration of war” which could trigger clashes within days. CARACAS government supporters burst into Venezuela’s congress on Wednesday, witnesses said, attacking and besieging lawmakers in the latest of violence during a political crisis.

Senators call for probe of cyber attacks by Russia

U. S. Republican and Democratic senators called on Sunday for a special bipartisan panel to investigate cyber attacks against the United States by foreign countries with a focus on Russia’s alleged efforts to influence the U. S. presidential election. Charles Schumer, who will be Senate Democratic leader in the new U. S. Congress in January, and Republican John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said separately on Sunday a select committee was needed to ensure effective congressional focus on the hacking of Democratic Party emails during the campaign. ”The fact that they’re hacking our political system and trying to influence the outcome, as it seems to be, that is serious, serious stuff,” Schumer of New York told a news conference in New York. He said the panel should also examine hacking by other countries including China and Iran. Two other senators, Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island, joined Schumer and McCain of Arizona in sending a letter to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell requesting the panel. By having one dedicated committee on the subject, they said, the investigation could be targeted, while avoiding the jurisdictional overlap that would occur if multiple panels started conducting their own reviews. ”Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American,” they wrote. ”Cybersecurity is the ultimate challenge, and we must take a comprehensive approach to meet this challenge effectively.” A spokesman for McConnell’s office said on Sunday he would review the letter from the four lawmakers. Last week, McConnell said he would support efforts to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election. U. S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia tried to influence the Nov. 8 election by hacking individuals and institutions, including Democratic Party bodies. The matter has angered Republican Donald Trump, who says he won the vote fairly. Russian officials have denied accusations of interfering in the U. S. election. The U. S. Electoral College is expected to officially vote on Monday for Trump as the country’s next president. At meetings scheduled in every state and the District of Columbia, the institution’s 538 electors, generally chosen by state parties, will cast official ballots for president and vice president. Trump won a majority of Electoral College votes, while the popular vote went to Democrat Hillary Clinton. ’OPEN QUESTION’ U. S. President Barack Obama suggested on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally authorized the Democratic Party email hacks. McCain told CNN’s ”State of the Union” program that the U. S. response to the Russian attacks had been ”totally paralyzed” and said cyber warfare ”is perhaps the only area where our adversaries have an advantage over us.” The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment. John Podesta, Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, said on Sunday it was an ”open question” whether Trump’s advisers colluded with Russia to hack into Democratic Party emails to try to sway the election outcome. Leaked emails had revealed details of paid speeches that Clinton gave to Wall Street, party infighting and comments from Clinton top aides who said they were shocked about the extent of her use of a private server to send emails while U. S. secretary of state. The leaks led to embarrassing media coverage and prompted some party officials to resign. Podesta said there was evidence that Trump associates had contact with a Russian intelligence official and the website WikiLeaks before U. S. intelligence agencies accused Russia of being behind computer attacks of Democratic emails, including Podesta’s. He did not specify what the evidence was. ”It’s very much unknown whether there was collusion. I think Russian diplomats have said that they were talking to the Trump campaign,” he told NBC’s ”Meet the Press” program. ”Not what Mr. Trump knew, but what did ’Trump Inc’ know and when did they know it? Were they in touch with the Russians? I think those are still open questions,” he added. Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, rejected the notion that Trump or his associates were aware of and in touch with the Russians during the hack attack. ”Even this question is insane,” Priebus told ”Fox News Sunday.” ”Of course we don’t interface with the Russians. (Additional reporting by Julia Harte in Washington; Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney) BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators are weighing another record fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system and have set up a panel of experts to give a second opinion on the case, two people familiar with the matter said. MEXICO CITY Billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil argued on Wednesday against rules brought in by an overhaul of the country’s telecommunications industry, saying in a statement they were unfair and had led to a loss of its business rights.

