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Azerbaijan eyes Shah Deniz route decision soon - SOCAR

One option is a pipeline from Turkey to the Romanian-Hungarian border, a route proposed by British oil group BP days before a deadline for consortiums to submit bids."Shah Deniz consortium will take a decision on a route of the pipeline project for gas exports to Europe in October-November," Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters."This decision should be taken in the nearest future, as well as a decision on sanctioning of the second phase of the Shah Deniz project in order that these issues can be reflected in this project's budget for the next year," he said.Shah Deniz, being developed by BP, Statoil and Azeri SOCAR, has been estimated to contain 1.2 trillion cubic metres of gas, which European companies hope can supply them for decades, cutting their dependence on Russia. Production was launched in 2006, with the second phase seen starting by 2017.Abdullayev did not rule out Azerbaijan completing gas transit talks with Turkey by the end of October to ship exports from Shah Deniz to Europe and sign a final deal during SOCAR's visit to Turkey."The Azeri side is preparing for that," he said about the deal, seen giving a potential boost to the Shah Deniz project.Azerbaijan has been negotiating to sell Ankara 6 billion cubic metres of gas per year from the second phase of the Shah Deniz field and to ship 10 bcm to European customers via Turkey.

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INSIGHT-Wisconsin clash spotlights US labor-management rift

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oshkosh Corp has been a rare lifeline for the beleaguered United Auto Workers, one of the few American manufacturers to have added significantly to its ranks of well-paid union workers in a brutal decade for factory hands.But now, as the UAW renews conciliatory contracts with major automakers that have dismissed tens of thousands of hourly workers, union employees are turning against Oshkosh.Tim Jacobson, 32, is among the workers who have rejected a new contract forged by union leaders with the maker of military vehicles and fire trucks. They are marching in the streets of this university city on Lake Winnebago to denounce an employer that has nearly doubled its UAW staff to 3,100 over the five-year span of its last union contract.Jacobson himself was hired by Oshkosh two years ago, less than a month after he was laid off from a nearby Harley Davidson plant."What's disgusting?" Jacobson shouts, carrying an American flag as he leads a line of 150 workers at a recent rally downtown. "Union busting," the crowd responds.This seemingly paradoxical labor standoff stems from grievances almost unique to Oshkosh, whose profits have been flush in recent years, and from a broader animus between labor and management, both nationally and in particular in Wisconsin, where a clash over the power of public-sector unions transfixed the country over the summer."Frankly, a lot of people here are pissed off," Jacobson said. Workers complain that the new contract erodes work rules, security and seniority rights - such as a demand that workers can be required to work up to ten Saturdays per year. Particularly galling to them is the company's call for more temporary, non-union positions. When Oshkosh sought union approval to hire as many as 300 temporary workers starting in 2013 as part of its original contract offer, the workforce rejected it.The most recent rejection, on Saturday, was the second in a week. The company had offered as much as an 8.5 percent raise and $2,000 signing bonus to offset to rising healthcare premiums. Oshkosh had attempted to craft a similar deal in 2010, a year before the contract's expiration, and met resistance then as well.An outright strike is unlikely. UAW and Oshkosh officials returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday. A third deal, without any demands for temporary worker provisions, will likely be handed to workers this weekend, according to people familiar with the talks. These people expressed confidence that the third attempt for ratification will work.If it goes through, the victory for the UAW could well be overshadowed by friction it is facing with a much bigger member, Ford Motor Co .Dissent isn't a new phenomenon for the UAW. In Detroit - home of the union's core constituency - workers have shown a willingness to vote down automaker contracts in even the worst of times. And now, as Ford seeks ratification for a new deal that includes lucrative bonuses, there is widespread concern that workers there will vote no. As of Thursday, two Ford factories had rejected a proposed four-year deal, throwing its ratification into doubt.And with protestors on the streets of Oshkosh, Wisconsin where even the deep erosion of the industrial heartland has been kept at bay, the thread of distrust sewn into labor-management relations is proving difficult to sever.Oshkosh's desire to bring in temps follows a pattern set by most of the nation's industrial heavyweights, such as Caterpillar Inc, who want to meet shorter-term production needs without having to bring on another crop of permanent employees. Workers here firmly believe this will lead to an inevitable loss of union jobs."Our members have been getting very angry out there," UAW Local 578 President Nick Nitscke recently said while standing in the lobby of the Oshkosh hotel, the site of the labor negotiations. He pointed to a street corner where hundreds of workers have protested several times in recent weeks. "They do not want anything to do with temp workers."PICKET FEVERThis schism between the workers and their union has many outside observers scratching their heads, coming as it does with the rest of the country plagued by economic malaise.Oshkosh has been on a roll thanks to winning big contracts to build military vehicles in recent years, though it now faces new headwinds as government-spending cuts and increased competition squeeze the defense industry. Management has been hitting this theme hard.In a letter accompanying its first offer to UAW workers last month, Chief Executive Charles Szews said, "the company's offer takes into consideration today's economic realities for our principal customer, the U.S. Department of Defense, which is facing hundreds of billions of dollars in budget reductions." Workers are largely dismissive of that outlook.Like many others in the area, Rep. Gordon Hintz, a Democrat representing Oshkosh, sees the current conflict as at least partially influenced by the protests over public-sector unions that polarized public opinion, just 87 miles to the south in Madison. The Occupy Wall Street movement is also energizing workers, he said. "Does Wisconsin have picket fever? Yes, I think there is a little of that."A broader anxiety is also underpinning the workers' resistance, says Mike Schroeder, a longtime Oshkosh worker recently elected as a chief bargaining steward. "People have not gotten the entire story of what is really going on here. This isn't really about money," he said. "This is about job security."A significant portion of Oshkosh's workers here were hired as the company was scrambling to fill orders from the Department of Defense, while other Wisconsin manufacturers -- including Kohler Co., Harley Davidson, and Mercury Marine - were laying people off and, in some cases, hiring more temps. As a result, Oshkosh was able to hire skilled manufacturing workers who harbored a deep resentment toward non-unionized employees doing short-term work.

