Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator to six-nation talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, arrives in Beijing today to meet with his Chinese counterpart, the US Embassy said.
- The Russian government’s growing intervention in key industries is a “step back” and may lead to slower economic growth, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
- Wal-Mart(WMT) plans to set up a venture with Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal, gaining access to the second-most populous nation as the government considers tempering restrictions on overseas ownership.
- The US Supreme Court refused to revive a $10.1 billion award against Altria Group’s(MO) Philip Morris USA, rejecting an appeal from smokers who said they were misled about the health risks of “light” cigarettes.
- Oil is rising above $60 on forecasts that most of the US will be colder than normal next week and a report that Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said OPEC may cut output at a meeting next month.
- Brazil will likely double its output of ethanol to power cars in coming years as producers plant more sugarcane to meeting rising demand for the biofuel.
- Copper declined from morning highs as an import slowdown in China, the world’s largest user of the metal, renewed speculation that supplies may top consumption this year. Copper-concentrate imports plunged 46% in October from a year earlier, and copper purchases dropped .9%, the Chinese Customs General Administration said.

Wall Street Journal:
- US federal courts will require litigants to provide their opponents with electronically stored information under rules that took effect Friday.
- University of Southern California and other US schools of higher education are following the lead set by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in turning research projects into profitable business ventures.

NY Times:
- The New York State Legislature plans to provide a complete, public list of lawmarkers’ government-funded pet projects.
- Xerox Corp.(XRX) is trying to develop erasable paper for its copiers that would allow documents to be recycled an unlimited number of times.

AP:
- Bank of America(BAC) signed a five-year agreement with the Nascar auto-racing series to attract new business for the No. 2 US bank’s ATMs and branches.

NY Post:
- NYC will host a record 7.3 million tourists this year, many of them coming on shopping sprees.

Berlingske Tidende:
- Dong Energy A/S plans to increase the amount of oil it extracts from the Danish part of the North Sea by injecting carbon dioxide into oil extraction pipes, citing Dong CEO Eldrup.

Mlada Fronta Dnes:
- Czech appetite for learning English has led to classes being introduced for toddlers.

Panorama:
- Petroleos de Venezuela SA, South America’s largest oil company, said initial exploration shows that oil reserves in the Gulf of Venezuela might total at least 7 billion barrels.