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Inmet Mining denies takeover talks, shares slide
(Reuters) – Canada’s Inmet Mining Corp said on Tuesday it is not in talks “with any party” to sell itself or a substantial part of its assets, sending its shares down nearly 3 percent. The statement from the base metal miner followed a report late on Monday on the website of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that suggested the company had held informal tie-up talks with larger rival First Quantum Minerals Ltd . The paper’s unsourced article speculated a takeover bid could be worth as much as C$5 billion ($5 billion). Inmet’s market cap, as of market close on Monday, was nearly C$4 billion. …

Canadian business confidence drops for second straight quarter
TORONTO (Reuters) – Business confidence in Canada fell in the third quarter, the second decline in a row, as sentiment deteriorated to levels of a year earlier, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report on Tuesday. The organization’s index of business confidence dropped 5.5 points from the second quarter to 92.3. In the first quarter of 2012, it stood at 101.8. The survey reflects fragile business and investment sentiment globally as fears about Europe’s debt crisis have flared up again, while the U.S. budget impasse threatens to push the world’s largest economy back into recession. …

Middle East nuclear talks face likely delay: diplomats
VIENNA/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Potentially divisive talks planned for next month on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East may be postponed, diplomats said on Tuesday, a development likely to anger Arab states but please Israel. No formal decision has yet been announced to delay the mid-December conference on creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), but U.N. officials said the talks might now not happen before 2013. Given the situation in the Middle East, a Vienna-based diplomat said, there seemed to be little prospect for a successful conference this year. …

Romania anti-graft agency says faces political intimidation
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – A Romanian anti-corruption watchdog has said the ruling leftist alliance is trying to pressure it to drop its investigati ons of senior figures ahead of a December election. The head of the National Integrity Agency (ANI) said politicians were trying to intimidate his organization after it notified three ministers and a state official last week that it was investigating them for possible conflicts of interest. "The political pressures we have recently seen are the most aggressive since ANI was founded," Horia Georgescu told Reuters. …

Duke removes photo of women's lacrosse player in blackface at Halloween party from website
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke athletic department has removed a photo from its website showing a women’s lacrosse player dressed in blackface at a team Halloween party.

Russian anti-drugs crusader under growing pressure
Russia’s most outspoken and charismatic anti-drugs campaigner accused authorities on Tuesday of trying to close his rehabilitation center by falsely claiming it has abused patients.

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Mountie severely injured in early-morning collision in Surrey, B.C.
SURREY, B.C. – A Metro Vancouver RCMP officer has been severely injured in an early morning collision.

4 stolen paintings found in South Africa cemetery
An informer's tip led South African police to a private cemetery Tuesday where they found four paintings hundreds of miles away from where they had been stolen from a museum in the capital, authorities said.

EU drops planned board gender quota for softer pressure
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission has dropped a plan to force firms to give 40 percent of non-executive board positions to women in favor of a less drastic obligation to favor female candidates where they are equally qualified, an EU source said on Tuesday. The quota proposal had run into opposition from a number of countries, led by Britain, and from large firms. Commission lawyers said it was “problematic” for the European Union to impose strict quotas, though it could instruct companies on how to hit quotas. …

Tens of thousands anxiously await solar eclipse in Australia; clouds may spoil the view
SYDNEY – Tens of thousands of tourists, scientists and amateur astronomers from around the world waited anxiously across tropical northern Australia on Tuesday to find out whether the clouds will part in time to see a total eclipse of the sun.

Staff for Labrador MP unaware of planned update on campaign spending
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – If embattled federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue planned to update constituents Tuesday about his campaign overspending, it’s news to his Labrador staff.

Somalia news website is run by the US military
The website’s headlines trumpet al-Shabab’s imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek Horn of Africa news site. But in fact the site is run by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda operation aimed at countering extremists in Africa.

