Euro Area Crisis Presents Significant Risk for South Africa, Lagarde Says - Bloomberg

South Africa has become increasingly integrated into the global economy, leaving it exposed to

BOE Says U.K. Lenders Expect to Toughen Loan Terms on Euro-Crisis Impact - Bloomberg

U.K. banks (F3BANK) expect to toughen the criteria on loans to companies and households in the first quarter because of strains in wholesale funding markets, which may impede investment and economic growth.

Singapore May Cut Lee

Singapore will cut salaries for its prime minister and top office holders after voter unhappiness over a widening income gap weakened support for the ruling party in last year

China

A Chinese manufacturing gauge rose in December, suggesting that a slowdown in the world

U.K. House Prices May Decline in 2012 as Unemployment Increases: Economy - Bloomberg

U.K. house prices (UKNBAAMM) may decline in 2012 as economic turmoil emanating from the euro area

Korte Co. is building law office building in Las Vegas

St. Louis-based Korte Co. started work on a new law office building in Las Vegas for EVAPS LLC. The three-story, 128,000-square-foot facility is being built above four levels of on-site parking, with a 161-vehicle capacity.

About 55,000 square feet of office space will be housed in the upper levels of the building.

The structure, a Federal Period-influenced design, was envisioned by Design Cell Architecture and features an exterior cladding of veneered brick and gypsum-reinforced concrete work payday loans in 1 hour. The building is due to be completed in 2013.

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Train builder Bombardier wins new UK order

Aircraft and train builder Bombardier Inc. said Wednesday it had won a government-subsidized order for 130 new rail carriages, months after it announced it would cut about 1,400 jobs in Britain and questioned its future in the country.

Paul Roberts, the Canadian manufacturer’s chief representative in Britain, said in a statement that the 188 million pounds ($295 million) deal was “an encouraging step in the right direction” as the firm reviews long term plans for its train-building plant in the central England city of Derby.

Britain’s Ministry for Transport said it is providing an 80 million pounds subsidy toward the deal with rail operator Southern, which will see Bombardier supply extra carriages to add capacity on busy rail routes between central London and southern England commuters areas.

Bombardier lost out to Germany’s Siemens AG in July in bidding for a 1.4 billion pounds contract to build new passenger trains. At the time, Bombardier announced it would lay off about 446 permanent staff and 983 temporary hires. Bombardier said no permanent workers have yet left their jobs online cash advance.

“I look forward to Bombardier workers in Derby being among the winners of this important deal,” Transport Secretary Justine Greening said, though the firm insisted it was too early to say whether any jobs would be protected by the deal.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said the deal was welcome, but that more work was needed “to secure the long-term future of train building in the U.K.”

Bombardier said it hoped to agree a contract early next year on a project to convert dozens of trains to hybrid power, and would press hard to win train building work from Britain’s major CrossRail initiative, a new rail line from west to east London being built at a cost of around 16 billion pounds ($25 billion).

Decisions on those projects “will be integral elements in considerations as part of Bombardier’s U.K. review,” Roberts said.

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Intervention Failing as Yen Poised to Gain - Bloomberg

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Playboy magazine is moving to LA

