বুধবার, ৩০ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

Private-sector jobs soar, payrolls forecasts rise (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Companies created the most jobs in nearly a year in November, adding to cautious optimism that the country's battered labor market is working its way toward healing.

Better-than-expected housing and regional factory data released on Wednesday reinforced the view that the economy should avoid recession, though growth is unlikely to be brisk.

"All of this confirms the economy, after slowing in the late spring and early summer, is back firmly at its 2 (percent) to 2.5 percent growth rate," said Steve Blitz, senior economist at ITG Investment Research in New York.

Even so, Blitz added, "Firstly, I need to temper the enthusiasm that these numbers indicate that economic growth is accelerating, and secondly, it's still a very dangerous world out there."

Central banks around the world addressed some of that danger on Wednesday as they acted jointly to provide cheaper dollar liquidity to European banks facing a credit crunch.

The credit crisis in the euro zone is one of the biggest dangers to the U.S. economic recovery that is still highly sensitive to shocks.

Janet Yellen, the vice chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said earlier in the week the central bank still has room to ease monetary policy further. The Fed has bought more than $2 trillion in long-term securities in efforts to boost the economy.

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ON JOBS

The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed private employers added 206,000 jobs this month, surpassing economists' expectations for a gain of 130,000 jobs. It was the biggest gain since December 2010.

The data set an optimistic tone ahead of Friday's more comprehensive government report on the labor market and some economists raised their forecasts.

"So far in the current U.S. economic expansion, the only period of relatively healthy job creation lasted for a few months from late last year to this spring," Ryan Wang, U.S. economist at HSBC Securities USA, wrote in a note.

"Today's job gain of 206,000 in November raises the possibility that we may be on the cusp of a similar period of job creation."

The weak labor market remains one of the biggest hurdles for the economic recovery and is a major concern for U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of next year's elections.

Friday's non-farm payrolls report, which includes both public- and private-sector employment, is expected to show a rise in overall non-farm payrolls of 122,000 this month.

While economists often refer to the ADP report to fine-tune their expectations for the payrolls numbers, ADP's track record as a predictor has varied.

Deutsche Bank raised its forecast for Friday to 150,000 from 125,000, while Capital Economics increased its expectations to 140,000 from 100,000.

One economist, however, cautioned that the ADP number has a tendency to overshoot in November and warned against building too much optimism before the Friday report.

"A seasonal adjustment quirk typically -- six of the past seven years -- generates November ADP readings well above the underlying trend," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note.

"In 2010 and 2011, ADP was an average of 64,000 better than the prior three-month average, so applying the same margin today suggests the 'real' November ADP number was 140,000."

Shepherdson said he was maintaining his forecast for a gain of 125,000 jobs.

Macroeconomic Advisers' Joel Prakken said he didn't see any evidence of seasonal effects in the day's data.

"I don't see any technical or seasonal reason to question the momentum in today's numbers," Prakken told journalists in a conference call. Macroeconomic Advisers jointly developed the report with ADP.

The data helped lift U.S. stocks, but investors were more focused on the moves from the central banks. The three major U.S. stock indexes jumped more than 3 percent, with the blue-chip Dow industrials up more than 400 points.

MIXED BAG ON HOUSING, PRODUCTIVITY

Meanwhile, a separate report showed the number of planned layoffs at U.S. companies edged down marginally in November, though job cuts for the year so far have surpassed 2010's total.

On the housing front, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index jumped 10.4 percent to 93.3 from 84.5 the month before. It was the biggest monthly gain since November 2010.

But that report was tempered as separate data showed applications for U.S. home mortgages slumped for the third week in a row last week, hit by a drop in demand for refinancing.

Business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew faster than expected in November, adding to expectations that national manufacturing data should show an uptick in growth when it is released on Thursday.

Separate data showed the rebound in U.S. non-farm productivity growth was not as strong as previously estimated in the third quarter, while wages declined for two straight quarters.

Productivity increased at a 2.3 percent annual rate, the Labor Department said, a downward revision to its previous estimate of 3.1 percent.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/bs_nm/us_usa_economy

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Eurozone crisis: finance ministers turn to the IMF - live | Business ...

8.10pm: Time for an evening round-up.

? Financial markets have soared this afternoon following a co-ordinated push by six central banks to flood the financial sector with cheaper liquidity. The move is an attempt to prevent the crisis in the Eurozone triggering a new credit crunch.
? Analysts and politicians have welcomed the move. However they caution that the crisis is not solved - in fact, the initiative simply shows that the financial system is on a knife-edge again.
? In Europe, there was disappointment that the EU failed last night to agree how to expand their bailout fund. A series of senior leaders admitted that the crisis is now at a critical point, with just days left to save the single currency.
? Greece is gearing up for more strike action. Major disruption is expected tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and for being patient with some particularly ropey spelling from your humble correspondent. Good night!

7.44pm: Before I go, our own Heather Stewart has written a Q&A explaining what happened today:.

7.29pm: Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, has been quizzed about the crisis.

Speaking in Mexico City (alongside Agust?n Carstens, the Mexican central bank governor who she beat in the race for the IMF prize), Lagarde refused to say whether the IMF could offer more resources to Europe but said that an "urgent resolution" was now needed. She also denied holding any talks with either Spain or Italy about a rescue plan.

Lagarde also indicated that she welcomed today's move from the central banks, telling journalists that "when central banks take decisive action it has an effect on markets."

7.04pm: Interesting analysis over on Reuters - that central banks have only bought "a little wriggle room":

Although the instant market reaction to the moves was positive -- equity, commodities and risky debt markets rallied while the dollar weakened -- the moves underscore the close correlation between the euro crisis and a renewed banking crunch.

They illustrate the fear that both are combining to deliver another double whammy to world growth.

6.45pm: My colleague David Gow reports that the six central banks acted after Europe's leaders again failed to agree an expansion of the region's bailout fund.

One senior official close to the central banks' deliberations told David:

The politicians' inaction has been the spur for them to intervene after a fortnight of waiting and Tuesday night's sorry spectacle at the eurogroup was the final straw.

So what next for the eurozone, after today's talks in Brussels? The focus will now shift to another make-or-break summit next week, on December 8 and 9.

David explains:

Jacek Rostowski, Polish finance minister and current ecofin chairman, said the December 8-9 summit would have to be rapidly followed by "extremely forceful" action to stabilise markets.

Anders Borg, Swedish finance minister, said much depended on Rome. "I think the market will not provide for honeymoons. They need to bring out all the skeletons so we can see a step forward when it comes to credibility in their debt market."

Live blog - Greece flag

6.05pm: Meanwhile in Greece, protest action is heating up again. The honeymoon could be over, less than three weeks after Lucas Papademos's technocratic government was installed.

