UPDATE 1-CAR rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

BANGUI Jan 2 (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and would start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally-backed troops in the mineral-rich nation.

The announcement gave only a limited reprieve for President Francois Bozize as the insurgents told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations in Gabon's capital Libreville.

Seleka rebels, who accuse the president of reneging on an earlier peace deal, had advanced to within striking distance of the capital Bangui after a three-week onslaught.

"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Seleka spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris.

"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he added.

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UPDATE 6-Olympus says open to rehiring ex-CEO Woodford but scepticism reigns

* Doubts remain over whether Olympus board would rehire Woodford

* Company says important to strengthen balance sheet

* Camera sales up, but still not profitable

* Net assets $1.1 bln less than previously disclosed

* Shares dive almost 20 pct

* Concerns Olympus may need to raise capital, sell assets or merge

By Nathan Layne and Yoko Kubota

TOKYO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp said on Thursday it would consider reinstating its sacked CEO, Michael Woodford, but the gesture failed to erase doubts that it would ever rehire the foreigner who blew the whistle on its crooked accounts.

The maker of cameras and medical equipment said Woodford, an Englishman, would be considered as a candidate for the role of leading Olympus out of a $1.7 billion accounting fraud, one of Japan's worst corporate scandals.

"On what will happen to Mr Woodford, it is certain that he is among the options," said Olympus President Shuichi Takayama, one of the directors who voted unanimously in October to sack Woodford after he had queried the firm's dubious book-keeping.

But there remained serious doubts whether Woodford, who went public with his concerns after his sacking, would be reinstated.

"I think it is unlikely," CLSA analyst Nanako Imazu said. "Why would he (Takayama) want Woodford? ... I don't know the intention of Mr Takayama in saying that."

Takayama, currently the most senior executive after several resignations since Woodford's departure, said he had no plans to meet Woodford who some major Japanese shareholders and lenders privately oppose, according to a banking source.

"As of now, I have no plans to meet," he said.

Takayama has said that he and fellow directors will resign soon, to make way for a new board to be elected by shareholders at a meeting in March or April, and that the board wants to choose its successors before it quits. It has set up an external panel to advise on board candidates and other management issues.

Woodford, however, has attacked the existing board as lacking all credibility, saying it has no right to choose its successors. He is assembling his own team of candidates for a new board with himself at the helm as nominated CEO, a move that raised the prospect of battle for control of the company.

In a comment likely to antagonise Woodford further, Takayama added on Thursday that some existing directors might not resign after all. So far, only a few directors have quit, including the former chairman, and a former executive vice president.

"There is no need for those who are not found responsible (of wrongdoing) to resign," he said. When pressed if he would remain, he added: "It is not the stage for me to state this."

NEED FOR FRESH CAPITAL OR TIE-UPS

The next CEO and board of Olympus faces major challenges, starting with a need to repair the once-proud firm's balance sheet, which was revealed on Wednesday to be $1.1 billion weaker than had been previously disclosed in its fraudulent accounts.

Olympus shares slumped almost 20 percent after Wednesday's corrected accounts were published, with investors now concerned it might need to merge, sell assets or raise fresh capital.

Takayama said on Thursday the company was considering capital and operational tie-ups, among other options, to relieve the pressure on its balance sheet, which was shown to have a very thin layer of equity remaining after the restatements.

Olympus forecast its troubled camera business to make a loss in the current financial years, but said unit sales had grown 15 percent in the six months to end-September, from a year earlier.

The firm, whose main income-earner is its very profitable endoscope business, avoided automatic delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange by meeting Wednesday's deadline for producing its overdue second-quarter accounts, giving some initial relief to investors who had feared it might miss the deadline.

However, the 92-year-old firm can still be delisted if the exchange believes the accounting deceit was grave enough.

Woodford said on Wednesday he was considering options for recapitalising Olympus. He did not give an estimate of the sum needed but gave an example of how the firm's strong underlying business would ensure a return on any fresh investment.

"For example, if you put $2 billion into the company, the value of the company would probably go up more than $2 billion," he said in an Internet broadcast.

Woodford said he favoured private equity or a rights issue over a strategic alliance, which would rob Olympus of its independence. But rights issues, where existing shareholders can buy more shares on a pro-rata basis, are rare in Japan.

