Charles Rangel convicted of ethics violations - Reuters

Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) speaks during a hearing of the House Adjudicatory subcommittee at Capitol Hill in Washington, November 15, 2010. Rangel faces up to 13 charges concerning ethics and federal regulations covering public officials.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)

WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 16, 2010 12:42pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, Congress' former chief tax writer, was convicted by a congressional panel on Tuesday of ethics violations, many dealing with personal finances.

A congressional ethics subcommittee found the veteran representative guilty of 11 counts, including failing to report rental income and improper use of a rent-stabilized apartment and soliciting charitable donations from people with business before Congress.

The panel's chairwoman, Democrat Zoe Lofgren, said there was "clear and convincing evidence" against Rangel, 80, from New York.

The House of Representative Ethics Committee -- five Democrats and five Republicans -- will now consider punishment, which ethics experts predict will likely be censure or reprimand by the full House, possibly later this week.

With the panel's chief counsel finding "no evidence of corruption" and attributing Rangel's misdeeds largely to being "sloppy in his personal finances," it is not expected to recommend he be expelled from Congress.

Rangel resigned in March as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee after being admonished for corporate-sponsored trips in violation of House gift rules.

While Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the November 2 midterm elections, Rangel won a 21st two-year term in his New York City district with 80 percent of the vote.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

80% of the voters re-elected Rangel? I wonder how many pay ANY federal taxes? These people get what they deserve and voted for! Rangel is the poster child for what is wrong in Washington DC today!

Mlynch001 Report As Abusive

So let me get this straight. Rangel gets in trouble for screwing up his own personal finances. Meanwhile, the guy who once handed out checks from tobacco companies on the House floor (Boehner) is the new Speaker? To me, that sounds FAR worse, FAR more like corruption.

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One down…..300 more to go. No politician should profit by serving the people…no politician should make more than the average worker..no politician should have more power than the average citizen…no politician should be allowed to run for office longer than two terms.

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Factbox: Key facts about Myanmar - Reuters

n">(Reuters) - Myanmar's military rulers freed long-detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday after her house arrest term expired.

Here are some key facts about Myanmar, a resource-rich former British colony that has spent most of its post-independence history under authoritarian military dictatorships.

COUNTRY NAME: It was changed last month to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Previously it was the Union of Myanmar, having been changed from the Union of Burma in 1989 in what the junta said was to appease minority non-Burman ethnic groups. A new flag and national anthem were also introduced last month.

POPULATION: About 50 million: estimates vary from 48 million to 58 million. The biggest ethnic group is Burman (about 68 percent), followed by Shan (9 percent) and Karen (7 percent). The population is mostly Theravada Buddhist (89 percent), the rest being Christian, Muslim, Hindu and animist.

AREA: At approximately 678,000 sq km (261,800 sq miles), it is the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Less than two percent of land is under permanent crops and pasture. About 15 percent is arable. Forests make up nearly 50 percent.

BORDERS: Myanmar has borders with Bangladesh (193 km, 120 miles), China (2,185 km, 1,360 miles), India (1,463 km, 910 miles), Laos (235 km, 145 miles) and Thailand (1,800 km, 1,120 miles). It also has nearly 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of coastline on the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

CAPITAL: Naypyitaw. In 2005, the military government moved the capital 390 km (240 miles) north from colonial-era Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) to remote, purpose-built Naypyitaw. However, Yangon remains the economic hub.

ARMED FORCES: Active forces estimated at 375,500 in 2006, making the country's military one of Asia's largest after China and India. The military relies mostly on older Russian and Chinese technology and enjoy a huge slice of the national budget.

ECONOMY: Long-isolated Myanmar joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising its major trade partners, in 1997. It embarked on a market economy in 1988 after 26 years of central planning. Though impoverished, Myanmar is rich in natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, timber, tin, zinc, copper and precious stones. The economy relies heavily on the export of natural gas, agricultural, marine and forest products and textiles. Its biggest trade partners are Thailand, China and India.

The country's proven gas reserves doubled in the past decade to 570 billion cubic meters, equivalent to almost a fifth of Australia's, according to the BP Statistical Review. Revenues from those reserves are tightly held among the ruling military elite whose cronies dominate other businesses.

There are few accurate economic statistics available and the country has a large black-market economy. Independent economists say decades of corruption and mismanagement by the military have left Myanmar with negligible growth, rampant inflation and a currency, the kyat, considered worthless outside the country. Myanmar has undergone a big sell off of hundreds of state assets in recent months, but the process has been highly opaque and it appears most have ended up in the hands of junta cronies.

POLITICS: Myanmar has faced political and economic isolation since the military refused to recognize the results of a democratic election in 1990, won by Suu Kyi pro-democracy National League for Democracy.

