Business and Finance

Questioned by senators he once served with, Jon Corzine told a panel Tuesday that he never told anyone to “misuse” customer money that vanished when MF Global collapsed this fall.

An estimated $1.2 billion in client funds are missing. Senators are demanding that Corzine and two other executives at the securities firm explain who authorized the transfer of money in the days before the firm collapsed in the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

“I never gave any instruction to anyone at MF Global to misuse customer funds,” Corzine testified at a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday.”

Corzine, a former Democratic New Jersey senator and governor, resigned as CEO of the securities firm last month.

Bradley Abelow, the firm’s president and chief operating officer, and Henri Steenkamp, the chief financial officer, also tried to distance themselves from any decision to transfer the money at the hearing.

Brokers are required to keep client money separate from company funds.

“Funds don’t simply disappear. Someone took action, whether legal or illegal, to move that money. And the effect of that decision is being felt across the countryside,” said Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the committee’s top Republican.

Roberts said MF Global violated “a sacred rule of the futures industry,” keeping customer funds separate from the firm’s _ and that it was the first time that had happened. “You don’t break the glass in regards to segregated funds.”

All three witnesses said they don’t know where the money is. Yet their phrasing varied in subtle ways that could have legal distinctions.

Corzine said he did not direct anyone to “misuse” the money.

Abelow said he does not recall “any conversation about customer funds being used for anything other than their intended purpose.”

Steenkamp’s stance was more sweeping. He said he did not “authorize, approve or know of any transfers of customer funds” out of their accounts.

Depending on the circumstances, transferring money from customers’ accounts could violate securities laws and, in some cases, could amount to a crime. Federal authorities have begun criminal investigations. And regulators are looking into whether the firm broke securities rules.

The executives said that given what is now known, they wouldn’t have signed the firm’s last quarterly financial statement attesting that its internal financial controls were adequate.

Under a 2002 anti-corporate-fraud law that Corzine co-wrote as a U.S. senator, the top executives of public companies must personally certify the accuracy of their company’s financial statements. It can be a violation of the law for executives to sign a false statement.

MF Global collapsed into the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history after a disastrous bet on European debt.

The three executives say that they didn’t become aware of the shortfall until hours before the firm filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31.

Tuesday’s hearing included an added element of intrigue because Corzine, a former Democratic senator from New Jersey, was pressed by some senators he served with from 2000 through 2005.

The Senate panel is one of three congressional committees to have issued subpoenas to compel Corzine’s testimony on the issue. It marked the first time a former senator has been subpoenaed by his former peers in more than 100 years, according to the Senate historian’s office.

Many lawmakers have heard from farmers, ranchers and small business owners in their states who are missing money that was deposited with the firm. Agricultural businesses use brokerage firms like MF Global to help reduce their risks in an industry vulnerable to swings in oil, corn and other commodity prices.

Corzine told lawmakers last week that he never intended to authorize the transfer of funds from customer accounts. If any subordinates moved clients’ money in the belief that Corzine had authorized it, “it was a misunderstanding,” he said.

Corzine, Steenkamp and Abelow have been sued in class-action complaints on behalf of MF Global shareholders. The lawsuits accuse the executives of making false and misleading statements about MF Global’s financial strength and cash balances.

MF Global didn’t list the European debt on its balance sheet for all to see. Instead, those holdings were shifted to the company’s “off-balance sheet,” deep in its financial statements. Some separate filings with regulators excluded the European debt entirely.

A lawyer for the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global’s brokerage operations said in court Friday that the trustee’s staff has discovered some “suspicious” trades in MF Global customer accounts that were made in the last days before the firm failed. The lawyer didn’t provide details.

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WORKING OUT: After 15 years in Chicago, Sarah Dorsey Tourville is back in her hometown to open the 34th franchise of The Dailey Method, a national network of fitness studios.

Tourville’s studio, in the Village at Schneithorst at 1560 South Lindbergh Boulevard, will officially open tomorrow but is the location for a private cocktail reception tonight.

Tourville, who is former KTRS (AM 550) honcho Tim Dorsey’s eldest daughter, has been the head of ESPN’s ad sales for the Midwest the past 10 years.

