Lakers' Odom shows up late, leaves camp early
Lakers forward Lamar Odom showed up more than 90 minutes late for Los Angeles' first workout of training camp on Friday, and then left early after a meeting with general manager Mitch Kupchak.
Odom apparently is still upset about the Lakers' aborted attempt to trade him in a megadeal for Chris Paul. He arrived and left without practicing or speaking to reporters on what's sure to be an awkward opening day of camp.
Pau Gasol, the four-time All-Star forward also included in the deal, showed up and participated in the Lakers' first workout under new coach Mike Brown at their training complex, even amid reports the three teams involved in the squashed trade had opened discussions again.
Odom was thought to be headed to New Orleans in the deal for Paul, the Hornets' superstar point guard, until Commissioner David Stern blocked the deal for what a league spokesman called "basketball reasons." Gasol was expected to be moved to Houston in a deal that would have reconfigured the Lakers' roster less than three weeks before their Christmas season opener against Chicago.
After the NBA flattened the deal Thursday night, the Lakers are trying to get on with preparations for the season even while two of their key players have uncertain futures. The 16-time NBA champions' threepeat bid ended last spring with a second-round sweep by Dallas.
Los Angeles also signed veteran shooter Jason Kapono and draft picks Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock on Friday.
Odom was the NBA's sixth man of the year last season, and the veteran big man has spent all but one season of his 12-year career with Los Angeles' two NBA teams. He's also at the nexus of Hollywood's love affair with the Lakers, given his marriage to Khloe Kardashian and their reality show.
"When a team trades u and it doesn't go down? Now what?" Odom tweeted Thursday night.
Gasol has played in three NBA finals and won two titles since the Lakers acquired him in early 2008. Although he's among the NBA's best big men, some Lakers fans soured on the Spanish national team star for his dismal play down the stretch last season.
If the Lakers empty their enviable frontcourt depth in a deal for Paul, they could face a difficult start to the year when the Bulls visit to start a stretch of five games in seven days. Starting center Andrew Bynum is suspended for those first five games for his bad behavior in the final game of the Lakers' playoff loss to Dallas.
Kapono, the former UCLA star from nearby Artesia, joined his sixth NBA team by signing with the Lakers. The two-time 3-Point Shootout winner earned a championship ring with the Miami Heat in 2007, contributing valuable spot-up 3-point shooting.
The Lakers' perimeter shooting was spotty down the stretch last season, with the club struggling to find a dependable 3-point specialist since trading Sasha Vujacic.
(AP)
Ford recalling 130,000 Fusion, Milans to fix wheels
Ford Motor Co. said Friday it is recalling more than 128,000 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans over concerns the wheel studs could crack and cause the wheels to separate, Detroit News reported.
The recall includes 128,616 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milans, built from April 1 to April 30, 2009, and Dec. 1, 2009, through Nov. 13, 2010, with 17-inch steel wheels after at least six wheel separation incidents.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA), multiple stud fractures could occur at the wheel location while driving, and the driver may experience vehicle vibration and/ or wheel separation, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford said it's not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.
Ford has paid at least 128 warranty claims for wheel stud repairs and NHTSA has received 29 complaints.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect he rear brake disc surface for flatness and replace the discs as necessary. Additionally, the wheel lug nuts will be replaced on all four wheels.
UK alone as EU agrees fiscal deal
European leaders say 26 out of 27 EU member states have backed a tax and budget pact to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.
Only the UK has said it will not join. Prime Minister David Cameron said he had to protect key British interests, including its financial markets.
The 17 countries that use the euro have all agreed to the deal.
Nine other countries have said they will sign up, some pending consultations with their parliaments.
Hungary originally said it would also remain outside the deal but has now changed its stance.
'Stable euro'
The UK effectively used its veto to block an attempt, led by the French and Germans, to get all 27 EU states to support changes to the union's treaties.
Instead, eurozone members and others will adopt an accord with penalties for breaking deficit rules. It will be backed by a treaty between governments, not an EU treaty.
"In fact, 26 leaders are in favour of joining this effort. They recognise the euro is a common good," said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Mr Cameron said he had done "the right thing" by not signing up to the deal, as it was not in Britain's interests.
"We were offered a treaty that didn't have proper safeguards for Britain, and I decided it was not right to sign that treaty," he told the BBC.
"We're still in the single market. That is the best safeguard of keeping markets open," he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the UK was the only country to have expressed reservations, but that Mr Cameron had recognised that a stable euro was in Britain's interest.
Of the nine other EU countries outside the euro, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Sweden have said they must consult their parliaments. Six others - including Denmark, Poland and Latvia - have agreed to join the new deal.