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Busan film festival highlights politics, pizzazz

"Nino," a portrait of the decline of a wealthy family by Filipino director Loy Arcenas, took home one of the festival's two "New Currents" prizes, which award $30,000 to outstanding films by novice Asian directors.The other went to "Mourning," an alternately somber and comic road movie by Iran's Morteza Farshbaf.A wealth of content from countries such as Iran and Myanmar made the nine-day festival a more politically charged event than in previous years.Organizers issued a statement expressing "serious concern" about the recent arrest of six Iranian filmmakers on espionage charges, calling for their swift release.Farshbaf welcomed the move, saying similar pressure had persuaded the Iranian government to release artists in the past."These (statements) are I think the only way that people can help, because if (filmmakers) speak about the situation we cannot work," he told Reuters this week."We have to wait for other people living in freer countries to express something about it."Luc Besson and Michelle Yeoh, director and lead actress respectively of "The Lady," a biography of Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi that was another highlight of the festival, praised the Myanmar military regime's recent mass release of dissidents, calling it "joyful news."Myanmar was also featured in "Return to Burma," one of the films that had been nominated for the New Currents prize, which incorporated footage shot secretly in the country by Myanmar-born, Taiwan-based director Midi Z.This year's festival, the 16th, was also notable for a stunning new venue and was hailed by organizers as the most successful ever, with its 300-plus films drawing almost 200,000 theater visits. There were 89 world premiers.The associated Asian Film Market, designed to link Asian filmmakers with global distributors and buyers, also racked up a record number of participants and screenings, organizers said.Industry participants rated the event highly."The film industry is truly global and the (festival) brings a vast variety of quality international films to an eager audience," Mike Ellis, president, Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Association, told Reuters."The opportunity to meet leading filmmakers and discuss how to promote and protect the film industry could not be done in a more relaxing venue."

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Foreign central banks' US debt holdings fall - Fed

The breakdown of custody holdings showed overseas central banks' holdings of Treasury debt fell by $17.8 billion to stand at $2.679 trillion.Foreign institutions' holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , rose by $1.36 billion to stand at $723.1 billion.Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years, and own more than a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China and Japan are the biggest two foreign holders of Treasuries.The full Fed report can be found on:

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Bahrain opposition unites to decry "police state"

Five groups, including the main Shi'ite party Wefaq and the secular Waad party, vowed to keep up a pro-democracy campaign with peaceful rallies and marches -- despite a Saudi-backed government crackdown that crushed similar protests in March.In their "Manama Document," the first such joint statement since the unrest, the opposition groups said Bahrain was a police state akin to those that prevailed in Egypt and Tunisia before popular uprisings swept their leaders from power.The document, issued on Wednesday, said the ruling Al Khalifa family's role should be to "govern without powers" in a constitutional monarchy, drawing attacks from pro-government media which described it as a power grab by majority Shi'ites.Unrest still roils Bahrain months after the ruling family brought in troops from Sunni allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help crush a protest movement they said was fomented by Iran and had Shi'ite sectarian motives.The government says nightly clashes between police and Shi'ite villagers and other forms of civil disobedience are hurting the economy of the banking and tourism hub. Many firms have relocated elsewhere in the Gulf.A military court has convicted 21 opposition figures, human rights campaigners and online activists who led the protests of trying to overthrow the ruling system. Eight were jailed for life. Waad leader Ibrahim Sharif, a Sunni, received a five-year sentence."In pursuit of democracy, opposition forces intend to fully and solely embrace peaceful measures," the Manama Document said, calling for a direct dialogue between the government and opposition, backed by unspecified international guarantees.King Hamad bin Isa held a month-long "national dialogue" in July, but Wefaq walked out, saying it was under-represented. The Shi'ite bloc won 18 of parliament's 40 seats in a 2010 election.The dialogue led to a government reform of parliamentary powers to allow deputies more power to question ministers.But the Manama Document demanded an elected government and the scrapping of an appointed upper house, and criticized the grip on power exercised by some senior royals -- the king's uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman, is thought to be the world's longest serving prime minister, holding the post since 1971."In the presence of an unelected government under the statesmanship of a single person for 40 years, some 80 percent of public land ended up being controlled by senior members from the royal family and other influential figures," it said."The reality in Bahrain is no different from any non-democratic state, a copy of Ben Ali's Tunisia, Mubarak's Egypt and Saleh's Yemen," it said.Protests in January and February ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is still holding on despite nine months of mass demonstrations demanding his departures.APPEAL TO ABROAD?One analyst said Bahrain's opposition wanted to remind outside powers that they were struggling for democracy."The opposition are changing tack a bit, this seems to be a cry to the outside world. They are saying 'this is an autocracy, what are you going to do about it?'," said Michael Stephens, a Royal United Services Institute researcher based in Qatar."It will make some people wriggle in their seats a bit."Apart from the grievance about land ownership, the document also cites problems in education, electoral boundaries, corruption, housing, health, roads, electricity supply and the judiciary.The United States, whose Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, has called on the government to talk directly with Wefaq.Washington is trying to fend off charges that it has backed Arab pro-democracy uprisings elsewhere, while condoning the Saudi-backed crackdown in Bahrain, a longstanding Gulf ally.Pro-government media reacted angrily to the Manama Document.Al-Watan daily denounced Wefaq as "Bahrain's Hezbollah," a reference to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi'ite group, and said parliamentarians saw the document as pandering to foreigners.The government says that democracy in Bahrain must fit the region and need not match systems in place elsewhere."Any form of democratic government in Bahrain has to suit the nature and character of Bahraini culture and heritage," the government's Information Affairs Authority said this week.Munira Fakhro, of the Waad party, said the opposition wanted to state its case in the face of hostile state media and to call for dialogue on the basis of reforms discussed with the crown prince before the protests were crushed in March."Media criticism and attacks have increased dramatically, in the press, television and radio. We just want to remind the public that this is our aim and what we want," she said.

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Swiss speedster trapped by his own mobile phone

Some shots were focused on the speedometer of his car, a Bentley Continental, according to a police spokesman.Others showed the road, revealing where he was, and the phone's timer recorded the date and the time -- just before 3:30 in the morning local time last April.Police said the driver, whom they declined to name, probably took the shots to impress his friends. His license was confiscated and he is free on bail awaiting trial.