Fitch downgrades Bombardier after C-Series delay
(Reuters) – Fitch Ratings downgraded its debt ratings on Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc on Monday, citing high development spending on its C-Series regional jet as the company tries to crack a market dominated by Boeing Co and Airbus . Fitch, which cut Bombardier’s issuer default rating and long-term ratings to BB from BB+, also cited “execution challenges” in the rail division. Last week Bombardier reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue, said it would cut 1,200 jobs in the rail unit, and pushed back the C-Series’ maiden flight by six months. …

Centrica says its gas market governance policies are "robust"
LONDON (Reuters) – Gas owner Centrica moved to distance itself from reports of the manipulation of wholesale prices in the gas market on Tuesday, saying it had “very robust governance and compliance policies”. The company said its own traders were prohibited from providing price information to price reporting agencies, and emphasised that were more than 50 participants in the market, not just energy suppliers. British regulators are investigating a whistleblower’s claims that gas traders had sought to rig wholesale gas prices. (Reporting by Rosalba O’Brien; editing by Rhys Jones)

Wholesale gas pricing system open to abuse, traders say
LONDON (Reuters) – The reporting method used by industry media in the UK gas market to assess daily prices, at the centre of a regulatory probe, is flawed and easy to manipulate, some traders in the sector say. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and energy regulator Ofgem are investigating allegations made by a whistleblower that traders have manipulated wholesale prices on Europe’s biggest gas market, a trend-setter across the continent. …

Tower of London intruder walks off with keys
LONDON (Reuters) – British police are investigating how an intruder breached the walls of the Tower of London and stole a set of keys from the tourist attraction and home of the crown jewels. Locks to the Tower’s drawbridges and other rooms have been changed after a man was caught trespassing in the early hours of November 6 and escorted from the premises, according to a royal palaces statement. The stolen keys did not provide access to the Tower itself, Historic Royal Palaces said in a statement, but admitted a lapse in security. …

It's not too late for families to grab adjacent seats on Thanksgiving flights
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Flying this Thanksgiving and worried that you won’t be able to sit with family?

Thousands await solar eclipse in Australia
Tens of thousands of tourists, scientists and amateur astronomers from around the world waited anxiously across tropical northern Australia on Tuesday to find out whether the clouds will part in time to see a total eclipse of the sun.

Palestinian Authority unable to pay salaries, even as it pursues statehood
While Palestinians prepare for an upgrade to non-member state status at the UN late this month, small businesses in the occupied West Bank are sliding towards the abyss due to a fiscal crisis that economists say threatens the very existence of the Palestinian Authority.

Fighting grows along Syria's borders, threatening to spread war
o A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

B.C. changes tsunami alerts following criticism after October quake
VICTORIA – The powerful earthquake that rocked British Columbia’s coast two weeks ago has shaken up the way the provincial government is issuing its tsunami alerts.

Lawyers to wrap up Afghan rampage hearing for U.S. soldier
(Reuters) – A preliminary hearing for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a massacre this year, was to enter its final stage on Tuesday with lawyers' closing statements. Army prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to wrap up their arguments in the case against Bales, 39, a father of two from Lake Tapp, Washington, who could face the death penalty. The hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state was meant to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a court-martial. …

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Shoppers Drug Mart profit dips as operating costs rise
(Reuters) – Shoppers Drug Mart Corp , Canada’s top pharmacy chain, reported a slightly lower quarterly profit on Tuesday, hurt by higher operating costs. The company said it had to pay higher occupancy costs, wages and benefits, and its adjusted operating margin fell to 7.64 percent from 8.14 percent a year earlier. But revenue rose, and same-store sales, a key measure for retailers, climbed 2.3 percent. Net earnings receded to C$168 million, or 81 Canadian cents a share, in the third quarter ended October 6 from C$172 million, or 80 Canadian cents a share. …

Young entrepreneurs envision a hostel for travellers in Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Tom Damitio and Matt Knaack believe Grand Rapids needs a hostel to become a destination point for world travellers on a budget.

