Canadian October home sales dip, latest sign of cooling

TORONTO (Reuters) – Sales of existing homes in Canada fell in October from September and year-over-year sales were down as well, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Thursday in the latest signal that the housing market is slowing.

The industry group for Canadian real estate agents said sales were down 0.1 percent in October from September. Actual sales for October, not seasonally adjusted, were down 0.8 percent from a year earlier.

The housing market, which roared higher in 2011 and the first half of 2012, started to slow after the government tightened rules on mortgage lending in July in a bid to cool the market and prevent home buyers from taking on too much debt.

“Housing market trends in Canada for 2012 can be characterized as before and after regulatory changes,” TD Economics senior economist Sonya Gulati said in a research note.

“In the first half of the year, sales and price gains were modest, but positive. More stringent mortgage rules and tighter mortgage underwriting rules have ‘purposely’ knocked the wind out of the housing market sails,” she said.

The home sales data showed diverging paths in Canadian housing depending on location. In Toronto and Vancouver, where sales and price gains were red hot in 2011 and early in 2012, the market has been cooling. But markets in the resource-rich western provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta have been gaining strength.

“Opinions differ about how sharply sales have slowed depending on the local housing market,” Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Led by Calgary, sales in October were up from a year earlier in almost two-thirds of local markets. Sales remained blow year-earlier levels in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, CREA said.

“These results suggest that the Canadian housing market overall has returned to a more sustainable pace,” Klump said.

CREA’s Home Price Index rose 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier, the sixth consecutive month in which gains in prices slowed, and the slowest rate of increase since May 2011.

While tighter mortgage rules have worked to slow the market, TD’s Gulati said the big question is what will happen when that temporary cooling effect wears off in early 2013.

“What happens thereafter is less certain. The low interest rate environment could pull homeowners back onto the market, causing home prices to once again trek upwards. Alternatively, an absence of pent-up demand may leave the market in a bit of a lull until interest rate hikes resume in late 2013,” she wrote.

“Under either scenario, it is safe to say that there is a low probability of out-sized home price gains over the near-term.”

A total of 402,322 homes traded hands via Canadian MLS systems over the first 10 months of 2012, up 0.8 percent from the same period last year and 0.4 percent below the 10-year average for the period, the data showed.

The number of newly listed homes fell 3.8 percent in October following a jump in September. Monthly declines were reported in almost two-thirds of local markets, with Toronto and Vancouver exerting a large influence on the national trend.

Nationally, there were 6.5 months of inventory at the end of October, little changed from the reading of 6.4 months at the end of September.

(Editing by Peter Galloway)

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Analysis: New Microsoft mantra after Sinofsky – teamwork

SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The sudden departure of powerful Windows boss Steven Sinofsky this week is the first step in a plan by CEO Steve Ballmer to remodel Microsoft Corp as a much more integrated operation in an attempt to take on Apple Inc and Google Inc at their own game.

After nearly 13 years at the helm of the world’s largest software maker, which just launched its first own-brand computer, sources inside the company say Sinofsky‘s departure signals Ballmer‘s new-found focus on co-operation between its self-sufficient – and sometimes warring – units.

“What I’m hearing over and over is collaboration and horizontal integration is the new mantra,” said one Microsoft insider, who asked not to be named. “They (top management) understand that, if they don’t move to a model where devices and software are more integrated across the entire Microsoft system, they are in a weak position.”

After floundering for most of the last decade, Microsoft is trying emulate the way Apple‘s software and hardware – such as iTunes and the iPhone – work perfectly together; or how Google‘s online suite from Web search to YouTube and Gmail are seamlessly joined.

Microsoft – which Ballmer rechristened as a “devices and services company” last month – has all the parts, analysts say, but has failed to put them together. Now Ballmer looks set to reshape the company to try to make that a reality.

“I certainly expect the org chart to look a lot different six months from now,” said Brad Silverberg, who ran the Windows unit during its massive growth spurt in the 1990s. “There will be attrition from Steven’s (Sinofsky’s) people and Steve Ballmer will have a chance to create a more harmonious organization.”

Ballmer replaced Sinofsky with two executives with a reputation for co-operation. The move marks the third time in the last few years that Ballmer has replaced a single unit head with two leaders sharing responsibilities.

“Sinofsky really centralized all the power under himself. We’ll see how it shakes out from here,” said one manager in the Windows unit.

More fundamental organizational shifts could be in the cards.

“A lot of things are up for grabs,” said David Smith at tech research firm Gartner. “How the management is structured – there could be more changes.”

NO ROOM FOR AN EMPIRE BUILDER

Sinofsky, a 23-year Microsoft veteran, built up a walled empire around his Windows unit.

His hard-charging but methodical style, which took on the name “Sinofskyization,” alienated other groups in the company, especially the Office unit, the other financial pillar of Microsoft‘s success.

“Steven is a brilliant guy who made tremendous contributions to Microsoft,” said Silverberg. “But he was also a polarizing guy and the antibodies ultimately caught up with him.”

The decision not to share the latest internal test versions of Windows 8 and keep the Surface tablet a secret until just before its announcement especially upset the Office group, which insiders say accounts for the lack of a fully featured Office suite on the Surface RT tablet.

“All good leaders create friction, but my guess is the cost of doing business with Sinofsky ended up outweighing the benefits,” said a former Microsoft staffer who saw Sinofsky operate at close quarters.

“If you work in Steven’s team, you love him,” said a former colleague who now works for a financial technology firm in Seattle. “If he’s outside of your team? That’s where his reputation of being hard to work with came from.”

Ballmer has made it clear that executives have to work together better. Next year, top managers will get bonuses based on company-wide performance, not just their own unit, which Ballmer hopes will lead to “deeper cross-organization collaboration.”

But there is no guarantee Ballmer can radically redirect almost four decades of culture at Microsoft – which he is partly responsible for – that gave Windows primacy and intentionally pitted teams against one another to get the best results.

Nothing will change without new leaders from outside the company, said Trip Chowdhry, managing director at Global Equities Research.

“Microsoft is clinging to the past and they keep bringing in the people from the past. This is a fundamental flaw in the logic,” Chowdhry said.

CEO THRONE

Despite urging collaboration, Ballmer – a 32-year Microsoft veteran who took over as CEO from Bill Gates in 2000 – does not let any junior executive get too close to challenging his authority.

Sinofsky, widely touted as Ballmer’s successor for the past three years, was just the latest in a line of would-be CEOs. Over the last five years alone, Ballmer has seen off a clutch of rising stars that were discussed as potential leaders.

Windows and online head Kevin Johnson went to run Juniper Networks Inc, Office chief Stephen Elop went to lead phone maker Nokia, while Ray Ozzie – the software guru Bill Gates designated as Microsoft‘s big-picture thinker – left to start his own project.

“They’ve gone through quite a bit of senior management talent in the past few years. The bench is not what it used to be,” said Smith at Gartner. “The overall management structure, career path, replacements, succession planning – a lot of that is an issue for Microsoft.”

Ballmer’s promotion of Julie Larson-Green and Tami Reller to jointly fill Sinofsky’s role may only be temporary, Microsoft-watchers say.

