BRUSSELS – The royal palace has lodged a complaint with a media ethics group over the publication of a book highlighting alleged dalliances and private family information about leading members of Belgium’s monarchy.
Visa authorizes $1.5 billion buyback, profit rises 89 percent
(Reuters) – Visa Inc's fourth-quarter profit rose 89 percent, beating analyst estimates, and the world's largest credit and debit-card network authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program. Visa, which also raised its dividend by 50 percent, said its profit rose to $1.7 billion, or $2.47 per Class A share, from $880 million, or $1.28 per Class A share, a year earlier. Income was boosted by $627 million on the reversal of previously recorded tax reserves, Visa said. Excluding the one-time gain, Visa earned $1.0 billion, or $1.54 per share, in the quarter. … Amputee to climb stairs of Chicago skyscraper using thought-controlled bionic leg
CHICAGO – Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that’s controlled by his thoughts.
As it marks 500th anniversary of Sistine Chapel frescoes, Vatican sees no need to cut visits
VATICAN CITY – Five centuries after Michelangelo’s ceiling of frescoes was inaugurated in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday celebrated the “symphony of figures” contemplated during prayer.
China sovereign fund takes 10 percent of Heathrow
MADRID (Reuters) – An arm of China's sovereign wealth fund has taken a 10 percent stake in the holding company controlling Britain's larg est airport Heathrow, Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial said on Wednesday. Ferrovial sold 5.72 percent of Heathrow holding company FGP Topco to China's Stable Investment Corporation for 319.3 million euros (256.6 million pounds), it said in a statement. Other shareholders of FGP Topco sold 4.28 percent to Stable, making the Chinese fund an indirect holder of 10 percent of Heathrow Ltd, formerly known as BAA, the Spanish company said. … 
Syrian warplanes fired missiles at opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north on Wednesday as Turkey, a key backer of the anti-regime rebels, appeared to distance itself from an earlier call to impose a no-fly zone. 
President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today flew over the Jersey Shore to assess the devastation that Superstorm Sandy left in its wake, stopping at a community center to reassure the storm's victims that state and federal officials are working … 
President Obama joined New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for a tour of the storm-ravaged state Wednesday afternoon and pledged that the federal government is "going to be here for the long haul" in helping with recovery efforts. "Obviously, the top priority right … 
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes Wednesday as a cyclone slammed into southern India from the Bay of Bengal. Officials say that Cyclone Nilam left at least two people dead, including a crew member of an oil tanker that ran … 
ZAGREB (Reuters) – The United States called on Wednesday for an overhaul of Syria's opposition leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council and bring in those "in the front lines fighting and dying". Secretary of State Hillary … 
Egypt's capital prides itself on being city that never sleeps, with crowds filling cafes and shops open into till the small hours. So, the government is facing a backlash from businesses and the public as it vows to impose new nationwide rules closing stores and restaurants early. 
The alleged leader of a Colombian drug trafficking and organized crime network was arrested outside a restaurant in suburban Buenos Aires after Colombian police spent months chasing him around South America. 
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron lost a parliamentary vote on the long-term European Union budget on Wednesday after members of his Conservative Party rebe lled, dealing a damaging blow to the government. In a defeat that could undermine Cameron's authority, dozens of Conservative members of parliament defied him to support a call for Britain to demand a real terms cut in the EU budget from 2014 to 2021. … 
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Former leaders Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni announced on Wednesday they were discussing a partnership that could shake up Israeli politics and lead to a joint campaign to def eat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a January election. Olmert, a centrist, was forced to quit as prime minister in 2008 over corruption charges of which he was largely acquitted. Were he to make a comeback, he is seen as possibly the most likely candidate to beat Netanyahu, the right-wing Likud party leader, who polls now predict will win re-election. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – A parliamentary committee has invited executives from Starbucks Corp, Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc to answer questions about their tax practices, which allow them to make significant sales in the UK, but pay little tax here. The Public Accounts Committee asked senior officials from the companies to address a hearing on November 5, but a spokesman said scheduling problems could mean the hearing might be held later in November. He said none of the companies had declined to attend in principle. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Dozen s of protesters denounced alleged torture in Indonesia and accused Britain of putting commercial interests ahead of human rights on Wednesday on the first day of a state visit by the Indonesian president. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received a lavish royal welcome for the first Indonesian state visit to Britain in more than 30 years, but activists criticized the British government for valuing commercial ties over the rights of Indonesian minorities. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron lost a parliamentary vote on the long-term European Union budget on Wednesday after members of his Conservative Party rebelled, dealing a damaging blow to the governmen t. In a defeat that could undermine Cameron's authority, dozens of Conservative members of parliament defied him to support a call for Britain to demand a real terms cut in the EU budget from 2014 to 2021. … 
Afghans will elect a new president in the spring of 2014 in a ballot considered crucial for their country's stability and security after more than 11 years of war. 
TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion has started carrier testing of its new line of BlackBerry 10 devices ahead of the launch of the d evices in the first quarter of 2013, the company said on Wednesday. "In the last week, BlackBerry 10 achieved lab entry with more than 50 carriers, a key step in our preparedness for the launch of BlackBerry 10 in the first quarter of 2013," said RIM's Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, in a brief statement. … 
European news organizations bleeding money and readers are trying to avoid extinction by asking governments in France, Germany and Italy to step in and charge Google for links to stories the Internet search giant has always gotten for free. 