Olympus has lost more than half its market value since it sacked Woodford and the scandal erupted. Two top Olympus executives have been found to have masterminded the scheme to cook the books. These executives have since resigned.

Olympus has been dogged by rumours of bid interest from rivals, such as fellow endoscope makers Fujifilm and Hoya, or from private equity since the scandal broke.

The Tokyo exchange said after the announcements that it was keeping Olympus on its watchlist for possible delisting.

Some of the restated accounts also came with qualified opinions from auditors, with KPMG AZSA LLC noting it had been unable to confirm all the money flows involved in the fraud.

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UPDATE 1-MasterCard expanding Western Union prepaid program

* Western Union to offer MasterCard prepaid cards globally

* Takes effect immediately

* Program has issued 1.2 mln U.S. prepaid cards

Nov 29 (Reuters) - MasterCard Inc plans to start offering prepaid debit cards at Western Union Co locations outside the United States, expanding an offering only available domestically until now, company executives said on Tuesday.

The move is the latest push by a large U.S. payment processor to expand into prepaid cards, in an attempt to boost revenues from processing smaller dollar transactions.

In June, rival American Express Co announced plans to sell a prepaid card online.

Prepaid cards are exempt from new U.S. rules that limit the processing fees that card companies can charge merchants.

The cards allow consumers to load a card with cash at any one of Western Union's 485,000 agent locations around the world. And Western Union customers can also load money onto a prepaid card, instead of sending cash.

The money on the card can be spent anywhere that accepts MasterCards.

MasterCard -- through Western Union -- has offered U.S. prepaid cards for the last year, and has issued 1.2 million cards so far, executives said.

MasterCard Chief Executive Ajay Banga and Western Union CEO Hekmet Ersek declined to discuss how many cards they expected to issue worldwide within the next year.

Banga said, however, the total would be "orders of magnitude" higher than the U.S. total so far.

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UPDATE 1-Kerzner transfers Atlantis resort to Brookfield

NASSAU, Bahamas | Tue Nov 29, 2011 1:57pm EST

NASSAU, Bahamas Nov 29 (Reuters) - Kerzner International Ltdunveiled on Tuesday a debt-for-equity restructuring that will transfer ownership of its Atlantis mega resort in the Bahamas to a Toronto real estate and asset management company.

The resort owner and operator, which has been locked in negotiations with lenders over its $2.6 billion debt mountain for some time, said in a statement it was transferring equity ownership of Atlantis and its One & Only Ocean Club properties in the Bahamas, plus the One & Only Palmilla in Mexico, to Brookfield Asset Management Inc .

Brookfield is exchanging $175 million worth of Kerzner International's debt in return.

The deal effectively transforms Kerzner International into a resort management company, as opposed to its previous status as an owner-operator.

It will continue to manage the Atlantis and two One & Only properties for Brookfield, and focus on growing both brands worldwide.

Sol Kerzner, Kerzner International's chairman and chief executive, said: "This transaction will permit Kerzner to move forward as a management company, allowing us to get back to what we do best -- designing and managing world-class destination and luxury resorts under the Atlantis and One & Only brands."

Kerzner International will continue to own rights to both brands, and Kerzner said Brookfield and the company were in agreement to maintain employment levels at the two Bahamian resorts, along with marketing and capital investment.

Kerzner said the agreement, which requires Bahamian government approval, would "substantially reduce our debt and streamline our balance sheet and operating structure."

The restructuring is expected to close by 2011 year-end.

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UPDATE 3-Violence, pepper spray mar US Black Friday shopping

* Rush for bargains turns violent

* Woman uses pepper spray in swarm for Xboxes

* Videos become a YouTube sensation (Updates scope of incidents)

By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Black Friday turned into a black mark against American shoppers as riotous crowds brawled over video games, waffle irons and towels, drawing international condemnation and even raising questions about the state of humanity.

One of the most outrageous incidents of the day was in the Los Angeles area, where up to 20 people were injured after a woman at a Walmart used pepper spray to get an edge on other shoppers in a rush for Xbox game consoles.

Walmart seemed to have a worse day than many other retailers as shoppers screamed, shoved and elbowed each other to save a few bucks.

