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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday tightened the conflict of interest restrictions governing the boards of directors of its 12 regional banks.

The new rules were passed to deal with potential conflicts such as one that involved Stephen Friedman, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The requirements take effect immediately and spell out the obligations of directors with ties to financial institutions that change status while the official is serving on a Fed regional board.

Friedman

One of Africa's most brutal rebel movements relies on a vast, international network of supporters in at least 25 countries including in the United States and Europe, a United Nations report said.

The U.N. findings show that the network of people help rebels in Congo buy arms and transfer money. The findings were slated to be discussed by the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday and are a scathing indictment of how little the international community has done to cut off logistical support to

Pakistan charged seven men in last year's Mumbai attacks on Wednesday, its first indictment in a case being monitored by India and the United States to see if Islamabad makes good on promises to bring those responsible to justice.

Despite a crackdown in the months following the attacks, analysts say Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani militant group blamed for the three-day assault on the financial center that killed 166 people, remains active and largely untouched by Pakistani authorities.

The

After 10 months in office, President Barack Obama granted his first pardon Wednesday to "Courage," a 45-pound (20-kilogram) turkey spared from the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama stood under the North Portico of the White House to honor a holiday tradition that dates to 1947 _ receiving a bird from the National Turkey Federation.

"I'm told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys," Obama said. "You can't fault them for

Results Wednesday from the ATP World Tour Finals, a $5 million season-ending event at the O2 Arena (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

Group B

Robin Soderling (8), Sweden, def. Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Doubles

Group B

Lukasz Kubot (Poland) and Oliver Marach (6), Austria, def. Max Mirnyi (Belarus) and Andy Ram (7) Israel, 4-6, 6-4, 16-14 (champions tiebreaker).

Police in Ohio say they found dozens of pipe bombs, an assortment of firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a former doctor's apartment.

Authorities say they don't know why the man had the arsenal or if he had any plans to use the weapons.

Sgt. Gary Merton Jr. says police first thought they came across a methamphetamine lab Monday night after explosions shook the apartment complex southeast of Cleveland.

The man, 56-year-old Mark Campano, told an officer that he was

Muslim pilgrims circled Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, on Wednesday in traditional white robes, with new additions _ umbrellas and face masks _ as the opening of the annual hajj was snarled by the heaviest rains in years and fears of swine flu.

Saudi authorities had already geared up for months with precautions for fear that the pilgrimage could become a perfect incubator for the H1N1 swine flu virus. The event is one of the most crowded in the world, with more than 3 million people from

Two fledgling political action committees that support allowing some illegal immigrants to become citizens are raising more money than their immigration-control counterparts, signaling a possible fundraising shift ahead of next year's congressional races.

Immigrants' List and ImmigrationPAC, both established less than four years ago, have raised $100,000 combined this election cycle. That's a relatively small amount in the influential realm of PACs, or political action committees, but still

Israel will halt construction in its West Bank settlements for 10 months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday, in an effort to restart peace talks, but Palestinians rejected the freeze as insufficient because it did not include east Jerusalem.

Shortly before Netanyahu's televised statement, his Security Cabinet approved the freeze. Officials in his office said the vote in the gathering of senior ministers and top security officials was 11-1 in favor.

Netanyahu

The British Bankers' Association, the major lobbying group for the industry, has asked the British government to intervene with Saudi Arabian authorities to help recover debts of at least $20 billion owed by two family businesses to as many as 100 international banks.

The association has sent a strongly worded letter to Trade, Investment and Business Minister Mervyn Davies, warning that the issue is doing "enormous damage" to the reputation of Saudi Arabia.

"Unless there is an early

Alison Nicholas will return as Europe's captain in the 2011 Solheim Cup to be played in Ireland.

The Ladies European Tour also announced Wednesday a change in the qualification criteria. Europe's team will consist of the leading four Europeans on the tour money list, followed by the leading four tour members on the women's world ranking. Nicholas will then have four captain's picks.

The Solheim Cup will be played Sept. 23-25 at Killeen Castle, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Ireland.

The

Canadian philosopher Ian Hacking has accepted Norway's 4.5 million kroner ($800,000) Holberg Prize for his research on the philosophy of science.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit presented Hacking the award Wednesday at a ceremony in the city of Bergen in southwestern Norway.

The University of Bergen awards committee says the 73-year-old Vancouver native won the prize for his research on the impact of history and culture on the formation of new ideas. It says Hacking's work is "reframing

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Germany's foreign minister urged Iran Wednesday to shift from nuclear confrontation to cooperation, with the German official warning Tehran only had limited time to avoid possible new U.N. sanctions.