However, some countries - such as the Republic of Ireland, which is in the eurozone - have a constitutional requirement to hold a referendum on any major transfer of powers to the EU.
The Irish Minister for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton, told the Reuters news agency the probability of a referendum was "50-50 and we will be looking at the detail over the next couple of weeks".
EU leaders aim to have the pact - known as a "fiscal compact" - ready to take effect by March.
Its main provisions include:
- a cap of 0.5% of GDP on countries' annual structural deficits
- "automatic consequences" for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3% of GDP
- the tighter rules to be enshrined in countries' constitutions
- the EU's permanent bailout facility, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to be accelerated and brought into force in July 2012
- the adequacy of 500bn-euro (£427bn; $666bn) limit for the ESM to be reassessed
- eurozone and other EU countries to provide up to 200bn euros to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help debt-stricken eurozone members
Nearly 10 hours of talks could not produce an agreement involving all member states.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the sticking point had been Mr Cameron's insistence on a protocol allowing London to opt-out on proposed change on financial services.
"We could not accept this," he said.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde welcomed the deal as "a really good step in the right direction".
But the announcement from Brussels failed to lift the markets, which are still hoping for more intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB), and European stocks traded slightly down on Friday.
Insurers face ratings downgrade threat from S&P
Some of Europe's top insurance companies have been warned their credit rating could be downgraded as a result of the European financial crisis.
The warning comes from the rating agency Standard and Poor's, which earlier this week warned most eurozone countries they could be downgraded
Allianz, Aviva, Axa, Generali and Mapfre were among 15 firms warned.
Credit ratings are used by lenders to gauge the likelihood of their borrowings being paid back.
That in turn affects the price borrowers pay for credit.
S&P said the "credit watch" was related to the earlier warning on the ratings of 15 of the 17 countries of the eurozone.
In a statement it said: "We are placing the ratings on certain European insurance providers on credit watch negative.
"Depending on the outcome of our review of the ratings on the eurozone member governments, the long-term ratings on these insurers could be lowered by one or two notches, and short-term ratings for some issuers could be lowered by one notch."
The full list of insurers also names Caisse Centrale de Reassurance, CNP Group, Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances, Millenniumbcp-Ageas Group, Nacional de Reaseguros, Pozavarovalnica Sava, RSA Insurance Ireland, Societa Cattolica di Assicurazione, Triglav Group and Unipol Group.
Among the countries warned on Monday were Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg and Austria, who were told their rating could be marked down one notch.
France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, was warned it could be given a two-notch cut downgrade.
S&P said it would complete a review of the 15 countries' ratings "as soon as possible" after this week's EU summit.
French bank ratings downgraded again by Moody's
Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded France's three big banks due to their difficulty borrowing money.
The agency cut Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas from Aa2 to Aa3, and Societe Generale from Aa3 to A1.
The move follows a previous rating cut by Moody's for Credit Agricole and Societe Generale in September.
"Liquidity and funding conditions have deteriorated significantly" for each of the banks, Moody's said, adding that the problem was likely to worsen.
"The probability that the bank will face further funding pressures has risen in line with the worsening European debt crisis," the rating agency said of each of the three.
It also assigned a negative outlook to all three banks' ratings, warning that it will continue to monitor the European bank debt markets, and would downgrade them again if conditions look set to worsen.
Markets shrugged off the news, with share prices in all three banks closing higher, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole finished more than 4% up. Societe Generale made a more modest gain of over 2%.
Dollar shortage
The latest downgrades follow a review launched by Moody's immediately after the previous downgrades, "to consider the implications of the persistent fragility in the bank financing markets, given the banks' continued reliance on wholesale funding".
The markets for short-term cash lending between European banks have become increasingly stressed since the summer.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank unveiled a string of new measures to ensure that eurozone banks do not run out of cash.
Eurozone banks have also found it particularly hard to maintain their borrowing in US dollars, as many US money market funds have refused to lend to them since the summer.
Last week, the problem prompted the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve and four other major central banks to agree to help each other provide cheap emergency loans to their banks in each other's currencies.
The surprise move sparked speculation that one or more major European banks may have been on the point of collapse.
Both BNP Paribas and Societe Generale have announced large asset sales in recent months, in order to reduce their total exposures and their reliance on short-term wholesale funding.
BNP plans to sell 70bn euros of assets, or 10% of the bank's entire balance sheet, with a focus on its dollar-denominated loans.
Moody's welcomed these moves, but it also warned that if a lot of European banks all tried to sell off assets at the same time - as seemed likely - that would depress their market value, meaning they would be sold at a loss.