South Africa police arrest 37 for violence near Xstrata mine
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African police arrested 37 workers for public violence on Tuesday after firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who barricaded a road leading to the Kroondal chrome mine operated by Xstrata. “The miners threw stones at the passing vehicles and burnt tires. Police were dispatched to the area to control the unruly protesters,” the South African Police Service said in a statement. Xstrata dismissed 400 workers at the mine over a week ago for taking part in an illegal strike. …

Half of owners of small-, medium-sized business to retire in next decade
TORONTO – A wave of retirements among business owners over the next few years could pose a significant risk for the Canadian economy as the country undergoes the biggest transfer of economic control in its history, according to CIBC World Markets.

Daniel Day-Lewis listened to his inner ear to find Abe Lincoln's voice
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A towering figure such as Abraham Lincoln, who stood 6 feet 4 and was one of history’s master orators, must have had a booming voice to match, right? Not in Daniel Day-Lewis’ interpretation.

Germany eyes "bundled" loan payment to Greece: source
BERLIN (Reuters) – European countries deliberating on the payment of delayed loans to Greece could decide to bundle several tranches together in a single transfer of roughly 44 billion euros, a German government source said. Under the terms of its second bailout programme, Greece was due to receive 31.2 billion euros by the end of June, plus an additional 5 billion by the end of September and 7.2 billion euros by the end of December. The sources said these three payments could be combined to avoid stoking uncertainty with further deliberations on tranches in the coming weeks and months. …

Top-ranked Djokovic rebounds in both sets to beat Federer and win season-ending ATP title
LONDON – Even when Roger Federer had the lead, Novak Djokovic had the answers.

Swindler of French aristocrats gets 8 years
An alleged modern-day Rasputin was convicted Tuesday of brainwashing three generations of an aristocratic French family for nearly a decade, swindling them of their fortune and their turreted manor.

Canada dollar weaker over Greece uncertainty
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker against the U.S. currency on Tuesday in choppy trade, with uncertainty over aid to Greece hurting the value of riskier assets. European countries deliberating on the payment of delayed loans to Greece could decide to bundle several tranches together in a single transfer of roughly 44 billion euros, a German government source said. The news lifted the euro, but investors remained concerned as Greece’s international lenders clashed over the time frame Athens needs to bring its debt down. …

Former UK bishop held in child sex abuse inquiry
LONDON (Reuters) – A former Church of England bishop was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting boys as young as 12, police said, the latest public figure to be accused after weeks of child abuse claims that have engulfed the BBC and celebrities. Separate police investigations into the late television presenter Jimmy Savile have fuelled a national abuse scandal that has dominated public debate and provoked a bout of national soul searching. …

Former bishop held in child sex abuse inquiry
LONDON (Reuters) – A former Church of England bishop was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting boys as young as 12, police said, the latest public figure to be accused after weeks of child abuse claims that have engulfed the BBC and celebrities. Separate police investigations into the late television presenter Jimmy Savile have fuelled a national abuse scandal that has dominated public debate and provoked a bout of national soul searching. …

Russia paroles scientist jailed under Putin for spying
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court on Tuesday paroled a physicist convicted in 2004 of spying for China, a case rights activists said was an example of Vladimi r Putin's use of the courts against opponents. Rights campaigners welcomed the three-year reduction of Valentin Danilov's 14-year sentence but said it did not signal the president would halt what they say is the Kremlin's practice of using the judiciary to stifle dissent. In his 60s, Danilov is expected to be freed in 10 days. He watched the hearing from his prison in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region by videolink. …

Iran unveils new missile systems on second day of drills
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran unveiled new missile and artillery systems on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, on the second day of large-scale military exercises which officials said were aimed at sending a warning to those threatening the Islamic Republic. Played out against a backdrop of high tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program, the “Velayat 4″ man oeuvres across a vast swathe of the eastern half of the country have focused on air defenses. …