+%3Cp%3E+Playboy+Enterprises+announced+on+Wednesday+that+it+is+relocating+its+iconic+magazine+from+Chicago%2C+the+original+base+of+operations%2C+to+Los+Angeles.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BAs+of+May+2012%2C+Playboy+magazine%27s+editorial%2C+art+and+photo+departments+will+be+based+out+of+the+company%27s+Los+Angeles+office%2C%26quot%3B+said+Playboy+spokeswoman+Theresa+Hennessey.+%26quot%3BSome+of+the+magazine%27s+Chicago+employees+have+been+asked+to+relocate%2C+while+others+have+been+asked+to+stay+on+in+Chicago+to+ensure+a+seamless+transition.%26quot%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EChicago+has+served+as+the+magazine%27s+base+of+operations+since+its+founding+by+Hugh+Hefner+in+1953.+Marilyn+Monroe+graced+the+first+issue%2C+which+came+out+in+December%2C+just+months+after+the+end+of+the+Korean+War.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThis+has+been+a+significant+year+for+the+company%2C+which+Hefner+decided+to+take+private.+In+a+deal+that+was+finalized+in+March%2C+the+company%27s+outstanding+shares+were+purchased+by+Icon+Acquisition+Holdings.+Hefner%2C+the+editor-in-chief+and+chief+creative+officer%2C+and+Scott+Flanders%2C+the+chief+executive+officer%2C+are+partial+owners+of+Icon+%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fpaydayloans-on.com%22%3Eguaranteed+payday+loans%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%21–+.+–%3E.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+move+will+bring+the+magazine+closer+to+Hefner%2C+who+has+lived+for+decades+in+the+Playboy+Mansion+in+Los+Angeles+with+his+famous+harem+of+girlfriends.+He+has+used+the+party+palace+and+the+well-known+Rabbit+Head+logo+as+publicity+tools%2C+especially+with+the+advent+of+Internet+pornography+in+the+1990s%2C+which+has+proven+to+be+his+company%27s+greatest+rival.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+original+Playboy+mansion+is+in+Chicago%2C+where+it+has+been+converted+into+condos.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+company+didn%27t+reveal+the+fate+of+its+remaining+Chicago+operations%2C+including+the+departments+for+public+relations%2C+human+resources%2C+accounting+and+IT.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BNo+final+decisions+have+been+made+yet+regarding+the+future+of+other+departments+currently+based+in+Chicago%2C%26quot%3B+said+Hennessey.%26nbsp%3B+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2011%2F12%2F14%2Fnews%2Fcompanies%2Fplayboy_hefner%2Findex.htm%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

Payroll tax bill faces uncertain House prospects

The Senate-approved bill temporarily preventing a Jan. 1 payroll tax increase and benefit cutoff for the long-term unemployed faces uncertain prospects in the House, where many rank-and-file GOP lawmakers have told their leaders they are ready to reject the measure.

House Speaker John Boehner is expected to be pressed about the next move for Republicans when he appears on NBC’s “Meet the Press” show Sunday morning.

The House plans a Monday vote on the bill, which also forces a reluctant President Barack Obama to make an election-year choice between unions and environmentalists over whether to build an oil pipeline through the heart of the country and across ecologically sensitive aquifer that provides water to eight states.

The 89-10 Senate vote Saturday came after a bruising battle between Democrats and Republicans that produced the compromise two-month extension of the expiring tax breaks and jobless benefits and forestalled cuts in doctors’ Medicare reimbursements.

House GOP leaders held a conference call Saturday with rank-and-file lawmakers in which participants said strong anger was expressed about the Senate bill, including its lack of House-approved cuts in last year’s health care overhaul law and its failure to erase the reductions in doctors’ payments for more than two months.

“You can’t have an economic recovery with this,” Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said of the bill.

A House GOP aide said later, “Members are overwhelmingly disappointed in the Senate’s decision to just `kick the can down the road’ for two months.”

The Senate vote capped a year of divided government marked by raucous partisan fights that tumbled to the brink of a first-ever U.S. default on its debts and three federal shutdowns, only to see eleventh-hour deals emerge. It also put the two sides on track to revisit the payroll tax cut early next year as battles for control of the White House and Congress heat up.

While Obama and Democrats used the fight to portray themselves as defenders of beleaguered middle- and lower-income Americans, Republicans used it to cast themselves as champions of job creation.

Democrats said when Congress revisits the issue of renewing the tax cuts and jobless benefits early next year, they would win the political battle because they would be viewed as protecting peoples’ household budgets.

Republicans, though, said they would once again focus the fight on jobs, with some predicting they would try adding provisions to repeal pollution curbs and other government regulations that they say make it harder for companies to hire people.

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