At a joint news conference with Guido Westerwelle of Germany, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei also spoke against Tehran's attempts to change a plan he brokered. The plan is meant to delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon by having most

A global network of aid agencies on Wednesday called on governments to do more to reduce the impact natural disasters caused by climate change will have on poor countries.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said governments can do this by tackling food shortages, supplying clean water and increasing awareness among citizens about how to cope with disasters.

"We cannot stop climate change, we can only slow down the speed of climate change," said Tadateru

Sochi, the Russian city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, has been chosen as the venue for an international peace and sport conference in 2012.

The decision was announced Wednesday at the opening in Monaco of the 2009 Peace and Sports International Forum, whose patron is Prince Albert. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.

The Monaco event was attended by a high-level delegation from Sochi 2014, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

Kozak

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's job is not under threat despite his team's elimination from the Champions League, according to managing director Christian Purslow.

The five-time European champions beat Debrecen 1-0 Tuesday for its first victory in a month, but were still knocked out of the group stage for the first time in six seasons under Benitez because Fiorentina beat Lyon in the other Group E match.

Liverpool has to finish in the top four of the Premier League to qualify for

Indian investigators have said the fraud at Satyam Computer Services, once India's fourth-largest software services firm, was at least 47.39 billion rupees ($1 billion) more than initially thought.

Satyam founder R. Ramalinga Raju confessed in January to inflating company assets by 71.36 billion rupees ($1.54 billion), by exaggerating cash balances, booking fake interest, overstating debt and understating liabilities.

In a 200-page court brief filed Tuesday, India's Central Bureau

Robin Soderling advanced to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 6-1 Wednesday for his second straight win at the season-ending tournament.

The Swede outlasted Djokovic in a tense first set despite wasting three straight set points with the third-ranked Serb serving at 5-4. Djokovic then put up little resistance in the second and was broken three straight times, netting a forehand on Soderling's second match point.

Soderling entered the tournament

Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station early Wednesday and headed home with one astronaut eager to hold his newborn daughter for the first time and another who's been away from her young son since the summer.

Before signing off from Mission Control, flight director Mike Sarafin wished the seven crew members a happy Thanksgiving and a good landing on Friday.

"We'll do our best to stay sharp until the round things stop rolling," replied commander Charles Hobaugh.

The

The U.S. dollar fell below the Swiss franc Wednesday for only the second time ever.

The dollar briefly dropped to 0.9993 francs in international trading before rising above parity again.

At 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) the U.S. currency stood at 1.0005 francs.

It fell below 1 franc for the first time on March 14, 2008.

The dollar's decline Wednesday came as the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that interest rates will remain very low for a while yet and that it was not overly concerned

The Taliban's reclusive leader has ruled out talks with President Hamid Karzai and called on Afghans to break off relations with his "stooge" administration.

In a statement, Mullah Omar also insisted foreign troops were losing the war in Afghanistan.

His message, issued Wednesday ahead of the Muslim Eid holiday, came a week after Karzai reached out to the Taliban during his inauguration speech, saying it was important to include in the government former Taliban who were ready to renounce

The BBC is releasing its first ever Internet-only soap opera, based on its long running popular domestic drama "EastEnders."

The BBC said Wednesday the show "EastEnders:E20" will debut in January.

"EastEnders" was one of the first television dramas to deal with issues such as domestic violence.

The new show will focus on teenagers living in the same neighborhood as characters from the main show and the story lines from the two programs will sometimes cross over.

"EastEnders:

The ruined theater under the Acropolis where the works of Euripides and other classical playwrights were first performed some 2,500 years ago will undergo partial restoration over the next six years, Greek officials said Wednesday .

The euro6 million ($9 million) program is set for completion by 2015 and will include extensive modern additions to the surviving stone seats of the Theater of Dionysos.

But is unlikely that the site will host modern audiences any time soon.

Standing

An estimated 19.2 million people watched Donny Osmond win "Dancing With the Stars" _ the smallest audience for the show's finale since the first season.

This was the ninth edition of the contest, one of television's most popular shows. The Nielsen Co. says ratings have been down all season for the show, an indication that viewers weren't as attached to the contestants as they had in the past.

Osmond said the show has been a highlight in a career of ups and downs. He competed during

In the days after 15-year-old Michael Brewer was set on fire by a group of teens, his mother, Valerie Brewer, sat at his hospital bedside and worried.

"How are we going to get through this?" she recalls wondering. She was a switchboard operator. Her husband had been laid off as a maintenance man two months prior. The family didn't have health insurance.

Never mind the anger that welled up after police said five of Michael's middle school classmates doused him with rubbing alcohol

Energy prices rose Wednesday even as the amount of unused crude, gasoline and natural gas being placed into U.S. storage rose again.