Piling the pressure on the new administration, powerful unions have vowed to bring the country to a standstill on Thursday when they stage their seventh general strike this year., Helena Smith in Athens reports:

Both the private General Confederation of Greek workers (GSEE) and civil servants' union (ADEDY), which represents almost half of the nation's entire 5 million strong labour force, will participate in the what are widely expected to be mass protests against the government's deeply unpopular austerity drive. Greece will be cut off from rest of the world with planes, ships, ferries and trains grounded by the 24-hour walkout

Unions are demanding that measures voted through by the previous socialist government ? including wage and pensions cuts, tax hikes, the abolishment of collective labour agreements and public sector redundancies ? be immediately revoked. Billboards denouncing the 2012 budget, which is due to be voted through parliament in the coming days, have been posted around the city.

"There is going to be no let up," said Costas Tsikrikas , the head of ADEDY. "The faces may have changed but the government's policies haven't. For ordinary people they continue to be totally catastrophic. The measures have put Greece in a death spiral. They are simply exacerbating recession, unemployment, and are doing nothing to increase revenues. Whatever our creditors [the EU and IMF] say they're not working."

Economists worry that for all the hard talk of the new government, unbridled protests could be the nail in the coffin for debt-stricken Greece as its economy prepares to contract for a fifth straight year.

5.56pm: David Cameron's official spokesman has also praised today's move.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said this afternoon:

This is about extending some support rather than I think new support, and it's about having sensible contingency plans in place because clearly there is a very serious situation in financial markets at the present time, and we are experiencing a credit crunch, and that central bank action is about trying to mitigate the effects of that credit crunch.


More details over on Politics Home.

5.34pm: Analysts at Capital Economics have explained why central banks acted today. Commercial banks were demanding steadily higher rates from each other before they would agree to lend US dollars (in exchange for euros) - making dollars increasingly prized, and euros increasingly hard to shift.

Euros vs dollars swap graph Euros vs dollars swap graph

The graph shows how the 'discount' to hold a euro over a dollar has risen this year, close to levels seen in late 2008 (when the original credit crunch sparked a dash to the safety of the dollar).

As Capital Economics put it:

Eurozone banks tend to have significant dollar-denominated assets. Where these assets exceed their dollar-denominated retail deposits, the banks must source the remaining dollars from elsewhere. If US banks are not prepared to lend them dollars outright at an acceptable rate, another option is to borrow them from US banks in exchange for lending euros. But the euro-denominated assets of US banks tend to be much smaller.

Accordingly, when concerns about the health of the global banking system are increasing, as they are now, euro-zone banks often find their need for dollars outstrips US banks' need for euros. And when investors' worries are centred on the euro-zone, this is likely to be even more the case.

My colleague Jill Treanor explains more here.

5.12pm: The US government has praised the world's central banks for taking action to stave off another credit crunch.

Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, gave his support to the liquidity push - saying in a statement that:

We welcome and support the actions taken by central banks around the world today to help ease pressure on the European financial system and help foster the global economic recovery.

Tim Geithner US treasury secretary Tim Geithner. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Geithner has been pushing hard, with little success and a lot of criticism, for Europe to get its act together - even flying to Poland in a failed attempt to persuade EU leaders to inject more money into their financial systems.

4.55pm: While we've been reporting on the central bank news, remarkably little has been happening in the euro crisis.

But not nothing at all. Earlier this afternoon Olli Rehn, the EU economics and monetary affairs commissioner, told the European Parliament that the eurozone must either undergo "much deeper integration" - probably involving Treaty changes - or collapse.

Interestingly, Rehn suggested that integration would lead to the creation of a "stability union". Having repackaged eurobonds, the EC now seems keen to slap a new brand on the EU itself.

4.46pm: The London stock market has just closed, with the FTSE 100 enjoying its biggest jump since 6 October.

The blue-chip index closed 168 points higher at 5505, a gain of 3.1%. Other European markets have also rallied -- despite fears that the central bank action indicates the world economy is in very bad shape. In Germany, the Dax closed 5% higher.

Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, dubbed the liquidity move a "sugar rush" for the markets.

4.22pm: Although central banks did agree to enhance dollar liquidity back in September this year, we haven't seen such a large co-ordinated move since October 2008 (and the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse) when interest rates were suddenly, and unexpectedly, cut.

So are we now in as desperate a state as the autumn of 2008?

Stephen Gallo, head of market analysis at Schneider Foreign Exchange, argues that the next few weeks will be very difficult.


I think the move by central banks to lower the costs of US dollar funding for banks globally, speaks to how dire the situation has been for some time.

There is no trust between banks ? especially when European banks are taken into account. They are "hoarding liquidity" and the action by the Fed and five other central banks today, I think, amounts to not much more than contingency planning for what could be a really tense December.

4.04pm: Andrew Tyrie MP, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee in the UK parliament, has welcomed the central banks' co-ordinated move to provide liquidity "and some reassurance" to financial markets:

Tyrie was encouraged to see global co-operation, a day after the autumn statement showed how badly the UK economy was performing. He said:

Both the Chancellor and the Governor have made clear that the eurozone crisis is prejudicing UK growth but there is only so much that can be done domestically to assuage eurozone and global liquidity problems.

Reaction across the Atlantic has been more mixed. Ron Paul, libertarian would-be Republican presidential candidate has come out against the Fed's involvement in the liquidity programme.

As my colleague Dominic Rushe explains:

It's not really a big surprise as Paul is an enormous Fed hater and wants to do away with central banking all together, a system he has compared to "drug addiction."

Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty has become the first Treasury minister to welcome the central banks' move -- and also cautioned that it does not get Europe off the hook.

Flaherty called the liquidity swap lines "a good thing to do", but only "one tool in a tool box".

3.29pm: Bank of England sources tell us the measures were agreed by tele-conference, chaired from London by Sir Mervyn King in his role as chairman of the Bank for International Settlements' Economic Consultative Committee - a sub-committee of the club of central bankers.

3.17pm: Financial experts continue to welcome the central banks' move, but warn that the threat of a eurozone break-up still looms.

David Semmens, US economist at Standard Chartered, said:

This is particularly good for risk as we head into year end, a firm positive for the Euro but ultimately this is a financial markets operation and it isn't going to significantly alter the fundamental economic picture.

And Paul Ashworth, US economist at Capital Economics, said:

This is a very helpful move. The markets clearly love it and liquidity is half the battle. But there is still a broader question to be resolved about solvency.

If Italy defaults on its debt tomorrow, it wouldn't matter how much liquidity you had.

2.58pm: It's been a busy day for central banks, or governments, taking action to fight the financial crisis.

This morning, the Chinese central bank reduced the amount of cash the country's commercial banks need to hold with it. Liquidity isn't a problem in the Chinese banking sector -- this move was designed to encourage them to keep lending to Chinese manufacturers who are suffering lower demand as the world economy slows.

