WASHINGTON – Byron Mullens scored 27 points, Ramon Sessions had 20 and Ben Gordon added 19 as the Charlotte Bobcats earned their seventh win of the season and kept the Washington Wizards winless with a 108-106 double-overtime victory on Saturday night.
Four killed in new attack on Pakistan Shi'ite gathering, dozens hurt
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A bomb killed at least four people and wounded dozens near a Shi'ite procession in Pakistan on Sunday, police said, as the sect braced for major attacks by Sunni militants during a critical event in their religious calendar. Television footage of the blast site showed the wounded being carried away in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, where a bomb targeting Shi'ites killed at least seven people, including four children, on Saturday. "Four bodies have been shipped here and more than three dozen are wounded. … Hobbits, superheroes make Jackson's effects studio - and New Zealand - a home for blockbusters
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A crate full of sushi arrives. Workers wearing wetsuit shirts or in bare feet bustle past with slim laptops. With days to go, a buzzing intensity fills the once-dilapidated warehouses where Peter Jackson’s visual-effects studio is rushing to finish the opening film in “The Hobbit” trilogy.
112 killed in fire at Bangladesh garment factory
At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. Japan PM, opposition chief clash over monetary policy
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sunday that the opposition's call for radical monetary easing to beat chronic deflation was "d angerous" and defended the independence of the central bank, countering arguments by the front runner in next month's election. Noda and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Shinzo Abe, differed sharply over monetary and foreign policy in separate television appearances ahead of the December 16 election which the opposition party is tipped to win in opinion polls. … 
Prominent Egyptian democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei warned Saturday of increasing turmoil that could potentially lead to the military stepping in unless the Islamist president rescinds his new, near absolute powers, as the country's long fragmented opposition sought to unite and rally new protests. 
At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. 
DHAKA (Reuters) – At least 120 people were burnt to death as a fire swept through a garment factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, the chief of the fire brigade said on Sunday. The fire at the nine-story facto ry in the Ashulia industrial belt started on the ground floor late on Saturday and quickly spread, trapping hundreds of workers. "This morning we have recovered 120 dead bodies and the death toll could rise," Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of the fire brigade, told reporters. … 
ROME (Reuters) – Italian center-left voters head to the polls on Sunday to choose the candidate who will be the leading contender to succeed Mario Monti as prime minister after a general election in March. Opinion surveys show Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani is front-runner among five candidates, followed by youthful Florence mayor Matteo Renzi, who has vowed to shake up Italy's political establishment if he is chosen. Voting booths will be open from 08:00 to 20:00 local time (07:00 GMT to 19:00 GMT) with results due around midnight (23:00 GMT). … 
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) – Voters in Spain's Catalonia region go to the polls on Sunday and are likely to elect a pro-independen ce leader who will test Spanish unity at a time of deep economic crisis. Opinion polls show two-thirds of voters in this region on the French border will cast ballots for parties, both rightist and leftist, that want Catalan independence from Spain. Catalan President Artur Mas will likely win re-election since his conservative Convergence and Union party is forecast to take a majority, some 62 to 64 seats, in the 135-seat regional assembly, or Parliament. … 
ROME (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of students and workers rallied across Ital y on Saturday to protest against austerity measures imposed by Prime Minister Mario Monti's technocrat government. Appointed a year ago when Italy came close to a Greek-style debt crisis, Monti has pushed through painful tax increases and spending cuts to try to rein in public finances at a time when schools and universities say they desperately need more support. "We need to fight for our rights. … 
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, moving quickly to nip a new scandal in the bud, ordered the dismissal on Saturday of government officials allegedly involved in a bribery ring, including the country's deputy attorney general. Federal police raided government offices in Brasilia and Sao Paulo on Friday and arrested six people for running an influence peddling ring that sold government approvals to businessmen in return for bribes. … 
NOAKCHOTT (Reuters) – Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz returned home on Saturday after recovering in France from what the government s aid was an accidental shooting at a military checkpoint last month. Abdel Aziz, an ally of the West in its fight against al Qaeda in Africa, flew to Paris on October 14 after soldiers opened fire on his unescorted car as he returned to the capital Noakchott from his country residence. He made no statement on his arrival at the airport where thousands of people had gathered to greet him. … 
ROME (Reuters) – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hinted on Saturday that he may seek to r un in spring elections, changing his mind again and deepening chaos in his center-right party. A day before the center-left is due to hold primary elections to pick a candidate to lead their alliance in the national poll, the center-right is still unsure about whether to hold its own primary vote, which hinges on Berlusconi's plans. Asked by reporters on Saturday whether he was considering "returning to the playing field", Berlusconi said, "I am thinking about it. … 
Leading democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei says dialogue with Egypt's Islamist president is not possible until he rescinds his decrees giving himself near absolute powers. 
It is the most impassioned day of the year for Shiite Muslims -- Ashoura, when one of the faith's most revered figures, Imam Hussein, was martyred in battle. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites who flocked to his resplendent, gold-domed shrine to commemorate him Saturday found the site has radically changed. 