Last Sunday it held its first election since then. The parliamentary poll was won convincingly by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, whose victory will ensure the armed forces has control of the new legislature. Critics say the poll was hugely flawed and the political process is a facade of democracy that will bring no real change to the status quo.

Foreign donors are reluctant to help Myanmar, saying its human rights record is abysmal. Many Western countries, including members of the European Union, the United States and Australia, maintain economic and military sanctions on the country, but they could be reviewed now that Suu Kyi, who has reversed her pro-sanctions stance, has been released.

Neighboring China is its biggest political and economic ally and has capitalized on the West's reluctance to trade with the junta. It relies heavily on Myanmar for its energy needs and has ensured the regime has its backing in the international arena.

(Compiled by Bangkok Newsroom; Editing by Jason Szep)

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Pakistani stocks, o/n rates end lower; rupee weakens - Reuters

KARACHI | Fri Nov 12, 2010 7:18am EST

KARACHI Nov 12 (Reuters) - Pakistani stocks ended lower on Friday following a suicide car bomb attack the previous day in the country's commercial hub, dealers said.

At least 15 people were killed and 100 injured in a suspected Taliban suicide car bomb attack on Thursday at a security compound in Karachi where militants were held. [ID:nLDE6AA21L]

The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index .KSE ended 0.29 percent, or 31.22 points, lower at 10,874.02.

Volume fell to 97.52 million shares, compared with 125.22 million traded on Thursday.

"The blast weighed on the market. However, the prospect of a potential approval of a leveraged product got some local institutions to step in to support the market towards the end," said Asad Iqbal, chief investment officer at Faysal Asset Management Ltd.

The approval of margin buying is expected this month.

In the currency market, the rupee PKR= ended weaker at 85.63/70 to the dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 85.37/42 due to higher imports payments, especially of oil, dealers said.

In the money market, overnight rates fell to end between 11.5 percent and 12 percent, compared with Thursday's close of 13 percent despite scheduled outflows of 9.3 billion rupees as dealers said there was increased liquidity in the interbank market.

Dealers said they were waiting for the treasury bill auction which is scheduled for Nov. 15, instead of Nov. 17 due to holidays.

(Reporting by Sahar Ahmed; Editing by Chris Allbritton) (For more Reuters coverage of Pakistan, see: here)

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South Korea upbeat on resolving US trade deal soon - Reuters

By Jack Kim

SEOUL | Fri Nov 12, 2010 7:10am EST

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean officials struck an upbeat note on Friday that discussions to iron out U.S. concerns about a free trade deal they signed three years ago would conclude soon despite missing a deadline set by their leaders.

But there was also concern that outstanding differences on the autos and beef trade that hampered progress on the deal could take months, if not another several years, to resolve.

"I can tell you ... that the differences have been narrowed through the tireless discussion at various levels, and we are very hopeful of resuming talks and reaching a mutually agreeable resolution within the next few weeks," South Korea's ambassador to the United States, Han Duk-soo, told Reuters.

The two sides failed to revive the stalled deal on Thursday when their leaders met on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Seoul, dealing a setback to a longstanding effort to boost trade.

The deal, if ratified by the two countries' assemblies, would be one of the largest free trade pacts ever and the largest signed by the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement that went into effect in 1994.

Studies said the deal would boost the $66.7 billion annual two-way trade by as much as a quarter. South Korea's automakers stand to gain with much greater access to the U.S. market.

U.S. farm products and machinery are also expected to be winners.

Trade envoys meeting since last week could not conclude negotiations to resolve U.S. industry and lawmakers' concerns that the deal does not do enough to open South Korea's market to U.S. autos and beef.

At the end of the G20 summit and ahead of his short flight to the fourth leg of his Asia tour, Japan, Obama said he wanted to get the deal right and the two sides were close to it.

"I am not interested in an announcement and then an agreement that doesn't produce results for us. We've had a lot of those in the past," he told reporters.

"Understandably, I think there's a lot of suspicion that some of these trade deals may not be good for Americans. I think this one can be."

The concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers have been the primary reason holding up deliberation by U.S. Congress.

South Korea's parliament has introduced the bill to the floor but discussions had stalled pending movement in the U.S. Congress. There is a broad support for the deal in President Lee Myung-bak's ruling Grand National Party, which controls the unicameral house.

BEEF POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler met South Korea's chief free trade negotiator on Friday in a three-hour session seen as coordinating discussions in weeks ahead.