Capital call
The September downgrades were due to the bank's exposure to Greece in the case of Credit Agricole, and Moody's view that the bank no longer enjoyed the same level of government support in the case of Societe Generale.
In its latest decisions, Moody's again flagged up the banks' continuing, albeit reduced, exposure to troubled European governments such as Greece and Italy.
The rating agency's announcement came a day after the European Banking Authority said that the continent's banks would have to raise 115bn euros ($154bn, £96.25bn) in capital to be sure of withstanding future financial shocks.
Capital is the bank's buffer for absorbing losses, and can be raised by selling new shares, or by retaining profits by cutting dividends and bonuses.
French banks were told to raise 7.3bn euros in total - considerably less than their peers in Germany, Italy or Spain.
German exports drop as southern Europe markets shrink
German exports fell 3.6% in October as demand from crisis-hit southern European markets shrank, data shows.
It was the biggest fall in six months, and much bigger than the 1% decline expected by markets.
German imports shrank by 1% versus a month earlier - also more than expected - suggesting demand is also weakening in Europe's biggest economy.
The country's trade surplus fell from 17.3bn to 11.6bn euros ($15.5bn; £9.9bn), or about 5.5% of its GDP.
"We are seeing the beginning of a strong hit to German exports," said Holger Schmiedling, economist at Berenberg Bank.
"It is telling that the exports fell by more than the imports. It's the euro crisis. If our neighbours aren't doing well, Germany can't remain an island of tranquillity."
Meanwhile, German inflation fell marginally in November to 2.4% versus a year earlier, compared with a 2.5% rate the month before.
In France, industrial output and manufacturing production both registered zero growth in October versus the previous month - slightly beating expectations of a mild contraction.
US trade deficit narrows further to $43.5bn
The US trade deficit narrowed further in October as imports fell faster than exports, official data has shown.
Total exports of $179bn (£115bn) fell 0.8% from September, while imports fell 1% to $223bn, giving a total deficit of $43.5bn, or roughly 3.5% of GDP.
Imports have largely stagnated over the past six months as the US economy has slowed, while exports have continued their steady post-recession recovery.
The US Commerce Department data was in line with market expectations.
Imports have also been held down by the average price paid by the US for imported oil, which fell for the fifth month in a row to $98.84 per barrel.
It helped the trade deficit reach its lowest monthly level this year.
The US ratified new trade treaties with South Korea, Panama and Colombia in October - the first such treaties in four years.
The government expects the deals to boost US exports by $13bn a year in the future.
Russian election: Moscow braced for fresh protests
Moscow is braced for what the opposition claims will be the biggest demonstration in Russia for 20 years.
Tens of thousands are expected to gather in a square south of the Kremlin, in the latest show of anger over disputed parliamentary polls.
Smaller rallies are due to take place in cities across the country.
The protesters allege Sunday's elections - which gave Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party a small lead - were fraudulent.
Hundreds of people have been arrested during anti-Putin protests over the past week, mainly in Moscow and St Petersburg.
'School classes extended'
At least 50,000 police and riot troops have been deployed in Moscow ahead of Saturday's protests.
The opposition says it is hoping for a turnout of 30,000 in the capital in the demonstration dubbed "For Fair Elections", due to begin at 14:00 (10:00 GMT).
The BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow says that if the protests come even close to expectations, they will shake the 12-year-long political domination of Mr Putin.
The authorities agreed to allow Saturday's demonstrations to go ahead following negotiations with opposition leaders.
The two sides reached a deal in which Moscow would allow a high-turnout if the rally was relocated from downtown Revolution Square to Bolotnaya Square, a narrow island in the Moscow River.
The official results of the elections to Russia's Duma showed that the ruling party United Russia lost 77 of its 315 seats, just retaining a small majority.
But there is a widespread view, fuelled by mobile phone videos, and accounts on internet social networking sites that there was wholesale election fraud, and that Mr Putin's party cheated its way to victory, our correspondent says.
On Friday, the presidential Council for Human Rights advising Mr Medvedev said the reports of vote-rigging were of deep concern, and that the elections should be rerun if they were confirmed.
However the council has no power to order a fresh ballot, correspondents say.
Earlier this week, security experts said attempts had been made to counter online dissent in Russia, with hijacked PCs being used to drown out online chat on Twitter.
Analysis of the many pro-Kremlin messages posted to some discussions suggested they were sent by machines, according to security firm Trend Micro.
Mr Putin, who was president between 2000 and 2008, is widely predicted to win a presidential election in March.
On Thursday, he blamed the US for stoking the recent unrest, after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed reservations over the poll.
The prime minister said Mrs Clinton's remarks had "set the tone for some opposition activists".
