Egypt recalls envoy to Israel after Gaza strike

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed the military commander of Gaza‘s ruling Hamas.

In a statement read on state TV late Wednesday, spokesman Yasser Ali said that President Mohammed Morsi recalled the ambassador and asked the Arab League‘s Secretary General to convene an emergency ministerial meeting in the wake of the Gaza violence.

Morsi also called for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas, an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Israel says it struck in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Hours earlier, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group denounced the Israeli airstrike as a “crime that requires a quick Arab and international response to stem these massacres.”

Relations between Israel and Egypt have deteriorated since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.

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Papa John’s falls on news of class-action suit

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Papa John‘s declined on Tuesday following news of class-action certification for a lawsuit that claims the pizza chain had unsolicited text messages sent to cell phones.

THE SPARK: The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle claims Papa John‘s violated state and federal law when they had the marketing company OnTime4U send unsolicited text messages on its behalf to cell phones advertising their pizza products. The lawsuit says that 500,000 illegal text messages were sent to Papa John’s customers across the U.S.

Papa John’s faces potential damages of more than $ 250 million. The plaintiffs may each potentially receive $ 500 or more in damages for each text message.

Messages left with Papa John’s seeking comment were not immediately returned.

SHARE ACTION: Papa John’s International Inc.’s stock fell 34 cents to $ 49.10 in afternoon trading after dropping as low as $ 46.72 earlier in the session. Over the past year, the shares have traded in a range of $ 35.21 to $ 56.41.

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Diabetes cases hit record and half go undiagnosed

LONDON (Reuters) – Diabetes is running at record levels worldwide and half the people estimated to have the disease are, as yet, undiagnosed, according to a report on Wednesday.

The number of people living with diabetes is now put at 371 million, up from 366 million a year ago, with numbers expected to reach 552 million by 2030, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) said.

Diabetes is often viewed as a western problem, since the vast majority of people have type 2 disease which is linked to obesity and lack of exercise.

But the disease is also spreading rapidly in poorer countries, alongside urbanization, and four out of five diabetics now live in low and middle-income countries, opening up new opportunities and challenges for the drug industry.

China alone has 92.3 million people with diabetes, more than any other nation in the world, and the hidden burden is also enormous in sub-Saharan Africa where limited healthcare means less than a fifth of cases get diagnosed.

The IDF estimates that, globally, 187 million people do not yet know they are suffering from the condition.

Diabetics have inadequate blood sugar control which can lead to serious complications, including nerve and kidney damage and blindness. Worldwide deaths from the disease are running at 4.8 million a year.

The disease is one of a number of chronic conditions – along with cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases – that healthcare campaigners want included in the next set of global development goals, which will replace outgoing Millennium Developments Goals in 2015.

For the international drugmakers, diabetes offers riches, with global sales of diabetes medicines expected to reach $ 48-$ 53 billion by 2016, up from $ 39.2 billion in 2011, according to research firm IMS Health.

CHINA TO AFRICA

Tapping into the potential of increased demand in emerging markets, however, requires a twin-track approach from drug companies which have traditionally focused on pricey new therapies for rich-world markets.

These days, there is a lot more focus on high-volume but lower-margin business in developing economies, many of which are predicted to show high double-digit percentage sales growth for diabetes medicines for years to come.

The shift is already yielding results.

China, for example, is now the second-largest market behind the United States for the world’s biggest maker of insulin – Danish group Novo Nordisk. It is also a major focus for rivals such as Eli Lilly, Merck & Co, and Sanofi.

Poorer countries are more difficult, especially when it comes to insulin, which must be kept cool if it is not to deteriorate. While most patients start on cheap generic diabetes pills, such as metformin, many need insulin as their disease progresses.

Still, Novo Nordisk thinks it has cracked part of the problem in Kenya, where a project using churches and other local groups has reduced the number of middlemen in the supply chain and cut the cost of a month’s supply of insulin to around 500 Kenyan shillings ($ 6).

So far, the project only covers around 1,000 Kenyans but Jesper Hoiland, Novo’s head of international operations, is confident his company’s low-price model will become profitable as it increases in scale. “It will take three to five years to get to breakeven,” he said in an interview.