Obama says that the world leaders are backing him, they like his polices. The G20 proves that he is wrong, the U.S. is highly debt ridden. About all that Obama proved on his trip is that Muslims like him and he wasted money that we don’t have. His standing as a world leader has greatly fallen. His office is well respected, not him.

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Massive explosion in Karachi, injuring up to 35 - Reuters

KARACHI | Thu Nov 11, 2010 10:53am EST

"The blast is inside a CID (Criminal Investigation Department) compound, and we are fearing casualties," a senior police official told Reuters.

A Reuters photographer on the scene saw dozens of motorcycles destroyed and windows were shattered up to 2 km away. (Additional reporting Athar Hussain; Writing by Chris Allbritton) (For more Reuters coverage of Pakistan, see: here)

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Ousted Israel MP vows to work for peace coalition - Reuters

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM | Tue Nov 9, 2010 9:20am EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An influential Israeli opposition lawmaker lost his seat in parliament after an eight-year trial on Tuesday but he said he was determined to pursue efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

Tzachi Hanegbi, a senior member of the centrist Kadima party but also a confidant of Likud prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was convicted of perjury in July.

An additional court ruling on Tuesday said this verdict amounted to "moral turpitude." Under Israeli law, this meant that he automatically had to step down from public office.

Hanegbi was often seen as the man most likely to help Netanyahu create a broad government of national unity -- a step that many political analysts believe is needed if Israel is going to strike a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Rumors about the creation of such a coalition often bubble up in the Israeli media and Hanegbi made clear on Tuesday that he would work to this effect, regardless of the court verdict.

"The court ruling does not change my belief that a supreme effort must be made to form a unity government," he said.

"I am certain that it is not only vital, it is possible. The differences ... can be bridged ... The call of the hour is to form broad national consensus," he told reporters after the court ruling was released.

Tuesday's judgment capped an eight-year trial over political appointments Hanegbi made while he was a cabinet minister. The court ruled he could stand again for parliament in the next general election, currently scheduled for October 2013.

Kadima, Israel's main opposition party, is led by Tzipi Livni, who was the top Israeli negotiator in peace talks with the Palestinians under the previous prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

Kadima is seen as a main alternative coalition option for Netanyahu if he falls out with his present right-wing allies who oppose Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in September almost as soon as they had begun, after Israel refused to accept Palestinian demands that it extend a partial freeze on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu's pro-settler allies have said they will quit his government if he backs down on this issue.

(Editing by Crispian Balmer and Kevin Liffey)

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GLOBAL ECONOMY-Obama fires back after China slates Fed's QE2 - Reuters

* Obama says U.S. low-growth or no-growth danger to world

* China says U.S being irresponsible over QE

* Russia says G20 should have been consulted ahead of QE

* G20 meets in Seoul Nov. 11, 12

By Patricia Zengerle and Krittivas Mukherjee

NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama defended the Federal Reserve's policy of printing dollars on Monday during a trip to India, after Chinese officials stepped up criticism ahead of this week's Group of 20 meeting.

The G20 summit has been pitched as a chance for leaders of the countries that account for 85 percent of world output to prevent "currency wars" from spreading to become a rush to protectionism that could imperil the global recovery. [nSGE6A703T]

It has been overshadowed by disagreements over the U.S. Federal Reserve's quantitative easing (QE) policy under which it will print money to buy $600 billion of government bonds, a move that could depress the dollar and cause a potentially destabilising flow of money into emerging economies.

"I will say that the Fed's mandate, my mandate, is to grow our economy. And that's not just good for the United States, that's good for the world as a whole," Obama said.

"And the worst thing that could happen to the world economy, not just ours, is if we end up being stuck with no growth or very limited growth," he said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more stories on G20 issues [ID:nTOE69K01G]

SCENARIOS-Can G20 make FX, trade progress [ID:nSGE6A703T]

Graphics

- Surging capital inflows: r.reuters.com/hep83q

- G20 economies (interactive):link.reuters.com/men39p Basel III: reshaping the rules: r.reuters.com/zys68p ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

The U.S. has frequently criticised China, saying it deliberately undervalues its currency to boost exports.

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Myanmar clash a reminder of old, underlying tension - Reuters

Thai soldiers take cover as they react to explosions and sounds of gunfire at the Thai border with Myanmar in Mae Sot November 8, 2010. A clash erupted between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government soldiers in Myanmar's Myawaddy town opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Reuters witnesses on the Thai side of the border said. Several rockets or mortar bombs fell on the Thai side, a witness said. There were no reports of casualties.

Credit: Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom

By Robert Birsel

BANGKOK | Mon Nov 8, 2010 3:05am EST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A day after Myanmar held an election meant to usher in peace and stability, clashes erupted between minority rebels and government soldiers, a reminder of divisions that have long bedeviled the country.