When the Hamas rulers of Gaza recently ga ve a hero's welcome to the ruler of Qatar, an arch foe of the Syrian regime, it sent a strong message reverberating across the capitals in Tehran, Damascus and Beirut. 
President Rafael Correa has long used his bully pulpit to bash bankers as profit-mongers who brought Ecuador and the rest of the world to the edge of financial collapse. Now, he says he'll give a bigger share of those profits to the country's poor. 
ZAGREB (Reuters) – The United States called on Wednesday for a major overhaul of Syria's beleaguered opposition, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council (SNC) and bring in th ose who are "in the frontlines fighting and dying today". Speaking on a visit to Croatia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said Syrian opposition talks in Qatar next week should lead to a broader coalition that would speak out strongly against "efforts by extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution. … 
The Obama administration said Wednesday it would push for a major shakeup in Syria's opposition leadership so that it better represents those dying on the front line, can rally wider support and resist attempts by extremists to hijack the revolution against the Assad regime. 
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya's General National Congress approved new Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's proposed government line-up on Wednesday but cut its session short as security forces fended off protesters outside. Zeidan presented a coalition cabinet on Tuesday, drawn from liberal and Islamist parties, to the national congress, which had rejected his predecessor's cabinet line-up. The assembly had met on Tuesday to vote but its session was postponed after protesters, angry with some of the nominations, stormed its headquarters. … 
NEW YORK New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said limited subway service will resume on Thursday in New York City in the wake of superstorm Sandy. There will be no subway service south of 48th Street Thursday, MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota announced, … 
Greece's government on Wednesday outlined the new austerity measures it intends to take over the next two years, a series of painful spending cuts and tax hikes that its international bailout creditors are demanding in exchange for rescue loans. 
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – After a Sudanese plane crashed at Khartoum's international airport last year, authorities didn't slow plans to build new airports and add more routes. They used the incident to shoot a video showing how safe flying in Sudan is, thanks to its skillful pilots. "Tower, the wheels are jammed. What shall I do?" the pilot says in the film, replaying for the cameras how he circled for an hour above Khartoum to empty his fuel talks while workers flooded the runway with foam. … 
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Lonmin management and workers appeared on Wednesday to be shaping up for a new battle after the strike-hit mining company said jobs would be cut. The world' ;s third largest platinum producer, Lonmin is scrambling to get back on its feet after a violent six-week strike at its Marikana mine that crippled production and led it to ask shareholders for $800 million in a rights issue on Tuesday. It also gave unions notice of a restructuring, with proposed job losses in its 25,000-strong work force expected to be implemented in early 2013. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co is suing the former boss of Bruno Iksil, the trader known as the London Whale, for the outsized derivatives positions he took that cost the bank $6.2 billion (3.8 billion pounds). Javier Martin-Artajo, who was Iksil's immediate supervisor, was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed at London's High Court on October 22. Details of the court filing will not be released until the defendant acknowledges the claim, the court said. … 
The major stock indexes were little changed in light trading on Wednesday morning as the market reopened after a two-day shutdown caused by Hurricane Sandy. A bevy of TV news crews and camera-toting tourists thronged the New York Stock Exchange … 
New Yorkers took their first tentative steps Wednesday to regain their lives in the stressful aftermath of super storm Sandy despite continuing power outages, a snarled transportation system and the shock of floods and fire. But in parts of New Jersey, across … 
Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough bet Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod he would grow a mustache if the the president wins North Carolina or Florida. The on-air boast was designed to match a bet Axelrod made moments earlier, promising to "shave off … 
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal's parliament approved the biggest tax increases in the country's modern history on Wednesday, paving the way for a court battle over a budget which the government s ays is vital for keeping its international bailout afloat. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has searched for ways to guarantee revenues in order to meet budget goals set under the 78-billion euro ($101 billion) bailout deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund. … 
Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) waits on May 8 for a Senate Finance. Photograph by Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) waits on May 8 for a Senate Finance Committee hearing to begin in Washington … 
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas's support in parliament dwindled to a minority on Wednesday when a deputy quit the ruling party, heightening a rebellion in its ranks and raising the risk of a government co llapse next week. The departure cut the centre-right coalition's official numbers in the lower house of parliament to 99 out of 200 seats, intensifying pressure on Necas before a vote on unpopular tax hikes after a congress of his party over the weekend. … 
The 2011 South Africa Census says that white South Africans earn six times more than black South Africans nearly two decades after the end of apartheid and despite income growth. 
Israel's deputy foreign minister says that if the country's new hawkish bloc forms the next government, it will do away with a contentious system of draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. 
The USS Wasp, USS Carter Hall, and USS Mesa Verde will provide landing platforms for Coast Guard, National Guard and civilian agency helicopters if needed, the officials said, adding that the Atlantic Fleet command made the decision in the name of … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Fresh allegations emerged on Wednesday of sexual misconduct by late BBC pr esenter Jimmy Savile, further damaging the corporation's reputation and increasing pressure on its management. Facing questions on how suspicions about Savile were handled are BBC head George Entwistle and his predecessor Mark Thompson, new CEO of the New York Times co. Two independent inquiries and a police investigation are under way. …