She’ll be giving up that job at the end of the year to permanently relocate in St payday loans for self employed. Louis with her two children, Lilly, 4, and Ben, 2 ½. Her ex-husband is also moving here to be close to their children, Tourville said.

Tourville is offering special discounts and packages - such as six weeks of free classes for $100 — over the weekend to celebrate the opening of the studio. She added that proceeds from the opening events will go to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

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European markets were little changed Thursday after the European Central Bank delivered another interest rate cut before a crucial summit of European Union leaders that could determine whether the euro currency survives or not.

The decision by the European Central Bank to reduce its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1 percent was expected and investors will be looking to see if its new ECB President Mario Draghi hints at further cuts in the months ahead amid growing signs of a recession in the 17-country eurozone.

“Expectation is growing that the ECB may look to cut its main policy rate below the current record low of 1 percent in coming months if the economic situation continues to deteriorate,” said Chris Williamson, an analyst at Markit.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.3 percent at 5,562 while Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 percent to 6,043. The CAC-40 in France was 0.3 percent lower at 3,164. The euro was 0.2 percent higher at $1.3417.

Wall Street was poised for modest gains on the open _ Dow futures were up 0.1 percent at 12,231 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 0.1 percent to 1,265.

Traders were looking to Draghi’s press conference later Thursday to see what he says about the bank’s limited bond-buying program.

Draghi has said the central bank is ready to do more to support bond markets provided that European politicians agree to closer budget controls among the 17 countries that use the euro. Germany and France have proposed a plan on closer fiscal unity that will dominate debate at Friday’s EU summit.

Investors hope if European governments can agree to tighter spending oversight, the ECB will step up its support for the bond markets. It currently buys bonds in the markets, but only reluctantly, and in small quantities.

“The ECB has made it clear that the sequencing of events is all-important, a hint that if the EU takes a significant step towards more fiscal discipline then it will continue to support the market in size and maybe in words as well,” said Gary Jenkins, an analyst at Evolution Securities.

“Let’s hope what is decided is enough to keep the ECB satisfied, so that it keeps up its support for markets,” he added same day payday loans.

Hopes that Europe was finally readying a decisive plan to deal with its crippling debt crisis had helped stocks rise over the past couple of weeks, as well as pushing the borrowing rates of countries like Italy down to more manageable levels.

The ten-year yield on Italy’s bonds is currently trading around the 6 percent mark, down on the 7 percent level that it traded at as recently as last week. Borrowing rates of over 7 percent are considered unsustainable and eventually caused Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek financial bailouts.

The French-German proposal to enshrine tougher budget rules in European treaties is being met with resistance by the European Council, an institution that defines the priorities of the entire 27-nation EU. Its president, Herman Van Rompuy, favors a simpler route _ amending existing rules that apply to the 17 euro countries to avoid the trickier step of requiring every country to approve the new treaty.

The potential for disagreement at the summit weighed on Asian stocks earlier as it had done in Europe and the U.S. on Wednesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent to 8,664.58, dragged down by weaker-than-expected machinery orders. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4 percent to 1,912.39 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.7 percent to 19,107.81.

But mainland Chinese shares rose, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.1 percent to 2,329.82 after losing more than 1 percent earlier in the day to approach an intraday low for the year. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.1 percent to 970.95.

Oil prices rose modestly in line with the modest advance in Europe _ benchmark oil for January delivery was up 38 cents to $100.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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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.

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World stock markets were mostly higher Friday following signs of progress in debt-plagued Europe _ a successful bond sale in Italy and the naming of a new leader in Greece.

Benchmark oil rose to $98 per barrel while the dollar slipped against the euro and the yen.

European shares posted gains in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent at 5,472.80. Germany’s DAX rose 0.9 percent at 5,919.99 while France’s CAC-40 added 0.8 percent to 3,087.77.

Wall Street was also poised for gains, with Dow Jones industrial futures 0.1 percent higher at 11,869 and S&P 500 futures rising 0.2 percent to 1,239.30.