“The question is what comes after, like in the next three years,” said Rob Helm at Directions on Microsoft, an independent firm that advises business customers on how to deal with Microsoft.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby in Seattle and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco.; Editing by Edward Tobin, Martin Howell and Andre Grenon)

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“Gangnam Style” song channels New Yorkers’ power woes

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Move over Psy. The next hot thing – at least on Long Island, New York – is a music video parodying the South Korean rapper and dancer’s blockbuster hit, “Gangnam Style.”

While the locally produced “LIPA Style” may not attract millions of YouTube views, it’s channeling the frustration of thousands of disgruntled New Yorkers, many of whom went weeks without power after Sandy slammed the East Coast last month.

“There’s been this outpouring of thanks,” said John “Online” Mingione, a correspondent for a Long Island radio station, who created the video after going more than week without power.

After watching the video, people “are saying this is the first time they’ve been able to smile in weeks,” said Mingione.

The response to the cleanup by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) has resulted in lawsuits and investigations. The chief operating officer of the state-owned utility also quit under fire for the company’s slow response in restoring power.

Mingione, 23, did not initially mind going without power at his Long Island home. But after five days, the food and friends were gone, and he started to get lonely and bored. A colleague came up with the idea for the song, which was inspired by thousands of complaints the station – WBLI/106.1 FM – received from listeners.

In less than a week, the video with its lyrics about life without power, pleas for help from LIPA and absurd dance moves performed by Mingione and two co-workers in faux LIPA uniforms with a local 5-year-old has been viewed more than 250,000 times on YouTube.

Mingione’s favorite line: “I’m running out of formula, my baby won’t stop crying” which included footage with a co-worker’s infant son.

“I know they’re working their hardest,” he said. “It’s not the linemen’s fault, but at this point it’s ridiculous that people are still without power.”

(Reporting by Jilian Mincer; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Jackie Frank)

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Israel holding fire during Egypt premier's visit to Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel offered to suspend its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday during a brief visit by Egypt's premier there if militants refrain from firing rockets at Israel, an official said, but the Palestinians unleashed a fresh salvo.

An official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader was responding to an Egyptian request.

Gaza militants stepped up their barrages of rocket fire into Israel as Hesham Kandil crossed into Gaza before midday through the only border post with Egypt, heavily guarded by Egyptian security personnel wearing flak jackets and carrying assault rifles.

He was greeted by Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, who ventured out in public for the first time since Israel launched the offensive Wednesday by assassinating the militant group's military commander.

Israel told the Egyptians the military "would hold its fire on the condition that during that period, there won't be hostile fire from Gaza into Israel," the Israeli official said. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is committed to the peace treaty with Egypt, which is in the strategic interest of both countries," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic exchange.

There were no immediate reports of Israeli retaliation for the latest salvo. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the militants were making a clear statement. "There's no intention whatsoever to stop firing into Israel," he said.

Three days of fierce fighting between Israel and Gaza militants has widened the instability gripping the region, straining already frayed Israel-Egypt relations. The Cairo government recalled its ambassador in protest.

Egypt said Kandil's three-hour visit Friday was meant as a show of solidarity with the Palestinian territory's militant Hamas rulers.

Egyptian intelligence officials involved in negotiations to end previous rounds of fighting are accompanying Kandil on his visit, an Egyptian diplomat said, suggesting it was more than a display of support.

The diplomat said Gaza militants have told Egyptian intelligence officials they would be willing to hold their fire if Israel would commit to mediation to stop its military operation and targeted killings.

Word of the possible pause in the fighting came after a night of fierce exchanges and signals that Israel might be preparing to invade Gaza. Overnight, the military said it targeted about 150 of the sites Gaza gunmen use to fire rockets at Israel, as well as ammunition warehouses, bringing to 450 the number of sites struck since the operation began Wednesday.

Israeli troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers massed near the Palestinian territory, signaling a ground invasion might be imminent.

Militants unleashed dozens of rocket barrages overnight.

Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply Thursday with a first-ever rocket attack from Gaza on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel's most densely populated area. No casualties were reported there, but three people died in the country's rocket-scarred south when a projectile slammed into an apartment building.

The death toll in Gaza was 19, including five children, according to Palestinian health officials.

Early Friday, 85 missiles exploded within 45 minutes in Gaza City, sending black pillars of smoke towering above the coastal strip's largest city. The military said it was targeting underground rocket-launching sites.

One missile flattened sections of the Interior Ministry, leaving a huge pile of rubble, and another hit an uninhabited house belonging to a senior Hamas commander. Those strikes, together with an attack on a generator building near Haniyeh's home, signaled that Israel was expanding its offensive beyond military targets.

Ten-month-old Haneen Tafesh was killed Thursday when flying shrapnel from an air attack on a field next to her family's shack struck her in the head.

"What did she do? Did she fire any rockets?" asked her 23-year-old father, Khaled Tafesh, as he waited outside the Shifa hospital morgue in Gaza City, waiting for the funeral of his only child to begin.

Israel and Hamas had largely observed an informal truce since Israel's devastating incursion into Gaza four years ago, but rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes on militant operations continued sporadically.

The Israeli offensive has not deterred the militants from firing more than 400 rockets aimed at southern Israel, the military said. On Thursday, they also unleashed for the first time the most powerful weapons in their arsenal — Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

The two rockets that struck closest to Tel Aviv appear to have landed in the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said, and another hit an open area on Tel Aviv's southern outskirts.

No injuries were reported, but the rocket fire sowed panic in Tel Aviv and made the prospect of a ground incursion more likely. The government later approved the mobilization of up to 30,000 reservists for a possible invasion.

Netanyahu said the army was hitting Hamas hard with what he called surgical strikes, and warned of a "significant widening" of the Gaza operation. Israel will "continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people," said Netanyahu, who is up for re-election in January.

At least 12 trucks were seen transporting tanks and armored personnel carriers toward Gaza late Thursday, and buses carrying soldiers headed toward the border area.

An Israeli ground offensive could be costly to both sides. In the last Gaza war, Israel devastated parts of the territory, setting back Hamas' fighting capabilities but also paying the price of increasing diplomatic isolation because of a civilian death toll numbering in the hundreds.

In the current round of fighting, the civilian casualties have been relatively low and the Israeli strikes seem to be more surgical.

In other ways, the latest hostilities are reminiscent of the first days of that three-week offensive against Hamas. Israel also caught Hamas off guard then with a barrage of missile strikes and threatened to follow up with a ground offensive.

Since then, Israel has improved its missile defense systems, but it is facing a more heavily armed Hamas. Israel estimates the militants have 12,000 rockets, including more sophisticated weapons from Iran and from Libyan stockpiles plundered after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime there last year.

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Laub reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

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Rising obesity strains Europe’s shrinking health budgets

LONDON (Reuters) – More than half of Europeans are obese or overweight, adding significant pressure to healthcare costs at a time when spending is being cut by governments, the OECD and European Commission said on Friday.

On average across the European Union, health spending per capita rose by 4.6 percent a year in real terms between 2000 and 2009, but fell 0.6 percent in 2010.

