French unions rage at Hollande over Mittal deal

PARIS (Reuters) – French trade unions accused President Francois Hollande of betrayal on Saturday after his government backed away from a threat to nationalize ArcelorMittal‘s Florange steelworks.The Socialist government said on Friday it had won promises from ArcelorMittal to avoid forced redundancies and inject 180 million euros to develop the Florange plant, meaning it would no longer have to take...

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Cargo plane crashes in Brazzaville, 3 dead

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — A cargo plane owned by a private company crashed Friday near the airport in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, killing at least three people, officials said.The Soviet-made Ilyushin-76 belonged to Trans Air Congo and appeared to be transporting merchandise, not people, said an aviation official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized...

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Study: DVRs now in half of US pay-TV homes

NEW YORK (AP) — A new survey finds that digital video recorders are now in more than half of all U.S. homes that subscribe to cable or satellite TV services.Leichtman Research Group‘s survey of 1,300 households found that 52 percent of the ones that have pay-TV service also have a DVR. That translates to about 45 percent of all households and is up from 13.5 percent of all households surveyed five...

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Health officials: Athens has spiraling HIV crisis

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Athens is seeing an alarming increase in new HIV infections, particularly among intravenous drug users, health officials warned Friday, as Greece struggles through a protracted financial crisis in which funding for health care and drug treatment programs has been slashed.While there were about 10-14 new HIV infections per year among Athens drug users from 2008 to 2010, that number...

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Brazil’s metro areas drive economy, report shows

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A report by the Brookings Institution shows Brazil‘s 13 largest metropolitan areas are the country’s economic engines, concentrating more than half of national GDP and driving their states forward.The study by the think-tank’s Metropolitan Policy Program was issued Friday during an international conference in Sao Paulo. The Institution analyzed for the first time economic and...

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African Union asks UN for immediate action on Mali

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — In an open letter Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the African Union urged the U.N. to take immediate military action in northern Mali, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked rebels earlier this year.Yayi Boni, the president of Benin who is also head of the African Union, said any reticence on the part of the U.N. will be interpreted as a sign of...

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Video Games: Art-Tested, MoMA-Approved

Citing a palpable “aesthetic experience” in classic games while eschewing others, the Museum of Modern Art announced Thursday that it has assembled a new collection of video games. The museum’s initial collection includes 14 classics like Pac-Man and Tetris, but also more recent additions to the canon like Passage and Canabalt. The museum has a “wish list” of...

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Russian court bans “extremist” Pussy Riot video

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court ruled on Thursday that video footage of the Pussy Riot punk group protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a church was “extremist” and should be removed from websites.The demonstration last February offended many Russian Orthodox Christians. But Putin has been criticized by U.S. and European leaders over what they saw as disproportionate jail sentences imposed...

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No “substantive” progress made on fiscal cliff: Boehner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that no substantive progress has been made to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of spending cuts and tax hikes that will start to go into effect early next year if Washington does not act.“Listen, I remain hopeful that productive conversations can be had in the days ahead. But the White House has to get serious,” House of Representatives Speaker...

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Energy Bill for ‘cleaner economy’

29 November 2012 Last updated at 10:14 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Energy Secretary Ed Davey says the Bill will transform the energy landscapeEnergy minister Ed Davey has unveiled the government’s much-trailed Energy Bill, setting out the roadmap for the UK’s switch to “a low-carbon economy”.Energy firms can increase the “green” levy from £3bn to £7.6bn a year by...

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