We also saw the Italian Treasury, through the Bank of Italy, launching new auctions that could push cash into the Italian banking sector (or, alternatively, encourage banks to lend to the Italian government).

2.44pm: As expected, the US stock markets are roaring (I've not seen the Wall Street opening bell rung with such glee for some time).
The Dow Jones industrial average is up by 377 points to 11933, a rise of 3.26%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have both gained more than 3%.

The gold price has also jumped by 2% to 1,748 per ounce, and the oil price is a little higher (Brent crude is now abover $111 per barrel).

I'll keep updating the bullet points at the top of the story with fresh market info.

2.29pm: One way to think about today's move is that it is the equivalent of a interest rate cut for the banking sector -- reducing its borrowing costs.

Jeremy Cook, chief economist at foreign exchange company World First, explains:

These banks are now basically providing unlimited US dollars to banks with which to fund themselves. The banks will be hoping this is a turning point in the crisis.

What prompted the move? One theory is that the yield on 12-month German government bills turned negative this morning -- which meant in effect that investors were prepared to pay for the chance to hold German debt.

Cook again:

This may have been a signal that the money markets were a short shove away from complete collapse.

Clearly the world's central bankers have had enough of all the political mud-slinging and intransigence and they've decided to take the situation by the scruff of the neck. This could be a critical moment for the global economy?

2.08pm: US stock markets are reacting very positively to the central banks' move. S&P's futures are up over 3%, the Nasdaq futures are up close to 3% and the Dow's futures are up 2.46%.

As Dominic Rushe, our Wall Street correspondent commented:

Looks like the markets think the cavalry have been called out.

New York stock markets open at 2.30pm GMT.

Heather Stewart

1.50pm: Heather Stewart, the Observer's economics editor, says today's move shows we are now in Credit Crunch 2.0. But this time, instead of being born in the USA, its epicentre is in Brussels.


While Europe's politicians have been wrangling over the exact details of their bailout fund, the EFSF - which most analysts believe is still far too small to contain the crisis - the cost of borrowing for banks has rocketed. As bankers wonder who's on the hook for billions of euros-worth of Greek, Portuguese, Irish and even French and Belgian debt, there are growing signs of so-called "counterparty risk": banks are anxious to lend to each other, because they're not sure whether they'll get their money back.

Today's emergency measures from the world's central banks, which only act together in this way at times of extreme crisis, are aimed at preventing the growing strains in financial markets from starving ordinary consumers and businesses of cash ? and driving the world economy into a new recession.
Data from the OECD released at lunchtime showed there has already been a sharp decline in global trade since the summer, suggesting the euro-crisis has already hit confidence and depressed demand.

Sir Mervyn King and his colleagues fear that without today's action, that slowdown could turn into a slump, long before Europe's politicians have come up with a sustainable solution to the crisis.

1.43pm: Here's some early reaction to the news that central banks have taken action to prevent the world's financial system suffering a liquidity crunch.

Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank:

This shows that central banks across the world continue to cooperate and that the ECB, and its partners, are very aware of the funding stress that European banks are under at the moment.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers:

The world's Central Banks have shown the European area the meaning of decisive and coordinated action.

If the institutions now accept this invitation as intended, a great deal of tension will be removed from the system both in terms of liquidity and market sentiment.

Sal Catrini, managing director for equities at Cantor Fitzgerald:

Whether this solves our long-term problems remains to be seen, but when you flood the market with liquidity, risk assets go much higher.

1.25pm: The unexpected co-ordination announced by the world's major central banks has been prompted by the crisis in Europe. Analysts have warned in recent weeks that some of Europe's banks were struggling to access funding, on fears of a disorderly default within the eurozone.

In practice, the Federal Reserve sends dollars over to the European Central Bank, in return for euros. By cutting the cost of that transaction (the 'dollar swap rate'), the move should make it much cheaper for European banks to access dollars.

America isn't actually paying the bill to fix Europe's banks, of course -- the Federal Reserve is swapping greenbacks for euros. But, as Bloomberg put it, "the US is helping to fix the crisis in Europe."

The system will work the same way for UK banks, with

1.15pm: Here's the official statement from the Federal Reserve, explaining what the world central banks have agreed.

The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity.

These central banks have agreed to lower the pricing on the existing temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 50 basis points so that the new rate will be the U.S. dollar overnight index swap (OIS) rate plus 50 basis points.

You can read the full statement here.

Live blog: news flash newsflash

1.05pm: Breaking news -- six of the world's central banks have just announced a co-ordinated move to boost liquidity in the world's financial system -- an attempt to avoid a new credit crunch.

Just hitting the wires now. The emergency measure involves the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank. They are all cutting the interest rates on 'dollar swaps', which will effectively make it cheaper for commercial banks to get access to dollars.

The six central banks also said they could expand the move to other currencies if needed.

The move has sent stock markets surging, with the FTSE 100 now up 146 points.

More very soon.

12.22pm: Ireland's prime minister has added his voice to those warning that the single currency's future is now in doubt.

Speaking in the Dublin parliament this morning, Enda Kenny said:

There is a real and present sense of danger, with many openly suggesting that the very future of the currency as we know it is at stake...The current climate of uncertainty puts what we have achieved at risk.

Enda Kenny Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA

This comes just a day after a think tank warned that Ireland's economic downturn could deepen in 2012. The Economic and Social Research Institute said Europe faces a repeat of the 1930's Depression. It said:

As long as Europe remains in crisis, there is little prospect of Ireland returning to a path of sustainable, export-led growth.

There's more detail of the ESRI research here, in the Irish Times.

12.03pm: We're getting some details of a briefing from a briefing given by Herman Van Rompuy, EC president, to the EPP Group (the largest political group in the European Parliament).

He told them that interventions by the Europen Central Bank "can't be a sleeping pill for government", and can only take place if there are sufficient guarantees of "fiscal discipline" within Europe.

Van Rompuy also told the Group that:

On the short term, we need to stabilize the eurozone. The leveraging of the EFSF is key for that.

11.46am: While we wait for developments in Brussels....the latest economic data from Europe gives little reason to be optimistic.

The unemployment rate across the EU rose to 9.8% in October from 9.7% the previous month, while within the eurozone the jobless rate also increased, to 10.3%.

In Germany, though, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.0% in October to 6.9% in November, suggesting that the region's biggest economy continues to avoid the worst of the downturn.

Inflation across the eurozone remained steady at 3% in November for the third month in a row. That, though, won't prevent the European Central Bank from cutting rates again soon.

Shehan Mohamed, economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, reckons that rate cut could come as soon as next month:

With the outlook for global growth looking less rosy, Eurozone inflation is likely to fall back. This factor, coupled with todays' news of rising unemployment is likely to give the ECB enough reason to cut rates to 1.0% next month.