By early afternoon, benchmark crude for January delivery rose $1.10 to $77.12 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas, which sets new records for the total amount now held in storage every week, jumped 6 percent.

Energy experts were at a loss to explain why natural gas prices rose, with so much coming on line as major industrial consumers

Islamic religious authorities have begun tightening their grip on Iranian public schools, a report said Wednesday, as hard-liners expand an ideological "soft war" against Western influence.

The effort appears to be part of a wider drive to counter opposition groups and other pro-reform factions that have been emboldened by the unprecedented protests after June's disputed presidential election.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi strongly attacked the Revolutionary Guard in a new

The U.N. climate chief on Wednesday welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to attend next month's climate conference in Copenhagen, where the Americans will offer their first specific target for slashing U.S. greenhouse gases.

"The world is very much looking to the United States to come forward with an emission reduction target," Yvo de Boer told reporters at the headquarters of the U.N. climate treaty secretariat.

But Obama's timing, coming in the first week and not the crucial

A search-and-rescue team is working to free a man stuck about 150 feet (45 meters) underground in a popular Utah cave.

The 26-year-old man has been trapped since late Tuesday night about 700 feet (210 meters) into the narrow cave known as Nutty Putty, The Salt Lake Tribune reported on its Web site Wednesday.

Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon says the rescue crew is using air-powered tools to chip away at the rock to pull him out.

The cave is actually a hole on the top

An international human rights group is urging Britain to investigate its role in the questioning of terrorism suspects in Pakistan, saying the government was aware that Pakistani officials tortured five U.K. detainees but did not intervene.

In a report released Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said members of Pakistani intelligence agencies have corroborated its findings and backed its claims of British complicity in the torture of the five U.K. citizens of Pakistani origin between 2004 and

The judge who presided over the O.J. Simpson murder case has made his courtroom the most difficult one to find in downtown Los Angeles.

Since presiding over the trial more than a decade ago, Judge Lance Ito has repeatedly had his name placard stolen from the door of his courtroom.

For now, he has given up replacing the placard, and people looking for his courtroom must seek help in the lobby.

Ito was not available for comment but confirmed the thefts in an e-mail to a Superior

Iran and Libya, not Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, were Britain's main security concerns before the invasion of Iraq, Foreign Office officials testified Wednesday at an inquiry probing Britain's role in the war.

William Ehrman, the Foreign Office's director of international security from 2000 to 2002, said "in terms of nuclear and missiles, I think Iran, North Korea and Libya were probably of greater concern than Iraq."

The inquiry, billed as the most sweeping look yet at the conflict,

The Bureau of Land Management has postponed a planned roundup of thousands of wild horses in Nevada because of a lawsuit and to allow time for appeals of its decision.

BLM spokeswoman JoLynn Worley in Reno confirmed Wednesday that the roundup set to begin Dec. 7 has been delayed until Dec. 28.

Worley says the agency still plans to issue a formal decision Tuesday on its plan to round up 2,700 horses from the range 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Reno. It's part of a plan to remove

European businesses called Wednesday on EU economy officials to push China to allow their currency rise against the euro, saying the strong euro could hurt Europe's economic recovery.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, EU Economy Commissioner Joaquin Almunia and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads economy talks between the 16 nations that use the euro, will meet Chinese economy officials in Nanjing, China on Nov. 28-29.

BusinessEurope, which

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that several NATO nations will jointly offer 5,000 more troops for Afghanistan, as London and Washington push allies to take on a greater share of the war burden.

Brown wrote to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to confirm that many of 10 other nations consulted by British officials in recent weeks have pledged to send reinforcements.

"Following these meetings and contacts, I am now optimistic that a majority of these countries

Spanish police uncovered doping agents in the home of Spanish race walker Francisco Fernandez during raids that led to 11 people being detained on Wednesday.

Spain's Civil Guard discovered EPO and growth hormones while raiding clinics, pharmacies and homes linked to former Kelme cycling team doctor Walter Viru, who was among the nine men and two women detained.

The Civil Guard said that "medications of these types" were discovered in the home of Fernandez, who won the silver medal

What does it mean to be French?

That's the thorny question the government is putting to its people Wednesday in what's being billed as a "Great Debate" _ set against a backdrop of smoldering unrest in immigrant-heavy suburbs, a movement to ban full Muslim veils, and questions over whether France's essential identity is vanishing in a complex world.

The question may seem straightforward but it is laden with paradox.

France is a country that has one of the highest proportions

An Opel plant in Belgium faces an uncertain future as General Motors moves to restructure its European operations, a drive expected to cost some 9,000 jobs across the continent, a top executive said Wednesday.