The fighting in the eastern town of Myawaddy on the Thai border between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government forces broke out early on Monday while the votes from Sunday's election were being counted.

Five Thai villagers were wounded when four rocket-propelled grenades landed on Thai soil, a Thai official said, as several thousand people fled the fighting in one of the main trade gateways along the 1,800 km (1,100 mile) border with Thailand.

Animosity between majority Burmans and ethnic minorities in the hilly borderlands that form a horseshoe around the central Irrawaddy river plain goes back centuries.

Sunday's election for a bicameral national parliament and 14 regional assemblies, the military-ruled country's first polls in 20 years, is not expected to bring any quick fix.

"Nothing's been resolved," said David Mathieson, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch. "The election hasn't resolved any of the underlying causes of the civil war."

Karen fighters have passed their war against the government down the generations since the then-Burma won independence in 1948 from British colonial rulers who had taken advantage of ethnic divisions to help maintain control.

Karen nationalists at first demanded an independent state but more recently have sought autonomy within a federal Myanmar, as have other minorities such as the Kachin, Shan and Wa.

But such calls spell nothing but trouble in the eyes of the army which is dominated by Burmans, who make up about 65 percent of the population, and sees one of its most crucial roles as preventing the break-up of the country.

HOSTILITIES

Over the years, battered by an increasingly powerful army, most minority factions have struck ceasefires with the government under which they've been allowed to keep their weapons and run their enclaves.

But tension has flared as the army tried to absorb those groups into a military-run Border Guard Force by the election.

Main factions balked but with the election now out of the way, the army is expected to try to force them into line.

"It's quite possible hostilities will break out," said veteran Myanmar-analyst and author Bertil Lintner. "There's going to be trouble but exactly in what shape or form is hard to tell."

The Karen battling soldiers in Myawaddy are from a splinter faction of a ceasefire group that objects to being forced into the Border Guard Force. Other factions including the Kachin and the Wa along the border with China are also resisting.

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Singapore-Jakarta flights cancelled due to volcano - Reuters

SINGAPORE | Sat Nov 6, 2010 8:15am EDT

SINGAPORE Nov 6 (Reuters) - Several airlines have halted flights between Singapore and the Indonesian capital of Jakarta due to the risk posed by ashes from an active volcano, Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) and Changi Airport said on Saturday.

Mount Merapi in central Java began spewing deadly clouds of ash and superheated gas last week, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 150,000.

Indonesia has already shut its international airport at Yogyakarta, with flights diverted to the nearby city of Solo. [ID:nJAK94927] The Indonesian capital Jakarta lies to the west of Mount Merapi.

"So far, 11 flights from Singapore to Jakarta have been cancelled today," Changi Airport's spokesman told Reuters.

The affected carriers include Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS), AirAsia (AIRA.KL) and Tiger (TAHL.SI).

A Silkair flight to Solo was also cancelled, the spokesman added.

An SIA spokeswoman said the Singapore flag carrier suspended flights to and from Jakarta from around 3 p.m. Singapore time on Saturday due to adverse movements in the volcanic ash clouds.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim, editing by Andrew Marshall)

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Barcelona&apos;s Sagrada Familia finally becomes a church - Reuters

A man places a tape around the surroundings of the Sagrada Familia temple in Barcelona November 5, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Albert Gea

By Nigel Davies

BARCELONA | Sat Nov 6, 2010 7:22am EDT

BARCELONA (Reuters) - For decades tourists have visited the twisting spires of Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia church, but 128 years after construction began Catholic faithful will worship there for the first time on Sunday.

Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass to give his official blessing to the church designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, whose sculptural masterpieces dot the city in the region of Catalonia.

The pope consecrates Sagrada Familia during a visit to northern Spain where on Saturday he joins pilgrims at the shrine to St. James, Spain's patron saint, in Santiago de Compostela.

While work is not scheduled to finish for many more years on the intricate and colorful Sagrada Familia, enough has been done to welcome the pontiff, including installing last minute stained-glass windows.

Jordi Bonet Armengol, chief architect of the cathedral and seventh successor to Gaudi, hopes the pope's visit will provide the boost needed to finish the work.

Under instructions from Gaudi, who died in 1926, construction is funded by private donations and visitors' fees.

Protests ranging from gays who are against the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality, to residents complaining about the disruption and cost of the event are expected to greet the pope when he steps out of Gaudi's masterpiece on Sunday.

But devout Catholics said they were excited about the consecration.

"There are all kinds of protests but we live in a democracy and should let believers enjoy this," said Petita Martin, 68, who was disappointed she would not be able to attend the Mass, but planned to greet the pope along the route of his procession on Sunday.