Live blog - market up

11.36am: In typical jam-today fashion, the financial markets have responded to China's decision to cut bank reserve requrements (a clear sign of worries in Beijing) by rallying. FTSE 100 now up 54 points, as traders decide to forget about the worsening euro crisis for a while -- and instead take the optimistic view that the move could help the world economy.

As Josh Raymond of City Index points out:

This marks a change in tune from a previous hawkish monetary policy stance. The move was enough to sharply increase short term demand of mining stocks.

Update: as pmcgoohan points out in the reader comments, the cut (from 20.5% to 20% of total bank reserves) still leaves the rate two percentage points higher than in mid-2009. China had nudged the rate steadily higher in 2010 and early 2011, to cool its fast-growing economy. Today's cut only takes the rate back to its March level.

11.11am: Breaking news from China -- where the central bank just cut its 'reserve requirement ratio' (the proportion of funds that commercial banks must hold with it).

This is the first cut of its kind since December 2008.

Why the link to the euro crisis? It's a classic monetary easing tactic, and should make it easier for Chinese banks to lend to businesses.

That indicates that Beijing is more worried that global economic growth is faltering -- and the eurozone crisis (and fears of disorderly default) is one of the main factors causing that slowdown.

Analysts point out that Chinese manufacturing data will be released tomorrow morning - could they be a shocker?

David Gow

10.42am: My colleague David Gow reports that there was little sign last night of the dynamic urgency needed to solve the crisis:

Klaus Regling (head of the EFSF) was sanguine about the size of his Panzerfaust [bazooka] last night, saying it could be that, say, ?100bn would be required in earlier stages....What was important was that the first-loss insurance scheme would start in January and the "co-investment" funds shortly after that...

The mood was one of utter exhaustion and not just among the hacks: Juncker either batted away questions or handed them over to Rehn and Regling...The impression give was not of ten days to save the world but ten weeks or even months...No sense of dynamism or urgency.

The idea that there are just 10 days to save the euro was first floated in the Financial Times on Monday, and then repeated by Olli Rehn this morning. Of course, if the FT was right then we actually only have eight days left (unless it's a rolling deadline, ala George Osborne's fiscal mandate?....)

10.36am: The word from Brussels is that the EU finance ministers' meeting is running around 90 minutes behind schedule....

...On his way into the meeting, Olli Rehn told reporters that he was optimistic that the International Monetary Fund might supply more money:

We are working towards having an increase of the IMF resources. We see very much eye-to-eye with the IMF's Christine Lagarde on this.

But will all IMF member states be as keen?.....

10.20am: Now it's the turn of Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, to sound the alarm. He just told a conference of EU ambassadors that Europe is trapped in a "systemic...full-blown confidence crisis."

Some may blame it on the irrationality of the market. But it's a fact and we need to confront it.

What's the solution? Van Rompuy argued that Europe must swallow closer fiscal union (as Germany, for example, has long demanded):

We need a significant step forward towards a real economic union commensurate with our monetary union.

Noon update: The full speech is now online here (pdf)

9.48am: Interesting development in Italy this morning. The Italian Treasury has announced plans to "lend or borrow significant amounts of cash on the money markts", using its own account at the Bank of Italy.

The Italian Treasury describe it as "a new system of liquidity management" -- it seems that the Treasury will hold one-day auctions to either put more money into the Italian banking sector or take it out.

Izabella Kaminska of FT Alphaville compared it to the Supplementary Financing Program set up in America after the credit crunch. That was designed to soak liquidity out of the US banking sector (counterbalancing the huge injections from the Federal Reserve). The Italian scheme, though, would also seem designed to put liquidity into the system.

More as we get it....

11.05am UPDATE: The Italian Treasury announced it had assigned ?1.98bn in its first liquidity auction, at an average rate of 2%, having received bids of ?11.5bn from five banks. So today, at least, this new programme was used to get cash into the system....

...Izabella Kaminska has explained how it could also be used to loan government bills.

9.18am: Just in case anyone was in doubt about the situation today, EU monetary effairs commissioner Olli Rehn has warned that Europe has just 10 days to "complete and conclude" its crisis response.

Olli Rehn in front of a banner saying 'Growth at a standstill' Commissioner Olli Rehn delivering his eurozone growth forecast in Brussels, in front of a backdrop spelling out his stark message. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

Speaking ahead of today's EU finance ministers' meeting in Brussels, Rehn said Europe was now entering a "critical period":

We have to continue to work especially on two fronts -- both in order to ensure that we have sufficiently credible financial firewalls to contain market turbulence and at the same time we need to further reinforce our economic governance.

Meanwhile, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer also warned that the situation has deteriorated sharply in recent days. Noyer told a conference in Singapore that:


The situation in Europe and the world has significantly worsened over the past few weeks. Market stress has intensified .... (and) we are now looking at a true financial crisis -- that is a broad-based disruption in financial markets.

8.59am: Incidentally (mainly for UK readers) my colleague Andrew Sparrow is tracking all the developments following yesterday's autumn statement in his Politics Live blog.

I'll be sticking to eurozone developments here. Please do flag up if we've missed anything interesting - I'm slightly playing catch-up after helping Andrew cover the autumn statement yesterday. It's very nice to be back.

8.38am: The (limited) EFSF deal has not been well-received in the financial markets. The FTSE 100 fell 52 points (or just over 1%) in early trading to 5274, after Asian markets dropped across the board.

City traders say they are disappointed that eurozone finance ministers couldn't say how much firepower the EFSF now has. Wolfgang Sch?uble's admission that it won't reach ?1trn - and won't contain the crisis on its own - added to the let-down.

Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, explained that:

We aren't really that much further forward given the lack of detail with respect to who is going to invest in the fund and how much the IMF will be involved.
As such the credibility gap remains.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble at the G20 Finance Summit in Paris German finance minister Wolfgang Sch?uble, pictured last month. Photograph: Ian Langsdon/EPA

8.35am: Wolfgang Sch?uble, Germany's finance minister, admitted last night that eurozone leaders had again failed to agree a way of expanding the EFSF up to the ?1tn target. That, he said, means the EFSF still cannot stem the debt crisis without IMF support.

From this morning's Daily Telegraph:

[Sch?uble] told Germany's Handelsblatt that although Europe needed a fund "capable of action", plans for the EFSF were too "intricate and complex" for investors to understand.

The finance ministers, who were meeting ahead of a full Ecofin summit today, acknowledged the ?440bn (?376bn) fund would not win support to leverage it up to ?1 trillion.

Its capacity would be betwen ?500bn and ?700bn instead ? a total that is unlikely to be big enough to rescue Spain and Italy.

8.24am: You can read the official announcement of what was agreed last night in Brussels on the EFSF website.

It explains that the EFSF can now be used to guarantee between 20% and 30% of the full value of a bond issued by a eurozone member. That will allow the fund's assets to be 'leveraged' - as ?1bn of EFSF cash could underwrite more than ?3bn of new bonds.

