Timberwolves overcome lost Love to clip Hawks

(Reuters) - The Minnesota Timberwolves coped with the absence of head coach Rick Adelman and All Star forward Kevin Love to beat Atlanta 108-103 on Tuesday, ending a near seven-year winless run against the Hawks.
Timberwolves coach Adelman missed the game for personal reasons, while Love is out indefinitely after reinjuring his right hand last week, but the home team still had enough beat the Hawks for the first time since April 2006.
Nikola Pekovic scored 25 points and had 18 rebounds, Andrei Kirilenko added 21 for Minnesota (16-15), who had lost 11 straight to the Hawks before Tuesday's game.
"We were really motivated," Pekovic told reporters. "I think everyone wants to step up and show more."
Minnesota led 100-89 with four minutes remaining but Atlanta managed to cut the deficit to one in the final minute. Minnesota's Dante Cunningham made a crucial jump shot with 15 seconds left and the Timberwolves added free throws to put the game away.
Minnesota's Ricky Rubio returned from a four-game absence with back spasms and had eight assists in just 19 minutes of action.
Josh Smith and Louis Williams each scored 21 for the Hawks (20-13), who have lost three straight.
"If this doesn't change there's going to have to be some changes, that's plain and simple," said Hawks coach Larry Drew.
"(To) come out and not be energized to play, that's totally unacceptable."
Atlanta fell behind early, trailing by as much as 17 in the second, but they sprang to life late in the fourth, with Kyle Korver making two straight three-pointers. Al Horford had 19 and 11 rebounds in the defeat.

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FedEx: cost plan can counter sluggish growth

NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx is more pessimistic about the U.S. economy than it was three months ago, but more assured of its own ability to grow earnings.
The world's second-largest package delivery company lowered its economic forecast for the U.S., saying that there remains a lot of uncertainty for the company and the country.
Its forecast for the current quarter, which incorporates the critical holiday season, falls short of Wall Street expectations.
But FedEx maintained its forecast for the full fiscal year ending in May, counting on a massive cost reduction plan and a slightly more optimistic view of growth overseas. Shares rose 2.6 percent in afternoon trading.
FedEx Corp. posted earnings of $438 million, or $1.39 per share for the quarter that ending in November, compared with $497 million, or $1.57 per share, a year ago. That was below the $1.41 per share that Wall Street was expecting, according to a poll of analysts by FactSet.
Revenue rose to $11.1 billion from $10.6 billion previously, as the company scaled back its operation to better match demand and some of its raised rates. Analysts forecast revenue of $10.84 billion.
Growth in the company's freight and ground operations boosted results, but FedEx reported "persistent weakness" in its core express network. Operating income in that segment fell 33 percent. FedEx and its larger rival UPS Inc. have both seen consumers and businesses opt for slower shipping options to cut costs.
FedEx said on Wednesday that it expects earnings will be between $1.25 and $1.45 per share in the third quarter. Analysts that follow the company were predicting per-share earnings of $1.45.
The company, based in Memphis, Tenn., also said it expects to earn between $6.20 and $6.60 per share for the year ending in May, excluding any charges from the company's buyout plan. Wall Street is looking for $6.34.
Earlier this month FedEx said it will offer some employees up to two years pay to leave, starting next year. The voluntary program is part of an effort to cut annual costs by $1.7 billion within three years. The plan also includes cutting aircraft and underused assets.

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FedEx says it can grow by cutting costs

NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx may be pessimistic about the U.S. economy, but it's confident about growing its earnings.
The world's second-largest package delivery company, a bellwether for economic health because of the vast number and kinds of shipments it handles, lowered its economic forecast for the U.S., saying there remains a lot of uncertainty for the country.
FedEx maintained its earnings forecast for the full fiscal year ending in May, counting on a massive cost reduction plan and a slightly more optimistic view of growth overseas. Shares rose 84 cents to close at $93.20 Wednesday, even though its forecast for the current quarter, which includes the critical holiday season, falls short of Wall Street expectations.
FedEx Corp. posted earnings of $438 million, or $1.39 per share for the quarter that ended in November, compared with $497 million, or $1.57 per share, a year ago. Superstorm Sandy shaved 11 cents per share off of earnings in this year's quarter, as shipping volumes fell and costs rose.
Revenue rose to $11.1 billion from $10.6 billion a year ago, as the company scaled back its operation to better match demand and some of its raised rates.
Wall Street expected $1.41 per share in the recent quarter on revenue of $10.84 billion, according to FactSet.
Growth in the company's freight and ground operations boosted results, but FedEx reported "persistent weakness" in its core express network. Operating income in that segment fell 33 percent. FedEx and its larger rival UPS Inc. have seen consumers and businesses opt for slower shipping options to cut costs. As a result, FedEx is offering buyouts and shedding aircraft and other assets to reduce its costs and adjust to the new normal.
Earlier this month FedEx said it will offer some employees up to two years pay to leave, starting next year. The voluntary program is part of an effort to cut annual costs by $1.7 billion within three years.
FedEx said on Wednesday that it expects earnings of $1.25 to $1.45 per share in the third quarter. Analysts predicted per-share earnings of $1.45.
The company, based in Memphis, Tenn., also estimated $6.20 and $6.60 per share for the year ending in May, excluding charges from the company's buyout plan. Wall Street is looking for $6.34 per share.