"Sagrada Familia is a jewel and great propaganda for Barcelona," she said.

SHOWING THE POPE AROUND

Bonet eagerly awaits the tour he will give the pope of the ornate church.

"He will bring a message of spirituality and it's a stimulus to finish the work... The building shows that through art we can achieve spirituality that people need so much."

A lot remains to be done to complete the church, including erecting the central 170-meter tower. But Bonet swore it would not take another century -- if visitors continue to be generous.

In the past, the tourist flow was lower and sometimes the church had trouble paying workers, said Bonet.

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Greek police detects more suspect parcels near Athens - Reuters

ATHENS | Thu Nov 4, 2010 7:17am EDT

"We have detected suspicious parcels in the Athens suburb of Markopoulo. We are checking them," a police spokesman told Reuters, without saying how many suspect packages there were. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Factbox: Greek urban guerrilla groups - Reuters

n">(Reuters) - Here are some facts on left-wing urban guerrilla groups in Greece, following a wave of parcel-bomb attacks on European government targets.

* FIRE CONSPIRACY CELLS:

-- Police suspect that one of two men arrested Monday is a member of the Fire Conspiracy Cells, a group that has staged several attacks on government targets over the past year and describes itself as an anti-state organization.

-- In May 2009, it claimed responsibility for two small time-bombs that exploded at the construction sites of two new police stations.

-- In September 2009, it said it had planted a small bomb outside a government building in the northern city of Thessaloniki. The bomb went off hours after a blast outside the Athens bourse claimed by another cell, Revolutionary Struggle.

-- In January 2010, Fire Conspiracy Cells claimed responsibility for a small bomb blast outside parliament.

-- Last March, the group claimed three small blasts in Athens: at a police detention center, the office of the far-right Golden Dawn group, and the home of a leading member of the Pakistani community. It vowed to step up attacks.

-- Police have arrested 17 people this year suspected of being members of the group.

* REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE:

-- The Revolutionary Struggle aims to overthrow the existing economic and political order in Greece and is opposed to the influence of globalization and capitalism on Greek society. Analysts have said that the group shares much of its ideology with the Fire Conspiracy Cells and have said that there may have been some co-operation between the two groups.

-- Revolutionary Struggle emerged in September 2003 with a bomb attack on a court in Athens, about a year after the capture of most of the leaders and senior members of the urban guerrilla group November 17, which had killed more than 20 Greek and foreign diplomats -- notably British defense attache Brigadier Stephen Saunders, shot and killed in his car in June 2000 -- in its 27-year existence. November 17 was named after the date of a crushed 1973 student uprising against the then-ruling military junta in which at least 13 students were killed.

-- In 2006, the group attempted to kill a minister and in 2007 it launched a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens, causing minor damage but no injuries.

-- The group reappeared weeks after police killed a teen-ager in December 2008, which sparked the nation's worst riots in decades. It claimed responsibility for shooting at riot police guarding the Culture Ministry, wounding a 21-year-old officer.

-- Revolutionary Struggle has claimed responsibility for an attack on a police bus and a failed bomb attack on Royal Dutch Shell's headquarters in Athens, in 2008. In March 2009, it claimed two bomb attacks at Citibank branches in Athens.

-- The group has also said it was behind a blast at the Athens bourse in September 2009 which damaged the building.

-- Greece charged six suspected members of Revolutionary Struggle in April, over a series of bomb attacks.

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Bomb goes off at Swiss Embassy in Athens, no injuries - Reuters

ATHENS | Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:03am EDT

"A small bomb exploded at the Swiss embassy in Athens, there was no warning call," said a police official speaking under condition he not be identified. "We have no reports of injuries so far."

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RPT-FACTBOX-Brazilian president-elect&apos;s economic proposals - Reuters

(Repeating story from late Sunday with no changes to text)

By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA Oct 31 (Reuters) - Dilma Rousseff of the ruling Workers' Party won Brazil's presidential election on Sunday by a wide margin over opposition rival Jose Serra, and will become the first woman to lead Latin America's largest country.

Rousseff, a former chief of staff under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won a strong mandate with about 56 percent of valid votes. Her campaign had benefited from a booming economy and Lula's huge popularity.

Rousseff, 62, endorses the pillars of economic policy that have made Brazil one of the world's hottest emerging markets. Here are some of her positions on key issues:

ECONOMIC STABILITY

Rousseff would maintain the mostly market-friendly policies that have provided economic stability over the past decade: a free-floating currency, inflation control and fiscal discipline.