Incidents across the country included a man shot by robbers in the parking lot outside the San Leandro, California store and shoppers pepper sprayed by security at a store in Kinston, North Carolina.

A fight for bath towels, purportedly recorded at a Michigan store, has become a YouTube sensation. Cheap towels also caused mayhem at a Walmart in Oregon, Ohio.

"They were fighting over bath towels on sale for $1.88, as ridiculous as that sounds," Police Sergeant Jason Druckenmiller said. "A woman tried to get her hands on some towels when she was pushed from behind, and that's when she came out swinging."

Company spokesman Greg Rossiter said violence at a handful of stores marred an otherwise safe start to the holiday shopping season at thousands of Walmart stores.

COMMENTARY ON HUMANITY?

Videos of shopping pandemonium crowded YouTube by late Friday. One clip showed a crowd crushing and tearing apart boxes in a free-for-all for inexpensive cell phones. Another showed people flooding into a store as the gates were raised.

"This is what the human race has come to huh??" asked one person who commented online. Another said it "looked like a piranha feeding frenzy."

The instant classic of the day was a video of an Arkansas melee over a $2 waffle iron. The shaky, 48-second clip shows a mass of squealing and shouting men, women and children climbing over each other, grabbing and tossing boxes, with one woman seemingly unaware that her pants were sliding down her backside.

"Oh my God!" a woman screamed in the only sentence discernible among the high-pitched shrieks. One person commenting on the video wrote: "The pinnacle of Western Civilization has arrived."

A Walmart in Cave Creek, Arizona, was evacuated Thursday night after a suspicious package was found in an employee break room, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department spokesman Christopher Hegstrom said. A police robot retrieved the package, and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the store before it was reopened.

A video of a grandfather injured when he was knocked down by police at an Arizona Walmart went viral on YouTube. The video showed the man unconscious and bleeding from his face as police rolled him over and mopped up blood. Witnesses screamed at the police, accusing them of brutality and shouting for someone to call "911" for emergency medical assistance.

According to reports, the man was knocked down by police after putting a video game in his belt to free his hands so he could pick up his grandson as the crowd surged around them.

In the Manhattan borough of New York City, shoppers unhappy that Hollister's flagship store was not opening at midnight, as other locations were, broke into the store and stole clothing, police said.

DAY DRAWS MOCKERY

Black Friday drew bad press and mockery outside the United States.

In Toronto, a headline on the website of the Globe and Mail proclaimed: "Pepper-spray, shootings and other Black Friday madness."

Dutch state television showed an overhead shot of hundreds of people camped outside a west coast store. "No tents from the Occupy movement here in California, but clients waiting hours until the stores open," the anchor said. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York, Harriet McLeod in South Carolina, Joe Rauch in North Carolina, Jessica Wohl and Eric Johnson in Chicago, Aman Ali in Ohio, Mary Slosson in Colorado; Writing by Barbara Goldberg and Ben Berkowitz in New York; Editing by David Bailey and Paul Simao)

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UPDATE 1-Thomas Cook secures new financing from lenders

* Agrees new 200 million sterling debt facility

* New agreement replaces previous short-term facility

LONDON Nov 25 (Reuters) - Thomas Cook Group Plc , said it will borrow another 100 million pounds ($155 million), easing fears about the future of the world's oldest travel company, whose shares crashed earlier in the week when it asked its banks for new funding.

The 170-year-old company said its banks, led by Barclays Plc , HSBC Holding Plc , Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UniCredit SpA , had agreed to provide a new 200 million pounds facility available until April 2013, which replaces the 100 million pounds short-term facility announced in October.

The banks have also agreed to relax the terms of an upcoming key test of its financial health, Europe's second-biggest travel company said on Friday.

"This provides the group with much increased headroom to deal with unexpected events and the effects of an uncertain economic environment," the company said in a statement.

Thomas Cook shares, which had lost 94 percent of their value since the start of the year, fell 75 percent on Tuesday when it asked lenders to come to its rescue for the second time in five weeks. The stock closed 10 percent higher at 18.02 pounds on Friday.

"I am absolutely delighted that we have reached agreement and I would like to thank the banks for acting so swiftly," Acting Chief Executive Sam Weihagen said in a statement.

Thomas Cook has been hit hard by tough trading conditions, especially in Britain, where its core customer base of families with young children has been particularly affected by tough economic conditions. It was also hit by unrest in popular destinations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.