In the meantime, similar pilot schemes are being tested in rural India and Nigeria.

Other major drugmakers like Sanofi, which has a significant presence in Africa, are also adopting “tiered” or differential pricing to open up developing world markets.

(Editing by Dan Lalor)

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China rails against protectionism at party congress

BEIJING (Reuters) – China‘s top trade and investment officials are railing against what they call a rising tide of global protectionism that blocks its major companies from expanding overseas and further integrating into the global economy.

The officials, speaking on the sidelines of a week-long Communist Party Congress, said protectionism was emerging across the world, not just in the West. It damaged global growth, frayed relations and could see China focus its investments in neighboring Asian nations, the officials said.

“We are against it,” Industry Minister Miao Wei told reporters on Wednesday when asked what he thought about protectionism as he left the Great Hall of the People after the closing session of the congress.

Commerce Minister Chen Deming had set the tone earlier last week, deriding the “Cold War mentality” of Washington lawmakers who urged U.S. firms in a landmark report last month not to do business with two top Chinese telecom equipment makers because of risks to national security.

He was followed by Lou Jiwei, chairman and CEO of China Investment Corporation, who told Reuters a rise in protectionism was forcing a rethink at the country’s $ 482 billion sovereign wealth fund, which would not spend money in countries “that do not welcome us”.

“There are other places to invest,” Lou said.

Asia is a particularly favored option for CIC, thanks to some of the fastest rates of growth and development in the world – which are themselves levered to China’s own economic dynamism.

Li Ruogu, president of the Export-Import Bank of China, which is a main source of loans for Chinese firms investing abroad, complained of “added layers of protectionism” being stacked up against China’s increasingly outward-looking companies.

Comments in between from bosses of some of the biggest state-owned enterprises – all of which have a Communist Party secretary at the top of their management structure – have reinforced views in some quarters that Beijing is becoming increasingly sensitive to protectionism.

Fu Chengyu, chairman of China’s oil giant Sinopec Group, said in London on Tuesday that politics made deals in the West increasingly difficult.

Sinopec’s rival, CNOOC Ltd, is struggling to win regulatory backing from Canada’s government for a $ 15.1 billion bid for Nexen Inc. A decision has been repeatedly delayed even though it has been approved by shareholders.

Even before the congress started, officials from government-run think-tanks that directly feed into policymaking had spoken to Reuters about a perceived rising tide of protectionism and how China might best try to turn it.

RISING RHETORIC

China’s trading partners, in turn, complain that state-backed companies they compete with globally get unfair support from Beijing – either through subsidies, tax breaks, cheap bank loans, or a deliberately undervalued currency.

Since joining the WTO in 2001, China has had 29 complaints of unfair trade practices brought against it. Around two thirds have been launched by the United States and the European Union, with others coming from a mix of developing and developed economies.

Foreign analysts though see recent rising rhetoric driven by political transition in both Washington and Beijing, a rash of troubled cross-border takeovers and the toughest conditions in three years for the country’s export-focused factory sector.

“This is playing to a domestic audience in the sense that a lot of manufacturers, a lot of exporters, aren’t doing too well and they are putting pressure on the Ministry of Commerce to do something,” Alistair Chan, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told Reuters.

“There isn’t a lot that the government can do to help global demand, but one thing they can do is advocate for less protectionism. In terms of an actual trade war, I think that risk is quite minimal.”

China’s economy depends heavily on trade and investment flows. Exports were worth about 31 percent of GDP in 2011, according to World Bank data, while an estimated 200 million Chinese jobs are in the export sector or supported directly by foreign investment.

China’s rapid rise to become the world’s biggest exporter and its second biggest economy in the space of barely three decades since landmark economic reforms began in the late 1970s have sparked concerns among the developed economies it is eclipsing and the emerging markets which it dwarfs.

The U.S. election campaign was notable for China-bashing. Defeated candidate Mitt Romney had promised to label Beijing a currency manipulator if he won and while President Barack Obama was less confrontational, he cited his credentials as bringing more trade cases against China than his predecessor.

