By Victoria Bryan and Maria Sheahan FRANKFURT | Fri Nov 9, 2012 9:12am EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The MTV Europe Music Awards will rock Frankfurt's Festhalle concert venue on Sunday, with Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna leading the nominations and all eyes on Korean dance sensation Psy. Psy's hit "Gangnam Style", which is up for the Best Video aw...

By Kate Kelland and Ben Hirschler LONDON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 9:11am EST LONDON (Reuters) - The world's first potential malaria vaccine proved only 30 percent effective in African babies in a crucial trial, calling into question whether it can be a useful weapon in the fight against the deadly disease. The surprisingly poor result for the vaccine, w...

BRUSSELS | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:19am EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - - Euro zone finance ministers are unlikely to take a final decision to release the next tranche of emergency loans to Athens at a meeting on Monday as there is no clarity yet how to make Greece's huge public debt sustainable, a senior EU official said. "Is there an expectation of a final decision...

By Richard Hubbard and Marc Jones LONDON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:18am EST LONDON (Reuters) - World shares are on course for their worst weekly performance since June, depressed by Europe's debt troubles and the looming "fiscal cliff" that could slash U.S. public spending. Even better-than-expected Chinese economic data for October, which pointed to a...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:16am EST (Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC is recalling almost 745,000 Jeep sport utility vehicles in the United States to fix a part that could cause the airbags to inadvertently deploy. Chrysler, controlled by Italy's Fiat SpA, is recalling 744,822 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs from model years 2002 through 2004 because a part in the vehic...

VIENNA | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:35am EST VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear agency said on Friday it would hold a new round of atomic talks with Iran in Tehran on December 13, confirming an earlier Reuters report. "The aim is to conclude the structured approach to resolving outstanding issues related to Iran's nuclear program," International Atomic Energy Ag...

DUBAI | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:05am EST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said it would deal decisively with any foreign encroachment into its airspace, an apparent warning to the United States after one of its surveillance drones was targeted by Iranian warplanes last week. On Thursday U.S. officials said the unarmed Predator drone was in international airspace when Ir...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:04am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Telecoms operator Vimpelcom (VIP.N) said on Friday its annual shareholder meeting will be held on December 21 provided that a Russian court lifts injunctions before the end of November. The Moscow Arbitration Court in April imposed a ban on 2011 profit distribution by Vimpelcom's Russian unit, prompt...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 8:23am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures tumbled on Friday and were on track to post their worst weekly drop in five months as the euro zone crisis was seen hitting France and Germany and investors fretted over a looming U.S. "fiscal cliff." Growth in Germany, Europe's largest economy, is li...

By Phil Wahba Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:58am EST (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) reported a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales at stores open at least a year as shoppers continued to snub the retailer after it got rid of most coupons and sales earlier this year. The company, which is in the early stages of a multiyear turnaround, said on Frid...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:29am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin dismissed the chief of staff of Russia's armed forces on Friday in a reshuffle of the military top brass, three days after sacking his defense minister following a corruption scandal. Putin removed General Nikolai Makarov as his top general and replaced him with General Valer...

LONDON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:05am EST LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said on Friday it was investigating the alleged loss of data for clients in Jersey but had not been notified of any investigation by tax authorities. The Daily Telegraph has reported that British tax authorities were examining details of more than 4,000 UK clients of HSBC...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:56am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's second largest crude producer LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) said on Friday it will study an offer from Exxon (XOM.N) to take over the West Qurna-1 oilfield in Iraq, Interfax news agency said. ExxonMobil has informed the Iraqi government it wants to pull out of the $50 billion oil project in southern Iraq...

BEIJING | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:48am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China Electronics Corp has delayed a planned cooperation with Japan's Sharp Corp on production of the world's most advanced LCD panels due to a territorial dispute between the two countries, the chairman of the state-owned firm said on Friday. The cooperation on the production of the 10th generatio...

By Annika Breidthardt and Rene Wagner BERLIN | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:30am EST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone's second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc. Two offici...

MOSCOW | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:14am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court postponed on Friday hearing in an appeal against a decision to award more than $3 billion in damages against British oil major BP (BP.L) brought by minority shareholders in its Russian venture TNK-BP (TNBP.MM), a lawyer for BP said. The decision to postpone the hearings was made a day...

By John O'Brien SINGAPORE | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:47am EST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Thailand's Chapchai Nirat maintained Zen-like calm to soar to the top of the Singapore Open leaderboard on Friday as the $6 million co-sanctioned event suffered a second successive day of frustrating weather disruptions. Chapchai was one of 78 players, including world nu...

GENEVA | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:46am EST GENEVA (Reuters) - An outbreak of hepatitis E has infected at least 1,050 Sudanese refugees in South Sudan, killing 26 and threatening to spread further among people still arriving in crowded camps, the United Nations said on Friday. About 175,000 people have already fled to South Sudan to escape fighting in Sudan's So...

TOKYO | Fri Nov 9, 2012 4:09am EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp's long-term debt rating was lowered one notch by Moody's Investor Service to the lowest investment grade level because of shrinking demand for its consumer electronics. The downgrade to Baa3 from Baa2 follows a one-notch cut by Moody's in October, which also said its outlook on the firm remai...