FISCAL DISCIPLINE

The career civil servant whose party has strong ties to public sector unions, Rousseff proposes maintaining fiscal discipline with gradual adjustments but has ruled out the kind of drastic austerity measures that marked the first year of Lula's administration in 2003. She has said Brazil does not need to rein in public spending for the economy to keep growing at a robust pace.

She has pledged to keep a primary budget surplus target of 3.3 percent of gross domestic product until net debt falls to 30 percent of GDP in late 2014. It was 41 percent of GDP in September.

The government still expects to hit its primary budget target in 2010, after a large one-off payment by state oil company Petrobras helped it partially offset a ramp-up in public spending this year. Still, it may only meet its target by excluding spending on its infrastructure program or adopting other unusual accounting methods.

STATE ROLE IN ECONOMY

Rousseff favors a strong state role in strategic areas, such as banking, petroleum and energy, but she insists private companies in those sectors would not be crowded out.

She also pledges to promote government efficiency and a meritocracy while cutting red tape.

A former energy and mining minister under Lula, Rousseff may also increase state intervention in the mining sector, which could create risks for iron-ore giant Vale. Lula's government has put pressure on the world's biggest iron-ore producer to create more jobs in Brazil by investing in steel production.

Rousseff is likely to push on with efforts to boost access to broadband Internet services among low-income households through the revived state-run Telebras, whose assets had been privatized in the 1990s. Some industry leaders have said the private sector could be harmed by the plan.

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Senate leader Harry Reid faces possible historic loss - Reuters

 

Nevada Senator Harry Reid acknowledges supporters during a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 22, 2010, after President Barack Obama spoke.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON | Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:54am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Harry Reid, a key ally to President Barack Obama, is in danger in Tuesday's election of becoming the first U.S. Senate majority leader in 58 years to be booted out of office by home-state voters.

A Reid defeat -- to a favorite of the anti-establishment Tea Party movement -- would be a repudiation of Obama, who made several trips to Nevada to try to bail out his fellow Democrat, widely viewed as tough but not charismatic.

It would also be a sign that the political brand of many experienced senators -- those who deliver results through back-room dealings rather than fiery oratory -- is not as powerful a draw for voters as it once was.

But above all, it underlines the importance of the economy and unemployment in these elections. Nevada has the highest jobless rate in the country, at 14.4 percent compared to a national average of 9.6 percent.

"In a sense it is a configuration of the stars," said Stephen Hess, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "If any of these factors weren't there, I don't think it would be a close election."

Anti-Washington ire fanned by the weak U.S. economy has made Reid a top Republican target and put him in a razor-close race with Sharron Angle, a darling of the Tea Party movement.

"You know, Harry's not the flashiest guy, let's face it," Obama told a crowd of about 9,000 people in Las Vegas this month. Laughter then turned to applause as Obama added: "Harry Reid does the right thing."

The right thing in Obama's eyes has been to play a major role in shepherding the president's agenda through Congress, including his landmark overhaul of the healthcare system.

But those legislative achievements have brought few visible benefits to Nevadans, where the rate of home foreclosures is also the highest in the country.

Nevada's Senate race has been among the nation's nastiest with Reid and Angle exchanging barbs, and polls showing voters view both of them unfavorably.

DISDAIN FOR REID

Democrats celebrated when Angle won the Republican primary, predicting that her views -- which include privatizing Social Security -- were too extreme. But disdain for Reid is so strong the race remains too close to call.

Eric Herzik, who heads the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno, thinks Reid, 70, will scrape out a win, as he has in a number of close races before becoming the Senate's top Democrat.

"I'm sticking with my early prediction. It will be close, it will be ugly and I think Harry Reid wins," Herzik said.

Reid spent six years in the House of Representatives and 24 in the Senate, becoming Senate minority leader in 2005 and rising to majority leader two years later.

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EU sets sights on treaty change, new safety net - Reuters

* EU leaders agree on treaty change, permanent safety net * Treaty change moves are a success for Germany

* Trichet raises concerns, long battle ahead to implement

(Adds Sarkozy, details)

By Ilona Wissenbach and Timothy Heritage

BRUSSELS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The European Union on Friday set in motion plans to amend the EU's main treaty to create a permanent system to fight financial crises, and said a summit deal on new budget rules would strengthen the euro.

The moves, intended to head off any sovereign debt problems, face a long and potentially divisive battle before they take effect and EU sources said the head of the European Central Bank had expressed reservations about some of the proposals.

But the agreement on limited treaty change at a two-day summit in Brussels, and the endorsement of tougher budget rules [ID:nLDE69I1FB], was a victory for Germany's push for greater financial stringency following Greece's debt crisis.

"We are doing everything to ensure that there will never be a repeat of the crisis we have had," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. "One can already say that the euro will be strengthened."

She won guarded praise in the German media for a compromise that bought time to find a lasting remedy to the bloc's debt problems, offering her some respite from criticism that she had bowed too easily to French demands to water down proposals for semi-automatic sanctions on budget rule-breakers.

Any failure to reach a deal and any sign that the EU was backtracking on efforts to tighten fiscal discipline could have unsettled investors already worried by debt problems in countries such as Portugal, Greece and Ireland. [ID:nLDE69R0V7]

Leaders of the 27 EU states committed the bloc to treaty changes to create a permanent mechanism that will replace a 440-billion euro ($611 billion) emergency safety net for indebted euro zone countries when it expires in mid-2013.

Herman van Rompuy, the president of the EU Council grouping national governments, will draw up proposals to amend the Lisbon treaty in cooperation with the executive European Commission and the leaders hope to agree on the changes in December.

"The European Council has sealed a solid pact to strengthen the euro. That's one of the most important decisions that we have taken in the last months," Van Rompuy told reporters.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For analysis on mechanics of treaty change, see [ID:nLDE69Q0H2] For more on how treaty change may work, see [ID:nLDE69S0GV] For a link to all treaty change stories click [ID:nLDE69R14T] For an interactive timeline on the euro zone crisis, click on link.reuters.com/kar27p

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

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China, Japan ties strained over islands at summit - Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan (R) walks past China's Premier Wen Jiabao as Asian leaders get ready for a gala dinner during the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi October 29, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

By James Pomfret and Yoko Kubota

HANOI | Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:02am EDT

HANOI (Reuters) - Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will not hold a one-on-one meeting intended to mend ties at an Asian summit as Chinese anger flared over an over-lapping claim in the resource-rich East China Sea.

China lambasted Japan on Friday for raising the issue of disputed islands in the sea and a Japanese cabinet secretary later said Beijing had torpedoed a slated meeting between the two premiers at the last minute, though its pursuit of strategic and beneficial ties remained unchanged.

"I cannot say there won't be any impact (on relations)," said Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama when asked about the setback. "But what is essential is a calm response," he told reporters.

Ties between China and Japan deteriorated last month with the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese coast guard after their boats collided near the disputed isles.

The two sides had taken steps to mend ties and speculation swirled over whether Wen and Kan would hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi.

Japan said China's decision to scrap the talks was based on a "misunderstanding" over a media report that Beijing had agreed to resume negotiations with Japan on the exploration for oil and gas fields in the East China Sea.

China, however, put a different spin on the geo-political row, saying Japan had "inflamed" the East China Sea issue and disseminated information violating China's territorial claims.

"Their actions have damaged the atmosphere," Chinese Foreign Ministry official Hu Zhengyue told reporters in Hanoi, referring to Japan's raising of the Diaoyu islands in ministerial talks at the summit. "They are responsible for everything."

Japan calls the islands the Senkakus.

Both leaders appeared stiff and avoided eye contact when they lined up for photographs with other leaders during the day.

In a sign of the diplomatic shadow-play, Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara earlier told reporters after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, that talks had been held in a "very good atmosphere."

The flareup over the islands is the latest in a string of rows to strain ties between the neighbors.

Both governments are extremely wary of public opinion in their countries where age-old suspicion runs deep, partly from Japan's wartime occupation of parts of China.

Anti-Japan protests broke out in several Chinese cities in recent days, while in Japan, Kyodo news agency reported that suspicious containers of red liquid were sent to the Chinese embassy and consulates.

RARE EARTHS

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Argentine bonds, stocks rally after Kirchner death - Reuters

* Stocks .MERV open up 1.1 percent, peso dips

* Locally traded bonds rise an average 4.0 percent

By Jorge Otaola and Walter Bianchi

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Argentine bonds and stocks rose in opening trade on Thursday, boosted by investor confidence a day after the death of former President Nestor Kirchner.

For more on Kirchner see [ID:nN28110442].

Investors had disliked the unorthodox economic policies of Kirchner, who was a key power broker in the current government of his wife, President Cristina Fernandez, and who had been expected to run for a second term in October 2011 elections.

"The rise in stocks and bonds reflects expectations for a shift to economic policies that are more closely aligned with the markets," said Roberto Drimer, an analyst for VaTnet Financial Research.

Locally traded Argentine bonds rose 4.0 percent on average in opening trade. Among the biggest gainers was the dollar-denominated Disc ARDISCD=RASL, which rose 6.2 percent to an ask price of 94.60.

Argentina's portion of the JP Morgan EMBI Plus sovereign bond index 11EMJ widened 2 basis points to 535 basis points, after reaching its tightest in 31 months earlier in the session. The index overall was 1 basis point tighter.

