UK High Court blocks drone intelligence challenge

LONDON (AP) — Britain's High Court on Friday blocked a legal bid for an inquiry into the possible role of the country's spy agencies in aiding covert CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal region.Noor Khan, a 27-year-old whose father was killed by a drone strike in northwest Pakistan in March 2011, had asked the High Court to examine whether Britain intelligence officials assisted the action...

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Russian parliament wants winter time restored

MOSCOW (AP) — On the darkest day of the year, Russia's parliament is pleading with the government for a little more light.The Duma on Friday formally asked Speaker Sergei Naryshkin to query the government about abandoning year-round daylight-savings time.The 2011 decision by then-President Dmitry Medvedev to keep Russian clocks set as if the country enjoyed perpetual summer was one of the least popular...

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UK told to add break-up threat to bank reform

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs to introduce legislation that could break up banks if standards slip because current reform proposals fall short of what is needed, an influential parliamentary panel said.The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards also said on Friday the government could set tougher rules for how much leverage banks were allowed, adding that the committee itself would consider...

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Wall Street dealers lose edge in U.S. Treasury auctions as investor clout grows

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dramatic increase in the amount of government bonds that investors purchase directly from the U.S. Treasury Department in its regular debt auctions is reducing the advantage large dealers have traditionally held in the sale process.The Treasury will not disclose the names of investors who can purchase directly from the government in its auctions but speculation is rife that...

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S&P downgrades Cyprus on default fears

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The Cyprus government has vowed to do what is needed to finalize a bailout agreement with international lenders after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Cyprus further into junk status amid concerns that the country could default on its debts.The U.S. agency said Friday that the two-notch downgrade to CCC+ was due to a "considerable and rising" risk that the country,...

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Wall St clings to hopes for budget deal, but market risks rising

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If the United States sails over the fiscal cliff in less than two weeks, it probably will not mean disaster for the stock market, investors said on Friday, but the margin for error is getting dangerously thin.At heart are fears over how long the U.S. economy, the world's largest, can hold up under the brunt of higher taxes and big spending cuts that would be triggered by the fiscal...

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How the Dow Jones industrial average fared

Investors sent Washington a reminder Friday that Wall Street is a power player in talks to avoid the "fiscal cliff." Stocks fell sharply after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect. The Dow Jones industrial average was down as much as 189 points before recouping some...

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Wall Street falls on fiscal cliff setback

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday after a Republican plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff" failed to gain sufficient support on Thursday night, draining hopes that a deal would be reached before 2013.Still, stocks managed to rebound from the day's lows near the end of the session, and for the week, major averages still ended higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.2 percent.Trading...

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Ben Affleck drops out of Warner Bros. "Focus" feature

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Ben Affleck has dropped off the Warner Bros. film "Focus," due to his overcrowded schedule, a person with knowledge of the situation has told TheWrap.Kristen Stewart stars in the film for directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who co-wrote the script.The story revolves around a grifter who partners with a young woman who's new to the grifting life. The studio is now looking...

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Director Michael Haneke on "Amour," Death and the puzzle of an open window

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Out of the 71 films submitted in the Oscar foreign-language category this year, Michael Haneke's "Amour" is without much doubt the surest nominee.An austere, unflinching, deeply moving chronicle of an elderly couple, Georges and Anne (French acting icons Jean-Louis Trintingnant and Emmanuelle Riva), coping with the aftermath of a stroke that disables Anne, "Amour" won the...

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