The gains in Europe were in line with trading earlier in the day in Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.2 percent to 8,514.47, a day after the index fell to a five-week closing low of 8,500.80.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.9 percent to 19,137.17 and South Korea’s Kospi added 2.8 percent to 1,863.45. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.2 percent to 4,296.50. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose marginally to 2,481.08.

Investors were calmed by news that Greece _ which is struggling to pull back from the brink of bankruptcy _ had named Lucas Papademos, a respected economist, as its new prime minister on Thursday.

Another sign of stability came after Italy was able to borrow $6.8 billion at lower interest rates than analysts expected. On Wednesday, Italy’s 10-year bond yields shot up alarmingly, stoking panic in financial markets that the country was heading toward a Greece-style debt crisis.

Confidence was also boosted by the prospect of economist Mario Monti replacing Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has been viewed as an obstacle to meaningful economic reform.

“Europe still dominates and there are still huge concerns, but Greece has a new prime minister and Italy has a new prime minister in the wings, and everyone is much more aware of the seriousness of the nature of what is confronting Europe,” said Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray in Hong Kong.

Traders have fretted that debt troubles in Italy and Greece could blow up into a massive liquidity crisis and lead to a global financial meltdown.

The European Union warned Thursday that the grouping of 17 nations that use the euro common currency could slip back into recession next year. The European Commission predicted the euro countries will grow a barely perceptible 0.5 percent in 2012 _ much less than its earlier forecast of 1.8 percent.

Europe has already bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland _ but Italy is a much larger economy and its mountain of debt _ $2 faxless cash advance.6 trillion (euro1.9 trillion) _ is far too massive for the continent to cover.

Sullivan said economic data next week on the world’s No. 1 economy will be closely watched.

“If any of that data comes out bad, it’s probably going to put Asia into more of a downturn. If there’s bad data out of the U.S. and more out of Europe, we can see Asia taking another step down,” Sullivan said.

Hong Kong-based ERA Mining Machinery Ltd. shot up 19.7 percent after U.S.-based Caterpillar Inc. said it was seeking to buy the Chinese maker of mining machinery for as much as $886 million. ERA designs, builds, sells and supports equipment for underground coal mining in China.

In Seoul, technology shares jumped. LG Electronics gained 6.4 percent and Samsung Electronics was up 5.1 percent. Shares of SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s top mobile carrier, rose 3.1 percent after the company offered to buy a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor, Yonhap News Agency reported.

India’s privately owned Kingfisher Airlines dropped 12.7 percent after the carrier was forced to cancel dozens of flights as pilots and crew called in sick after their October salaries were delayed.

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1 percent to close at 11,893.86. It plunged 389 points Wednesday after Italy’s borrowing rates soared and talks in Greece to name a new prime minister broke down.

Positive economic data from the U.S. also boosted hopes that the world’s No. 1 economy would avoid a new recession.

The Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell to 390,000 last week _ the fewest since April. The data suggested layoffs are easing and that the economy grew slightly better over the summer than estimated.

The S&P 500 index gained 0.9 percent to 1,239.70. The Nasdaq rose 0.1 percent to 2,625.15.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.3653 from $1.3581 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.34 yen from 77.66 yen.

Benchmark oil was up 30 cents at $98.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.04, or 2.1 percent, to finish at $97.78 on Thursday.

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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.

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MetLife Inc. says its net income increased tenfold in the third quarter, boosted largely by its acquisition of Alico last year.

The nation’s biggest life insurer says it earned $3.55 billion, or $3.33 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30. That’s compared with $286 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.11 per share. Analysts had forecast a profit of $1.05 per share, according to FactSet.

The New York company said total international sales more than doubled as a result of its acquisition of American Life Insurance, or Alico, from American International Group Inc. last year.

Alico operates in more than 50 countries and was expected to help MetLife expand in Japan, Europe and Latin America.

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World stock markets rose Friday, putting aside concerns that European leaders might not come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with the region’s chronic debt crisis in time for a weekend summit.

Oil prices hovered above $86 per barrel and the dollar was higher against the euro but dipped against the yen.

European shares were higher in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 5,411.82. Germany’s DAX was 0.6 percent higher at 5,802.16 and France’s CAC-40 added 1 percent to 3,115.71. Wall Street was set to open higher, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 0.1 percent at 11,482 and S&P 500 futures 0.1 percent higher at 1,211.50.