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Burundi tea earnings rise 27 pct in November on high prices

UJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's tea export revenues rose 27 percent in November from the same month last year thanks to a stronger regional market, a tea board official said on Thursday.
The state-run tea board (OTB) said it collected $1.80 million from the sale of 589,907 kg, up from $1.42 million earned in November 2011 from the export of 563,140 kg.
"Supplies of the commodity in the region were low following a fall in overall production, especially with Kenya," Joseph Marc Ndahigeze, OTB's export official, told Reuters.
"This has boosted prices and earnings for Burundi's tea."
Kenya is the top tea producer in the East African region and landlocked Burundi exports 80 percent of its tea through a weekly auction held in Kenya's Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa.
Ndahigeze said the export average price per kg jumped to $3.06 from $2.54 the previous year.
OTB said total export earnings between January and November reached $24.7 million, exceeding the $22.2 million collected in 2011.
Tea is Burundi's second largest hard currency earner after coffee and employs some 300,000 small holder farmers in a nation of 8 million people.

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Violence in Syria rages ahead of Assad speech

Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces raged across the country hours before President Bashar Assad is expected to address the nation on Sunday in his first public appearance in two months, activists said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels fighting to topple the Assad regime have clashed with troops in the southern province of Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising in March 2011. Violence also raged in opposition strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus, which rebels are using as bases to assail the government's heavy defenses in the capital. The regime has responded with a withering assault including barrages by artillery and warplanes.
Assad last spoke publicly in November, vowing to Russia Today TV that he won't step down despite continued opposition to his rule and international sanctions aimed at isolating his regime. In the Nov. 8 interview, the embattled president dismissed suggestions that he will leave his country as civil war is approaching his seat of power in Damascus, saying he would "live and die in Syria."
It was not clear what new initiative, if any, Assad could announce during his speech. In each of his previous speeches and interviews, the president has dug in his heels saying his regime is fighting a war against terrorists.
Diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian crisis have failed so far to bring an end to the bloodshed, although the international community continues to push for a peaceful settlement.
The president of the U.N. Security Council said Thursday there are important developments in efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the 21-month conflict in Syria and there could be another U.S.-Russia meeting with international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi next week.
Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov both said after their meeting last week that the Syrian crisis can only be settled through talks, while admitting that neither the government nor the opposition has shown a desire to compromise. Neither official hinted at a possible solution that would persuade the two sides to agree to a ceasefire and sit down for talks about a political transition.
But Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of stepping down — a key opposition demand — and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise. Russia is a close ally of the Syrian government, and has shielded it from punitive measures at the U.N.
The revolt started with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations recent estimate.

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Syrian president says he is fighting jihadists

 Syrian President Bashar Assad says his country is being subjected to an unprecedented attack and says the conflict can only be solved through a popular movement.
Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June.
As in previous speeches, he said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadi elements and denied there was an uprising against his family's decades-long rule.
He struck a defiant tone, saying Syria will not take dictates from anyone.
He called on all Syrians to take part in an initiative that would end the nearly 22-month old conflict, but did not give any details on the plan.

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Assad outlines new Syria peace initiative

 Syrian President Bashar Assad has outlined a new peace initiative that includes a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution.
Assad, however, says the initiative can only take roots after regional and Western countries stop funding what he called militant extremists fighting to overthrow him.
Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June.
As in previous speeches, he said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadi elements and denied there was an uprising against his family's decades-long rule.
He struck a defiant tone, saying Syria will not take dictates from anyone.
His initiative is likely to be rejected by opposition forces and rebels, who insist he must step down.

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