In a report on health across the 27-nation bloc, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Brussels-based Commission, said 52 percent of adults in the EU are now overweight or obese.

The report blamed physical inactivity and the widespread availability of energy-dense, sugary and fatty foods.

In 18 countries out of the 27 member states, the proportion of overweight and obese adults now exceeds 50 percent and the obesity rate, at 17 percent on average across the region, has doubled since 1990 in many countries.

“(The rise) is a major public health concern,” the report said. “Because obesity is associated with higher risks of chronic illnesses, it is linked to significant additional healthcare costs.”

The report noted that the growing cost burden coincided with governments around Europe cutting spending to reduce the debts left over from the 2008 financial crisis.

“Spending had already started to fall in 2009 in countries hardest hit by the economic crisis,” it said. “But this was followed by deeper cuts in 2010 in response to growing budgetary pressures and rising debt-to-GDP ratios.”

As a result, EU members spent an average of 9.0 percent of their GDP on health in 2010, up from 7.3 percent in 2000, but down from a peak of 9.2 percent in 2009.

The Netherlands was the highest, devoting 12 pct of its gross domestic product to health in 2010, followed by France and Germany, both at 11.6 percent.

The rate of obesity in France is close to twice what it was in 1990 but at 12.9 percent it is still less than half the rate in Britain of 26.1 percent.

The risk of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, asthma, arthritis and some forms of cancer is increased by obesity.

Although it was affecting all populations, obesity tended to be worse among the poor and less well educated, and was more prevalent in women than men.

People with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 30 are classed as overweight while those at 30 or higher are obese. BMI is formula of weight and height that differs slightly depending on whether it is done in kilograms and meters or pounds and inches.

Despite the fall in health spending, life expectancy in the EU continued to rise and stood at an average 79 years in 2010, up more than six years since 1980.

This was driven by improved living and working conditions as well as better access to higher quality healthcare.

But Yves Leterme, the OECD Deputy Secretary-General, and Paola Testori Coggi, head of the Commission’s directorate for health, had a warning for EU governments.

“If the report does not yet show any worsening health outcomes due to the crisis, there is no cause for complacency – it takes time for poor social conditions or poor quality care to take its toll from people’s health,” they said in a joint foreword to the report.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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Canada’s Carney says rate hikes “less imminent”

TORONTO (Reuters) – Interest rate hikes have become less imminent than the Bank of Canada once expected, although rates are still likely to rise, central bank Governor Mark Carney said in an interview published on Saturday.

“Over time, rates are likely to increase somewhat, but over time, so a less imminent timing relative to our expectation,” Carney said in an interview with the National Post newspaper.

Canada’s economy rebounded better than most from the global economic recession, and the Bank of Canada is the only central bank in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that is currently hinting at higher interest rates.

But Carney has also made clear that there will be no rate rise for a while, despite high domestic borrowing rates that he sees as a major risk to a still fragile economy.

“We’ve been very clear in terms of lines of defense in addressing financial vulnerabilities,” he said in the interview. “And the most prominent one, obviously, in Canada, is household debt.”

He said the bank was monitoring the impact of four successive government moves to tighten mortgage lending, which aimed to take the froth out of a hot housing market without causing a damaging crash in prices.

A Reuters poll published on Friday showed the majority of 20 forecasters believe the government has done enough to rein in runaway prices, preventing the type of crash that devastated the U.S. market.

The experts expect Canadian housing prices to fall 10 percent over the next several years, but they do not expect the recent property boom to end in a U.S.-style collapse.

(Reporting by Janet Guttsman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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RIM to offer free voice calls over Wi-Fi with BBM

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry users will soon be able to make free voice calls over a Wi-Fi network using the popular BBM messaging service.

Research In Motion Ltd. announced Wednesday that it’s adding the feature to BBM. Users will be able to switch back and forth from a text chat to a voice call. A split-screen option will let them talk and text at the same time.

The new feature is a free update for existing customers and comes months before RIM introduces its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, which are seen critical to RIM’s survival.

RIM made a surprise disclosure in its most recent earnings report in announcing that the number of subscribers grew, thanks in part to emerging markets and its popular BBM service. It’s struggling in North America as customers migrate to flashier iPhones and Android phone.

RIM stopped short of offering the BBM voice feature over wireless carriers’ own cellular networks. Doing so would have potentially created more congestion on cellular data networks and deprive carriers of revenue for voice calls. With the new feature, the free calls are limited to times and places where Wi-Fi is available.

The Canadian company said the BBM voice feature is especially attractive for developing markets. Unlike regular texts, BBM messages are not charged on a per-text basis.

Although RIM is struggling in North America, the BlackBerry continues to sell well in such markets as South Africa, Nigeria and Indonesia.

The BBM service has long been a reason for BlackBerry users to not defect to other smartphones but there are rival messaging services.

RIM said the BBM voice update is currently available for BlackBerry smartphones running the BlackBerry 6 operating system or higher, with plans for BlackBerry 5 later. RIM’s latest phones run the 7 operating system. The next version, BlackBerry 10, will come soon after a Jan. 30 launch event.

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Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter arrested after suspected drug overdose

(Reuters) – Rock star Jon Bon Jovi‘s daughter was arrested in New York state on Wednesday on drug possession charges following a suspected heroin overdose, local police said.

Stephanie Bongiovi, 19, was found unresponsive in a dormitory room at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York from an alleged overdose and taken to a local medical facility, according to the Town of Kirkland Police Department.

Heroin and marijuana were found in the dorm room during a search, police said.

Bongiovi was later booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), marijuana possession and criminal use of drug paraphernalia. She has since been released, police said.

Representatives of the singer declined to comment.

Police said Ian S. Grant, 21, a student who was in the same room as Bongiovi, was also charged with possession of a controlled substance (heroin) and later released. Both Bongiovi and Grant will appear in court at a later date.

Hamilton College declined to comment on the arrests or Bongiovi’s health but said it is cooperating with the police investigation.

Bongiovi is the oldest of four children of rocker Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Hurley.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Kenneth Barry)

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Sources: BP to pay record fine for Gulf Coast disaster

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BP Plc is expected to pay a record U.S. criminal penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster through a plea deal reached with the Department of Justice (DoJ) that may be announced as soon as Thursday, according to sources familiar with discussions.

Three sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said BP would plead guilty in exchange for a waiver of future prosecution on the charges.

BP confirmed it was in "advanced discussions" with the DoJ and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

The talks were about "proposed resolutions of all U.S. federal government criminal and SEC claims against BP in connection with the Deepwater Horizon incident," it said in a statement on Thursday, but added that no final agreements had been reached.

The discussion do not cover federal civil claims, both BP and the sources said.

London-based oil giant BP has been locked in months-long negotiations with the U.S. government and Gulf Coast states to settle billions of dollars of potential civil and criminal liability claims resulting from the April 20, 2010, explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig.

The sources did not disclose the amount of BP's payment, but one said it would be the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history. That record is now held by Pfizer Inc, which paid a $1.3 billion fine in 2009 for marketing fraud related to its Bextra pain medicine.

The DoJ declined to comment.