Nick Reilly, the head of GM Europe, detailed GM's plans to employee representatives from Opel and sister brand Vauxhall. He stressed that action is needed because "the competition in this industry is intense and getting fiercer every day."

"Overall, we are going to reduce our

A Swiss pilot ditched safely into the chilly waters between Morocco and Spain Wednesday after a technical malfunction ended the first attempted intercontinental crossing on jet-powered wings.

A rescuer helicopter winched Yves Rossy to safety from the wind-swept Atlantic.

Rossy, a 50-year-old former fighter pilot, had taken off from Tangiers but five minutes into what was supposed to be a 15-minute flight he vanished from TV screens providing live footage from planes and choppers accompanying

Spain's prime minister says his government wants closer cooperation with other European Union countries to fight illegal immigration.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made the comments Wednesday while visiting Athens for talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

The two men say they also discussed the upcoming world climate summit in Copenhagen and the course of Turkey's bid to join the EU.

Greece is one of the countries hardest hit by illegal immigration out of EU nations

Stocks climbed Wednesday following a drop in weekly unemployment claims to the lowest level of the year and a rise in new home sales.

Trading volume was thin ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, which can exacerbate swings in the market.

The government said new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 35,000 last week to 466,000. That's the fewest claims since September last year, and better than the 500,000 that economists had expected.

The drop in claims suggests the job market

The African Union's Somalia envoy said Wednesday donors have released only 30 percent of funds they pledged months ago toward bolstering Somalia's security, frustrating efforts to turnaround the lawless country.

The AU envoy's statement echoes similar comments made by aid workers this week about how donors have been slow to release money for health programs aimed at helping Somalis.

AU peacekeepers have not been paid for months, with the Burundian contingent not receiving their pay

A federal judge has denied a convicted murderer's request for more hair removal treatments as she waits to find out if she can get state-funded sex change surgery.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled Wednesday that Michelle Kosilek failed to prove "irreparable harm" or a "serious medical need" to continue electrolysis treatments.

Kosilek hung her head and dabbed at her eyes when the decision was announced. Her lawyer expressed disappointment to the judge.

Kosilek was named Robert

British police have arrested a former Washington security consultant wanted in the United States for allegedly defrauding a client of more than $2 million, Scotland Yard said Wednesday.

Kevin Halligen, 48, was detained after staff at a British hotel recognized him from a newspaper article.

The Metropolitan Police said Halligen, an Irish national, was being held on a U.S. extradition warrant and would appear in a London court later Wednesday or Thursday.

Halligen was indicted

Two ceremonial guards known as Beefeaters at the historic Tower of London were fired Wednesday after an internal investigation found that they harassed their first and only female colleague.

The Tower of London said it conducted a thorough investigation after allegations arose that Moira Cameron _ the first female yeoman warder at the popular tourist attraction that is home to Britain's Crown Jewels _ was a victim of a bullying campaign by her colleagues.

"In light of the evidence

Adam Lambert admits he got carried away with his sexually charged American Music Awards performance, but he's offering no apology.

The glam rocker from "American Idol" said on "The Early Show" that his performance would not have caused as much controversy if he weren't openly gay. He also said there were other "adult" moments on the show that caused no outrage.

"I admit I did get carried away, but I don't see anything wrong with it," he said Wednesday. "I do see how people got offended

President Barack Obama will commit the United States to a goal of substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade when he travels to a widely anticipated climate conference in Copenhagen next month.

The president will take part in the conference Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. The White House announcement Wednesday ended heavy speculation about whether Obama would attend the summit amid expectations that it likely will not produce a binding

New Zealand rugby coach Graham Henry has made three changes from the team that beat England 19-6 for Saturday's test against France in Marseille.

Prop Neemia Tialata wins his 41st cap in place of Owen Franks, blindside flanker Jerome Kaino comes in for Adam Thomson, and Cory Jane takes Zac Guildford's slot on the right wing. Henry named his team Wednesday.

On Tuesday, France coach Marc Lievremont recalled veteran center Yannick Jauzion and flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo.

Both sides

General Motors Co. has not talked with any other potential buyers for the Swedish Saab brand since a specialty car maker pulled out of a deal to buy it this week, a person briefed on GM's plans said Wednesday.

The development is another sign that GM's board may decide when it meets next week to let the storied brand go out of business, placing 4,500 jobs in jeopardy.

The person, who asked not to be identified because no final decision has been made on the brand, confirmed Wednesday

The widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy tells Oprah Winfrey that she will never run for the seat in the U.S. Senate that was held by her husband for nearly a half century.

In an interview aired Wednesday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Vicki Kennedy adamantly told Winfrey that she didn't want the job that her husband held until he died of brain cancer in August.