JOBS FEARS

There is a widespread view in the United States that trading with China has caused American firms to slash jobs.

The Economic Policy Institute, a think-tank focused on the needs of low- and middle-income workers, reckons that 2.7 million jobs were lost in the United States between 2001 and 2011 as a result of increased trade with China – 2.1 million of them in manufacturing industry.

Meanwhile research from consultancy Rhodium Group in September analyzed 600 Chinese direct investment transactions in the United States between 2000 and 2012, concluding that U.S. units of Chinese majority-owned firms directly supported 27,000 jobs.

Assuming a steady investment trend, Rhodium reckons that number would jump to 200,000-400,000 by 2020.

Beijing is targeting outbound direct investments of $ 560 billion between 2011 and 2015.

Analysts estimate China could spend $ 2 trillion globally on FDI in the next 10 years, a salivating proposition for many of the world’s top economies struggling for growth and employment opportunities – but a risk for politicians who see government-backed entities on the hunt for strategic assets, investors say.

Andrew Morris, managing director of UK fund firm Signature, reacted to news earlier this month that CIC had taken a 10 percent stake in Heathrow Airport by lambasting the British government for not doing more to preserve “our nation’s prized assets… being hoovered up by ‘foreign powers’.”

(Additional reporting by Beijing Bureau; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement issued to reporters aboard his aircraft, en route from Honolulu to Perth, Australia, that the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday.

Panetta said that he ordered a Pentagon investigation of Allen on Monday.

A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said Allen’s communications were with Jill Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., which is headquarters to the U.S. Central Command. She is not a U.S. government employee.

Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from Broadwell, who is Petraeus’ biographer and who had an extramarital affair with Petraeus that reportedly began after he became CIA director in September 2011.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday.

Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

The senior official, who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it is under investigation, said Panetta believed it was prudent to launch a Pentagon investigation, although the official would not explain the nature of Allen’s problematic communications.

The official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Allen’s communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 are under review. He would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the emails.

“Gen. Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter,” the official said. He said Allen currently is in Washington.

Panetta said that while the matter is being investigated by the Defense Department Inspector General, Allen will remain in his post as commander of the International Security Assistance Force, based in Kabul. He praised Allen as having been instrumental in making progress in the war.

The FBI’s decision to refer the Allen matter to the Pentagon rather than keep it itself, combined with Panetta’s decision to allow Allen to continue as Afghanistan commander without a suspension, suggested strongly that officials viewed whatever happened as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of federal criminal law.

Allen was Deputy Commander of Central Command, based in Tampa, prior to taking over in Afghanistan. He also is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In the meantime, Panetta said, Allen’s nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has been put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined.” He had been expected to take that new post in early 2013, if confirmed by the Senate, as had been widely expected.

Panetta said President Barack Obama was consulted and agreed that Allen’s nomination should be put on hold. Allen was to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Panetta said he asked committee leaders to delay that hearing.

NATO officials had no comment about the delay in Allen’s appointment.

“We have seen Secretary Panetta‘s statement,” NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. “It is a U.S. investigation.”

Panetta also said he wants the Senate Armed Services Committee to act promptly on Obama’s nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen as commander in Afghanistan. That nomination was made several weeks ago. Dunford’s hearing is also scheduled for Thursday.

___

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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Lakers intrigued by chance to play for D’Antoni

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Pau Gasol got home from the game and read about it on Twitter, while Dwight Howard got a midnight message on his BlackBerry. They shared most Los Angeles Lakers fans’ mix of surprise, trepidation and anticipation.

Just when everybody thought the Lakers were getting back together with Phil Jackson, they switched course in the middle of the night and went with Mike D’Antoni.

What a weekend in Hollywood — and the real drama isn’t over yet.

The Lakers reacted with ample excitement and a little bewilderment Monday to their front office’s surprising decision to hire D’Antoni as coach Mike Brown’s replacement over Jackson, the 11-time champion who discussed the job at his home Saturday and apparently wanted to return. D’Antoni didn’t even interview for the job in person, speaking to the Lakers over the phone.