The deal could resolve a significant share of the liability that BP faces after the explosion killed 11 workers and fouled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states in the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. BP, which saw its market value plummet and replaced its CEO in the aftermath of the spill, still faces economic and environmental damage claims sought by U.S. Gulf Coast states and other private plaintiffs.

The fine would far outstrip BP's last major settlement with the DoJ in 2007, when it payed about $373 million to resolve three separate probes into a deadly 2005 Texas refinery explosion, an Alaska oil pipeline leak and fraud for conspiring to corner the U.S. propane market.

The massive settlement, which comes a week after the U.S. presidential election, could ignite a debate in Congress about how funds would be shared with Gulf Coast states, depending on how the deal is structured. Congress passed a law last year that would earmark 80 percent of BP penalties paid under the Clean Water Act to the spill-hit states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas.

POTENTIAL LIABILITY

In an August filing, the DoJ said "reckless management" of the Macondo well "constituted gross negligence and willful misconduct" which it intended to prove at a civil trial set to begin in New Orleans in February 2013. The U.S. government has not yet filed any criminal charges in the case.

Given that the deal will not resolve any civil charges brought by the Justice Department, it is also unclear how large a financial penalty BP might pay to resolve the charges, or other punishments that BP might face.

Negligence is a central issue to BP's potential liability. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21 billion in a straight-line calculation.

Still unresolved is potential liability faced by Swiss-based Transocean Ltd, owner of the Deepwater Horizon vessel, and Halliburton Co, which provided cementing work on the well that U.S. investigators say was flawed. Both companies were not immediately available for comment.

According to the Justice Department, errors made by BP and Transocean in deciphering a pressure test of the Macondo well are a clear indication of gross negligence.

"That such a simple, yet fundamental and safety-critical test could have been so stunningly, blindingly botched in so many ways, by so many people, demonstrates gross negligence," the government said in its August filing.

Transocean in September disclosed it is in discussions with the Justice Department to pay $1.5 billion to resolve civil and criminal claims.

The mile-deep Macondo well spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days. The torrent fouled shorelines from Texas to Florida and eclipsed in severity the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.

BP has already announced an uncapped class-action settlement with private plaintiffs that the company estimates will cost $7.8 billion to resolve litigation brought by over 100,000 individuals and businesses claiming economic and medical damages from the spill.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Callus in London; Editing by Edward Tobin and David Stamp)

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Congress, Obama face dynamite in “fiscal cliff”: CEOs

BOSTON (Reuters) – Corporate America is raising the volume of its plea that the U.S. government avert a year-end “fiscal cliff” that could send the nation back into recession, but chief executives aren’t pushing the panic button just yet.

With a heated election season in the rear-view mirror, executives are calling on the White House and congressional leaders to head off a self-imposed deadline that could bring $ 600 billion in spending cuts and higher taxes early in 2013 if they are unable to reach a deal on cutting the federal budget deficit.

The Business Roundtable on Tuesday kicked off a print, radio and online ad campaign on which it plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars featuring the chiefs of Honeywell International Inc , Xerox Corp and United Parcel Service Inc calling on lawmakers to resolve the issue.

In an opinion piece published on Tuesday evening on the Wall Street Journal’s website, Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein urged the business community and the Obama administration to compromise and reconcile so as not to derail the fragile recovery.

One of the more dramatic warnings of the consequences of allowing the U.S. economy to go over the fiscal cliff came from Honeywell CEO David Cote.

“If the last debt ceiling discussion was playing with fire, this time they’re playing with nitroglycerin,” Cote said in an interview. “If they go off the cliff, I think it would spark a recession that’s a lot bigger than economists think. Some think it would just be a small fire. I think it could turn into a conflagration.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the U.S. economy would contract 0.5 percent in 2013 if the government fails to stop the budget cuts and tax increases – far below the 2 percent growth economists currently forecast.

A failure in Washington to solve the crisis by the year’s end could prompt major companies to curtail investment plans, said Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext , operator of the New York Stock Exchange.

“We simply won’t be investing in the United States. We will be investing elsewhere where we have more certainty of the outcome,” Niederauer said in an interview.

About a dozen top U.S. CEOs, including General Electric Co’s Jeff Immelt, Aetna Inc’s Mark Bertolini, American Express Co’s Ken Chenault and Dow Chemical Co’s Andrew Liveris are scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

The four are members of “Fix the Debt,” an ad-hoc lobbying organization that this week launched an advertising campaign that advocates long-term debt reduction.

UNCERTAINTY FACTOR

Bank of America Corp CEO Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday that worries about the cliff have companies holding off on spending.

“That uncertainty continues to hold back the recovery,” Moynihan said, speaking at an investor conference in New York.

Sandy Cutler, CEO of manufacturer Eaton Corp , shared his concern.

“Until we solve the fiscal issues (in the United States and Europe), you’re not going to get back to normal GDP growth,” Cutler told investors on Tuesday.

CEOs are not alone in this worry. The CBO report warned that failure to reach a deal could push the U.S. unemployment rate up to 9.1 percent, the highest since July 1991. It is currently 7.9 percent.

Obama and the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives have signaled a more conciliatory tone since last week’s election, when Obama soundly defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney, whose party retained a majority in the House.

Wilbur Ross, an investor known for taking stakes in distressed companies, is bracing for higher tax rates in 2013.

“We, like many people, have been trying to utilize gains this year. It does seem that the probability is that rates will go up,” Ross said in an interview with Reuters Insider. “We don’t have a “for sale” sign on anything. But we are mindful that there is a benefit to concluding things this year rather than next.

NO SIGNS OF PANIC

Concerns about the cliff have not prompted customers to cancel orders, though they have added to an overall level of uneasiness that has companies wary of making large capital purchases or hiring significant numbers of new workers.

“We haven’t seen the panicking, like, ‘I’m not going to order something because of the fiscal cliff,’” said Steve Shawley, chief financial officer of heating and cooling systems maker Ingersoll Rand Plc . “Customers are being very judicious with their orders.”

Likewise, JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon last month told investors he did not expect the negotiations to hurt lending in the fourth quarter.

“The fiscal cliff isn’t going to change us,” Dimon said, referring to JPMorgan’s commercial bank, which loans money to businesses. The bank’s investment banking side could be more vulnerable if the debate makes investors jittery, he allowed.

WEAPONS, MEDICINES IN THE CROSS-HAIRS

The defense and healthcare sectors are the most vulnerable to the fiscal cliff, as they face the threat of sequestration — automatic, across-the-board cuts to their funding.

Makers of weapons systems note that they have long been preparing for declining sales as the United States winds down two long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The industry has already shed tens of thousands of jobs and closed facilities.

Lockheed Martin Corp’s new president and chief operating officer, Marillyn Hewson, told analysts on Monday her company had been preparing for tighter defense budgets for years, even before the sequestration deal.

“We aren’t going to see a major change,” said Hewson. “We’ve been very proactive as a leadership team in taking actions in recent years to address our cost structure, to look at how we can make our product more affordable.”