Vicki Kennedy talked about her life with her husband and his memoir, "True Compass," which was released a few weeks after his death.

In

Britain's leading union said it remained concerned about potential large scale job losses at candy maker Cadbury PLC if it is taken over by Kraft Foods Inc. after the U.S. company failed to make firm commitments on local production in talks Wednesday.

The Unite union, Britain's biggest trade union with some 2 million members, wants a guarantee that Kraft will not transfer production facilities out of Britain if it succeeds in its 9.8 billion pound ($16.4 billion) hostile takeover bid.

Jenny

The French government approved the appointment of Henri Proglio as chief executive of state-controlled Electricite de France on Wednesday.

Proglio, chief of Veolia Environnement, will take over from Pierre Gadonneix as head of Europe's largest utility, an extensive French nuclear plant network and nuclear projects in the U.S. and Britain.

The Cabinet confirmed the nomination after EdF's board gave its approval Monday, government spokesman Luc Chatel said.

Proglio caused a stir

Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it would make people healthier too, newly released studies say.

Slashing carbon dioxide emissions could save millions of lives, mostly by reducing preventable deaths from heart and lung diseases, the studies show. They were published in a special issue of The Lancet British medical journal, released Wednesday.

The calculations of lives saved were based on computer models that looked at pollution-caused illnesses

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won support for his country's nuclear ambitions and expanded his reach in Latin America in a three-country goodwill tour that took him to close ally Venezuela for his final stop.

Venezuela's main opposition political parties condemned the Iranian president's visit before he arrived late Tuesday, saying in a statement that President Hugo Chavez is developing a "dangerous alliance" with Tehran.

Chavez's enthusiastic embrace of Iran, which shares his

Sales of new homes rose last month to the highest level in more than a year as strong activity in the U.S. South offset weakness in the rest of the country.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales rose 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 410,000.

There were 239,000 new homes for sale at the end of October, the lowest inventory level in nearly

Just a year ago, Gazprom seemed all-powerful. The Russian gas producer was the third-largest corporation in the world, sat on a hoard of cash and had single-handedly blocked gas to a large part of Europe in the middle of winter without fear of losing business.

A lot has changed since _ with both Gazprom and its customers strapped for cash amid the global downturn, the Russian behemoth is now under pressure to lighten its heavy-handed touch and become more accommodating with them.

The

The British government has defended a decision by the Bank of England to keep secret for a year the multibillion pound loans made to keep two major U.K. banks from collapse at the height of the financial crisis.

Revelations that the central bank loaned the Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and HBOS PLC a total of 61.6 billion pounds ($101.8 billion) prompted such a furore _ the widely read Sun newspaper pointed out that the sum was bigger than the annual budget for schools _ that Treasury chief

Argentina made four changes to its pack among six switches for Saturday's international at Scotland.

Argentina was beaten 33-16 at Wales at the weekend and reacted Wednesday by changing two members of its front row and one each in the second and back.

Leicester prop Marcos Ayerza replaces Rodrigo Roncero and Alberto Vernet Basualdo comes in for hooker Mario Ledesma. Manuel Carizza takes over from lock Mariano Sambucetti and Alejandro Campos replaces Tomas Leonardi at blindside flanker.

Argentina

Romania's Social Democrats and Liberals on Wednesday formed an alliance heading into the country's presidential runoff.

Mircea Geoana, the Social Democrats' presidential candidate, said if he wins the Dec. 6 vote, the signed agreement will bring political stability to Romania and help fight its economic crisis.

To win the Liberals' support, Geoana accepted their request that if he is elected president, he will nominate Mayor Klaus Johannis, the popular head of a small political party,

A Venezuelan court has ordered an opponent of President Hugo Chavez to remain in prison while awaiting trial on charges of injuring a police officer during a protest.

Caracas city administrator Richard Blanco also leads an opposition party. He was arrested in August and is accused of injuring a police officer who had infiltrated the protest.

Lawyer Negar Granados told Globovision on Wednesday that a judge ordered his client to remain behind bars, saying he would be a flight risk.

Opposition

Indonesia's newly installed vice president defended a $715 million bank bailout Wednesday, saying it had been vital to protecting the nation's financial system during the global economic crisis.

The capital injection to Bank Century late last year was "the right thing" to do, said Boediono, a former central bank governor who was elected vice president in July. Like many Indonesians, he uses only one name.

