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TOP STORIES

China data shows economic recovery gaining pace

BEIJING - China's economy is striding further along the road towards recovery from its slowest growth in three years, data for October shows, as infrastructure investment accelerates and output from the country's factories runs at its fastest in five months. (CHINA-ECONOMY/ (WRAPUP 1, PIX, GRAPHIC), moved, by Nick Edwards and Kevin Yao, 750 words)

Obama to set stage for fiscal cliff showdown

WASHINGTON - Newly re-elected President Barack Obama sets the stage for a showdown with congressional Republicans over contentious tax and spending issues. (USA OBAMA/ECONOMY (UPDATE 1, pix), expect by 1830 GMT/1.30 PM ET, 600 words)

Worried Germany seeks study on French economy - sources

BERLIN - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone's second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc. (GERMANY-FRANCE/ECONOMY, moved, by Annika Breidthardt and Rene Wagner, 755 words)

Lonmin rebuffs Xstrata proposals to take control

LONDON - Lonmin has rejected a reverse takeover proposal from its largest shareholder, Xstrata, which questioned the ability of the strike-hit platinum producer's current bosses to keep their loss-making group alive. (LONMIN/ (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Sarah Young, 930 words)

MARKETS

World shares fall on worries over U.S. fiscal cliff, Europe

LONDON - World shares are on course for their worst weekly performance since June, depressed by the looming "fiscal cliff" that could slash U.S. public spending and by Europe's debt troubles (MARKETS-GLOBAL/ (WRAPUP 6), moved, by Richard Hubbard and Marc Jones, 600 words)

Playing the fiscal cliff like the euro crisis

LONDON - Battle-weary investors heading into another intense and market-sensitive period of political brinkmanship in Washington may do well to consult their European campaign maps. ((MARKETS-GLOBAL (INVESTMENT-FOCUS/CLIFF), to move 1500 GMT/ 10 AM ET, by Mike Dolan, 900 words)

SPECIAL REPORT

At Italy's Fiat, young scion steers tough course

TURIN, Italy - Whenever Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of carmakers Fiat and Chrysler, appears in public, television crews jostle to beam his words around the globe. Amid the push and shove it's easy to miss the tall, curly-headed young man who often looks on from the sidelines. (FIAT-ELKANN/ (SPECIAL REPORT, TV, PIX, GRAPHIC), moved for subscribers to Reuters Special Reports, by Jennifer Clark, 2,255 words)

ECONOMY

German growth set to slow as euro zone crisis hits home

BERLIN - Growth in Germany, Europe's largest economy, is likely to weaken in the fourth quarter of this year and the first three months of 2013 as firms hold back on investments due to the euro zone crisis, the Economy Ministry says. (GERMANY-ECONOMY/(UPDATE 1), moved, by Michelle Martin, 300 words)

No final euro zone decision on Greece on Monday

BRUSSELS - - Euro zone finance ministers are unlikely to release the next tranche of loans to Greece on Monday as there is no clarity yet how to make its debt sustainable, but work is based on giving Athens two more years to start cutting debt, officials says. (EUROZONE-GREECE/ (WRAPUP 1), expect by 1430 GMT/9.30 AM ET, by Jan Strupczewski, 790 words)

France slides towards recession

PARIS - France's central bank says it expects the euro zone's second-largest economy to slip into recession as 2012 ends - a scenario that could make it harder for the government to hit next year's debt-reduction targets. (FRANCE-ECONOMY/BOF (UPDATE 2), moved, by Vicky Buffery and Brian Love, 600 words)

UK trade deficit narrows more than forecast in Sept

LONDON - Britain's trade deficit narrows more than expected in September, and third-quarter construction output falls by a similar amount to earlier estimates, reducing the chance of a downward revision to quarterly GDP. (BRITAIN-ECONOMY/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 500 words)

UK taxman probes thousands of HSBC Jersey accounts

LONDON - British tax authorities are examining details of thousands of HSBC's clients in Jersey after a whistle-blower handed them a list of names and details of their accounts. (HSBC-JERSEY/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1400 GMT/9 AM ET, by Steve Slater and Chris Vellacott, 800 words)

Banks struggle as commodity index returns slide

LONDON - Banks struggle to devise new commodity index products as once-fat returns fizzle out in a business worth $140 billion, putting pressure on bank commodity businesses already hit by tighter regulations. (COMMODITIES-INVESTING-INDEX/(ANALYSIS), moved, by Eric Onstad, 1,000 words)