Automatic cuts to the federal budget could reduce federal health spending by $ 21.5 billion in 2013, potentially affecting everything from Medicare to the Food and Drug Administration, according to an analysis by PwC’s Health Research Institute.

Vincent Forlenza, the CEO of Becton Dickinson & Co , said the labs he supplies have held off on buying new instruments because of the threat of spending cuts.

“If we don’t get to a deal we will have another year of paralysis and putting off research,” Forlenza said. “The impact of uncertainty on the (National Institutes of Health) budget is causing our research customers to put off research.”

(The story corrects spelling of company name in penultimate paragraph to “Becton Dickinson” instead of “Beckton Dickinson”)

(Additional reporting by John McCrank, Nick Zieminski, Caroline Humer, Jed Horowitz, Sharon Begley and Daniel Wilchins in New York, Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina, Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington, Debra Sherman in Chicago and Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Patricia Kranz and Steve Orlofsky and Carol Bishopric)

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Cellphones may get smaller Holiday lift: Gartner

(Reuters) – The pre-Christmas shopping season is likely to boost cellphone sales less that usual this year as a weaker global economy forces consumers to cut back, research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

“It will be a cautious quarter. Consumers are either cautious with their spending or finding new gadgets like tablets, as more attractive presents,” Gartner analysts said.

Gartner said sales of cellphones declined 3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, falling for the third quarter in a row, while sales of smartphones grew 47 percent.

Smartphone growth this year is boosted by strong demand in China, where annual sales will grow to 165-170 million from 78 million a year earlier, it said.

“There is huge growth coming from the Chinese market,” said Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta.

This is helping local players to climb in global cellphone rankings, with ZTE, Huawei and TCL now among the seven largest cellphone vendors globally, Gartner said.

Samsung Electronics continues to lead the global cellphone sales ranking, ahead of Nokia and Apple. In smartphone sales Nokia, which still lead the market early last year, dropped to No 7, Gartner said.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki)

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Liza Minnelli to guest star on TV musical drama “Smash”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Liza Minnelli will guest star on an episode of TV musical drama “Smash,” NBC said on Tuesday.

The singer and actress will play herself and sing a number in one episode of the show when it returns in February 2013. The series, starring Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and Katharine McPhee, dramatizes the backstage life of writers, producers and actors working to create a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe.

“Liza Minnelli is the essence of a multi-talented, singular show business sensation, particularly for her extraordinary contributions to Broadway,” Robert Greenblatt, the president of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement.

“So what could be more fitting than to have her legendary talent on a show that celebrates a world Liza has dazzled for decades?” he added

The daughter of director Vincente Minnelli and Hollywood legend Judy Garland, Minnelli, 66, is one of a handful of stars to have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award.

She is best-known for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the musical “Cabaret.” She is also expected to revive her role as Lucille on the upcoming fourth season of “Arrested Development,” which is slated to air on Netflix after being canceled by Fox in 2006.

NBC has moved the second season of “Smash” from Monday to Tuesday night, starting on February 5, 2013.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Jill Serjeant and Matthew Lewis)

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'Warrior monk' at center of growing scandal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marine Corps General John Allen, the soberly formal, spit-and-polish head of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, is not a military leader whose image immediately conjures up the word "flirtatious."

The four-star general, who succeeded General David Petraeus last year as head of the International Security Assistance Force, is known for his ability to work with tribal sheikhs, a skill that helped him turn the tide against al Qaeda in Anbar Province in Iraq five years ago and has served him well in Afghanistan.

So the news that Allen, a 36-year veteran of the Marine Corps, had been snared in the same investigation that prompted the resignation of Petraeus as CIA director last week was greeted with surprise at the Pentagon and elsewhere in Washington.

John Ullyot, who served under Allen at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in 1993, said he was all about "setting the example" for those under him and it was "hard for anyone who ever served under Allen" to believe he had been pulled into the probe.

Allen, who is married and has two daughters, "was known as a kind of warrior monk," said Ullyot, who was a spokesman for former U.S. Senator John Warner, a Republican who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Allen's connection to the probe that snared Petraeus was revealed early on Tuesday when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced he was putting Allen's nomination as head of U.S. European Command on hold pending an investigation.

A senior U.S. defense official said Panetta had asked the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate what the Pentagon called "inappropriate communication" between Allen and Jill Kelley, a Tampa, Florida socialite who is involved in volunteer causes that support the military.

Kelley is the woman who told the FBI she had received anonymous harassing emails about Petraeus. The FBI investigation into the emails uncovered an extramarital affair between Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, who was found to be the source of the emails to Kelley, officials have said.

The FBI investigation also uncovered 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails between or copied to Allen and Kelley. While defense officials were unable to say exactly how many emails there were between the two, the volume in pages raised concerns, they said.

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the emails were "flirtatious" in nature, but did not deal with security or military business. The official said he had not seen the emails and could not say whether they were merely friendly or sexually explicit.

The investigation came just two days before Allen, the first Marine to serve as Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, was to testify at a confirmation hearing naming him to replace Admiral James Stavridis as head of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

RECOMMENDED BY PETRAEUS

Allen and Petraeus have long known one another and served together. Allen was Petraeus' deputy at U.S. Central Command, based in Tampa.

Petraeus personally recommended Allen for the ISAF command. During Allen's confirmation hearing for the job, Senator John McCain told Allen he could "think of no higher compliment to pay a military officer" than to have the kind of support Petraeus had given him.

Allen has served as the head of ISAF since July 2011, managing the drawdown of U.S. forces following a surge that helped push Taliban insurgents out of major cities across the country.

His time in Afghanistan also has been marked by a spate of incidents that have enraged Afghans. They include video images of troops urinating on Taliban corpses and the burning of Korans and religious texts taken from a prison library. There also has been a surge in attacks on international forces by their Afghan partners.

Allen has handled the incidents with sensitivity, even as tensions have increased, his supporters say.

"I think General Allen has done a good job under very difficult circumstances in Afghanistan," said Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Armed Services Committee.

McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said he was surprised by the probe of Allen's emails and urged people to withhold judgment until the inspector general had finished his investigation.

"I have great respect and appreciation for the work that General Allen has done," he said. "If we fail in Afghanistan, which we are, it's because of decisions that were made by the president, not by General Allen."

"General Allen has said that he is not guilty of any improper behavior," McCain added. "He deserves to have us withhold judgment until the investigation is completed."

Allen, a 1976 Naval Academy graduate, served from 2008 to 2011 as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military dealings with countries from Egypt to Kazakhstan, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was a deputy commanding general of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq from 2006 to 2008.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell. Editing by Warren Strobel and Christopher Wilson)

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Bayer: 5 key drugs to have combined peak sales of 5.5 billion euro

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) – Bayer said its five most promising new drugs have an annual peak sales potential of more than 5.5 billion euros ($ 7 billion).

The sales forecast comprises anti-clotting pill Xarelto, ophthalmic drug Eylea, also calle VEGF Trap-Eye, anti-cancer products Alpharadin and Stivarga, as well as lung treatment riociguat.

Last year, Bayer said four of the drugs, excluding riociguat, would have a peak sales potential of more than 5 billion euros.