Lawmakers this week agreed to launch an inquiry into the bailout after the main

Matches named by UEFA on Wednesday as under investigation for suspected match-fixing (all losing teams under suspicion):

Champions League

Second Qualifying Round

July 21 _ Stabaek (Norway) 4, KF Tirana (Albania) 0

Europa League

Second Qualifying Round

July 16 _ Bnei Yehuda (Israel) 4, FC Dinaburg (Latvia) 0

July 23 _ FC Dinaburg (Latvia) 0, Bnei Yehuda (Israel) 1

July 16 _ Rapid Vienna (Austria) 5, KS Vllaznia (Albania) 0

July 23 _ KS Vllaznia

Russia urged the U.S. and NATO on Wednesday to keep it better informed about their plans for the war in Afghanistan, saying improved cooperation was essential for the success of the mission.

Moscow is especially keen to be kept abreast with the details of the President Barack Obama's new strategy in the eight-year war, said Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin.

"Russia has done quite a lot for the success of NATO troops in Afghanistan, in return to just praises and shoulder-tapping,"

One of the world's most widely used rocket launchers has arrived at a European-run space center in South America.

It is the first time Arianespace will use the Soyuz 2-1a to launch satellites at its facility in French Guiana. The launchers were shipped from Russia.

The Soyuz, developed 40 years ago, is Russia's mainstay spacecraft.

Arianespace said Wednesday it will use the medium-lift launchers starting next year, along with the lightweight Vega. It already uses the heavy-lift

Dubai's government said Monday it raised $5 billion by selling bonds and would seek a delay from creditors of a state-run conglomerate as the one-time Gulf Arab boomtown looks to juggle $80 billion in debts amassed in part from the splashy projects for which it has become famous.

The bond issuance, in the form of conventional and Islamic bonds, was fully subscribed to by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Al Hilal Bank, the Dubai Finance Department said in a statement.

Its value was

Earthquakes continue to rattle the California-Mexico border, but there are no reports of damage or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.2 struck at 5:01 a.m. (1001 GMT) Wednesday in Mexico. It was centered in Baja California, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) south of the California city of Calexico and about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Tijuana.

A magnitude-3.8 temblor hit the same general area at 12:54 a.m. (1754 GMT), and a 3.2-magnitude

Russians seem decidedly cool toward President Dmitry Medvedev's proposal to cut the number of time zones in the country from 11, made two weeks ago in his state-of-the-nation address.

Officials have heaped praise on the idea, but academics and bloggers are perplexed by what they call its apparent lack of rationale.

In his speech, Medvedev told the world's largest nation _ occupying one-ninth of its land mass _ that reducing the number of time zones would increase economic efficiency,

Police say they have seized 44 kilograms (97 pounds) of heroin and detained eight trafficking suspects believed to be members of an international smuggling gang.

Interior minister Gordana Jankulovska says the latest arrests late Tuesday follow the fifth major drug seizure since May as part of a joint anti-trafficking operation with Turkish police and named "Bosfor."

Jankulovska announced the latest seizure Wednesday after police found the heroin hidden in a truck that had traveled

Five-time Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein lost her appeal against a two-year ban for blood doping Wednesday and will miss the Vancouver Games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, dismissed the German's appeal against a ban imposed by the International Skating Union. The verdict was first released by Pechstein's management group in Berlin and later confirmed by the court.

The ban runs until February 2011.

The 37-year-old Pechstein will

Barcelona has signed France international Eric Abidal to a one-year contract extension that keeps him with the European champions through 2012.

The 30-year-old France left back also saw his buy-out clause increased to euro90 million ($136 million).

Abidal made 91 appearances since joining the Spanish champions from Lyon to start the 2007-08 season. He then helped the team become the first Spanish club to win the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey titles in the same season.

The

Deere and Co. lost $223 million in the fourth quarter, reflecting big charges and a 28 percent slump in sales as demand for tractors, combines and construction equipment sagged amid the global economic downturn.

Deere is the biggest U.S. maker of farm equipment, and sluggish economic conditions in the United States and much of the rest of the world continue to drive down demand for its agricultural mainstays. Prices of major crops such as corn and soybeans show no sign of rebounding to

Google Inc. is apologizing for a racially offensive image of the first lady that appears at the top of the list when users search for pictures of Michelle Obama on its site.

Google placed a text ad above the image titled "Offensive Search Results" that states "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree."

Users who then click on the ad are directed to a letter from Google that explains its results "can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries" but notes

The Norwegian Skating Association appointed Jarle Pedersen as coach of the national speedskating team Wednesday, two days after dismissing Peter Mueller for alleged sexual harassment.

Pedersen, a 54-year-old Norwegian, coaches the Bergen-based Fana IL speedskating team and previously coached the national junior skating team. He takes up the post immediately.

The announcement came less than three months before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Mueller, an American, was fired

Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington and world champion Federica Pellegrini will compete for Europe against the United States at next month's Duel in the Pool.

Adlington is among 14 British swimmers in the 36-member European team. There are 14 Italians, including Pellegrini, and eight Germans.