“It has been crazy, but all this stuff will just make this team stronger,” said Howard, who has been in a Lakers uniform for about six weeks. “Everything that we’ve been through so far, it’s going to make us stronger, and we have to look at this as a positive situation.”

The Lakers’ third coach in four days won’t take over the team until later in the week. D’Antoni still hadn’t been cleared to travel Monday after undergoing knee replacement surgery earlier in the month, although the Lakers are optimistic the former Knicks and Suns coach will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

So interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff was still in charge Monday when the Lakers gathered for an informal workout ahead of Tuesday’s game against San Antonio. Just two weeks into the regular season, the Lakers (3-4) are about to start over with a new offense and another coaching staff — and a renewed certainty they’re expected to compete for a title this season.

“It’s been a zoo,” said forward Antawn Jamison, a 15-year NBA veteran who played for D’Antoni on a U.S. national team. “But as I was telling somebody, it’s just a typical day here in L.A. It’s interesting. … It should be a lot easier to adjust to than the system we were trying to get adjusted to early on in the season. We’ve got Steve (Nash) that can help us out.”

Two Lakers who supported both Brown and his two potential replacements weren’t available in El Segundo to weigh in on the hire. Nash missed the workout while getting treatment on his injured leg, while Kobe Bryant left before it ended to share a helicopter ride back home to Orange County with point guard Steve Blake, who needed an exam on his abdominal injury.

And the tall, professorial coach with all the rings wasn’t at the Lakers’ training complex at all.

Just 24 hours after Jackson seemed headed back to his oversized chair on the Staples Center bench, D’Antoni had the job.

It’s too soon to tell how the Buss family’s latest counterintuitive move will sit with Lakers fans, who chanted “We want Phil!” during the club’s weekend games, both victories after a 1-4 start.

“I think everybody had expectations about it, and they were all pretty high,” Gasol said of Jackson’s potential return. “We all understood what Phil brings to the table … and what he means to the city and the franchise. It just couldn’t work out for whatever reason.”

Jackson issued a statement to a handful of media outlets Monday, implying he was essentially offered the job after meeting with Lakers owner Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak. Jackson thought he would be able to come back to the Lakers on Monday with his decision, but instead was awakened by a midnight phone call from Kupchak.

“The decision is of course theirs to make,” Jackson said in his statement. “I am gratified by the groundswell of support from the Laker fans who endorsed my return, and it is the principal reason why I considered the possibility.”

The Lakers largely echoed the thoughts of Howard, who was looking forward to playing for Jackson: “Management had to do what they felt is best for the team, and we as players have got to find a way to win.”

The Lakers publicly offered no reason for passing over the coach with the most championships in NBA history. Although nobody could claim the Buss family is afraid of spending money, Brown is still owed well over $ 10 million for the remaining three seasons on his four-year, $ 18 million contract, while D’Antoni will make $ 4 million a season for the next three years — and their salaries together might be less than what Jackson would command.

The Lakers largely know what they would get with Jackson, but D’Antoni intrigues this older, top-heavy team with an urgency to contend for a title before Howard’s free agency next summer and Bryant’s possible retirement in a few years.

Howard and Gasol both believe D’Antoni’s up-tempo style can work well for the Lakers. Howard would seem to be a natural to partner with Nash in the pick-and-roll attacks loved by D’Antoni and Nash, although Gasol doesn’t immediately fit into the definition of a big man who can play on the perimeter and shoot 3-pointers.

“It’s a great system, (but) I don’t think he ever had a defender such as myself or a defender such as Dwight Howard on those teams,” Metta World Peace said. “I don’t think he ever coached those type of players, so his defense should be self-explanatory, and his offense is amazing, so it should be fun for Laker fans.”

The rest of the NBA sat back and watched the Lakers’ drama with amusement over the past two days, with Dallas owner Mark Cuban weighing in gleefully on the mess: “I hope they have to do it again and again and again.”

Jackson’s flirtation with the job is the strongest indication yet that he’s interested in coaching again, which makes him a prime candidate for another franchise. Yet D’Antoni also received praise around the league — even from New York, where he resigned last March after failing to win a playoff game in four years with the Knicks.