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A roadside bomb killed at least seven people near a Shi'ite procession in Pakistan on Saturday, police s aid, with security forces on high alert over fears of large-scale sectarian attacks on the minority sect across the country. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed U.S. ally, is suspending phone coverage in many cities this weekend, an important one in the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, after a series of bomb attacks on Shi'ites triggered by mobile phones. Hardline Sunnis have threatened more attacks as the Shi'ite mourning month of Muharram comes to a climax. … 
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has sought tirelessly to secure her late husband's place in Argentina's pantheon alongside popular leader Juan Domingo Peron and his glamorous wife Evita, the country's most influential politicians of the 20th century. 
LONDON (Reuters) – British politicians berated a local council in England on Saturday after it removed children from a foster family's care because of its support for a political party that wants the UK to exit the European Union and backs tighter immigration rules. The row has spotlighted the UK Independence Party (UKIP) that has seen its popularity rise in recent months on the back of growing voter disenchantment with Britain's membership of the EU, and has raised hackles among conservative politicians who accuse the left of excessive political correctness. … 
Regional leaders meeting in Uganda on Saturday called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army. 
(Reuters) – Knight Capital Group Inc is in talks about possibly selling its market-making operation, its largest and most profitable business, t he Wall Street Journal reported, citing people briefed on the discussions. The securities firm has been approached by at least two rivals about its market-making operation, which uses complicated computer models to match buy and sell orders in stocks and options. … 
Protesters squatting in treetop tents and makeshift shelters are battling French riot police trying to expel them from the site of a planned airport in western France. 
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey expects NATO to make a decision about deploying surface-to-air Patriot missiles along its southern border with Syr ia within the next week, Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz said on Saturday. Turkey asked NATO for the Patriot system, designed to intercept aircraft or missiles, on Wednesday after weeks of talks about how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border as the conflict in Syria deepens. … 
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG expects the merger of its T-Mobile USA with MetroPCS Communications Inc will reap "several billions of euros" in synergies, Telekom chairman Ulrich Lehner told a German weekly magazine. "The position of Deutsche Telekom in the USA will improve markedly as a result," WirtschaftsWoche quoted Lehner as saying in a report to be published on Monday. T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS said last month that they wanted to merge their companies, creating a stronger number four on the U.S. wireless market. … 
The No. 2 in Hamas has told The Associated Press that the Islamic militant group won't stop making weapons in Gaza or smuggling them to the territory. 
PARIS (Reuters) – Former president Nicolas Sarkozy denied receiving "a penny" in campaign funds from France's richest woman Liliane Bettencourt, according to excerpts of his testimony to judges published on Saturday by the French daily Sud-Ouest. Sarkozy, who l ost power in May, was questioned for 12 hours on Thursday by a judge who is trying to establish whether his election win in 2007 was aided by illegal funding by the L'Oreal heiress. He denies any wrongdoing and his spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on Saturday about the report. … 
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Companies and institutional investors who hedge their Canadian dollar exposure through major banks expect the curre ncy to fall back under parity with the U.S. dollar in 2013, a Bank of Canada survey showed on Friday. The central bank conducted the survey of banks that are active in Canadian foreign exchange hedging from June to August, a period when the Canadian dollar was largely weaker than the U.S. dollar. It found the banks' average estimate of their clients' budgeted Canadian dollar rate for 2013 is C$1.0119 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.82 U.S. cents. … 
Hector "Macho" Camacho, a Puerto Rican boxer known for skill and flamboyance in the ring as well as for a messy personal life and run-ins with the police, was declared dead on Saturday, four days after being shot in the face. He was 50. 
GAZA (Reuters) – Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen on Saturday, further implementing a three-da y-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting, Palestinian officials said. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children headed back to school for the first time in 10 days, in another indication normal life was returning after cross-border violence in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. … 
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Congo's army reinforced its positions south of the city of Goma on Saturday to halt a rebel advance, as African leaders met in Uganda to try to end the deepening crisis in an area long plagued by ethnic and political conflict. Fighters from the M23 group, widely thought to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, were trying to push south along Lake Kivu near the eastern rebel stronghold of Goma on the Rwandan border. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Saturday it hoped a conference on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East could take plac e "as soon as possible", after the United States said it would not be held next month. The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the conference could "not be convened because of present conditions in the Middle East and the fact that states in the region have not reached agreement on acceptable conditions for a conference". It did not spell out when or if the event, originally scheduled for December, would take place. … 
During a year with a monster storm and scorching heat waves, Americans have experienced the kind of freakish weather that many scientists say will occur more often on a warming planet. 
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict made six non-European prelates Roman Catholic cardinals on Saturday, chipping away at the o ld continent's domination of the elite group that will one day elect his successor. The new cardinals, ranging in age from 53 to 72, are from the United States, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Lebanon and Colombia, and the decision to choose no Italians or Europeans looked like an attempt to counter criticism that he has in the past neglected the needs of the developing world. …