The EFSF will also support the creation of "Co-Investment Funds (CIF)", made up of a mixture of public and private funding, and would again back the first tranche of potential losses.

But as we explained before (and as the Financial Times agrees here, IMF help is also going to be needed. The EFSF is already committed to helping Portugal and Ireland, as well as financing part of a second bailout for Greece.

With much of its ?440bn capacity already tied up in those commitments, there simply isn't a lot left to be leveraged.

A one euro coin alongside a British pound ensignia

8.15am: Good morning, and welcome to another day of rolling coverage of the eurozone debt crisis.

Today's action is focused on Brussels, where late last night the 17 finance ministers from the eurozone agreed a deal to increase the firepower of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

But it appears that the plan does not give enough firepower to tackle the crisis.

Here's what my colleaugues David Gow and Ian Traynor filed overnight:

Klaus Regling, chief executive of the bailout find, the EFSF, admitted he could not "put a number" on its increased firepower as the ministers tacitly admitted it could not reach the promised ?1tn ? and instead returned to contested moves at the G20 summit in Cannes to increase the IMF's lending power. Officials had earlier said the EFSF would only reach some ?625bn compared with the current ?250bn left.

The clear aim is to get the IMF to come to the EFSF's rescue even though Regling insisted there was still plenty of appetite among outside investors for participating in the fund. Officials insist that sovereign wealth funds in Asia and hedge funds are among those still keen to invest while ministers approved a plan for the EFSF to guarantee the first 20-30% of loans to countries in trouble.

You can read the full story here.

Today, all 27 European Union finance ministers are gathering in Brussels. I'll be tracking developments from there with the help of colleages, and bringing expert analysis and reaction to the ongoing crisis. After a couple of days of optimism, we may be sinking back into the mire ...

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/blog/2011/nov/30/eurozone-crisis-finance-ministers-imf

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Dutch church gives priest ultimatum

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Amsterdam News.Net
Sunday 27th November, 2011 (Source: Daily Nation)

The Dutch Catholic church has ordered an 81-year-old priest to leave his partner of 46 years or be forced to quit the priesthood, the Den Bosch diocese in the central Netherlands announced Friday.

Jan Peijnenburg's relationship with Threes van Dijck, 85, was unacceptable to other priests, the Church said.

"We are giving him the choice: either h... ...

Read the full story at Daily Nation

?


Source: http://feeds.amsterdamnews.net/?rid=201390285&cat=7221e65f4b29300e

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Jim Parsons plans a Broadway return in 'Harvey' (AP)

NEW YORK ? Jim Parsons seems to have gotten a big bang out of Broadway and wants to return.

The star of "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS is set to star this summer in a Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy "Harvey" by Mary Chase.

Performances of "Harvey" will begin May 18 at Studio 54 with an opening set for June 14. It runs through Aug. 5.

A two-time Emmy winner, Parsons made his Broadway debut in Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart" earlier this year.

He'll be joined in "Harvey" by Jessica Hecht and Charles Kimbrough. The play is about a man who gets into trouble over his friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey.

___

Online: http:// http://www.roundabouttheatre.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_en_ce/us_theater_jim_parsons

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Christian Bale Completes "End of the Batman Era"


Filming on The Dark Knight Rises has come to an end and, with it, so has the portrayal of this iconic super hero by Christian Bale.

"I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I'm taking that [Batman hood] off," the actor star told the Philippine Daily Inquirer this week. "I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it's all done. Everything's finished. It's me and [director Christopher Nolan] - that will be the end of that Batman era."

Bale and Nolan first teamed up in 2005 on Batman Begins, a critically-acclaimed installment of the franchise that earned $372 million across the globe. The Dark Knight then broke the $1 billion barrier and earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar.

The Dark Knight Rises, meanwhile, hits theaters on July 20, 2012 and also stars Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. We have a feeling it will do rather well at the box office.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/christian-bale-completes-end-of-the-batman-era/

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UK tabloid reporter: Phone hacking a regular tool (AP)

LONDON ? A former News of the World journalist made a rare, robust defense of phone hacking, telling Britain's media ethics inquiry that eavesdropping on voicemails was a "perfectly acceptable tool" to help journalists uncover stories.

Paul McMullan said Tuesday that hacking was common at the now-defunct tabloid, describing how journalists traded the phone details of celebrities.

"I think I swapped Sylvester Stallone's mother for David Beckham," he said, going on to recount how he failed to hack into Beckham's voice mails on one occasion because the soccer star unexpectedly answered the phone.

McMullan, who now runs a pub in the English port of Dover, made headlines earlier this year when he was secretly taped by actor Hugh Grant claiming phone hacking was widespread at the News of the World and other U.K. newspapers.

He repeated that assertion Tuesday, adding that the bosses at the News of the World, including former top editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, knew of the practice ? a claim both former editors have denied.

Both editors resigned in the scandal ? Brooks from the tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's media empire, and Coulson from his job as top communications aide to Prime Minister David Cameron. They are also among a dozen journalists arrested in the investigation.

"I don't think anyone realized that anyone was committing a crime at the start," McMullan said. "Phone hacking is a perfectly acceptable tool given the sacrifices we make, if all we are trying to do is get to the truth."

Cameron set up the media inquiry in response to the scandal that began with illegal eavesdropping by the News of the World. Murdoch shut down tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search for exclusives.

McMullan was one of three journalists giving evidence to the inquiry Tuesday after a week in which celebrities and victims of crime described how their lives had been upended by media intrusion.

The other two journalists offered a diametrically opposed assessment, describing stories driven by ideology and propaganda and an industry scarred by bullying and the use of unethical "dark arts."

Ex-tabloid reporter Richard Peppiatt told the inquiry that "much of tabloid journalism is not truth-seeking primarily. It's ideologically driven and it's impact-driven."

Peppiatt worked for the Daily Star tabloid but has become a critic of underhanded tabloid practices.

He read out a selection of the Daily Star headlines with little basis in fact, including "Angelina Jolie to play Susan Boyle in film" and "Chile Mine To Open As Theme Park."

Peppiatt said he had received threatening phone calls, text messages and emails since resigning earlier this year over what he called "Muslim-bashing stories." He said one message warned "You're a marked man until the day you die."

Nick Davies of The Guardian, who broke many of the stories about tabloid phone hacking in Britain, said there was "a culture of bullying in some Fleet Street newspapers." He described some of the "dark arts" he had been told of by tabloid reporters, including burglary, phone and email hacking and "blagging" ? obtaining information by deceit.

The trigger for the scandal was the revelation that the News of the World had hacked the voice mails of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler after she disappeared in 2002.

Her mother told the inquiry last week that she believed Milly was still alive when she found there was space in the girl's previously full voice mailbox. In fact, messages had been deleted by someone working for the News of the World.

Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the tabloid who was jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the voice mails of royal aides, has denied deleting the messages.

Davies said the messages were probably deleted by reporters from the paper working under the tutelage of Mulcaire.

"Mulcaire facilitated the hacking by one or more News of the World journalists," Davies said. "(Mulcaire) does not actually, on the whole, do the listening to the messages himself. Most of that is done by the journalists themselves."

The phone hacking scandal continues to widen. More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and two top London police officers, along with Cameron's media adviser and several senior Murdoch executives, have resigned.

The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to Britain's system of media self-regulation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker more than halfway to goal (The Ticket)

Walker (Gregory Shaver/Journal Times via AP)

The Republican Party of Wisconsin rejected reports by organizers on Monday that the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker has been a resounding success. But a major tea party group contradicted the party's message.

United Wisconsin, the organization behind the recall, announced Monday that supporters collected more than 300,000 signatures to recall the governor in the first 12 days of the drive, placing them more than halfway toward their goal of 540,208 signatures--the number required to be gathered by Jan. 17 to permit a recall election.

Democrats and labor groups targeted Walker for recall after his successful effort earlier this year to end collective bargaining for most state employees.

A state Republican party spokesman, Ben Sparks, responded to the news of the signatures by accusing Democrats of making "attempts to generate false momentum" and repeating the Republican characterization of the effort as a "baseless power-grab."

But the Tea Party Express told supporters in a fundraising email that the recall's organizers appear to be "well on their way" to achieving their goal.

"I can't say that it wasn't anticipated, but we are seeing some bad signs coming out of Wisconsin," the national group wrote. The fundraising pitch asked for donations to help support Walker and their shared "conservative values."

Sparks, the state Republican party spokesman, told Yahoo News that the party stands by its statement. He added that there's "never been a doubt in anybody's mind" that the petition-gatherers would meet their goal.

Geographic evidence suggests that support for the recall extends far beyond Wisconsin Democrats, according to John Nichols, a political correspondent for The Nation, the left-leaning magazine.

"Even in Republican-leaning areas, the recall is exceeding goals-- and exceeding the 2008 performance of the most popular Democratic presidential nominee in decades," Nichols wrote in a blog post on Monday. "That earned a front-page headline last week in the Burlington Standard-Press newspaper: 'Recall Effort Has a Visible Presence in Conservative Burlington.'"

Republicans say actually winning a recall election is still out of Democrats' reach.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook and follow us

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20111129/el_yblog_theticket/effort-to-recall-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-more-than-halfway-to-goal

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How To Get The Best Car Insurance

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If you have a car that is equipped with enhanced security features recommended by insurance dealers like a car alarm, tracker or immobiliser you will get cheaper car insurance simply because your car will be safer and less likely to stolen when parked and left unattended, in the same way by parking your car overnight in a garage or on a driveway this will also help to reduce the cost of your car insurance.

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Source: http://www.articlecrush.com/finances/credit-finances/how-to-get-the-best-car-insurance-2/

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Does John Cena need a reboot?

John Cena is the biggest WWE Superstar of his generation.

Love him or hate him, it?s the truth. He?s won 10 WWE Championships, starred in movies, launched records up the Billboard charts and sold more T-shirts than Fruit of the Loom. But, despite all that, the Cenation leader still looked like a second banana standing next to The Rock in the main event of Survivor Series.

It wasn?t that the West Newbury, Mass., native didn?t appear physically intimidating or technically devastating, because he did. He just looked . . . secondary. Overshadowed by a Superstar so charismatic that he?s been dubbed The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment, the hardworking competitor had trouble shaking off the New York City crowd?s deafening jeers with his trademark smile and shrug.

In the thick of that match, John Cena was being shown up at the one thing he does best in this world and the crowd knew it, The Rock knew it and Cena himself knew it. And it didn?t look good. (PHOTOS)

1288620148001|06:32Keep in mind, this was all before The People?s Champion drilled his WrestleMania XXVIII opponent into the canvas with a thunderous Rock Bottom much to the delight of the Madison Square Garden faithful. His team may have won the match, but Cena definitely left Manhattan feeling like a loser.

Maybe that?s why WWE fans in Hershey, Pa., greeted Cena with a chorus of boos the following night on WWE Raw SuperShow. Obviously, it?s not the first time the Cenation leader has heard a few heckles. Opinionated members of the WWE Universe have been taunting the powerful Superstar ever since he hoisted his first WWE Title over his head ? but this was different. The audience seemed to have lost confidence in their grinning hero and that?s because Cena chose to stand next to The Great One at Survivor Series in order to make it clear that he can stand next to him. Instead, he convinced everyone that the exact opposite was true.

Five months from his epic encounter with The People?s Champion on The Grandest Stage of Them All, Cena is already losing support and he needs to change that. Of course, more aggressive WWE fans would love to see him grow a weird beard and go all nWo on everyone, but Cena?s not about to do that. The guy has too many people looking up to him to suddenly become a spray paint can wielding coward ? but he does need to rediscover his edge.

The problem is this: when you?re as superhumanly strong and effortlessly charismatic as John Cena, it?s easy to take your powers for granted. Even on a bad day, the one-time hip-hop head has been able to outmaneuver the roughest of his generation. But, suddenly, he?s being visited by a ghost of sports-entertainment?s greatest era come to life in the form of a legitimate Hollywood movie star with the type of physique they used to advertise in the back of comic books. It?s next level stuff ? like fighting through the palookas in Nintendo?s ?Punch-Out!!? only to come glove-to-glove with Mike Tyson. No matter how many times you KO Soda Popinski, it doesn?t make facing ?Iron Mike? any easier.

817547814001|05:45So, before he heads to Miami for the biggest bout of his career, Cena needs to step his game up. To combat The Great One?s charisma, he has to bring back the suggestive rhymes that helped him turn heads during his days as The Doctor of Thuganomics. It?s no surprise that one of the biggest ovations Cena?s received in recent years came when he performed a scathing freestyle directed at The Rock. And the relaxed jocularity that helped him sail through rivalries with The Miz and Alberto Del Rio needs to be replaced with focus ? the type of two-a-day determination that took Cena from the greasy bodybuilding gyms of L.A. to the biggest arenas in the world. This stuff is serious and he needs to recognize that.

Maybe then John Cena will be ready to become more than just the biggest WWE Superstar of his generation.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-11-21/john-cena-needs-a-reboot

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Google maps using asp.net

?Hi guys,

? ?This is my first post on this forum so please forgive if i am making any mistake in posting. I am trying to build page similar to link given below

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Source: http://forums.asp.net/p/1742705/4697032.aspx/1?Google+maps+using+asp+net+

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Ruth Stone Dead: Award-Winning Poet Dies At 96

-- Ruth Stone, an award-winning poet for whom tragedy halted, then inspired a career that started in middle age and thrived late in life as her sharp insights into love, death and nature received ever-growing acclaim, has died in Vermont. She was 96.