“Despite all the hoopla … that was going on about me and Mike, we actually have a pretty good relationship, especially behind closed doors,” Carmelo Anthony said. “We actually talked a lot, talked basketball. Hopefully he brings some positive energy over there. Anytime guys are losing like that, there’s always negativity, a lot of negative energy. So sometimes change is better.”

Added Dwyane Wade, who has played for D’Antoni on the U.S. national team: “He has a tough job ahead of him, but I’m sure he’s excited about the opportunity that he gets to be with America’s team.”

___

AP Sports Writers Brian Mahoney and Chris Duncan contributed to this report.

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‘Sesame Street’ Elmo puppeteer takes leave amid sex scandal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The puppeteer and voice behind the character Elmo on “Sesame Street” has taken a leave of absence from the children’s television show following allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy, producers said on Monday.

New York-based Sesame Workshop said in a statement that its own inquiry concluded that the claim of underage sexual conduct was unsubstantiated, and that puppeteer Kevin Clash has denied any wrongdoing and called the allegation “false and defamatory.”

But the company said Clash, 52, was disciplined after an internal investigation showed he “exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding Internet usage.”

The Sesame Workshop statement said the puppeteer was “taking actions to protect his reputation” and that Sesame Workshop has “granted him a leave of absence to do so.”

Neither Clash nor his personal publicist was immediately available for comment.

CNN quoted a statement from Clash acknowledging a relationship with his accuser but denying he had sexual contact with a minor.

“I am a gay man. I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it,” it quoted him as saying. “I had a relationship with the accuser, it was between two consenting adults, and I am deeply saddened that he is characterizing it as something other than what it was.”

The statement went on to say, “I’m taking a break from Sesame Workshop to deal with this false and defamatory allegation.”

Sesame Workshop said the matter came to its attention when it received a communication in June from accuser, now aged 23, alleging that he had a relationship with Clash beginning when he was 16 years old.

“We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action,” the company said, adding that it met with the accuser twice and had “repeated communications with him.” The company said it also discussed the matter with Clash, who denied the allegations.

A spokeswoman for the show said she did not know whether law enforcement authorities were looking into the allegations.

Clash officially joined the “Sesame Street” cast in 1984, assuming the Elmo role that year.

Elmo’s character had debuted on the show in 1979, and though Clash was the third performer to animate the child-like shaggy red monster, Sesame Workshop credits him with turning Elmo into the international sensation he became.

For now, producers promised that Elmo would remain on the show despite the absence of Clash, saying “Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of ‘Sesame Street.’”

(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Cynthia Osterman)

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Nesquik Recall Q and A: Are Your Kids Safe?

Nestlé announced late last week a recall of Nesquik for possible Salmonella contamination. Promoted by the Nesquik Bunny, the chocolate milk flavoring is consumed primarily by children. Here’s what you need to know to make sure your kids are safe from this Salmonella risk.

How Do I Know If My Nesquik Is Part of the Recall?

The Nesquik recall covers only chocolate powder in 10.9, 21.8 and 40.7 ounce canisters manufactured during October 2012. Any other Nesquik products are not subject to recall. According to CNN, 200,000 canisters of Nesquik are included in the recall.

Nesquik subject to the recall bears a Best Before date of October 2014. The applicable UPC codes and production codes include: for 40.7 ounce containers UPC 0 28000 68230 9 with production codes 2282574810 or 2282574820; for 21.8 ounce size, UPC 0 28000 68090 9 and production codes 2278574810, 2278574820, 2279574810, 2279574820, 2284574820, 2284574830, 2285574810, 2285574820, 2287574820, 2289574810, or 2289574820; and, for 10.9 ounce canisters, UPC 0 28000 67990 3 and product code 2278574810.

What About Ready-to-Drink Nesquik Served at My Kid’s School?

In June, Nestlé went after the school lunch market by offering eight-ounce ready-to-drink Nesquik. If your child’s school is serving ready-to-drink Nesquik, there’s no cause for concern. The recall covers only the powder variety of Nesquik, not the ready-to-drink type.

What Led to the Nesquik Recall?

Nestlé identifies a supplier of calcium carbonate used in the drink powder as the culprit. The recall notice says Omya, Inc., notified Nestlé of its own product recall due to Salmonella concerns. There have been no reports of illness associated with the Nesquik recall, Nestlé says.

What Is Calcium Carbonate?

Calcium carbonate is an additive included in powdered products to prevent caking and/or to increase calcium content, according to Self.

If My Child Gets Sick, How Will I Know Whether or Not It’s from Salmonella?

Salmonella infection symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. These normally develop within 72 hours of consuming contaminated food or drink. Most people who do contract salmonellosis get better in about a week without treatment. For infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems, salmonellosis can be life threatening and medical treatment is advised.

Can I Get a Refund?

Yes. Return recalled Nesquik to the store where you bought it for a refund, or call Nestlé Consumer Services at (800) 628-7679.

Carol Bengle Gilbert writes about consumer issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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Thompson takes helm at NYTimes, faces stiff challenges

(Reuters) – Mark Thompson reported to work as the New York Times Co chief executive on Monday, confronting challenges ranging from making the publisher less dependent on advertising to trimming costs and figuring out what to do with its pile of cash.

Thompson is also dealing with questions pertaining to a series of scandals at the BBC, where he served as director-general from 2004 until September this year.

George Entwistle, who succeeded Thompson at the British broadcaster, resigned on Saturday and two of its top news directors stepped aside on Monday.

The BBC has come under fire for its handling of two investigations at its flagship news show, “Newsnight”. One is a massive sexual abuse scandal involving the late Jimmy Savile, a former presenter at the network. The other is a news story of an allegation that a former top politician sexually abused children, which was later proven to be false.

The latter report occurred after Thompson left the BBC. However, an unaired program about Savile was produced while Thompson was director-general of the broadcasting company.

In a staff memo obtained by Reuters, New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger welcomed Thompson but sidestepped addressing the BBC scandals.

“We welcome him at a time of tremendous change and challenge, which must be met with equal focus and innovation,” Sulzberger said in the memo distributed on Monday.

“Mark will lead us as we continue our digital transformation, bolster our international growth, drive our productivity and introduce new technologies that will help us become better storytellers and enrich the experience for our readers and viewers.”

British ITV filmed Thompson as he arrived at the New York Times headquarters on Monday near Manhattan’s Times Square. “I’m looking forward to starting work there right now,” said Thompson, who was dressed in a navy blue suit, red tie and had a backpack slung over his right shoulder.

Asked if the BBC saga would be a distraction, he said: “I believe it will not in any way affect my job, which I’m starting right now as chief executive of the New York Times Company.”

Still, the volley of news about the turmoil at BBC has been coming fast across the Atlantic since a rival British broadcaster aired a bombshell investigation about Savile in October.

There is little to suggest the pace will slacken as the chairman of the BBC Trust called for a “thorough structural radical overhaul” of the organization, and police and parliament have opened inquiries.

Ken Doctor, an analyst with Outsell Research, said the BBC scandals will replace “hackgate” – the phone hacking controversy that shook News Corp’s British newspaper arm – in the UK popular press and in parliament.

Indeed, News Corp founder, Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who has criticized the publicly funded BBC in the past, tweeted on Saturday, “BBC getting into deeper mess. After Savile scandal, now prominent news program falsely names senior pol as pedophile.”

Thompson said in a letter to British lawmakers he would be happy to appear in front of the parliamentary committee or any other inquiry in the future.

The British investigations into the BBC could prove to be a distraction for Thompson if they are drawn out.

“It’s clearly a distraction,” Doctor said, who added that he believes Thompson should have stepped aside over the weekend.

“How big, how long this is going to last is unknown. For anybody who cares about the New York Times and its journalism this is an unneeded distraction.”

Doctor is another voice in a growing chorus to question whether Thompson is fit to serve as CEO.

New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan wrote on Monday a second column about Thompson.