Adlington beat Pellegrini to win the 400-meter freestyle gold at the 2008 Beijing Games before the Italian became the first woman to swim the same event in under 4 minutes at this year's worlds.

The

Romario will temporarily end his retirement to fulfill his late father's dream by playing a match with Rio de Janeiro-based club America.

The 43-year-old striker, who retired last year after a 23-year career, will try to help America win the title of Rio's second division on Wednesday.

Romario's father cheered for America and had always wanted to see the striker wear the club's jersey.

Romario oversees the football operations of the club, which has already secured a spot in

U.S. consumers got back in the buying mood in October as their incomes grew modestly, an encouraging sign for the budding economic recovery.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that consumer spending rose a brisk 0.7 percent last month, following a pullback in September when spending plunged 0.6 percent.

It was the best showing since a big 1.3 percent jump in August when the government's now-defunct "Cash for Clunkers" rebate programs enticed people to buy cars.

Incomes,

Rafael Nadal has officially been chosen to play for Spain in the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic.

The second-ranked Nadal missed last year's final win over Argentina with a knee injury. He last played for Spain in March, when the team beat Serbia in the first round.

Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, who are both playing at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, will lead the Spanish team along with David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez in the best-of-five final on indoor clay in Barcelona

White House official says President Barack Obama will attend next month's global climate summit in Copenhagen.

Serbia's Orthodox Church said Wednesday it will choose a new leader in January following the death of moderate Patriarch Pavle.

The influential church said in a brief statement that its bishops will gather Jan. 22 to decide on a new leader. No other details were released.

The new patriarch will be chosen in a vote which will shortlist three candidates. A lottery-like draw will then decide the winner.

There have been reports of a power struggle within the church over who will

Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal have ordered the resumption of a Serb nationalist's trial almost a year after it was suspended amid claims of witness intimidation, the court announced Wednesday.

Vojislav Seselj is accused of plotting ethnic cleansing and inciting atrocities by Serb forces in Bosnia and Croatia as the former Yugoslavia crumbled in the 1990s.

The leader of the Radical Party in Serbia and a former ally of late-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Seselj

The Danish army says one of its soldiers was killed by an explosive device during a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan.

The Army Operational Command says the 23-year-old member of a Danish scouting unit was flown to a field hospital for treatment following the Wednesday blast but was dead upon arrival.

Denmark has lost 28 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the U.S.-led coalition in 2002.

The Nordic country has 700 troops serving in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan. Most

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il says ties with China are "unbreakable" and has called for increased cooperation between the communist nations amid international pressure on Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

Kim made the comments during a meeting Wednesday in the North Korean capital with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, China's official Xinhua News Agency said.

Liang is the latest high-level Chinese official to visit North Korea as the two communist nations

Hannover says its players will wear shirts with a black No. 1 in tribute to goalkeeper Robert Enke for the rest of this season.

The Bundesliga club said that the German Football League gave its approval Wednesday to the plan.

Germany goalkeeper Enke died after throwing himself in front of a train on Nov. 10. His widow later said he had suffered from depression for years.

Hannover said the plan for the special shirts with a black No. 1 on the chest was initiated by United States

Walt Disney Co. has named Carolina Lightcap as president of Disney Channels Worldwide.

She replaces Rich Ross, who was promoted to serve as the company's movie studios chairman in October.

Lightcap joined Disney in 2000 and most recently served as vice president of programming and creative affairs and chief marketing officer of the company's Latin American operations.

Under Ross' tenure, the Disney Channel has launched some of the company's biggest franchises, from Hannah Montana

An Interior Ministry official says two suspected militants have been killed in a clash in a volatile North Caucasus province.

Madina Khadziyeva of the ministry's branch in Ingushetia, west of Chechnya, says the suspects were shot dead Wednesday in the town of Karabulak. Khadziyeva said the two suspects refused to surrrender and were killed in the ensuing skirmish.

Chechnya and neighboring North Caucasus provinces have remained mired in violence stemming from wars between separatist

Saudi Arabia should overturn a death sentence imposed on a Lebanese national convicted of practicing witchcraft during a visit to the conservative kingdom, an international human rights group said in a report late Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch also called on the Saudi government to halt "its increasing use of charges of 'witchcraft,' crimes that are vaguely defined and arbitrarily used."

The report highlights the ongoing complaints over the Saudi justic system, which, while based on

Former CNN anchor and vocal immigration critic Lou Dobbs is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey as "an intermediary step" that could lead to a run for the White House.

Dobbs told former Sen. Fred Thompson's radio program on Monday that he had been urged to run for president and would talk to some people about it.