Appeals for calm after disputed DR Congo election
There have been appeals for calm in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the victory of President Joseph Kabila in disputed elections.
Main opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi has rejected official results and declared himself the winner, raising fears of violence.
Mr Tshisekedi along with the EU, the US, Britain, France and former colonial power Belgium appealed for calm.
Riot police are patrolling the capital, Kinshasa, and gunshots have been heard.
Columns of smoke were seen rising over districts backing Mr Tshisekedi as groups of young men burned tyres.
Meanwhile, in areas loyal to President Kabila, residents cheered and supporters staged victory parades.
"I reject these results, and in fact I see them as a provocation against our people," said 78-year-old Mr Tshisekedi.
"It is scandalous and vulgar. We have done our own calculations and I received 54% to Kabila's 26%. His term is finished. I am the president."
Mr Tshisekedi later appealed to his supporters to "stay calm and peaceful".
However, he added that he was waiting to see if diplomatic efforts would change the situation.
The army says it has about 20,000 soldiers on standby in Kinshasa. The atmosphere in the city is said to be tense.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for "any differences regarding the provisional results of the polls to be resolved peacefully through available legal and mediation mechanisms".
The French Foreign Ministry appealed for peace, saying: "France calls on all Congolese political players to show restraint and a spirit of responsibility."
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was calling on DR Congo's leaders and their supporters "to act responsibly, to renounce violence, to resolve any disagreements they might have through peaceful dialogue".
Earlier, election commission chief Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said President Kabila had gained 49% of the vote against 32% for Mr Tshisekedi.
The announcement had been delayed since Tuesday, with election officials blaming logistical problems.
Mr Tshisekedi's supporters have been protesting in South Africa, Belgium, France and the UK, accusing the international community of backing Mr Kabila.
Four other candidates have said the election was rigged and should be annulled.
International observers said the vote was flawed but stopped short of calling it fraudulent. Most said the irregularities were not enough to change the outcome.
Deadly clashes marred the period leading up to the election and thousands of foreigners and Congolese have fled the country for fear of further violence.
Mr Kabila, 40, has been president since 2001 following the death of his father, Laurent.
In 2006 he won the first elections since the end of a five-year conflict and is due to be sworn in on 20 December for his second term.
But his victory must first be confirmed by the supreme court.
Mr Tshisekedi has said he has no intention of taking an election dispute to the court, which he regards as "Kabila's private institution".
Earlier this year, the constitution was amended so that the candidate with the most votes would win the election, removing the need for a second round.
Although DR Congo is rich in minerals such as gold and diamonds, years of conflict and mismanagement mean it recently came bottom of a survey of living standards around the world.
US General Martin Dempsey warns of unrest
The top US military commander, Gen Martin Dempsey, says he is concerned about "the potential for civil unrest" as Europe's financial crisis unfolds.
Gen Dempsey said it was unclear the latest steps taken by EU leaders would be enough to hold the eurozone together, adding that a break-up could have consequences for the Pentagon.
Twenty-six of the 27 EU countries have agreed to forge a tighter fiscal union.
Only the UK refused to sign up to a new treaty, citing national interest.
Gen Dempsey, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think-tank: "The eurozone is at great risk."
"I know that they've taken some measures here with the 17 members of the eurozone to try to better align... monetary and fiscal policy. But it's unclear, to me at least, that that will be the glue that actually holds it together."
Gen Dempsey previously served as the Army's Chief of Staff and as a general in Iraq.
He suggested that part of his concern was that the US military could be exposed to any unravelling of the eurozone "because of the potential for civil unrest and the break-up of the union".
The US military has more than 80,000 troops and 20,000 civilian workers in Europe, many based in Germany.
Gen Dempsey also said he was concerned that an international project to develop the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft could be put in jeopardy if European national defence budgets were cut.
"It will clearly put [budgets] at risk if all the economic predictions about a potential collapse were to occur," Gen Dempsey said.
At an emergency EU summit that ended in Brussels on Friday, the UK effectively used its veto to block an attempt, led by the French and Germans, to get all 27 members states to support changes to the union's treaties.
Instead, eurozone members and others will adopt an accord with penalties for breaking deficit rules. It will be backed by a treaty between governments, not an EU treaty.
The announcement on Friday produce little reaction from financial markets, which are still hoping for more intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The BBC's Chris Morris says that without further action to lower the cost of borrowing, likely by the ECB, the eurozone still faces a threat.
The rising costs of borrowing in some eurozone countries have pushed governments to pass new austerity measures and to the International Monetary Fund as they struggle to pay their debts.
Europe's debt crisis has already unseated two political leaders and their governments: former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi.