Business and Finance

Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean pledged closer ties to safeguard their economies from the world financial crisis as they formed a new bloc on Saturday including every nation in the hemisphere except the U.S. and Canada.

Several presidents stressed during the two-day summit that they hope to ride out turbulent times by boosting local industries and increasing trade within the region.

“It seems it’s a terminal, structural crisis of capitalism,” Bolivian President Evo Morales said in a speech Saturday. “I feel we’re meeting at a good moment to debate … the great unity of the countries of America, without the United States.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and some of his closest allies called the new regional bloc a tool for opposing U.S. influence. But other leaders focused more on economic concerns and on working together to confront issues such as drug trafficking and the effects of climate change.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that if the nations are to keep thriving they will need to look more to their neighbors.

“The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns,” Rousseff said Friday night. She said Latin America should “realize that to guarantee its current cycle of development despite the international economic turbulence, it means that every politician must be aware that each one needs the others.”

The region has so far weathered the economic woes better than the U.S. or Europe, achieving economic growth of more than 5 percent last year.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the region has immense potential “in this world that’s going through great uncertainty, where there’s a hurricane that’s hitting the so-called industrialized economies hard.” He said Colombia’s current trade with Brazil, for instance, is minimal and could grow significantly.

Chavez read aloud a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulating the leaders on forming a new 33-nation regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Hu pledged to deepen cooperation with the new group.

The U.S. remains the top trading partner of many countries in the region, with exceptions including Brazil and Chile, where China has become the biggest trading partner. China has also made diplomatic inroads, including by granting about $38 billion in loans to Venezuela in exchange for increasing shipments of oil.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera touted the region’s opportunities for growth, while Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said building trade among the countries should be a priority.

Bolivia’s Morales took a different focus, strongly criticizing the International Monetary Fund and saying “they’ve just pillaged us and led us to poverty.”

Morales also appealed for strong steps at this month’s climate change conference in South Africa, saying it’s critical that developed nations renew pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

“If they kill the protocol, they kill the planet,” Morales said.

Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, also expressed concerns about changing weather patterns and said nations should work together to better plan for disasters.

Several leaders called for closer cooperation to fight criminals and drug trafficking.

“Our region is seriously threatened by organized crime,” Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said.

Colombia’s Santos said the new bloc could help in re-examining whether current counter-drug efforts are the right approach.

Caribbean leaders including Haitian President Michel Martelly thanked Chavez for selling their nations oil on preferential terms, including long-term, low interest loans.

“The people of Haiti love you with all their hearts,” Martelly told Chavez during his speech, saying “south-south cooperation” is key to the future of his impoverished country.

Chavez assured leaders he will survive cancer, reiterating that he underwent recent tests in Cuba after finishing chemotherapy and they found no “malignant cells in any part of my body, thanks to God.”

Trinidad’s prime minister gave Chavez a vial of what she described as holy water, and Chavez thanked her, saying “soon we will have a summit of those of us who’ve beaten cancer.”

Venezuela’s government celebrated the gathering at a Caracas military base with bursts of fireworks that could be heard from the session. Other events included an orchestral performance led by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and a post-summit concert headlined by Puerto Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13.

The leaders planned to formally launch the new bloc known by its Spanish initials CELAC on Saturday by approving the group’s procedural rules as well as a clause dealing with democratic norms and a declaration of shared principles.

Both Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said they hope the bloc eventually overshadows the importance of the Washington-based Organization of American States. Unlike the OAS, the new group will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

“We need a new inter-American system and, more specifically, a new system to guarantee human rights,” Correa said Friday, referring to the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which has received complaints from Ecuadorean newspapers and television channels that accuse his government of trying to silence critics.

“All these attacks and threats are made in the name of freedom of expression,” Correa added, accusing powerful media outlets of manipulating public opinion.

Several other presidents said they see CELAC as an important forum to resolve conflicts and build closer ties, but not as an alternative to existing bodies such as the OAS.

Source

A Greek high court on Friday considered appeals against a deeply resented new property tax that has sparked anger across the country because those who don’t pay it will get their power turned off.

As the case was being heard, hundreds of protesters outside the Council of State in Athens chanted “We won’t pay!”

Inside, court President Panayiotis Pikramenos voiced reservations over the stakes at hand.

“The Council of State has undertaken a burden that is not its own,” he said, opening proceedings. “(The court) will do its duty, but cannot undertake to handle a political problem that has built up over the past few years.”

Greece’s debt-strapped government is seeking to raise some euro2 billion ($2.7 billion) with the new tax. It is among a raft of harsh cutbacks _ including pension and pay cuts and tax hikes _ imposed over the past 20 months to secure international rescue loans to keep the country afloat.

Fourteen appeals have been filed by bar associations, unions, lawyers and property owners. The court will reconvene Jan. 19, with parties submitting written positions and is expected to rule several weeks later.

The tax _ which is paid through household electricity bills _ has meet with strong resistance throughout the austerity-weary country. Several municipalities have urged their citizens not to pay, or threatened power suppliers with lawsuits if they disconnect clients who can’t afford the emergency levy.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos insisted Friday the tax can’t be scrapped as it will provide the state coffers with vital revenues guaranteed approval cash advance loans.

He told Parliament that his interim coalition government will ease payment terms for disadvantaged householders, including long-term jobless, in a country where unemployment has risen to record levels amid a deep recession.

“I too do not consider it right for citizens who objectively cannot pay the property levy to have their power cut off,” Papademos said. “I believe these arrangements will address many of the issues that have arisen. But the measure itself cannot be abolished, as it is necessary for our process of fiscal adjustment.”

Later Friday, lawmakers will start debating the 2012 austerity budget, which seeks to reduce government overspending to 5.4 percent of annual output _ from an estimated 9 percent this year.

Next year’s figure factors in 50 percent writedowns on the value of Greek bonds held by private creditors as part of a second international bailout for Greece, after a first euro110 billion ($148 billion) deal in May 2010 proved insufficient.

Former central banker Papademos was appointed last month to head a coalition government to push through financial reforms. The interim government is expected to call early elections in late February.

Source

A judge on Monday used unusually harsh language to strike down a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission over toxic mortgage securities, saying he couldn’t tell whether the deal was fair and criticizing regulators for hiding the details of the firm’s wrongdoing from the public.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the public has a right to know what happens in cases that touch on “the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives.” In such cases, the SEC has a responsibility to ensure that the truth emerges, he wrote.

Rakoff said he had spent hours trying to assess the settlement but concluded that he had not been given “any proven or admitted facts upon which to exercise even a modest degree of independent judgment.”

The SEC replied in a statement issued by enforcement director Robert Khuzami, saying the deal “reasonably reflects the scope of relief that would be obtained after a successful trial.”

The SEC had accused the bank of betting against a complex mortgage investment in 2007

A safety investigation of the lithium-ion batteries in General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt is under way to assess the risk of fire in the electric car after a serious crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.

One Volt battery pack that was being closely monitored following a government crash test caught fire Thursday, the safety administration said in a statement. Another crash-tested battery emitted smoke and sparks, the statement said.

GM, which was informed of the investigation on Friday, said in a statement that the Volt “is safe and does not present undue risk as part of normal operation or immediately after a severe crash.”

The fires are in addition to a battery fire in a crash-tested Volt six months ago.

NHTSA learned of a possible fire risk involving damaged Volt batteries in June when a fire erupted in a Volt that was being stored in a parking lot a test facility in Burlington, Wis. The fire was severe enough to cause several other vehicles parked nearby to catch fire as well.

The car had been subjected to a side-impact crash test more than three weeks earlier, on May 12, during which the battery was damaged and its coolant line ruptured.

Last week’s tests of three battery packs were designed to replicate the May test. In that test, the Volt was subjected to a simulated side-impact collision into a narrow object like a tree or pole followed by a rollover, the agency said.

The first battery tested last week didn’t catch fire. But a battery test on Nov. 17 initially experienced a temporary temperature increase, and on Thursday caught fire. Another battery tested on Nov. 18, which was rotated 180 degrees within hours after the test, began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after the rotation payday advance online.

The tests were conducted by NHTSA and the Energy and Defense departments at a defense facility near Hampton Roads, Va.

So far, no fires have been reported in Volts involved in roadway crashes, NHTSA said. More than 5,000 of the vehicles have been sold.

It’s too soon to tell whether the investigation will lead to a recall of any vehicles or parts, but the government will ensure consumers are informed promptly if that occurs, the agency said.

With electronic safety systems that are part of the car, “GM knows real time about any crash significant enough to potentially compromise battery integrity,” the automaker said. “Since July, GM has implemented a post-crash protocol that includes the depowering of the battery after a severe crash, returning the battery to a safe and low-powered state.”

Electric vehicles are critical to President Barack Obama’s plans to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He has called for putting 1 million of the vehicles on the road by 2015.

Safety testing hasn’t raised concerns about electric vehicles other than the Volt, NHTSA said.

“NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles have incredible potential to save consumers money at the pump, help protect the environment, create jobs and strengthen national security by reducing our dependence on oil,” the agency said.

Source

Libya’s transitional leaders have vowed to work with the International Criminal Court and with the United Nations in investigating alleged crimes committed by Moammar Gadhafi’s recently captured son and one-time heir apparent, the court’s prosecutor said Thursday.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told The Associated Press that the court received the formal pledge in a letter from National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. He gave the AP a copy of the letter in an English translation.

Moreno-Ocampo said he was satisfied with that move, which appears to settle a dispute between the international court and Libyan authorities over which body should try Seif al-Islam Gadhafi with crimes against humanity.

Libya is obliged by a UN Security Council resolution to work with the ICC, but that does not necessarily preclude a trial in Libya. If the court determines that the country has a functioning legal system that will give Seif al-Islam a fair trial on substantially the same charges as were filed before it, it can leave the case with Libya.

Moreno-Ocampo said the most important thing is for Seif al-Islam, whom he called the “face of the old regime,” to face justice.

It “is very important for the world and for Libya to understand what happened here, how they attacked these people, how they killed these people,” Moreno-Ocampo said.

The ICC has charged both Seif al-Islam and the Gadhafi-era intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi with crimes against humanity for unleashing the brutal crackdown on an uprising that began in February and spiraled into a civil war.

Moreno-Ocampo said he understood that it’s “a matter of national pride” for Libya’s leaders to try Gadhafi’s son themselves because they want to prove to the world that they are capable of holding a fair trial payday lenders.

He said investigations are under way into the alleged crimes committed by Gadhafi’s son and that he believed it would be ready for trial “in a few months.”

In his letter to the court, Libya’s Abdul-Jalil pledged to “fully cooperate” with the ICC and the UN Security Council.

But he asserts that the Libyan judiciary has “primary responsibility” to try Seif al-Islam, the only Gadhafi family member in Libyan custody.

The letter is addressed to a presiding judge at the court in The Hague, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng.

Seif al-Islam is being held by fighters from the Libyan town of Zintan, who flew him there after his capture in southern Libya on Saturday. The International Committee of the Red Cross visited Seif al-Islam there on Tuesday and said he appeared to be in good health.

Officials with the governing National Transitional Council also had reported that former intelligence chief al-Senoussi, who also is wanted by France over the 1989 bombing of French airliner, was captured over the weekend in the southern city of Sabha and was being held in a secret location.

However, senior Libyan officials have cast doubt on the claim.

Moreno-Ocampo said Libyan authorities told him they could not confirm that al-Senoussi was really arrested.

Source

Industry analysts and anxious travelers expressed fears Tuesday for the survival of Britain’s venerable tour operator Thomas Cook, after the company, which took more than 22 million people on holidays in the latest year, revealed its financial problems had worsened.

Shares in Europe’s second-largest tour operator lost three-fourths of their already depressed value after the company said it was seeking new agreements with its main creditors, barely a month after announcing it had negotiated new funding arrangements to carry it through the slow winter months.

The company insisted flights would leave as usual and that it was taking new bookings, but Britons who have bought holidays through the firm were worried.

Jamila Juma-Ware, 27, who has booked a holiday at Spain’s Tenerife island in the next three weeks for herself and her mother, said she was “praying it’s going to be all right … but I’m not confident.”

Several small British travel firms have gone under since the global economic crisis hit in 2008, but Thomas Cook is an industry giant and a fixture of Britain’s main streets.

“There are a lot of small independent travel agents around here, but I said I’d rather just book it through someone like Thomas Cook because they’re big and there’s more of a guarantee they won’t go bust,” Juma-Ware said. “And then this week this happens.”

Thomas Cook is, like many airlines and tour operators, suffering from weak consumer demand as Europe’s financial crisis has people worried about their jobs.

Unrest in Egypt and in Tunisia _ normally the top winter destination for French travelers _ flooding in Bangkok and disappointing sales in Russia have all added to the pressure on the company.

Analysts said the financial troubles could scare away customers, darkening the company’s prospects.

“Legitimate questions will be asked as to whether Thomas Cook can survive long-term,” said James Hollins, analyst at Evolution Securities. He added that he believes the company could pull through on the strength of businesses outside Britain, but “a more flexible financial structure and massive turnaround are required.”

Thomas Cook Group PLC shares were down almost 75 percent at 10.41 pence in afternoon trading in London. On July 1, shares had closed at 134.5 pence.

Thomas Cook was due to report annual earnings for 2010-11 on Thursday, but it has put that off indefinitely “as a result of deterioration of trading in some areas of the business, and of its cash and liquidity position since its year end.”

Sam Weihagen, Thomas Cook’s interim chief executive, insisted it was business as usual: “Flights are leaving on schedule, shops are open and we’re taking bookings.”

Weihagen said people who book package holidays will be protected by the Air Travel Organizers’ Licensing insurance program which is funded by contributions from travel companies. However, those who book only flights are advised to buy their own travel insurance.

The group has previously announced plans to reduce its fleet of 41 aircraft to 35, and it hopes to raise 200 million pounds ($312 million) by selling assets, including its stake in Britain’s part-privatized air traffic control service.

Wyn Ellis, analyst at Numis Securities, said Thomas Cook’s announcement could frighten new customers and alarm suppliers. The company, he said, “faces a difficult near-term future which could lead to significant loss of market share.”

The news of the company’s problems upset some prospective travelers near its shop in the St. James neighborhood of London on Tuesday.

Tony Wright, 64, said he’s had “nothing but good experiences” with the brand and would not hesitate to use Thomas Cook again. “We were devastated to hear the news this morning and we hope it’s not as bad as it sounds,” he said.

Others were disappointed the airfares had not dropped.

On Tuesday, Simon Ash visited the branch hopeful that the combination of the company’s financial woes and a lack of tourist interest in Egypt because of rioting there could help him find a cheap ticket to Cairo _ but he could not find one. “The prices they’re giving me are not as good as the ones I’m finding on the Internet,” he said.

Thomas Cook takes its name from the cabinetmaker Thomas Cook, who had a flash of inspiration while walking to a temperance meeting in 1841 to use the railways to help promote abstinence from alcohol. Cook’s first venture was to charter a train which carried about 500 passengers in open coaches on a 12-mile round trip.

“Thus was struck the keynote of my excursions, and the social idea grew up on me,” Cook later recorded.

He organized more trips for temperance societies and Sunday schools. He took his business a step further in 1845 by arranging a trip to Liverpool, which included a 60-page booklet in the price of the ticket.

The International Exhibition in Paris in 1855 inspired Cook to organize a trip to the continent. Ten years later, he was organizing railway tours in North America.

Source

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says leaders of Asia-Pacific economies will deliver meaningful steps to boost trade and growth at their annual summit this weekend.

Kirk ended a meeting of regional trade ministers Friday with praise for Japan’s plan to join efforts to forge a Pacific free trade bloc. He said leaders meeting in Hawaii intend to announce a broad outline for the plan.

He said the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership would complement other efforts to promote freer trade and that other countries can join if they are willing to meet the very high standards required.

China’s trade minister, Chen Deming, said Beijing would seriously consider it if invited. Kirk said, “You should not wait for an invitation.”

Source

Financial markets pounded Italy on Wednesday as investors hoped that Premier Silvio Berlusconi would not linger in office and delay reforms. Italy’s president responded by declaring there was no doubt that Berlusconi would leave soon, appearing to soothe investors.

In another chaotic day driven by the European debt crisis, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 240 points in New York morning trading after Italy’s borrowing costs soared to a new record high. Traders were troubled by signs that Europe’s unending debt crisis was enveloping Italy _ the eurozone’s third-largest economy, a nation too big for Europe to bail out.

And across the Ionian Sea, Greek lawmakers labored for a third day but finally came up with a deal to create an interim government to pass the country’s new debt deal. Outgoing Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who was expected to formally resign with hours, wished the next prime minister well but gave no indication of who it would be.

Berlusconi has pledged to resign after the Italian parliament passes the financial reforms that European officials have been demanding for months. The process can take up to two weeks, but President Giorgio Napolitano said that would be accelerated to days, allowing him to quickly begin talks on forming a new government or calling new elections.

“Fears are totally unfounded that Italy may experience a long period of inactivity,” Napolitano said, adding that “emergency measures” could be adopted at any time.

Italy’s key borrowing rate spiked to a high of 7.40 percent on Wednesday, up 0.82 percentage points from the previous day, as markets expressed concern about how swift and complete Italy’s political transition would be. That’s over the level that eventually forced other eurozone countries like Greece and Portugal to seek bailouts.

They settled down to 7.26 percent after Napolitano’s remarks.

“Berlusconi is the supreme political maneuverer. And no one will believe he has resigned until, yes, he has done so. Simple as that,” said Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk analysis at IHS Global Insight.

No one is suggesting that Italy is headed for an immediate bailout. Randolph said it will take a while for the higher borrowing rate to cause problems for Italy’s “mountain of debt.”

“With a catastrophic scenario _ and it seems we are facing now a catastrophic scenario _ maybe Berlusconi can be pushed to support a new government. Or maybe his party will crumble,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a political analyst at Rome’s LUISS University.

Noted economist Nouriel Roubini, who has lived in Italy, expressed a similar view on Twitter: “Yields at 7%: markets are telling Berlusconi to leave NOW. They don’t buy his scheme of pretending to leave in 2 weeks after budget is passed.”

D’Alimonte said investors are hoping for a technocratic government, led by former EU competition commissioner Mario Monti, who now runs the prestigious Bocconi University. Berlusconi and his allies claim such a solution would be undemocratic, however, because the conservatives won the last election.

With debts of around euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion), Italy is considered too big for Europe to bail out. Higher borrowing rates will make it more difficult and expensive for Italy to roll over its debts. It has over euro300 billion ($412 billion) to raise in 2012 alone.

The European Central Bank has been buying up Italian bonds to keep yields at reasonable rates _ but Randolph said that is just throwing good money after bad.

“You can bring yields down, but they can’t keep them down unless the borrowing government takes concrete steps to improve creditworthiness,” Randolph said. “Seven percent is not sustainable over several years.”

Italy needs to pass the additional austerity measures and structural reforms pledged by Berlusconi to world leaders at an economic summit last week.

Any delays in the financial reforms or in establishing a new, stable Italian government spook the markets, which are already unnerved since some investors in Greece are going to lose 50 percent of their holdings. Investors fear a so-called “haircut” could also affect those owning Italian bonds if Italy doesn’t get its act together.

“Markets attack weak animals like lions,” said political analyst Franco Pavoncello, president of Rome’s John Cabot University. “Italy is perceived as being extremely weak politically, which is too bad because economically it is not too weak.”

In the meantime, Berlusconi is not yet out _ and there is considerable uncertainty of what kind of government will follow.

While Berlusconi is not running for office again, he told the La Stampa daily he would remain active as the founder of his political party and would help out in any political campaigns.

Berlusconi wants new elections soon with his hand-picked successor, former justice minister Angelino Alfano, as a candidate. The 75-year-old leader tapped Alfano to head his People of Liberties Party a few months ago. At 41, Alfano represents a new generation of center-right politicians after 17 years of Berlusconi leadership.

But D’Alimonte said Berlusconi would still be pulling the strings.

“He will be the major protagonist of the next election. He will push Mr. Alfano as the candidate, but he will direct the orchestra. Alfano will be the first violin,” D’Alimonte said.

The rising bond yields underline the quandary European officials find themselves in as they try to come up with an effective backstop for indebted countries, one with enough financial muscle to support the eurozone’s No. 3 economy. European governments decided last month to increase the effective power of their euro440 billion ($600 billion) rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, which is considered too small to bail out Italy.

European finance ministers are still working on the complex details of how to increase the fund’s effective lending power to over euro1 trillion ($1.36 trillion) by having it partially insure government debt or by attracting outside investors. There are doubts among outside economists about whether either method will work.

The European Central Bank thus remains the only available outside firewall available against Italy’s rising yields. It has been buying government bonds in the secondary market, which drives down borrowing costs for Italy.

But the bank has warned the program is only temporary. New ECB president Mario Draghi _ himself an Italian _ said last week it was “pointless” for European governments to expect outside help to drive down interest rates and the only solution was for them to reform their own finances.

Some analysts have speculated the ECB may be deliberately limiting its bond purchases to keep the pressure on Italy’s reluctant government to push ahead with economic reforms

Source

Kellwood is channeling an edgy rock ‘n roll spirit for its newest brand called Lamb & Flag, which is set to launch later this week.

Its promotional materials quote from Jack Kerouac (”Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.”) and encourage its target audience of 18 to 25 years olds to “join the beautiful rebellion.”

The brand’s e-commerce site — LambandFlag.com — goes up on Friday. And three 3,500-square foot stores, which will sell both the namesake label as well as other third-party brands, will open in Southern California in the coming months.

Michael Kramer, the company’s chief executive, has big hopes for the brand. He told Women’s Wear Daily that if the first stores are successful, he wants to open 20 to 30 more stores in 2013. And one day, he said, he could envision 700 to 800 of them.

This is the Town and Country-based apparel company’s second in-house brand it has launched in recent years. Earlier this year, it also rolled out Blk Dnm, a premium denim line by designer Johan Lindeberg absolutely free credit score.

The company has also been in acquisition mode in the last year or so, buying up brands such as Scotch & Soda, Zobha, and Rebecca Taylor.

Lamb & Flag is named after an English pub near Oxford. The brand will be driven by denim, but will also include off-the-shoulder knits, cinched dresses, logo’d tees, striped hoodies and more. Its prices will range from $56 to $98 for denim, $22 for $68 for tees and $48 to $128 for outerwear. It will also have related fragrances.

Most of Kellwood’s business is in women’s apparel. But Lamb & Flag is aimed equally at men and women.

The first mall-based Lamb & Flag store will open in December in Brea, Calif. It will be followed in January by two more locations in Mission Viejo and Cerritos.

Source

Local officials in London say they are suspending legal action to evict anti-capitalist protesters camped outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, after church officials gave the tent city a reprieve

The City of London Corporation says legal action due to start Tuesday is being “paused overnight” so that officials can meet for more talks.

Cathedral authorities said earlier that they had halted legal action against the tent city and wanted to address the issues the protesters had raised.

The two-week standoff over the scores of tents set up outside the iconic cathedral has been an embarrassment for the church, but an attention-getting bonanza for protesters, who are inspired by New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LONDON (AP) _ London officials say they are suspending legal action to evict anti-capitalist protesters camped outside St low interest rate personal loans. Paul’s Cathedral, after church officials gave the tent city a reprieve

The City of London Corporation says legal action due to start Tuesday is being “paused overnight” so that officials can meet for more talks.

Cathedral authorities said earlier that they had halted legal action against the tent city and wanted to address the issues the protesters had raised.

The two-week standoff over the scores of tents set up outside the iconic cathedral has been an embarrassment for the church, but an attention-getting bonanza for protesters, who are inspired by New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement.

Source