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UPDATE 1-US opening formal probe into GM Volt fire risk

n" readability="83">Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators are opening a formal investigation into fire risks in General Motors' Volt vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.

The NHTSA said it was taking the action after recreation this month of a May crash test resulted in fires in two out of three tests.

"While it is too soon to tell whether the investigation will lead to a recall of any vehicles or parts, if NHTSA identifies an unreasonable risk to safety, the agency will take immediate action to notify consumers and ensure that GM communicates with current vehicle owners," NHTSA said.

Earlier in November, the agency said it was looking into the safety of batteries used to power electric vehicles after fire broke out in a Volt battery pack three weeks after a side-impact crash test.

It said it was not aware of any fires resulting from actual crashes on roadways.

NHTSA said on Friday it believed electric vehicles have incredible potential to save people money at the pump, help protect the environment, create jobs and strengthen national security by reducing dependence on oil.

It is working with manufacturers to ensure they have appropriate post-crash protocols and to help inform emergency services of the potential for post-crash fires in electric vehicles.

"The Volt is safe and does not present undue risk as part of normal operation or immediately after a severe crash," Jim Federico, General Motors chief engineer for electric vehicles, said in a statement.

"GM and the agency's focus and research continues to be on battery performance, handling, storage and disposal after a crash or other significant event, like a fire, to better serve first and secondary responders."

In the May crash test, the Volt's 400-pound lithium ion battery pack was damaged and a coolant line was ruptured.

Toyota Motor Corp's Prius, which dominates the hybrid vehicle market, is powered by older nickel metal hydride battery technology.

This month's tests aimed to simulate a real-world, side-impact collision into a tree or pole, followed by a rollover.

After a test on Nov. 16 that did not result in a fire, a temporary increase in temperature was recorded in a test on Nov. 17, NHTSA said on Friday. It said that battery pack caught fire.

During the test on Nov. 18, using similar protocols, the battery pack was rotated within hours after being impacted and it began to smoke and emit sparks.

NHTSA said it was working with GM, and the Departments of Energy and Defense to further investigate.

The Volt has a gas-powered 1.4-liter engine to provide additional range after it has run about 40 miles on a fully-charged battery.

GM has sold about 5,000 Volts. The plug-in hybrid costs $40,000 before a $7,500 consumer tax credit.

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UPDATE 1-Option players bet on rebound in shares of big banks

* Contrarian bullish option plays pop up across banks

* Call volume in certain banks is above pace into holiday

* Top trades in Financial ETF appear to be bearish plays

By Doris Frankel

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Option traders appear to be betting on a rebound in the shares of big banks whose fortunes have been driven down by growing pessimism over the euro zone's ability to resolve its debt problems.

Sizable activity in upside call options in the December contracts on JPMorgan & Chase Co , Citigroup Inc Barclays PLC , Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley suggest an imminent reversal in their battered shares.

"Today's call buying in these stocks seems to be a contrary play and reflect expectations for a rebound in the shares before the December expiration in 23 days," said Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at Web site WhatsTrading.com.

Bank stocks took a nose-dive on Wednesday on concerns about the European debt crisis and rigorous stress tests of six large U.S. bank announced by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, analysts said.

"With such fragile sentiment already in place ahead of the long holiday weekend, investors sold indiscriminately in the financial sector, providing opportunities for contrarian option plays across certain banks," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak and Co in New York.

While a number of individual stocks in the financial space attracted unusual upside call activity, the top trades in the Financial Select Sector SPDR fund appeared to be bearish plays, Ruffy said.

The XLF dropped 2.9 percent to $11.73 on Wednesday. Traders exchanged about 1.24 million options in the XLF, 2.9 times the average daily levels, as puts outpaced calls by a factor of 2.89:1, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

"The contrarian positioning in some big banks argues against today's conventional wisdom that European woes will drag down the financial sector," Wilkinson said.

The pattern was evident in several large banks when fresh positions were tracked in out-of-the-money December calls or those options with strike prices above the share value.

For example, one player bought 71,000 December $34 calls on JPMorgan for an average price of 13.5 cents per contract, Ruffy said. JPMorgan shares fell 3.50 percent to $28.38.