Asian gains were muted after a sluggish start of the trading day.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed little changed at 8,678.89. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 percent to 18,025.72. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.8 percent to 1,838.38 and benchmarks in Singapore and Taiwan also rose.

Thailand’s SET index was up 0.5 percent to 914.08, clawing back some of Thursday’s losses even as the country’s capital Bangkok braced for the possibility that floodwaters will defeat a network of barriers and inundate the city.

Mainland Chinese shares lost ground, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.6 percent to 2,317.28, its lowest close in 31 months. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.6 percent to 959.12. Shares in financials led gains while shares in glass and nonferrous metals weakened.

Worries that Europe’s troubles could get worse have kept markets on edge for weeks, and analysts said the volatility could continue for the near future.

“What you see now is one day of gains and one day of losses,” said Tom Kaan of Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong. “With what has been happening in the world, there is still no confidence and I think this will continue to the end of the year.”

The Greek government is widely expected to go through some kind of default or restructuring of its debt, which could deliver a severe blow to an already weak European economy.

Signs of a modest economic uptick in the U.S. helped boost shares of Japanese exporters that count on American consumers for sales. Yamaha Motor Corp. rose 2.7 percent and Panasonic Corp. was 1.6 percent higher.

Heavy equipment shares also rose. Japan’s Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. gained 1.2 percent and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. added 2.2 percent.

But shares of Japanese automotive giants Honda Motor Corp. and Toyoto Motor Corp. slipped after severe flooding forced a halt to their assembly lines in Thailand. Honda fell 0.4 percent and Toyota, 0.2 percent.

Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.4 percent after the company announced it had surpassed Apple Inc. in smartphone sales in the July-September quarter. Yonhap news agency cited Shin Jong-kyun, president of Samsung’s mobile division, as estimating that the company had shipped more than 20 million smartphones in the third quarter.

Wall Street trading was choppy as talks in Europe appeared to falter because of differences between Germany and France over how to protect European banks from the consequences of a default.

A messy default by Greece could lead to deep losses for European banks that hold Greek debt. If that causes them to pull back on lending to each other, it could cause another freeze in global credit markets like the one in late 2008 after Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Wall Street rose slightly Thursday on news that a second summit meeting would take place next week after it became clear that France and Germany would not be able to bridge their difference in time for Sunday’s meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.3 percent to close at 11,541.78. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.5 percent to 1,215.39. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.2 percent to 2,598.62.

But analysts cautioned investors to rein in expectations of a solution to Europe’s debt crisis.

“Whether this Sunday’s EU Summit can live up to investor expectations remains to be seen … the precedent set by previous summits already bodes ill for detailing of any new policy initiatives,” Credit Agricole CIB wrote in a research note.

Sunday’s summit was supposed to deliver a comprehensive plan to finally get a grip on the currency union’s debt troubles. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday they needed more time after it became clear that the two countries disagreed on some key points of the plan.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 16 cents at $86.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 22 cents to settle at $86.07 in New York on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3721 from $1.3777 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.70 yen from 76.85 yen.

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The United States has raised the tempo in its war against al-Qaida in Yemen, killing nine of the terror group’s militants in the second, high-profile airstrike in as many weeks. The dead in the late Friday night strike included the son of Anwar al-Awlaki, the prominent American-Yemeni militant killed in a Sept. 30 strike.

Yemeni officials on Saturday attributed the recent U.S. successes against al-Qaida to better intelligence from an army of Yemeni informers and cooperation with the Saudis, Washington’s longtime Arab allies.

The successes come even as Yemen falls deeper into turmoil, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh clinging to power in the face of months of massive protests. Saturday saw the worst bloodshed in weeks in the capital, Sanaa: At least 18 people were killed when Saleh’s troops fired on protesters and clashed with rivals. Witnesses estimated up to 300,000 people joined Saturday’s demonstrations, the largest in the capital in several months.

“Everyone with interests in Yemen, including al-Qaida and the Americans, is raising the stakes at this time of uncertainty” said analyst Abdul-Bari Taher. “The Americans are wasting no time to try and eliminate the al-Qaida threat before the militants dig in deeper and cannot be easily dislodged.”