MELBOURNE | Fri Nov 9, 2012 1:59am EST MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Sam Stosur hopes to banish her home court demons on the way to more grand slam glory after failing to add to her major trophies in 2012, the Australian said on Friday. "Overall, finishing number nine in the world, it's still pretty good," the former US Open champion told local media."It's not a...

WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 1:52am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Republican lawmaker John Boehner said on Thursday he would not make it his mission to repeal the Obama administration's healthcare reform law following the re-election of President Barack Obama. "The election changes that," Boehner, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told ABC n...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 12:49am EST (Reuters) - Some late game heroics from three-time all-star Kevin Durant powered the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 97-91 victory against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday. Trailing by six at three-quarter time, the Thunder rallied late with Durant making a couple of clutch baskets in the final minute to help hi...

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 8:55pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Staffers at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to encrypt some of their computers containing highly sensitive information from stock exchanges, leaving the data vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to people familiar with the matter. While the compu...

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:16pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Dancing with the Stars" co-host Brooke Burke said on Thursday that she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will need surgery. The television presenter and model said in a three-minute video posted on the website Modernmom.com that she wil...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:10pm EST (Reuters) - Online travel agency Priceline.com Inc (PCLN.O) said on Thursday it will buy Kayak Software Corp (KYAK.O) in a friendly deal that values the company at $1.8 billion. Priceline is offering $40 a share for Kayak, a 29 percent premium on the company's Thursday closing price of $31.04.Kayak shares jumped 27 percent to more than ...

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:23pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Media giant Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) posted higher quarterly profit on Thursday, lifted by an increase in attendance at theme parks and revenue gains at sports juggernaut ESPN. Disney reported diluted earnings per shar...

By Martyn Herman LONDON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 4:42pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Defending champion Roger Federer guaranteed his place in the last four of the ATP World Tour Finals with a straight-sets win over Spain's David Ferrer on Thursday but Janko Tipsarevic became the first player eliminated after a second defeat. World number two Federer, seeking ...

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 5:23pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday and could be in line for more weakness as worries about Washington's ability to find a timely solution to the "fiscal cliff" dominate investor thinking in coming weeks. The S&P 500 dropped for a second day and closed below its 200-day m...

By Dena Aubin NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:45pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have completed their first observations of official auditor inspections in China and expect to meet soon with Chinese officials, said the head of the U.S. watchdog that oversees corporate auditors on Thursday. The upcoming meetings will focus on access to au...

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:29pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dozens of excited "Twilight" fans set up tents in Los Angeles on Thursday ahead of next week's world premiere of the last film in the vampire romance franchise. Some 2,200 people from all over the world have registered to camp on a concrete plaza outside a downtown Los Angeles movie theater...

By Nick Brown NEW YORK | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:20pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund Marathon Asset Management has withdrawn a request for an independent investigator to examine the books of American Airlines, a unit of bankrupt AMR Corp, lawyers for the companies said at a hearing on Thursday. The move came after AMR agreed to preserve potential ...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:09pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Excited after their command performance against the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Clippers accept they have to become much more consistent after a Jekyll-and-Hyde start to the season. While Wednesday's 106-84 win against the previously unbeaten Spurs was ...

Thu Nov 8, 2012 3:00pm EST (Reuters) - The Toronto Blue Jays added to their infield depth by signing the versatile Maicer Izturis to a three-year contract worth $9 million, the American League team announced on Thursday. Izturis, 32, appeared in 100 games for the Los Angeles Angels last season, playing at least 25 games at second base, shortstop and third base in...

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 8, 2012 2:33pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Someone has a big crush on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden - and now she is getting to meet him. Biden will make his TV acting debut with a cameo on NBC's comedy "Parks and Recreation" as the celebrity crush of actress Amy Poehler's ditzy local councilwoman Leslie Knope, NBC said on Thursday....

By Deepa Seetharaman WAYNE, Michigan | Thu Nov 8, 2012 2:33pm EST WAYNE, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) has been able to lower its manufacturing costs this year by hiring more entry-level workers and boosting its capacity utilization in North America to 114 percent. So far this year, the second-largest U.S. automaker has hired 4,800 ent...

By Eva Kuehnen FRANKFURT | Thu Nov 8, 2012 2:18pm EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The euro zone economy shows little sign of recovering before the year-end despite easing financial market conditions, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday, leaving open the possibility of an interest rate cut in the months ahead. But after keeping...

By Jason Lange WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:50pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September as exports rose sharply, suggesting global demand for U.S. goods was holding up despite a debt crisis in Europe. Other data on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for jobless benefits last week, although a severe sto...

By Mitch Phillips LONDON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:27pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Bradley Wiggins was released from hospital on Thursday following his bike crash as British Cycling announced that Shane Sutton, the team's head coach, had also been knocked off his bike and injured. Wiggins, who won the Tour de France and Olympic time trial gold this year, s...

By Jorge Dan and Milton Castillo SAN MARCOS, Guatemala | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:25pm EST SAN MARCOS, Guatemala (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Thursday carted out dead bodies found under rubble in the aftermath of Guatemala's most powerful earthquake in decades, while others cleared wrecked cars and coll...

By Rania El Gamal and Andrew Hammond DOHA | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:12pm EST DOHA (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said he would "live and die" in Syria and warned that any Western invasion to topple him would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and beyond. Assad's defiant remarks coincided with a landmark meeting in Qatar on Thursd...