The benchmark MerVal .MERV stock index was up 1.43 percent at 2,962.27 in morning trade boosted by speculative buying, with gainers led by media group Grupo Clarin (CLA.BA)(GCSAq.L), which was up 34 percent at 19 pesos per share.

The government has been battling with Clarin for more than two years. Kirchner frequently accused it of trying to destabilize his wife's administration while the media group in turn accuses officials of a campaign of harassment.

On the foreign exchange market, the peso weakened 0.12 percent to 4.0350/4.0400 per U.S. dollar ARSB= in informal trade between foreign exchange houses, as measured by Reuters.

In formal interbank trade, the peso was down 0.06 percent at 3.9575/3.96 per dollar ARS=RASL.

Market sources said they do not expect sudden movements on the peso due to the central bank's policy to continue intervening in foreign exchange markets and accumulating foreign reserves. [ID:nN25268824] (Writing by Luis Andres Henao; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Ireland&apos;s Lenihan sounds warning over EU treaty change - Reuters

DUBLIN | Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:52am EDT

DUBLIN Oct 28 (Reuters) - Ireland would oppose any change to the European Union's main treaty if it meant the character of the union was altered, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Thursday.

Germany and France were seeking on Thursday to convince the rest of the EU that the bloc's main treaty, the Lisbon Treaty, must be changed to help avert future financial crises. [ID:nLDE69R1FF]

"We are not ... in principle opposed to all treaty changes in these matters but we do take issue with any treaty change which would involve a fundamental change in the character of the union itself," Lenihan said in parliament.

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins)

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Brown up against Whitman in California governor race: poll - Reuters

California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown speaks at a campaign rally in Los Angeles, California, October 22, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

LOS ANGELES | Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:12am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Democrat Jerry Brown has widened his lead over Republican rival Meg Whitman to 13 percentage points in the California governor's race, a Los Angeles Times/USC poll showed on Sunday.

Brown, the state's attorney general who served as California governor from 1975 to 1983 and is seeking a second crack at the job, leads former eBay CEO Whitman 52 percent to 39 percent, according to the survey.

In the same poll a month ago, Brown had a five percent lead over Whitman. According to Sunday's poll he has since picked up wide support among California's Latino voters following revelations that Whitman employed, and later fired, an undocumented Latina housekeeper.

The poll also found that with two weeks to go before the November 2 elections, three-term U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer has an eight point lead over first-time Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO.

Whitman, a billionaire political novice making her first run for office in a state with 2 million more registered Democrats than Republicans, has poured some $140 million of her own money into the race.

She hopes to beat Brown in a year when voters, angry over the still-sluggish economy and high unemployment, are expected to punish Democrats and incumbents at the ballot box.

California is considered a reliably blue state but has elected a string of Republican governors since the 1960s, including former President Ronald Reagan and current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The next governor will inherit a state struggling with double-digit unemployment, a budget deficit of tens of billions of dollars and an unpopular, often gridlocked legislature.

The Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California survey was conducted among 1,500 people, including 922 likely voters, between Oct 13-20. The poll has a 2.5 percent plus or minus margin of error.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Dan Whitcomb, Editing by Sandra Maler)

Who cares what the LA Slime thinks. Why would ANYONE EVER vote for Jerry Brown? In what universe it is acceptable for him to refuse to do his job as Attorney General and NOT defend our vote for Prop 8 in court? What kind of an idiot does that? If he thinks he can get away with a stupid stunt like that as AG, what will he think he can get away with as Governor? This state is in for a VERY rude awakening if it votes for Brown, just like we have been for electing the worst, most destructive President in history. Let’s not repeat THAT mistake, please. An old pot-head is NOT what this state needs right now to recover, especieally one who WON’T do the job he was elected to do.

klgrube Report As Abusive

Why would anyone vote for Jerry Brown, you ask? I’ll tell you. Our state government, where the majority of the legislature is democratic, cannot function with a republican governor. We already say what happened with Schwarzenegger. Horrible. Now look at the mess that we’re in. But out of his campaign, he wants to appropriately fund K-12 and higher education. He wants to continue with AB32 and bring green jobs to California. He’s thinking about the future of California which is a very wise move.
As for his refusal to defend Prop 8, I think that is what makes him an EVEN BETTER candidate. I am highly critical of politics but I think his decision to not uphold this blatantly prejudice law was the right decision. This law is unconstitutional and is infringing on the civil rights of gay people.

Go Jerry!

Adethro Report As Abusive

Whitman really does believe that she will be the CEO of California – she’ll just order the legislature to do as she pleases and it will be done. Apparently about half the public shares her fantasy.

Nerau Report As Abusive


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