(Reporting by Frank Siebelt; Writing by Ludwig Burger)

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement issued to reporters aboard his aircraft, en route from Honolulu to Perth, Australia, that the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday.

Panetta said that he ordered a Pentagon investigation of Allen on Monday.

A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said Allen’s communications were with Jill Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., which is headquarters to the U.S. Central Command. She is not a U.S. government employee.

Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from Broadwell, who is Petraeus’ biographer and who had an extramarital affair with Petraeus that reportedly began after he became CIA director in September 2011.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday.

Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

The senior official, who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation, said Panetta believed it was prudent to launch a Pentagon investigation, although the official would not explain the nature of Allen’s problematic communications.

The official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Allen’s communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 are under review. He would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the emails.

“Gen. Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter,” the official said. He said Allen currently is in Washington.

Panetta said that while the matter is being investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, Allen will remain in his post as commander of the International Security Assistance Force, based in Kabul. He praised Allen as having been instrumental in making progress in the war.

The FBI’s decision to refer the Allen matter to the Pentagon rather than keep it itself, combined with Panetta’s decision to allow Allen to continue as Afghanistan commander without a suspension, suggested strongly that officials viewed whatever happened as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of federal criminal law.

Allen was Deputy Commander of Central Command, based in Tampa, prior to taking over in Afghanistan. He also is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In the meantime, Panetta said, Allen’s nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has been put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined.” He had been expected to take that new post in early 2013, if confirmed by the Senate, as had been widely expected.

Panetta said President Barack Obama was consulted and agreed that Allen’s nomination should be put on hold. Allen was to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Panetta said he asked committee leaders to delay that hearing.

NATO officials had no comment about the delay in Allen’s appointment.

“We have seen Secretary Panetta‘s statement,” NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. “It is a U.S. investigation.”

Panetta also said he wants the Senate Armed Services Committee to act promptly on Obama’s nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen as commander in Afghanistan. That nomination was made several weeks ago. Dunford’s hearing is also scheduled for Thursday.

___

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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Belize wants to quiz anti-computer virus guru McAfee in murder probe

BELIZE CITY (Reuters) – Police in Belize want to question U.S. anti-computer virus software pioneer John McAfee in connection with the murder of a neighbor he had been quarrelling with, but they say he remains a person of interest at this time and is not a suspect.

McAfee, who invented the anti-virus software that bears his name, has homes and businesses in Belize, and is believed to have settled in the country sometime around 2010.

“He is a person of interest at this time,” said Marco Vidal, head of Belize’s police Gang Suppression Unit. “It goes a bit beyond that, not just being a neighbor.”

Police officers were looking for the software engineer, said Miguel Segura, the assistant commissioner of police.

Asked if McAfee was a suspect, he said: “At this point, no. Our job … is to get all the evidence beyond reasonable doubt that Mr A is the one that killed Mr B.”

“He (McAfee) … can assist the investigation, so there is no arrest warrant for the fellow,” added Segura, who heads the Criminal Investigation Branch.

McAfee’s neighbor, Gregory Viant Faull, a 52-year-old American, was found on Sunday lying dead in a pool of blood after apparently being shot in the head.

McAfee has been embroiled in controversy in Belize before.

His premises were raided in May after he was accused of holding firearms, though most were found to be licensed. The final outcome of the case is pending.

McAfee also owns a security company in Belize as well as several properties and an ecological enterprise.

Reuters was unable to contact McAfee on Monday.

Segura said McAfee had been at odds with Faull for some time. He accused his neighbor of poisoning his dogs earlier this year and filed an official complaint.

“There was some conflict there between (them) … prior to the death of the gentleman,” Segura said. “But those dogs didn’t have a post mortem to see if the toxicology would confirm what type of poison, if any.”

McAfee previously accused the police Gang Suppression Unit of killing his dogs during the May raid.

McAfee was one of Silicon Valley’s first entrepreneurs to amass a fortune by building a business off the Internet.

The former Lockheed systems consultant started McAfee Associates in 1989, initially distributing its anti-virus software as “shareware” on Internet bulletin boards.

He took the company public in 1992 and left two years later following accusations that he had hyped the arrival of a virus known as Michelango, which turned out to be a dud, to scare computer users into buying his company’s products.

(Reporting by Simon Gardner and Gabriel Stargardter in Mexico City and Jim Finkle; Editing by Kieran Murray and Todd Eastham)

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Australia’s INXS calls it quits as touring band after 35 years

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian rock group INXS has called it quits as a live touring band after 35 years, thanking fans and honoring late frontman Michael Hutchence in a statement on Tuesday.

INXS, which sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, including more than 10 million alone of their 1987 breakthrough “Kick”, issued the statement after comments by band member Jon Farriss during a weekend performance sparked a frenzy on Twitter.

“We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually come to an end,” INXS members Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers said. “We have been performing as a band for 35 years, it’s time to step away from the touring arena.”

“Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that,” they added.

INXS was one of the biggest touring bands of the 1980s and 1990s, playing to 80,000 at Wembley Stadium in London and 120,000 in Rio De Janeiro.

But the death of charismatic lead singer Hutchence in 1997 was a major blow.

A U.S. TV talent show for a new frontman was won by Canadian J.D. Fortune, while Terence Trent D’Arby and Jon Stevens also had a turn at the microphone. Irishman Ciaran Gribbin was the last to take the role.

Farriss, the band’s drummer, set the Internet abuzz on Sunday night after he told the audience during a support performance for U.S. band Matchbox Twenty in Perth that it was the last time INXS would perform together. Saxophone player Pengilly later told a radio station the band was not breaking up.

The group declined to comment further on Tuesday.

(Reporting By Grace Williams, editing by Elaine Lies)

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Petraeus probe ensnares top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement issued to reporters aboard his aircraft, en route from Honolulu to Perth, Australia, that the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday.

Panetta said that he ordered a Pentagon investigation of Allen on Monday.

A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said Allen's communications were with Jill Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., which is headquarters to the U.S. Central Command. She is not a U.S. government employee.

Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from Broadwell, who is Petraeus' biographer and who had an extramarital affair with Petraeus that reportedly began after he became CIA director in September 2011.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday.

Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

The senior official, who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation, said Panetta believed it was prudent to launch a Pentagon investigation, although the official would not explain the nature of Allen's problematic communications.

The official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Allen's communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 are under review. He would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the emails.

"Gen. Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter," the official said. He said Allen currently is in Washington.

Panetta said that while the matter is being investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, Allen will remain in his post as commander of the International Security Assistance Force, based in Kabul. He praised Allen as having been instrumental in making progress in the war.

But the Allen investigation adds a new complication to an Afghan war effort that is at a particularly difficult juncture. Allen had just provided Panetta with options for how many U.S. troops to keep in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led coalition's combat mission ends in 2014. And he was due to give Panetta a recommendation soon on the pace of U.S. troop withdrawals in 2013.

The war has been largely stalemated, with little prospect of serious peace negotiations with the Taliban and questions about the Afghan government's ability to handle its own security after 2014.

At a photo session with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard shortly after he arrived in Perth, Panetta was asked by a reporter whether Allen could remain an effective commander in Kabul while under investigation. Panetta did not respond.

