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Asian markets rallied on Monday, but Europe reversed opening gains, as investors digested moves by the United Arab Emirates central bank to soothe worries over Dubai's debt crisis.
Hong Kong surged 3.25 percent and Tokyo soared 2.91 percent on Monday as fears over Dubai's debt problems receded following a move by the United Arab Emirates' central bank to provide extra liquidity.
However, in late morning European deals, Frankfurt fell 0.45 percent, London slid 0.53 percent and Paris shed 0.65 percent in value, with all three markets reversing opening gains in highly volatile trade.
The United Arab Emirates central bank announced Sunday that it was providing additional liquidity to banks, amid worries about the global banking sector's exposure to Dubai. The move was welcomed by the International Monetary Fund.
British banks reportedly have a total exposure of 30 billion dollars to Dubai World, according to recent media reports.
"Dubai has not pushed the world over the edge," said Commerzbank analyst Antje Praefcke.
"This recognition is increasingly taking hold on the markets this morning now that the central bank of the United Arab Emirates has made it clear that it is backing the local and foreign banks of the Emirate.
"For this aim it has already created new financing options for the resident banks. This does not solve the possible insolvency of Dubai World, but it does make a run on Dubai's banks unlikely."
However, in the Middle East, stock markets in Dubai and neighbouring Gulf emirate Abu Dhabi went into freefall on Monday as investors in the United Arab Emirates grabbed their first chance to respond to the crisis.
Dubai's stock market dropped by 7.19 percent as leading securities, including construction and finance, plunged almost by the maximum-allowed limit of 10 percent at the opening, which followed a four-day holiday.
The Dubai government had rocked world financial markets last Wednesday when it announced that it wanted to freeze debt repayments by its mighty Dubai World conglomerate until at least May next year.
The news had sent jitters throughout world markets, stoking fears of a possible default by Dubai and its state-owned businesses, which together owe 80 billion dollars.
The announcement took many investors by surprise because it was made ahead of Thanksgiving in the United States on Thursday, and the Eid holiday period.
"The Dubai market has opened lower after the return from the Eid holiday," said ETX Capital senior trader Manoj Ladwa.
"However, the UAE central bank has moved to quell the panic by increasing liquidity in the Dubai banks.
"In the short term this could arrest the slide but a few more issues may unravel over the next few days," Ladwa warned.
Adding to the woes, UAE property developer Nakheel, part of the debt-laden Dubai World, asked for a suspension in trading of all its Islamic bonds, the NasdaqDubai bourse said on its website on Monday.
"While there remain risks from the situation in Dubai, we expect the recent sell-off in global markets to be brief," added Barclays Capital analyst Adarsh Sinha.
Elsewhere in Asia, Sydney jumped 2.83 percent, Seoul gained 2.04 percent and Taipei added 1.22 percent, as fears receded that Dubai's debt problems would spiral into a wider crisis, dealers said.
Tokyo shares rallied with confidence also buoyed by government plans for an extra stimulus of more than 31 billion dollars this fiscal year to tackle the surging yen and weak equities.
Chinese shares leapt 3.20 percent after Beijing said last week it would continue its loose monetary policy next year, dealers said.
India's stock market rose 1.9 percent as the government announced the economy grew 7.9 percent year-on-year during the July-September quarter.

Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981)[1] is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994). Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002).[2][3] Alba later appeared in various films including Honey (2003), Sin City (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Into the Blue (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Good Luck Chuck both in 2007.[4][5]

Alba is considered a sex symbol and often generates media attention for her looks. She appears frequently on the "Hot 100" section of Maxim and was voted number one on AskMen.com's list of "99 Most Desirable Women" in 2006, as well as "Sexiest Woman in the World" by FHM in 2007.[6][7][8] The use of her image on the cover of the March 2006 Playboy sparked a lawsuit by her, which was later dropped.[9] She has also won various awards for her acting, including the Choice Actress Teen Choice Award and Saturn Award for Best Actress (TV), and a Golden Globe nomination for her lead role in the television series Dark Angel.