His spokesman is playing down the idea. Robert Dilenschneider tells The New York Times Wednesday a run for president is a "long way off." The spokesman

British airline BMI said Wednesday it planned to reduce planes and cut loss-making routes amid a continuing downturn in demand, threatening at least 600 jobs.

The airline said it was suspending flights from London's Heathrow airport to Brussels, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Kiev, Ukraine and Aleppo, Syria early next year.

Its seasonal services from Heathrow to Venice and Palma, Spain, will be discontinued next summer.

It said it will reduce the number of aircraft in its mainline operation

Orders for big-ticket factory goods fell unexpectedly in October as the economy struggles to get back to full health.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that orders for costly manufactured goods dropped 0.6 percent last month, following a 2 percent gain in September. It marked the first decline since August.

But much of October's weakness came from an 18.4 percent drop in orders for goods related to defense. Excluding those, orders for other types of manufactured goods rose 0.4

Stock futures pointed to a higher open Wednesday as investors prepared to examine fresh data on consumer spending and sentiment, new home sales and the job market a day after the Federal Reserve provided a more upbeat view of U.S. economic prospects.

Overseas markets moved higher, lifted by the expectation that interest rates will remain low.

Investors have been sending stock prices higher over the week. Record-low interest rates and the resulting slide in the dollar have been major

A prominent rights watchdog urged the international community Wednesday to demand Kazakhstan improve its human rights standards before it assumes the chairmanship of a trans-Atlantic security and democracy body next year.

Although Kazakhstan made tentative rights improvements at the start of the year, it has recently dealt numerous blows to media freedoms and the rule of law, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

The statement comes as foreign ministers of Organization

Chris Wood has been picked as rookie of the year for the PGA European Tour.

The Englishman, who finished third at the British Open, was 44th on the European money list with euro679,559 ($1.02 million) to secure the award ahead of Gareth Maybin, Danny Willett, Oskar Henningsson and David Horsey.

Wood follows Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia in winning the award.

Wood says "looking at the list of names who have won this title makes me appreciate

France's Foreign Ministry says it has issued a "firm" response to Venezuela's ambassador after President Hugo Chavez praised the inmate known as Carlos the Jackal as a revolutionary fighter.

A ministry spokesman says "Carlos will only ever be a terrorist to us."

Spokesman Bernard Valero said Wednesday the ministry communicated with Venezuela's ambassador after Chavez's remarks to indicate that the French court system had convicted Carlos of terrorism and assassination.

Chavez

Hundreds of people lined up to see a cutting-edge French warship on Wednesday, with some admiring its size and power, but others saying Russia should not buy the vessel in its first arms deal with a NATO country.

"Our navy needs such ships," said one of the visitors, 42-year old seaman Andrei Yegorov. "It could be quite useful in regional conflicts, such as the Georgian conflict."

Russia's navy chief has said a ship like France's Mistral would have allowed Russia to mount a much more

Germany on Wednesday extended until the end of 2010 a program that allows companies to put workers on short work hours in an effort to avoid layoffs _ an arrangement credited with keeping unemployment down over recent months.

A new survey, meanwhile, showed that consumer confidence in Europe's biggest economy is declining amid fears of job losses.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a one-year extension of the short-work plan. However, it reduced to 18 months from two years

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won a defamation suit Wednesday against a government-linked newspaper publisher over an article that he said portrayed him as untrustworthy.

Anwar sued the New Straits Times Press over a 2002 article titled "Anwar's link to U.S. lobbyist" that examined his ties to a U.S. think-tank.

Anwar claimed the article made him seem like an "American agent" who was unprincipled and disloyal to Malaysia, while the newspaper argued it was only reporting

Stuart Broad has recovered from a shoulder injury and could play in England's third one-day international against South Africa on Friday.

The allrounder was hurt when he fell in England's opening warmup match on Nov. 6 and has not played since.

He practiced with the rest of the team Wednesday and could replace pace bowler Sajid Mahmood, who has taken eight wickets in seven matches.

Fast bowler James Anderson should be available despite a knee problem so spinner Graeme Swann

Albanian police says Turkey has extradited a suspected leader of a large drug-smuggling ring active across southeastern Europe.

The alleged gang leader Alfred Shkurti has been charged in Albania with ordering more than 20 murders, as well as several kidnappings and desecration of graves. He faces a life in prison if convicted.

Shkurti, 44, who is also known as Aldo Bare, was arrested in Turkey on an international warrant in March 2006, and extradited Wednesday after losing a long

Arsenal midfielder Alex Song has signed a long-term contract with the Premier League club.

The 22-year-old Cameroon international joined Arsenal in 2005 and has made 96 appearances for the club. He has also helped Cameroon qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Arsenal made the announcement Wednesday in a statement on its Web site.