The FBI's decision to refer the Allen matter to the Pentagon rather than keep it itself, combined with Panetta's decision to allow Allen to continue as Afghanistan commander without a suspension, suggested strongly that officials viewed whatever happened as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of federal criminal law.

Allen was Deputy Commander of Central Command, based in Tampa, prior to taking over in Afghanistan. He also is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In the meantime, Panetta said, Allen's nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has been put on hold "until the relevant facts are determined." He had been expected to take that new post in early 2013, if confirmed by the Senate, as had been widely expected.

Allen was to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Panetta said he asked committee leaders to delay that hearing.

The senior defense official said Panetta has not talked to Allen about the investigation, nor has he discussed the matter with President Barack Obama, although he consulted with unspecified White House officials before making the decision to seek a postponement of Allen's confirmation hearing.

Panetta did talk about the Allen matter with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who happens to also be in Perth for a meeting of American and Australian diplomatic and defense officials. Those talks were starting Tuesday with an official dinner.

With a cloud over Allen's head, it was unclear Tuesday whether he would return to Kabul, even though Panetta said Allen would remain in command. The second-ranking American general in Afghanistan is Army Lt. Gen. James Terry.

NATO officials had no comment about the delay in Allen's appointment.

"We have seen Secretary Panetta's statement," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. "It is a U.S. investigation."

Panetta also said he wants the Senate Armed Services Committee to act promptly on Obama's nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen as commander in Afghanistan. That nomination was made several weeks ago. Dunford's hearing is also scheduled for Thursday.

___

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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Arseus makes three acquisitions, sees more this year

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgo-Dutch medical supplies firm Arseus has made three acquisitions in drug compounding and plans to announce more by the end of the year as it seeks to benefit from a growing trend of pharmacists mixing their own medicines.

The firm, which also sells dentist chairs and surgical equipment, said on Tuesday it has made acquisitions in Brazil, Colombia and Scandinavia worth around 16.5 million euros ($ 21 million) in total.

The firm is the only real global company that supplies ingredients for compounding, meaning it has become the consolidator in the sector.

“There are lots of opportunities and we are involved in numerous processes now, so we hope to announce a little bit more before the end of the year,” Chief Executive Ger van Jeveren told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He said the company has 75 million euros in cash that is still available for acquisitions.

Arseus said the three added companies would generate a combined annual revenue of 12 million euros, with a 25 percent core profit margin.

The acquisitions are to be consolidated from Nov 1. ($ 1 = 0.7867 euros)

(Reporting By Ben Deighton; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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Clarke’s 218 puts Australia on front foot

BRISBANE (Reuters) – Australia captain Michael Clarke scored a brilliant unbeaten double century to give the hosts a remarkable 37-run first innings lead on the fourth day of the first test against South Africa on Monday.

Supported first by a maiden century from opener Ed Cowan in a record stand of 259, and then by Mike Hussey‘s 86 not out, Clarke’s 218 helped lift Australia from 40 for three when he took to the crease on Sunday to 487 for four when stumps were drawn.

It was Clarke’s sixth test century, and his third double hundred, in the 15 tests since he was named captain last year in the wake of the Ashes humiliation and Australia’s quarter-final exit at the World Cup.

Although by no means a chanceless knock, the 31-year-old played with patience when South Africa’s vaunted pacemen got anything out of the Gabba track before punishing anything loose with some fine shot-making.

When he carried his bat back to the pavilion at the end of the day to the raucous cheers of a sparse crowd at the famous Brisbane ground, Clarke had faced 350 balls over 504 minutes and scored 21 fours.

“I’m very happy with that,” Clarke, who accumulated his 1,000 test run of the year during the innings, said in an interview on the boundary.

“I didn’t feel great at the start and I think Ed Cowan batted beautifully.

“We’re in a great position with a 30-odd lead. I’d like another 70 odd runs in the morning and then I want to have a crack with the ball. We’ll see what happens.”

Cowan departed for 136 in heartbreaking fashion just before tea, run out at the non-striker’s end when Dale Steyn got a finger to a Clarke drive that hit the stumps and the opener was caught out of his crease backing up.

RECORD PARTNERSHIP

His partnership with Clarke was an Australian record for the fourth wicket at the Gabba, beating the 245 Clarke and Mike Hussey made against Sri Lanka in 2007.

Cowan’s wicket was the only wicket to fall on the day and Hussey started pouring on the runs as if determined to get the record back for his own partnership with his captain.

The 37-year-old bucked his poor recent form against South Africa by reaching his half century off just 68 balls with a drive through long-off and was closing on a century of his own when play ended.

It was Hussey’s cut four off Morne Morkel with which Australia overhauled South Africa’s first innings tally of 450 and put themselves in with an unlikely chance of even winning a test which lost an entire day to rain on Saturday.

Clarke’s negotiation of the “nervous nineties” for his century had been fraught and he was nearly run out going for a second run that would have brought him to the hundred mark.

There were no such jitters on his approach to the two hundred mark, which he passed by slapping the ball through mid-on for two runs before giving the badge on his helmet another kiss.

Cowan’s century was a retort to those critics who have consistently questioned his place in the team since he made his debut in last year’s Melbourne test against India.

The 30-year-old lefthander reached the mark two overs after lunch by pulling a short Vernon Philander delivery for four to the square leg boundary, beginning his joyous celebrations before the ball hit the rope.

South Africa’s number one test ranking is on the line in the series, which continues with matches in Adelaide and Perth after Brisbane.

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Top 5 Apps Your Kids Will Love This Week

Chris Crowell is a veteran kindergarten teacher and contributing editor to Children’s Technology Review, a web-based archive of articles and reviews on apps, technology toys and video games. Download a free issue of CTR here.

[More from Mashable: 4 Tips for Finding a Job in Your Niche]

Spot the Dot

$ 3.99 Ages 3-up Overall rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars Why we like it: Spot the Dot turns a children’s book into a lively, engaging experience. Based on the book by David Carter, Spot the Dot is a “needle in the haystack” or “I Spy” type of app, where the same item — a small colored dot, is hidden in nine screens. Need to know: On some pages the dot is hidden in a moving illustration, and the dot moves around, extending the utility of this app, despite the limited number of pages. This is a great app for a group of children to play together. Ease of use: 9/10 Educational: 10/10 Entertaining: 9/10

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Scientists Use Their Braaaaains to Find Perfect Product Tester [SUNDAY COMICS]]

If you’re getting in the mood for the holiday season, A Charlie Brown Christmas is one app that both kids and nostalgic parents are sure to enjoy. And while you’re sharing, why not stretch your brain and see if you remember those isosceles triangles and quadrilaterals as well as your kids do. Those are just some of the apps in store for you this week!

The folks at Children’s Technology Review shared with us these five top apps from their comprehensive monthly database of kid-tested reviews. The site covers everything from math and counting to reading and phonics.

Check back next week for more Top Kids Apps from Children’s Technology Review.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Laughing in the storm: Comics don’t shy from Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) — Comedian Dave Attell told a packed house at the Comedy Cellar that New York after Superstorm Sandy had a familiar feel. “It was dark. Toilets were backing up. … It was pretty much like it always was.”