Hollywood actress Megan Fox believes in pampering her boyfriend Brian Austin Green-she has just gifted him a sports car
.The 23-year-old star recently reunited with the actor after confirming their split in June this year. Now Fox has outbid many buyers on Internet auction site eBay and surprised Brian with a Ford classic, reports dailystar.co.uk."It's not his Christmas present but I just recently bought him a 1966 Mustang Fastback. It was actually on eBay...and I found one in really good condition that was beautiful,"

OTTAWA - She's created a Monster.Lady Gaga's Monster Ball tour steamrolled through Ottawa last night in all its electro-pop, disco-fused glory, giving the near-sellout Scotiabank Place crowd -- brimming with glamour boys and glitter girls -- a chance to break out the hairspray and heels and get their collective freak on.At the centre of the spectacle was the former Stefani Joanne Germanotta -- Lady Gaga herself -- with a trademark sexually charged, innuendo and profanity-laced performance that has vaulted her along a rocket-fuelled voyage to superstardom.No review tickets or photo calls were granted to the press -- usually a troubling sign -- though the immaculately choreographed and visually stunning show dazzled critics on tour-opening stops in Montreal and Toronto over the weekend.
Lady Gaga didn't disappoint on her much-anticipated return to the capital, a mere eight months after wowing a relatively minuscule crowd at the Bronson Centre, and after a fall tour stop supporting Kanye West was abruptly cancelled following the rap icon's public flameout at the VMAs.

Season two of the FX drama "Sons of Anarchy" is primed to end with bloody payback. It's likely to be pretty.The Sons, a fierce and fiercely close-knit motorcycle club, are set to wreak havoc on enemy forces that have cut into their outlaw livelihood and horned in on their turf (the curiously named town of Charming, Calif.).Further upping the ante for the season conclusion...

A green tide washed through Calgary streets Saturday as thousands of excited football fans came out for the Grey Cup parade.Fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, in town for Sunday's championship game, swamped those of their rival Montreal Alouettes - even among the four-legged fans.Roxy the bulldog proudly wore a jersey emblazoned with the Saskatchewan Roughriders logo and the slogan Real Men Wear Green. The jersey also worked as a buffer against a minus-4 windchill left from a fast-moving storm that dusted the city with snow and ice.Roxy's owners, Michelle Jablonski and Kevin Evans, brought along their eight-month-old daughter Kylee May, also dressed in 'Rider green.Evans grew up in Regina before moving to Calgary and understands the obsession people in Saskatchewan have about their team. He said it doesn't matter that the Roughriders are steep underdogs against the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday's Grey Cup game.The start of the parade was delayed by 20 minutes because of what police called an "ice hazard".Fans and those participating in the parade stood shivering in the cold, restlessly waiting for it to start.Fans from all CFL teams were proudly wearing their colours along the route but the primary colour was green.

Watch American Music Awards 2009 Best performances (JENNIFER LOPEZ, RIHANNA, LADY GAGA & ALICIA KEYS) HD.Great music. Peforming live in NYC. Times square arts center. Angel eyes, Raw, and Suelo Nuevo. Killed it on stage.

