Merkel says Germany, Britain must work together on EU

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany and Britain must cooperate to work round their differences on the European Union‘s long-term spending plans, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

“Despite differences that we have it is very important for me that the UK and Germany work together,” Merkel said through a translator before a meeting in London with Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the EU‘s 2014-2020 budget.

“We always have to do something that will stand up to public opinion back home. Not all of the expenditure that has been earmarked has been used with great efficiency … We need to address that,” she said.

EU leaders meet in Brussels on November 22-23 to try to secure a seven-year budget for the 27-nation bloc amid signs of differences of opinion over what action should be taken.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Youth support drives passage of California tax-hike measure

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California‘s 74-year-old governor, Jerry Brown, engineered a surprise victory for his tax-hike ballot proposition by tapping support at the other end of the age spectrum.

Proposition 30, a temporary $ 6 billion tax hike, passed with a solid 54 percent approval on Tuesday, driven largely by a higher-than-expected turnout of young voters, pollsters and analysts say.

The measure, a rare attempt by a state to raise taxes at a time of small-government fervor, was the cornerstone of Brown’s plan to balance the state’s $ 91 billion budget. Without it, the state would have to cut spending on schools and universities.

But in recent days, the proposition had seemed destined for failure, according to several polls. Brown, who began campaigning heavily for it in the last weeks of the election, held rallies at colleges, and many younger voters responded.

“It’s the reversal of a historic trend,” said Dan Schnur, director of the University of Southern California/Los Angeles Times poll, speaking about the normal difficulty of winning support for a tax measure in the waning days of a campaign. At the end of October, his poll showed only 46 percent of voters for the measure.

Young people made up about 28 percent of those who voted on Proposition 30, according to an exit poll from CNN, and 65 percent of them voted yes.

“We saw this amazing engagement that was fed by social media, on Facebook, on Twitter,” said Scott Lay, president of the Community College League of California, an advocacy group.

The ability for the first time to complete the entire voter-registration process online contributed to the passage of the measure, he believes, because “young voters who registered online were more engaged.”

As election day neared, polls from the Public Policy Institute of California, the California Business Roundtable with Pepperdine University, and the respected Field Poll, all showed less-than-majority support for Prop 30, and at best they labeled its chances a toss-up.

But Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, saw signs Brown could persuade undecided voters and told several reporters ahead of the election that Proposition 30 had a shot.

He cited data in his poll showing that undecided voters shared many characteristics with voters who favored Proposition 30, including a favorable view of Brown, a sense that they were paying about the right amount in taxes, and concern over budget cuts that could kick in if the measure failed.

“If you looked at the 14 percent that were undecided, they held views that were more in line with “Yes” voters,” said DiCamillo. “All it needed was about three points from the undecided.”

Brown’s push in recent days for the initiative undoubtedly helped, including his visits to colleges and his attendance at a group of last-minute events, the pollsters said. On Monday, for example, Brown touted the measure at gatherings in San Diego, Burbank, Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco.

(Editing by Peter Henderson and Philip Barbara)

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Country duo Civil Wars cancel tour, cite discord

LONDON (Reuters) – Grammy Award-winning country-folk duo The Civil Wars have cancelled their British tour dates, citing “irreconcilable differences” via Twitter and Facebook.

The pair made the announcement shortly after performing at the Roundhouse in north London late on Tuesday, but they added that they hoped to record together soon.

“We sincerely apologize for the canceling of all of our tour dates,” said the band, which comprises Joy Williams and John Paul White.

“It is something we deeply regret. However, due to internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition we are unable to continue as a touring entity at this time … Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.”

The band said it would “do its best” to reimburse fans who had made travel reservations to see them.

The Civil Wars released their debut studio album “Barton Hollow” last year and went on to scoop two Grammy Awards – the highest prize in music – for best folk album and best country duo/group performance.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)

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Los Angeles mandates condoms for porn actors, industry threatens suit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles County voters passed a ballot initiative mandating that pornographic film actors wear condoms during sex scenes, prompting a trade group on Wednesday to threaten to sue and take production elsewhere.

Measure B, which was sponsored by the group AIDS Healthcare Foundation, won approval on Tuesday by a margin of 55.85 percent to 44.15 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office.

“This is what democracy looks like; we took this to county government, and they didn’t act so we took it directly to the voters, and they spoke conclusively,” AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said.

The law requires adult film actors filming in Los Angeles County to use condoms during sex scenes. Most U.S. pornographic productions are made in the county’s San Fernando Valley.

Diane Duke, chief executive for the industry group Free Speech Coalition, told Los Angeles County supervisors in a letter on Wednesday that the law was unconstitutional and that it fell under state jurisdiction, not that of local government.

“Therefore, we will file suit and challenge this intolerable law in court,” Duke said in the letter. A copy was provided to Reuters.

She said the adult filmmakers had been approached to move elsewhere, adding: “In the upcoming weeks and months, we will provide a roadmap for adult production to move its over a billion dollar industry and its accompanying 10,000 jobs to these welcoming communities.”

David Sommers, a spokesman for the Board of Supervisors, declined to respond specifically to the letter, saying he had not read it. He said county health officials were still grappling with the law’s implications.

“This type of enforcement is a new thing for us and it’s a one-of-a-kind law and so how we move forward with its implementation is a conversation we’re just beginning to have given how the voters decided Measure B,” he said.

The initiative requires porn producers to get a health permit from Los Angeles County to make their movies showing explicit sex and nudity. Using condoms on set would be a condition of obtaining that permit.

California workplace laws mandate the use of condoms by porn performers, but AIDS Healthcare officials say the statute is not specifically aimed at the industry and is widely violated.

The Free Speech Coalition said in its letter that such requirements would impose “excessive costs of compliance.”

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Walmart moves “Black Friday” earlier on Thanksgiving night

(Reuters) – Walmart will kick off its holiday sales rush at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, its earliest start ever, and will guarantee that those who line up can buy a trio of gadgets as it places a big bet that shoppers are ready to spend this holiday season.

The holiday season is critical for Wal-Mart Stores Inc , the world’s largest retailer, and its Walmart U.S. division. More than a quarter of its annual sales come during the holiday season.

“We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers,” said Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Duncan Mac Naughton.

Retailers are coming up with fresh ways to entice shoppers this year, as holiday spending is only expected to rise 4.1 percent, according to the National Retail Federation, down from 5.6 percent growth in 2011.

Walmart kicked off layaway a month earlier than last year, in mid-September. Layaway allows shoppers to keep a product on hold at the store and pay for it over time. Chains such as Walmart and Target have already published toy catalogs.

While the holiday shopping season traditionally kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, the push to sell Christmas presents and other items has been moving earlier and earlier in recent years.

Retailers say that shoppers want earlier deals.

“‘We got customer feedback that says ‘I like to shop earlier so I can go to bed earlier,’” Mac Naughton said.

Thanksgiving will be observed on November 22 this year.

SPECIAL OFFERS

At 8 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, Walmart‘s offers will include deals on video games starting at $ 10 and home appliances such as a Crock Pot slow cooker and a Mr. Coffee maker for $ 9.44 each.

Walmart also said it would guarantee that three items will be available that night to people standing in line in its stores between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving, though the items are not among the hottest new gadgets of the year.

Those shoppers are guaranteed access to an Apple iPad 2 16GB with Wi-Fi, a March 2011 version, priced at $ 399 with a $ 75 Walmart Gift Card; a 32-inch Emerson 720p LCD TV at $ 148, $ 80 below the usual price; and an LG Blu-ray player for $ 38 that Walmart does not typically sell but said goes for $ 68 to $ 79 elsewhere.

After a round of specials focused on electronics at 10 p.m. Walmart will take a break from special deals, giving shoppers a chance to get some rest or perhaps visit other stores.

Walmart now keeps its stores open overnight between Thanksgiving and Black Friday after an employee was trampled to death when a Long Island store opened on Black Friday in 2008.

Last year, key competitors including Target Corp began their special offers at 12 a.m. on Friday.

Other items to be offered during the night include brands such as Vizio, Samsung, Nikon, Nook and Beats by Dr. Dre.

“I think we have the brands that our customers want,” Mac Naughton said.

A variety of items from Goodyear tires to a Singer Sewing Machine go on sale at 5 a.m. on Black Friday.