The volume in that strike exceeded the 11,015 in open positions, data from option analytics firm Trade Alert showed.

The massive premium purchase was similar to a trade in Citigroup, where Ruffy said 50,000 December $29 calls were bought for 23 cents apiece against 22,015 open contracts.

Citi shares were down 3.88 percent to $23.51.

Seemingly bullish call buying on British bank Barclays emerged in contrast to a 3.85 percent drop in the bank's U.S.-listed shares to $9.24.

More than 30,000 calls changed hands at the December $12 strike in Barclays against open interest of 3,863 contracts.

It appeared an investor bought most of the calls, outright, at a premium of 15 cents apiece and is poised to profit at expiration if shares surpass the break-even price of $12.15, said Interactive Brokers Group options analyst Caitlin Duffy.

Goldman shares ended 1.68 percent lower to $87.89 and the top options trade in the investment bank was 10,000 December $110 calls bought as an opening position for 30 cents against 5,340 in open interest, according to Ruffy.

Impressive call buying spilled over to Morgan Stanley where a buyer paid 22 cents for 22,407 December $16 calls to open a new position when shares were trading near $13.15, said Trade Alert president Henry Schwartz. The stock dipped 3.62 percent to $13.03.

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UPDATE 1-Lupatech shares, bonds plunge on cash crunch

* Lupatech shares down 20 pct, bond prices tumble

* Raising cash to confront "concerns about solvency"

* Company cites support from shareholders BNDES, Petros

By Brad Haynes and Jeb Blount

SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Shares of Lupatech , one of Brazil's biggest oil industry suppliers, plunged on Wednesday as the company tried to sell assets to meet looming debt payments.

"Although our financial situation in the third quarter has generated concerns about the solvency of the company, we are working hard to balance our capital structure and strengthen our cash position in the short term," Lupatech said in a security filing.

Lupatech shares lost a fifth of their value on Wednesday, their biggest drop in more than two years.

The company's cash crunch comes at a moment of heightened capital-market risk. Banks and investors are cutting lending in an effort to protect themselves from potential losses that could result from sovereign debt-defaults in Europe.

Lupatech is looking to sell auto-industry assets including parts maker Steelinject, which serves as collateral for $275 million of perpetual bonds issued in 2007. The company said it asked bondholders for permission to sell Steelinject, which accounts for less than 1 percent of Lupatech's total assets.

Lupatech 9.875 percent perpetual bonds fell 7.88 points to 36.72 percent of face value bid on Monday according to Thomson Reuters pricing. The yield, a proxy for the company's long-term borrowing costs, jumped to 26.88 percent. A year ago the yield was about 9.5 percent.

Lupatech's short-term debt, consisting of obligations due in the coming 12 months, grew to 313 million reais ($168 million) at the end of September, 74 percent more than three months earlier.

Of that short-term debt, 67 million reais matures by the end of the year. Lupatech had less than 31 million reais in cash and cash equivalents at the end of September.

Lupatech said in its third-quarter earnings statement that it was contracting a four-year financing line worth 60 million reais from major shareholder Petros, the pension fund for employees of state-controlled oil giant Petrobras .

"The company has the full support of its shareholders, among them (state development bank) BNDES and Petros, in all the moves it has made to improve its capital structure," Lupatech said in a statement later on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE INVESTMENTS

Lupatech is one of several oil industry companies that have made big investments to prepare for a spending spree in the industry focused on deep-water discoveries that could make Brazil the world's No.3 producer by 2020.

Petrobras alone, which produces more than 90 pct of Brazil's crude, plans to spend $225 billion on expansion over the next five years to find new oil, build new refineries and expand output - the world's biggest corporate investment plan.

But Petrobras has struggled to increase output in recent years. Revenue has also suffered from government policies fixing gasoline and diesel prices, forcing the company to cut costs in some areas and push back spending in others.

Delays in expansion programs have hurt suppliers such as Lupatech, which took on debt to ramp up investments in anticipation of an offshore oil boom.

Now the company is working to restructure debt as a sovereign debt crisis in Europe is roiling capital markets and banks are paring back credit to shore up balance sheets.

Lupatech closed 20 percent lower at 4.65 reais on Wednesday, while Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index declined 1.6 percent. So far this year, Lupatec shares have lost 76 percent.

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