She praised the coverage in Times about the BBC saga and Thompson, saying it “pulled no punches in reporting,” and noted that the scandal is being felt in New York.

“It’s safe to say that everyone here – from the Times’ board of directors to the mail clerks — hopes that Mr. Sulzberger’s faith in Mr. Thompson will be rewarded,” she wrote.

“What happens in London reverberates in New York. And the chaos at the BBC – in which many of the people Mr. Thompson has supervised stepped aside as recently as this past weekend — feels uncomfortably close to home.”

Thompson did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Entwistle’s resignation. Earlier, he declined to be interviewed about his plans for the New York Times.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Thompson took the helm at the New York Times just weeks after the company reported that it missed third-quarter revenue and profit expectations, which sent its stock tumbling 22 percent.

His arrival on Monday marks the first time the company has had a CEO since the abrupt ouster of Janet Robinson last December.

In addition to the business challenges, Thompson must also manage the desires of the Ochs-Sulzberger family, which has controlled The New York Times for more than 100 years. The company’s business issues have forced the family to forego a dividend since 2009.

“The first thing he will have to focus on is the balance sheet,” Barclay’s analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said of Thompson’s priorities.

Analysts widely expect the company to reinstate a dividend since it will end the year with about $ 1 billion in cash, due in part to sales of some of its newspapers and its digital group About.com. Debt is about $ 700 million and therefore is very manageable in the context of cash, Venkateshwar said.

Beyond the balance sheet, Thompson will have to tackle the declining advertising revenue in both print and digital while convincing readers to pay more for its products.

While the company’s circulation revenue – which includes both print and digital subscribers – makes up 52 percent of total revenue, that percentage must increase to offset persistent advertising losses.

“I think there are a lot of hurdles to the NYTimes.com pay model,” Morningstar analyst Jocelyn Mackay said. “I do wonder if their price point is too expensive.”

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Peter Lauria, Maureen Bavdek and Richard Chang)

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Canada seen needing to spell out rules for natural gas projects

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The fate of a handful of liquefied natural gas projects planned for Canada’s Pacific coast may depend on the Canadian government‘s willingness to spell out rules for foreign investment in the country’s energy sector, according to a study released on Thursday.

Apache Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Petronas, BG Group Plc and others are in the planning stages for LNG projects that would take gas from the rich shale fields of northeastern British Columbia and ship it to Asian buyers.

But the federal government’s decision last month to stall the C$ 5.2 billion ($ 5.2 billion) bid by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas C$ 5.2 billion for Canada‘s Progress Energy Resources Corp could lessen the appetite of Asian buyers for Canadian LNG, energy consultants Wood Mackenzie said.

“Some potential off-takers of Canadian LNG like the idea … because it’s perceived as having low political risk, and another reason is because they see the potential for investment opportunities,” said Noel Tomnay, head of global gas at the consultancy.

“If there are going to be restrictions on how they access those opportunities, if acquisitions are closed to them, then clearly that would restrict the attractiveness of those opportunities. If would-be Asian investors thought that corporate acquisitions were an avenue that was not open to them then Canadian LNG would become less attractive.”

The Canadian government is looking to come up with rules governing corporate acquisitions by state-owned companies and has pushed off a decision on the Petronas bid as it considers whether to approve the $ 15.1 billion offer for Nexen Inc from China’s CNOOC Ltd.

Exporting LNG to Asia is seen as a way to boost returns for natural-gas producers tapping the Montney, Horn River and Liard Basin shale regions of northeastern British Columbia.

Though Wood Mackenzie estimates the fields contain as much as 280 trillion cubic feet of gas, they are far from Canada’s traditional U.S. export market, while growing supplies from American shale regions have cut into Canadian shipments.

Because the region lacks infrastructure, developing the resource will be expensive, requiring new pipelines and multibillion-dollar liquefaction.

Still Wood Mackenzie estimates that the cost of delivery into Asian markets for Canadian LNG would be in the range of $ 10 million to $ 12 per million British thermal units, similar to competing projects in the United States and East Africa.

($ 1 = $ 1.00 Canadian)

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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