Another comic, Paul Mecurio, told the same crowd that he got so many calls from worried family members that he started making things up about how bad it was.

“I’m drinking my own urine to survive,” he joked.

New York’s comedy clubs, some of which had to shut down or go on generator power in the aftermath of the storm, dealt with a bad situation like they always have — by turning Sandy into a running punchline.

“If they’re going to do jokes on Sept. 12 about Sept. 11, then this thing isn’t going to slow us down,” said Vic Henley, the emcee of a show Oct. 28 at Gotham Comedy Club.

Sean Flynn, Gotham’s operating manager, said comics were including the storm in their acts but had to be careful nonetheless not to make people feel worse than they already did.

“There’s the old adage that tragedy plus time equals comedy. The variable is the time,” he said. Still, he added: “You can’t ignore the subject. That’s what comedy’s all about.”

The Comedy Cellar, a regular stop for decades for the country’s most notable comedians, was closed from Oct. 28 through Nov. 1, but reopened on Nov. 2 after a generator was brought in at a cost of several thousand dollars. Power didn’t return until the next day, and the crowds came with it.

Everyone has a bad case of cabin fever,” said Valerie Scott, the club’s manager.

Mecurio said he thought the joke was on him when he got a call from the Comedy Cellar saying the club was going ahead with its show even though there was no light in the West Village. He headed downtown from the Upper East Side, hitting dark streets after midtown.

“It’s pitch dark,” he said. “And there’s a room packed with people laughing. It was so surreal. … I’m calling it the generator show. It was a really cool thing.”

“You could feel there was something special about the show,” he said. “The audiences were tempered in their mood. You could tell something was up, something was in the air. I knew it was cathartic for people.”

He said a woman approached him after the show to thank him, saying: “You kind of brightened my day.”

Sometimes, comics used the storm to get a laugh at the expense of the crowd, like when Mark Normand looked down from the Comedy Cellar stage at a man with a thin beard.

“I like the beard,” he told him. “Is that because of Sandy? You couldn’t get your razor working?”

And Attell used Sandy to mock a heckler, telling him: “You must have been a load of laughs without power.”

At another point, Attell looked for positives in the storm.

“There’s nothing better than Doomsday sex,” he said.

Mecurio said he has made a point of including the storm and the havoc it caused whenever he takes the stage.

“I feel like as a comedian in the spirit of social satire, it’s what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “It’s the elephant in the room. How do you not do it?”

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Congress wants answers on Petraeus affair

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress said Sunday they want to know more details about the FBI investigation that revealed an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren't told sooner.

"We received no advanced notice. It was like a lightning bolt," said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The FBI was investigating harassing emails sent by Petraeus biographer and girlfriend Paula Broadwell to a second woman. That probe of Broadwell's emails revealed the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus. The FBI contacted Petraeus and other intelligence officials, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asked Petraeus to resign.

A senior U.S. military official identified the second woman as Jill Kelley, 37, who lives in Tampa, Fla., and serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where the military's Central Command and Special Operations Command are located.

Staffers for Petraeus said Kelley and her husband were regular guests at events he held at Central Command headquarters.

In a statement Sunday evening, Kelley and her husband, Scott, said: "We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children."

A U.S. official said the coalition countries represented at Central Command gave Kelley an appreciation certificate on which she was referred to as an "honorary ambassador" to the coalition, but she has no official status and is not employed by the U.S. government.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly, said Kelley is known to drop the "honorary" part and refer to herself as an ambassador.

The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation, said Kelley had received harassing emails from Broadwell, which led the FBI to examine her email account and eventually discover her relationship with Petraeus.

A former associate of Petraeus confirmed the target of the emails was Kelley, but said there was no affair between the two, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the retired general's private life. The associate, who has been in touch with Petraeus since his resignation, says Kelley and her husband were longtime friends of Petraeus and wife, Holly.

Attempts to reach Kelley were not immediately successful. Broadwell did not return phone calls or emails.

Petraeus resigned while lawmakers still had questions about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate and CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Lawmakers said it's possible that Petraeus will still be asked to appear on Capitol Hill to testify about what he knew about the U.S. response to that incident.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the circumstances of the FBI probe smacked of a cover-up by the White House.

"It seems this (the investigation) has been going on for several months and, yet, now it appears that they're saying that the FBI didn't realize until Election Day that General Petraeus was involved. It just doesn't add up," said King, R-N.Y.

Petraeus, 60, quit Friday after acknowledging an extramarital relationship. He has been married 38 years to Holly Petraeus, with whom he has two adult children, including a son who led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan as an Army lieutenant.

Broadwell, a 40-year-old graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and an Army Reserve officer, is married with two young sons.

Petraeus' affair with Broadwell will be the subject of meetings Wednesday involving congressional intelligence committee leaders, FBI deputy director Sean Joyce and CIA deputy director Michael Morell.

Petraeus had been scheduled to appear before the committees on Thursday to testify on the attack in Benghazi. Republicans and some Democrats have questioned the U.S. response and protection of diplomats stationed overseas.

Morell was expected to testify in place of Petraeus, and lawmakers said he should have the answers to their questions. But Feinstein and others didn't rule out the possibility that Congress will compel Petraeus to testify about Benghazi at a later date, even though he's relinquished his job.

"I don't see how in the world you can find out what happened in Benghazi before, during and after the attack if General Petraeus doesn't testify," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Graham, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants to create a joint congressional committee to investigate the U.S. response to that attack.

Feinstein said she first learned of Petraeus' affair from the media late last week, and confirmed it in a phone call Friday with Petraeus. She eventually was briefed by the FBI and said so far there was no indication that national security was breached.

Still, Feinstein called the news "a heartbreak" for her personally and U.S. intelligence operations, and said she didn't understand why the FBI didn't give her a heads up as soon as Petraeus' name emerged in the investigation.

"We are very much able to keep things in a classified setting," she said. "At least if you know, you can begin to think and then to plan. And, of course, we have not had that opportunity."

Clapper was told by the Justice Department of the Petraeus investigation at about 5 p.m. on Election Day, and then called Petraeus and urged him to resign, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

FBI officials say the committees weren't informed until Friday, one official said, because the matter started as a criminal investigation into harassing emails sent by Broadwell to another woman.

Concerned that the emails he exchanged with Broadwell raised the possibility of a security breach, the FBI brought the matter up with Petraeus directly, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Petraeus decided to quit, though he was breaking no laws by having an affair, officials said.

Feinstein said she has not been told the precise relationship between Petraeus and the woman who reported the harassing emails to the FBI.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, called Petraeus "a great leader" who did right by stepping down and still deserves the nation's gratitude. He also didn't rule out calling Petraeus to testify on Benghazi at some point.

"He's trying to put his life back together right now and that's what he needs to focus on," Chambliss said.

King appeared on CNN's "State of the Union." Feinstein was on "Fox News Sunday," Graham spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation," and Chambliss was interviewed on ABC's "This Week."

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Associated Press writers Michele Salcedo, Pete Yost and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

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