Last year, Target, Best Buy , Macy’s and Kohl’s were closed on Thanksgiving and kicked off Black Friday sales at the stroke of midnight, their earliest starts ever. Best Buy Co Inc , Macy’s and Kohl’s all plan to open at midnight again, while Target has not given its plans yet.

Sears Holdings Corp’s Sears and Kmart stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, Sears kept its discount chain Kmart open on Thanksgiving but the Sears chain was closed.

This year, Sears stores will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and stay open overnight until 10 p.m. on Black Friday. Kmart has been open on Thanksgiving for the last 21 years.

In 2011, Walmart began with deals on toys, home items and clothing at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, followed by electronics deals at midnight and other offers at 8 a.m. on Friday, November 25.

Most Walmart stores will be open on Thanksgiving, unless they are required to close by local or state law.

Walmart has faced protests in various U.S. cities lately and some workers have planned to walk off the job on Black Friday. Such actions are being sponsored by groups including a contingent of workers called OUR Walmart that receives union support.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Officials: New mass graves found in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.

Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, known by its French acronym of FRCI. Last month, officials found six bodies in a well close to the former campsite in the western town of Duekoue.

Government, army and U.N. officials toured 10 more graves in the same area on Saturday, said Paul Mondouho, vice-mayor of Duekoue. He said the graves had first been identified by civilians, and that officials did not know the number of bodies they contained because they had not yet been properly exhumed.

“People were suspecting the presence of bodies in these graves because of the smell coming out of them and because of the shoes we saw nearby,” Mondouho said.

Prosecutor Noel Dje Enrike Yahau, who is based in the commercial capital of Abidjan, confirmed that multiple new graves had been discovered but could not provide details. U.N. officials and the local prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspected killings could not be reached Tuesday.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg confirmed that U.N. forces helped Ivorian authorities secure a perimeter around 10 wells “similar to the one in which six bodies were found,” and that “some of those wells are suspected mass graves.”

She stressed that Ivorian authorities were leading the investigation but that the U.N. was able to provide assistance.

Army spokesmen could not be reached Tuesday. The Justice Ministry has previously vowed to investigate the discovery of the initial grave.

On the morning of July 20, a mob descended on the U.N.-guarded Nahibly camp, which housed 4,500 people displaced by violence in Ivory Coast, burning most of the camp to the ground. Officials said at the time that six people were killed.

The attack was prompted by the shooting deaths of four men and one woman on the night of July 19, according to local officials and residents. In response a mob of some 300 people overran the camp on the morning of July 20 after the perpetrators of the shootings reportedly fled there.

The victims in the July 19 attack lived in a district dominated by the Malinke ethnic group, which largely supported President Alassane Ouattara in the disputed November 2010 election. The camp primarily housed members of the Guere ethnic group, which largely supported former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo’s refusal to cede office despite losing the election to Ouattara sparked months of violence that claimed at least 3,000 lives.

Albert Koenders, the top U.N. envoy to Ivory Coast, said one week after the attack that U.N. security forces had been inside and outside the camp at the time but that no Ivorian security forces were present. He said the U.N. forces decided not to fire at a large group of people that were attacking the camp in order to avoid “a massacre.”

Several witnesses have said soldiers and traditional hunters, known as dozos, participated in the attack on the camp. Both military and dozo leaders have denied the claims, saying they had tried to protect the camp.

In a statement released Friday, the International Federation for Human Rights, known by its French acronym of FIDH, said it had information — including the preliminary results of autopsies — confirming that the six bodies found in October were men who had been summarily executed by the army.

“The disappearance of dozens of displaced persons after the attack, as well as confirmation of cases of summary and extra-judicial executions, suggest a much higher victim rate than the official figures report,” said the organization, which counts Ivorian civil society groups among its members.

Duekoue was one of the hardest-hit towns during the post-election violence. The U.N. has established that at least 505 people were killed in and around the town, including during a notorious March 2011 massacre that claimed hundreds of lives and was allegedly carried out by fighters loyal to Ouattara.

Duekoue residents belonging to ethnic groups that supported Gbagbo have long complained about abuses carried out by the FRCI, with some pointing to the direct involvement of the local commander, Kone Daouda. FIDH said in its statement that Daouda had been transferred following the discovery of the grave in October, and called for him to be interrogated over the matter.

The group also said two FRCI members were being “actively sought” after failing to return to their barracks on Oct. 16, noting that they are believed to have fled to neighboring Burkina Faso.

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AT&T’s Nokia Windows phone prices to undercut rivals

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – AT&T set a $ 50 starting price for Nokia‘s latest Windows smartphones, on which the struggling Finnish phone maker is pinning its hopes for a turnaround.

The No. 2 U.S. mobile provider said on Tuesday that it will sell the Nokia Lumia 820 for $ 49.99 and the flagship Lumia 920 phone for $ 99.99 compared with its $ 199.99 pricing for the HTC Corp Windows Phone 8X device.

Nokia, which has lost out hugely to Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co in recent years, is hinging its entire future on Microsoft‘s mobile software. HTC mostly sells phones based on Google Inc’s Android software but is hoping to diversify with Windows Phone 8.

The three devices are key for Microsoft which is banking on its Windows Phone 8 software to challenge Apple’s iPhone and Android phones from vendors like Samsung.

The low Nokia price shows that volumes are more important to the company than profits as it is hoping to re-build a U.S. customer base, Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said.

And with such aggressive pricing, the only reason these phones could fail to sell well is if consumers decide they are not interested in the Microsoft software, Greengart said.

“It’s almost a referendum on Microsoft’s operating system,” said the analyst.

AT&T is also offering a free wireless charging plate with the purchase of the Lumia 920, which is worth about $ 80 according to an estimate from Greengart, who used previous wireless chargers as a benchmark.

“This is a valuable accessory that AT&T and Nokia are throwing in the box for free,” Greengart said. “I would think this will make it more difficult for HTC because they have a product with a smaller display and less unique features.”

The prices are for customers who sign a two-year wireless contract with AT&T. The phones, which are available beginning November 9, can be pre-ordered starting Wednesday.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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The Civil Wars cancel tour using divorce language

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars have canceled their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences.

The folk-pop duo Joy Williams and John Paul White released a statement Tuesday announcing that because of “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” they were unable to “continue as a touring entity at this time.”

Although they used the language of divorce, the duo added, “Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.”

Williams and White are both married, but to other people. Williams had a baby this summer with husband Nate Yetton, the duo’s manager.

Earlier this year the pair canceled part of their European tour.

The duo found unexpected success with their 2011 debut album, “Barton Hollow.” With backgrounds in gospel and rock, they met when they were both asked to contribute to a country project and found chemistry.

Back then, the pair framed their partnership in terms of courting. White told The Associated Press that after two songwriting sessions, “I finally got up the nerve to ask her out, as it were.”

“In a musical way,” Williams said.

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Pfizer says FDA approves arthritis drug Xeljanz

NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer says the Food and Drug Administration approved its rheumatoid arthritis pill Xeljanz (ZEL’jans), seen as potential big seller for the world’s largest pharmaceutical company.

Pfizer Inc. says the FDA approved Xeljanz as a treatment for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis in patients who can’t take methotrexate or haven’t been helped by it. Xeljanz is intended to slow the progression of the disease. The approval comes about two weeks sooner than expected.

Xeljanz, or tofacitinib, is the first rheumatoid arthritis treatment from a new class of pain medications called JAK inhibitors. The drugs interfere with enzymes that contribute to tissue inflammation.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a major area of research for drug companies because it is a chronic condition, meaning patients will likely take the drugs regularly for a long time.

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Futures off lows as election called for Obama

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures fell late on Tuesday, but were off session lows, as major TV networks called the U.S. presidential election for Democratic incumbent Barack Obama over challenger Mitt Romney.

S&P 500 futures fell 6.7 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 50 points and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 8.75 points.

S&P futures earlier fell as much as 14 points.

Cash markets posted strong gains earlier despite a string of weaker-than expected results from U.S. companies, with notable strength in stocks and sectors that were seen favorable under a Romney win, including coal, energy and defense shares.

“The first reaction is a giveback of today’s movement, but the fact that we’ll have a decision is as important as anything,” said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

He said the most important market catalyst now is the speed at which Washington deals with the so-called fiscal cliff, some $ 600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases that are due to kick in next year and could derail the U.S. economic recovery.

The vote including congressional races points to a status quo result, Democrats retaining control of the Senate and the House of Representatives staying in Republican hands.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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