Also dead in the Friday airstrike in the southeastern province of Shabwa was Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Banna, identified by the nation’s Defense Ministry as the media chief of the Yemeni branch of the al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is known, is considered by the U.S. the most dangerous of the terror network’s affiliates after it plotted two recent failed attacks on American soil. Its fighters and other Islamic militants have taken advantage of Yemen’s chaos to seize control of several cities and towns in a southern province. That has raised American fears they can establish a firmer foothold in the strategically located country close to the vast oil fields of the Gulf and overlooking key shipping routes.

The U.S. airstrikes in Shabwa pointed to Washington’s growing use of drones to target al-Qaida militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group.

Yemeni officials familiar with the U.S. military drive against al-Qaida in Yemen said a shift of strategy by the Americans was finally yielding results, with human assets on the ground directly providing actionable intelligence to U.S. commanders rather than relying entirely on Yemen’s security agencies the Americans had long considered inefficient or even suspected of leaking word on planned operations.

They said there were as many as 3,000 informers on the U.S. payroll around the country _ some without even knowing it.

The Saudis, on the other hand, have traditionally kept an elaborate patronage system and an information network in Yemen, their neighbor to the south. They have for decades paid monthly stipends to key tribal leaders, military commanders and politicians to secure their loyalty. They also paid ordinary Yemenis to provide them with intelligence.

“The Saudis are making their information available to the Americans,” said one of the defense officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information. “Both them and the Americans are broadening their cooperation without direct Yemeni involvement.”

Tribal elders in the area where Friday’s strikes took place said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful al-Qaida recruiting tool in the West and who was on a U one hour payday loan.S. capture-or-kill list. The elder al-Awlaki and another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in the Sept. 30 srike.

The tribal elders, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals, said four other members of the al-Awlaki clan and another local militant were also killed in the same drone attack. There was no immediate confirmation of the younger al-Awlaki’s death from Yemeni authorities.

Security officials said the strike was one of five carried out overnight by American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and neighboring Abyan province in Yemen’s largely lawless south. They said two more militants were killed and 12 wounded in other strikes in the two provinces.

The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building, security officials and tribal elders said.

They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles in which the seven were traveling, destroying the vehicles and leaving the men’s bodies charred. It was not clear whether other participants in the meeting were targeted in separate strikes.

Yemen’s al-Qaida offshoot has taken advantage of the political turmoil roiling the country. Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, has been struggling to stay in power in the face of eight months of massive street protests demanding his ouster and the defection to the opposition of key aides and military commanders.

In Sanaa, forces loyal to Saleh opened up on protesters with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns, medical officials and witnesses said. The casualty figures _ 12 dead and up to 300 wounded _ were confirmed by Mohammed al-Qubati, director of the field hospital set up at Change square, the name given to a central Sanaa intersection that saw the birth of the eight-month-old, anti-Saleh uprising.

The medical officials requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists.

In Sanaa’s northern district of Hassaba, fighting between Saleh’s forces on one side and anti-regime tribesmen and renegade troops on the other killed two civilians and four supporters of tribal chief Sadeq al-Ahmar, a one-time regime ally who defected to the opposition in March. At least 13 people were wounded in the fighting.

A three-story building housing an independent TV station, Al-Saeedah, in the area took a direct hit, destroying the channel’s equipment and studios, according to a statement by the management. The privately-owned station went off the air.

Khaled al-Ansi, a prominent leader of the protest movement, blamed the death of the proetsters on opposition parties, arguing that their acceptance of a U.S.-backed settlement plan proposed by Yemen’s Gulf Arab neighbors gave Saleh license to kill protesters at will. The plan provides for the Yemeni leader to step down and hand over power to his deputy in exchange for immunity.

“The political parties are participants in the killings,” said al-Ansi. “The immunity from prosecution is giving Saleh a temptation to kill more of us.”

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The leaders of Germany and France, the eurozone’s two biggest economies, said Sunday they have reached an agreement about how to strengthen Europe’s shaky banking sector amid the region’s debt crisis.