Commentary: Here’s how Obama can hit back at Putin over hacking

The verdict is unanimous: President Barack Obama and every U. S. intelligence service agree that Russian President Vladimir Putin has run a sophisticated intelligence operation designed to disrupt American democracy and elect Donald J. Trump. The lone dissenter? Trump himself. Obama vows that the United States will respond at a time and in a manner of its choosing. He has, at this writing, one month to strike back. Tick. Tick. Tick. The White House, the Pentagon, and the Central Intelligence Agency have locked away in compartments. (In theory, locked away from Russia — who knows these days?) They could hit Moscow’s leaders, intelligence services and oligarchs where it hurts. The United States could strike at their computer motherboards or their offshore money. It could place multifaceted malware inside Putin’s espionage networks. It could throw a monkey wrench into his political machine. If Obama looks back into the annals of the Cold War, he will find a fitting blueprint for the last big intelligence operation of his presidency. It has a perfect code name: Farewell. By 1975 — the year Putin became a Soviet spy — an espionage unit called Line X was up and running in Moscow. It worked with the KGB’s directorate of science and technology; with the Soviet GRU, devoted to military intelligence; and with the spy services of Eastern Europe. The mission was to steal software and hardware, military and civilian, from the West. The Soviets were 10 years behind the United States in science and technology. They either could catch up or, in time, they could crumble. In 1981, President Reagan met with President Francois Mitterand of France at an economic summit in Ottawa. They spoke through bilingual intelligence officers. Mitterand, a lifelong socialist, had an invaluable gift for Reagan, an inveterate capitalist, that would serve as a lethal weapon against the Soviets. The French had an agent inside the KGB, Colonel Vladimir Vetrov, whom they . Vetrov had delivered 4, 000 documents detailing the work of Line X. They described years of intelligence operations aimed at stealing software for airborne radar systems, designs for war planes and defenses, computer systems for everything from space shuttles to energy plants the crown jewels of the American complex. William J. Casey and Vice President George H. W. Bush, respectively, the director and of the CIA, read the gist of the translated Farewell dossier. They shared it with the national security adviser, who assigned a staff member, Gus Weiss, to help devise a long, slow, subtle and devastating plan of counterattack. Weiss wrote an report for the CIA in 1996. You can on the agency’s website. “It was a brilliant plan,” Allen said 20 years later in an oral history interview. “We started in motion feeding the Soviets bad technology bad computer technology, bad technology. We fed them a whole lot, let them steal stuff they were happy to get. ” FBI agents posed as corrupt military contractors. They shipped clueless Soviet spies everything they sought and more: computer chips for weapons, blueprints for chemical plants, art turbines. Each had a subtle and fatal defect. This herd of Trojan horses soon started running wild and biting the Russian bear. And then the United States decided to really let them have it. The Soviets needed the software for sophisticated computer systems to control pressure gauges and valves vital to an immense pipeline under construction from Siberia to Eastern Europe. The CIA and the FBI surreptitiously steered a Soviet Line X officer to a Canadian company that had exactly the software he’d been assigned to steal. Moscow was well pleased. The codes and silicon chips were implanted in the pipeline in late 1982. Months passed. Then, slowly, the pressure started building tick, tick, tick. Out in the frozen tundra, . Of course, had the tables been turned, this could have been seen as an act of terror. But no one was killed. In the context of the Cold War, it was fair play. The CIA put the final touches on the Farewell case by sending deputy director John McMahon to Western Europe with his own dossier: the names of 200 Line X officers and foreign agents. He delivered it to the intelligence services of NATO nations. The Americans had deployed an array of weapons in its intelligence arsenal political warfare, cyber attacks, strategic deception, and economic sabotage, among others in a counterstrike coordinated by the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council. How might the lessons of Farewell be used today in a proportionate response to a global and sophisticated Russian intelligence operation? Obama may want to to gathering intelligence on the Russian hacks and publishing it as a devastating report before he departs the Oval Office. But he also could try to punish Putin. The coming attack might be invisible to the American people at first but it must be seen and felt by Putin. It could take cyberweapons which the Russians have used and turn them against Moscow. It could strike Russian leaders and oligarchs where they are most vulnerable, by revealing and publishing their political, personal, and financial secrets just as Putin stole the secrets of the Democratic Party and weaponized the information to . If we have learned anything from Putin’s attack on the American political system, it is an old but vital lesson: information is power. We may soon learn how he likes a taste of his bitter medicine. The views expressed in this article are not those of Reuters News. Iraqi officials have declared that Islamic State’s caliphate is finished. On June 29, after months of urban warfare and U. S. air strikes, Iraqi forces say they are on the verge of expelling the militants from their last holdouts in Mosul. “Their fictitious state has fallen,” an Iraqi general told state TV after troops captured a symbolically important mosque in Mosul’s old city. In Syria, U. S. rebels are moving quickly through the eastern city of Raqqa, another capital of the Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon must face North Korea’s nuclear reality: Pyongyang’s bomb is here to stay. When the two presidents hold their first summit on Friday, they need to drop quixotic efforts to stop Kim Jong Un from building a nuclear arsenal and instead focus on preventing its use.