Stone, who for decades lived in a farmhouse in Goshen, died Nov. 19 of natural causes at her home in Ripton, her daughter Phoebe Stone said Thursday. She was surrounded by her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Widowed in her 40s and little known for years after, Ruth Stone became one of the country's most honored poets in her 80s and 90s, winning the National Book Award in 2002 for "In the Next Galaxy" and being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for "What Love Comes To." She received numerous other citations, including a National Book Critics Circle award, two Guggenheims and a Whiting Award.

She was born Ruth Perkins in 1915, the daughter of printer and part-time drummer Roger Perkins. A native of Roanoke, Va., who spent much of her childhood in Indianapolis, Ruth was a creative and precocious girl for whom poetry was almost literally mother's milk; her mother would recite Tennyson while nursing her. A beloved aunt, Aunt Harriette, worked with young Ruth on poetry and illustrations and was later immortalized, with awe and affection, in the poem "How to Catch Aunt Harriette."

By age 19, Stone was married and had moved to Urbana, Ill., studying at the University of Illinois. There, she met Walter Stone, a graduate student and poet who became the love of her life, well after his ended. "You, a young poet working/in the steel mills; me, married, to a dull chemical engineer," she wrote of their early, adulterous courtship, in the poem "Coffee and Sweet Rolls."

She divorced her first husband, married Stone and had two daughters (she also had a daughter from her first marriage). By 1959, he was on the faculty at Vassar and both were set to publish books. But on a sabbatical in England, Walter Stone hung himself, at age 42, a suicide his wife never got over or really understood.

In the poem "Turn Your Eyes Away," she remembered seeing his body, "on the door of a rented room/like an overcoat/like a bathrobe/ hung from a hook." He would recur, ghostlike, in poem after poem. "Actually the widow thinks/he may be/in another country in disguise," she writes in "All Time is Past Time." In "The Widow's Song," she wonders "If he saw her now/would he marry her?/The widow pinches her fat/on her abdomen."

Her first collection, "In an Iridescent Time," came out in 1959. But Stone, depressed and raising three children alone, moving around the country to wherever she could find a teaching job, didn't publish her next book, "Topography and Other Poems," until 1971. Another decade-long gap preceded her 1986 release "American Milk."

Her life stabilized in 1990 when she became a professor of English and creative writing at the State University of New York in Binghamton. Most of her published work, including "American Milk," "The Solution" and "Simplicity," came out after she turned 70.

Her poems were brief, her curiosity boundless, her verse a cataloguing of what she called "that vast/confused library, the female mind." She considered the bottling of milk; her grandmother's hair, "pulled back to a bun"; the random thoughts while hanging laundry (Einstein's mustache, the eyesight of ants).

"I think my work is a natural response to my life," she once said. "What I see and feel changes like a prism, moment to moment; a poem holds and illuminates. It is a small drama. I think, too, my poems are a release, a laughing at the ridiculous and songs of mourning, celebrating marriage and loss, all the sad baggage of our lives. It is so overwhelming, so complex."

Aging and death were steady companions ? confronted, lamented and sometimes kidded, like in "Storage," in which her "old" brain reminds her not to weep for what was lost: "Listen ? I have it all on video/at half the price," the poet is warned.

Stone was not pious ? "I am not one/who God can hope to save by dying twice" ? but she worshipped the world and counted its blessings. In "Yes, Think," she imagines a caterpillar pitying its tiny place in the universe and "getting even smaller." Nature herself smiles and responds:

___

"You are a lovely link

in the great chain of being

Think how lucky it is to be born."

___

Associated Press Writer Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/25/ruth-stone-dead_n_1112489.html

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Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer

Thursday, November 24, 2011

An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher.

The research, led by pediatrics professor James Trosko and colleagues from South Korea's Seoul National University, provides biological evidence for previously reported epidemiological surveys that long-term use of the drug metformin for Type-2 diabetes reduces the risk of diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast cancers.

The research appears in the current edition of PLoS One.

"People with Type-2 diabetes are known to be at high risk for several diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast, liver and pancreatic cancers," said Trosko, a professor in the College of Human Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. "While metformin has been shown in population studies to reduce the risk of these cancers, there was no evidence of how it worked."

For the study, Trosko and colleagues focused on the concept that cancers originate from adult human stem cells and that there are many natural and man-made chemicals that enhance the growth of breast cancer cells.

Using culture dishes, they grew miniature human breast tumors, or mammospheres, that activated a certain stem cell gene (Oct4A). Then the mammospheres were exposed to natural estrogen ? a known growth factor and potential breast tumor promoter ? and man-made chemicals that are known to promote tumors or disrupt the endocrine system.

The team found that estrogen and the chemicals caused the mammospheres to increase in numbers and size. However, with metformin added, the numbers and size of the mammospheres were dramatically reduced. While each of the chemicals enhanced growth by different means, metformin seemed to be able to inhibit their stimulated growth in all cases.

"While future studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism by which metformin works to reduce the growth of breast cancers, this study reveals the need to determine if the drug might be used as a preventive drug and for individuals who have no indication of any existing cancers," he said.

"Though we still do not know the exact molecular mechanism by which it works, metformin seems to dramatically affect how estrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause the pre-existing breast cancers to grow."

In addition, further research needs to be done with human cultures to see if metformin can reduce the risk of pancreatic and liver cancers in Type-2 diabetics as well, he said.

###

Michigan State University: http://www.newsroom.msu.edu

Thanks to Michigan State University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 90 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115463/Diabetes_drug_shows_promise_in_reducing_risk_of_cancer

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USO airport volunteers welcome troops on holiday (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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"Awful" Italy debt sale heightens euro zone stress (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) ? Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances, raising the pressure on Rome's new emergency government.

The auction yield on the six-month paper almost doubled compared to a month earlier, capping a week in which a German bond auction came close to failing and the leaders of Germany, France and Italy failed to make progress on crisis resolution measures.

Though Italy managed to raise the full planned amount of 10 billion euros, weakening demand and the highest borrowing costs since it joined the euro frightened investors, pushing Italian stocks lower and bond yields to record highs on the secondary market.

Yields on two-year BTP bonds soared to more than 8 percent in response, a euro lifetime high, despite reported purchases by the European Central Bank.

In a sign of intense market stress, it now costs more to borrow for two years than 10 on the secondary market and borrowing costs for whatever term are above the 7 percent threshold, over which Italy is likely to need outside help if they do not subside.

"The pricing is awful," said Padhraic Garvey, rate strategist with Dutch bank ING in Amsterdam. "The object of the exercise this morning was to get the job done and they've done that, but that's about the only positive thing to say."

Investors' attention will now turn to a bond sale of up to 8 billion euros that Italy is planning for next Tuesday.