“We are determined to do the necessary to ensure the recapitalization of Europe’s banks,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel following talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin.

A “comprehensive response” to the eurozone’s debt crisis will be finalized by month’s end, including a detailed plan on recapitalizing the banks, Sarkozy said at Berlin’s chancellery.

“The economy needs secure financing to ensure growth. There is no prospering economy without stable banks,” he said. “That is what is at stake.”

However, both leaders declined to name a price tag for the new measures or elaborate further, saying the proposal must first be discussed with other European leaders.

Analysts have urged the eurozone to identify all the banks in the region that need to replenish their capital reserves, then decide whether to compel them to raise that money on the open markets and to provide government financing to the ones that can’t.

Many experts say the capital cushions of many European banks must be strengthened in order to withstand a possible government bond default by Greece. Some analysts fear that a Greek default could cause a severe credit squeeze that would even threaten banks not exposed directly to Greece’s debt because banks could be afraid to lend to each other.

The credit freeze following the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 choked off lending to the wider economy and caused a deep recession.

Merkel did not provide details Sunday about how the recapitalization would work, saying only that all banks across the eurozone would be measured by the same criteria in coordination with, among others, the European Banking Authority and the International Monetary Fund.

Any solution must be “sustainable,” Merkel added.

Sarkozy said the French-German accord on the proposal “is total.”

Germany and France will now submit their proposal to shore up Europe’s shaky banking sector to other European Union governments ahead of an Oct. 17-18 summit of the bloc’s 27 leaders in Brussels, they said.

Both leaders expressed confidence that a comprehensive European response to the crisis will be finalized before a summit of the G-20 most developed nations in France Nov. 3-4.

“The global economy needs this summit to become a success, and the European Union will do its part” to ensure a positive outcome, Merkel said.

The IMF has said banks across the continent might need up to euro200 billion ($267 billion) in new capital. The EU disputes the IMF’s estimate, but has warned that lending between banks and from banks to businesses is threatening to freeze up.

Earlier this week, Merkel said that banks must first seek to raise new capital on the market before turning to their government, insisting that the eurozone’s newly strengthened euro440 billion ($590 billion) bailout fund would then only serve as a backstop if a member state can’t cope with shoring up its banks’ capital.

France, however, was reported to favor turning to the fund’s resources right away instead of relying on a national facility to re-capitalize its banks _ who are among the biggest holders of Greek bonds.

But Sarkozy sought on Sunday to dispel the notion of different approaches regarding the European Financial Stability Facility, saying “there are no disagreements.”

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his French counterpart, Francois Baroin, also took part in the two leaders’ discussions.

Merkel and Sarkozy were set to have a working dinner following the news conference they gave at the chancellery.

Germany and France, which together represent about half of the 17-nation currency zone’s economic output, regularly hold talks before EU summits to chart out joint positions.

The implosion of Belgian lender Dexia following its sizable exposure to Greek and other eurozone sovereign debt, meanwhile, added a sense of urgency to the talks.

France, Belgium and Luxembourg announced Sunday they had approved a plan for the future of the embattled bank, but they offered no details. France and Belgium became part owners of the bank during a euro6 billion ($7.8 billion) 2008 bailout.

While an all-out Greek default appears unlikely, bondholders might still face severe losses, with some analysts maintaining that Greece’s debt must be cut by about 50 percent or more to attain a sustainable level.

Private bondholders agreed in July to take about a 20 percent cut on their holdings of Greek bonds as their participation in a second international euro109 billion bailout for the country.

But Finance Minister Schaeuble on Sunday joined Merkel and other eurozone officials in hinting that the agreement might have to be renegotiated.

“It is possible that we have so far assumed an insufficient percentage of debt reduction,” he told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Such a move will be discussed after the so-called troika of Greece’s international creditors _ European Central Bank, European Commission and IMF _ submits its next progress report later this month, Schaeuble was quoted as saying.

Greece is currently struggling to meet budget and reform targets, but it needs an over all positive progress assessment by the troika to qualify for the next euro8 billion ($11 billion) installment of its euro110 billion package of international bailout loans to avoid bankruptcy.

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