Portugal hopes to deliver success story to Merkel

LISBON - Germany's Angela Merkel will hear a welcome message when she visits Portugal on Monday -- a likeminded leader will tell her he believes deeply in the tough reforms his country is undertaking under its bailout. But the latest review of Portugal's economy by its lenders which starts on the same day, could be a stark reminder of the problems with Lisbon's bailout script as economic risks are rising by the day. (PORTUGAL-GERMANY/ (PIX), moved, by Axel Bugge, 1,000 words)

COMPANIES

Rising bad loans keep pressure on Italian banks

MILAN - Italian banks are cutting their lending to businesses to fend off rising bad loans and reduce their funding needs, crimping profits and exacerbating a credit crunch in the euro zone's third largest economy. (ITALY-BANKS/ (PREVIEW), moved, 670 words)

C.Agricole posts 2.9 bln euro loss after Greek exit

PARIS - Credit Agricole reports a 2.85 billion euro ($3.63 billion) quarterly loss, as the French bank paid the price for its exit from Greece and other markets. (CREDITAGRICOLE-LOSS/ (UPDATE 3), moving shortly, by Christian Plumb and Matthias Blamont, 730 words)

J.C. Penney same-store sales plummet 26.1 percent

J.C. Penney Co Inc reports a sharper than expected 26.1 percent decline in third-quarter sales at stores open at least a year, as shoppers continued to snub the retailer since it got rid of most coupons and sales earlier this year. (JCPENNEY-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), expect by 0800 ET/1300 GMT, by Phil Wahba, 400 words)

Diageo strikes $2.1 bln deal with Mallya's United Spirits

HONG KONG/MUMBAI - Diageo Plc has agreed to buy a 53.4 percent stake in Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya's United Spirits Ltd for $2.1 billion, giving the world's biggest spirits group a larger slice of a fast-growing market. (UNITEDSPIRITS-DIAGEO/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Lawrence White and Sumeet Chatterjee, 680 words)

IAG axes jobs in Iberia's 'fight for survival'

MADRID/LONDON - British Airways owner IAG will axe almost a quarter of Iberia's workforce and cut capacity to save the loss-making Spanish flag carrier and restore group profitability. (IAG-IBERIA/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Tracy Rucinski and Rhys Jones, 600 words)

Storm Sandy won't blow Allianz off 2012 target

FRANKFURT - The latest claims data on superstorm Sandy in the United States do not threaten the full year operating target of Allianz, Europe's biggest insurer say. (ALLIANZ-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 280 words)

+ See also:

- GENERALI-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Lisa Jucca, 600 words)

Malaria vaccine disappoints in African babies trial

LONDON - A GlaxoSmithKline experimental malaria vaccine touted as a new weapon in the fight to eradicate the deadly disease proved only 30 percent effective when given to African babies in a crucial clinical trial. (MALARIA-VACCINE/GSK (UPDATE 1), moved, by Kate Kelland and Ben Hirschler, 700 words)

Telecom Italia pledge to cut debt fuels asset sale talk

MILAN - Telecom Italia sticks to its debt-cutting target, fuelling market expectations the group may have to sell assets as a recession bites into domestic margins. (TELECOMITALIA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), expect by 1430 GMT/9.30 AM ET, by Danilo Masoni, 600 words)

Richemont names new joint CEOs as growth slows

ZURICH - Richemont appoints two veteran managers as joint chief executives, to help founder and controlling shareholder Johann Rupert steer the luxury goods group through a period of slowing sales growth in its important Asian markets. (RICHEMONT-EARNINGS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Silke Koltrowitz, 825 words)

FEATURE

Gold fever sweeps South Sudan ahead of new mining law

NANAKANAK, South Sudan - Taking a break from the toil of digging, Leer Likuam sat on the edge of a shallow trench, puffed his pipe and boasted he once found a 200-gram gold nugget bigger th a n his thumb - a find that would have been lucrative but unexceptional in Nanakanak. Word has spread. International mining firms are lining up at South Sudan's ministry of petroleum and mining, aiming to get their hands on part of the vast, unexplored territory. (SUDAN-SOUTH/GOLD (FEATURE, PIX TV), moved, by Hereward Holland, 1,200 words)