"For the BTP auctions next week, we'll have more of the same they'll probably get it done at a concession," Garvey said.

Italy's new technocrat government, which took power last week, is at work on structural reforms to revive the stagnant economy but markets are looking for quick and effective responses from European policymakers, such as a greater involvement of the European Central Bank.

Traders said the ECB was buying Italian and Spanish bonds in an attempt to shore the market up. But given its reluctance to prop up high-debt euro zone governments, its bond-buying program has been conducted intermittently, and never powerfully enough to provide more than short-term stability.

New Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said short-term measures to tame Italy's budget deficit would not be enough to solve the country's economic problems and only structural reforms will generate growth.

At an annual average rate of just 0.3 percent over the past decade, the Italian economy has grown faster than only a handful of other countries across the world. Real purchasing power has fallen 4 percent in 10 years.

BIG SPRING DEBT BILLS

Since being thrust to the fore of the euro zone crisis in July, Italy has always managed to attract sufficient demand at its auctions.

But record high yields threaten Rome's planned gross issuance of 440 billion euros for 2012 as interest payments on the country's 1.9 trillion euro debt pile rise.

Analysts say that, at current yield levels, the euro zone third-largest economy risks losing market access as redemptions totaling a massive 150 billion euros for the February-April period approach.

The euro, already trading around a seven-week low, inched down after Friday's auction. European stock markets remained in negative territory for the day with the Milan stock-market the worst performer.

The six-month yield nearly doubled from an auction level of 3.5 percent a month ago.

By comparison, Spain paid 5.2 percent to sell six-month paper at a much smaller short-term auction earlier this week, after elections handed power to an austerity-committed conservative government.

Italy also sold 2 billion euros of zero-coupon CTZ bonds at a euro era record high yield of 7.8 percent, up from 4.6 percent at the previous sale.

(Reporting by London and Milan government bond desks; editing by Patrick Graham/Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/bs_nm/us_italy_bonds_auction

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China, Pakistan boost anti-terror cooperation (AP)

JHELUM, Pakistan ? The Pakistani and Chinese attack choppers swoop low across the valley, strafing a mock terrorist hideout and a bomb-making factory. Then a joint commando team storms the camp ? to the gentle applause of top brass from both nations watching from the stands.

The fact that such a drill is needed reflects a new concern troubling their long-standing alliance: Chinese militants along the Afghan border allegedly aiding separatism in China and plotting terrorist attacks there

Countries around the world, especially the U.S., share Chinese concerns about Pakistan's militant-infested tribal regions, but few get the same kind of public commitment of help as Beijing. It's a legacy of China's oft-hailed "all-weather friendship" with Pakistan.

Anti-terror cooperation is the latest example of the special relationship between the neighboring countries.

China's good will is vital to Pakistan: China is its largest defense supplier, and it has helped construct two nuclear reactors. Chinese investments help keep the Pakistani economy afloat.

Chinese economic interests are also threatened because militants have made parts of the country no-go areas. Chinese companies are investing in oil, gas and coal extraction to fuel their country's rapidly expanding economy. There are hundreds of Chinese citizens working in Pakistan, and some have occasionally been attacked or kidnapped.

Its main interest in Pakistan is countering rising Indian power in the region, a goal that is shared by Islamabad, which views India as an enemy.

As ties with Washington have deteriorated this year, some Pakistani leaders have suggested China could fill the economic, diplomatic and military void if America scales back its commitment.

Part of the concern centers on the bitter aftermath of the May 2 U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, including reports that Pakistan gave China access to the damaged high-tech stealth helicopter left behind by U.S. commandos when they killed bin Laden. China denied that.

Despite the tensions following the raid, some American counter-terror cooperation with Pakistan has continued. The Pakistani army still allows Washington to fire missiles at militants in its northwest regions. That also cuts into the ability of Chinese militants to train and forge links with other extremists there.

Thursday's dramatic war games in the dusty, hilly Punjab countryside were the kind of Pakistani public display of international anti-terror cooperation that Washington could only dream of, given the environment of mistrust and suspicion with Pakistan.

"Terrorism is something which is a threat to China, in some ways, and to other countries in the world as well," Pakistani Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani told journalists alongside China's deputy chief of general staff, Gen. Hou Shusen. "There is a need to share our experiences with our Chinese friends," the Pakistani army chief said.

Militants from China, mostly Uighur-speaking Muslims from the Xinjiang region, are present in Taliban-controlled parts of northwest Pakistan, where they live and train alongside terrorists from around the world. Visitors to North Waziristan, a militant stronghold, say they are known locally as "Chinese Taliban." A few times a year, they release videos threatening Beijing and demanding freedom for Xinjiang.

Beijing blamed a spate of unrest in July this year in Xinjiang on one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, said to be based in Pakistan. In an unusually blunt charge, China alleged the terrorists were trained in Pakistan. The Pakistani government and army quickly publicly pledged more help.

Many China watchers and Uighur activists call the Chinese accusations a smoke screen to obscure the anger and hopelessness among Uighurs they say are driving the violence. By blaming outside forces, they say China hopes to avoid shortcomings in policies aimed at reducing tensions there.

Kayani acknowledged ETIM's presence in Pakistan. The military rarely refers to Chinese militants when discussing the concerns of Afghanistan and the United States about militants using North Waziristan as a base for attacks across the border.

"We have done our utmost to eliminate this threat of ETIM and other extremists for China," said Kayani. "We have had a very close cooperation and we do exchange intelligence."

Pakistan has handed over Uighur suspects to China, but actual joint anti-terror operations, as opposed to simulated ones targeting terrorists on Pakistani soil are not expected to happen.

China does not have a military presence in Pakistan and is not known to be pursuing one. That contrasts, with the U.S. Army, which had more than 100 trainers embedded with Pakistani troops fighting militants in the northwest. They were ordered out in the aftermath of the bin Laden raid, which enraged the Pakistani army because it was carried out without its knowledge.

Pakistan's military is not known to have directly targeted Chinese militants in the border regions. Indeed, it has long rebuffed American requests for action in North Waziristan, saying it doesn't have enough troops to do so effectively.

Tensions between China and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries, rarely make their way into the public domain, and there were none on display during the anti-terror drill.

The mock operation involved around 500 soldiers from both nations. It began with a spectacular parachute drop of Chinese troops from 3,000 feet (1,000 meters).

Helicopters dropped other soldiers close to the buildings. They raided the structures and then detonated them, sending balls of orange flames and mushroom clouds of smoke into the early winter air, before flying off.

After the drill was over, the generals enjoyed a Pak-China feast of goat curry, nan bread, sweet and sour soup and Chinese-style chicken. Presents were exchanged. In a final symbol of their alliance, both sets of troops lined up, chanting in unison, "Pakistan and China friendship is everlasting," pumping their fists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_china_terror

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