A life of fame and fortune may suit any entertainer, but Anika Noni Rose has expanded the concept as she finds herself in the midst of a fairy tale existence with her starring role in the new Walt Disney animated film, "The Princess and the Frog."According to the actress, confirmation on playing Princess Tiana came as welcome news after giving her all to make a lasting impression on those considering her for the part. “I wanted it so badly and it’s so scary when you want something that strongly. Particularly in this field, you know, because more often than not, no is what you hear. And when people see you in something, you may have had 20 other no’s before you get to that one good thing that somebody sees you in,” Rose told EUR’s Lee Bailey while confessing to calling her mother and yelling and crying after she received the official word she would be playing Tiana. “I was almost afraid to want it as much as I did. And so I felt like it was mine. So to have that verified and passed on to me on the phone, it was an amazing experience."Rose’s excitement over her latest role goes deeper than just simple confirmation. "The Princess and the Frog" features Tiana as Disney’s first African-American princess. Loosely based on E.D. Baker's novel "The Frog Princess" and the Grimm brothers' "The Frog Prince," the musical comedy centers on a New Orleans waitress and aspiring chef as she embarks on an adventure when she meets a frog prince who wants to be human again.Despite the pressure of competing with others for the role, Rose maintained her focus by relying on a proven method for focusing on her objective.The "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" co-star stated. “When I’m in that booth and I’m trying to get a role, I’m not thinking about who else is trying to get the role. I can’t anticipate what they are gonna do or try to be better. I can only be me. And so I’m competing with me to do the best thing that I can do that day and to take it higher from the last time that I did it. That’s how I walk in to an audition.” “You can’t sit back and decide ‘I wanna to be in the NBA.’ So you’re gonna do that from your room? [laughs],” Rose continued while stressing the importance of creating opportunities for success. “‘I wanna be, I wanna start up the next Google.’ Well then, you need to write a program or two. You can’t just think about it and say you want to do it and have it in the air. You have to find your way to it. And sometimes it’s little steps. And sometimes, it’s huge steps. Sometimes it takes forever and sometimes you’re like ‘Can you believe that it’s here?’ But it’s about you making it happen for yourself.”Disney’s "The Princess and the Frog" will arrive in theaters in limited release today, Nov. 25 (in New York and Los Angeles), with a national roll-out scheduled for December 11.

“I love golf,” she said. “I’m really bad at sports, believe it or not. If you threw a ball at me, you would probably break my face because I have no reflexes whatsoever.The She-Wolf hitmaker says she is a natural at the sport, thanks to her well-practiced hip action.“But in golf, you just need concentration, of which I have plenty, and hip swing is very important.”Shakira, 32, recently revealed that she’s “flattered” to be considered a sex symbol to men all over the world — because she has never believed she is a beautiful woman.“I must confess that I feel very flattered — because I never have felt particularly sexy,” she said. “Anybody who shows me like this is promoting my feminine vanity.”The Hips Don’t Lie singer — who has been with beau Antonio de la Rúa for almost ten years — has also revealed that she’d like to have two babies.

The Colombian-born singer says the songs on her new album "She Wolf," out this week, is a reflection of a woman who is looking for her prince charming.All the single ladies — Shakira is looking out for you!The Grammy-winner says songs like the Brazilian-influenced "Did It Again" and "Men In This Town" will connect women in search of "the one."In a recent interview, the international star talked about her new CD, relationships and why she still passionate about her career.
The Associated Press: What is the album about lyrically?
Shakira: I think this album in general has been written from a very feminine perspective. Maybe because today I feel more like a woman and I feel the struggle of being of woman, and its advantages too, in my own flesh. I have a better understanding of women's plight, you know. I guess I understand my mom better today than 10 years ago. ...( It's about) the old urban tale, you know, trying to find the right man ... the old urban tale of men not being available, all the good ones are taken.

ABC's "Good Morning America" took up the issue of "Life After Oprah" this morning and turned to an expert on the subject, Winfrey's best pal. Winfrey announced Friday that she would end "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in September 2011.Best friend Gayle King doesn't know what Winfrey will do after the talk show ends. King even said she kept hoping that Winfrey would change her mind about ending the show."After 25 years, it's just time to go while you're on top," King told Robin Roberts. "It really was as simple as that and maybe have a semblance of a life. Listen: No pity party for Oprah, because she has a great life, does wonderful things."Yeah, I'm not feeling any pity for Oprah. I don't think Winfrey threw up enough warnings in her Friday segment about "Precious," a movie on which she is an executive producer. I'm glad I saw it, but it's one of the most horrifying films I've ever seen. It's a vampire movie without the supernatural variety. Mo'Nique is a strong candidate for playing the worst mother in the history of cinema.Despite my complaint about the "Precious" segment, I'll miss Winfrey's turning her laser focus on what's happening in the culture."What is the next step for her? I don't even think she knows," King told "Good Morning America." "She's riding off from 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' as we know it, but she's not riding off into the sunset."On CNN's "Reliable Sources" yesterday, former ABC correspondent Judy Muller summed up Winfrey's appeal simply: "She seems like everybody's best girlfriend."

Battlestar Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff drops by Monday's episode to dispense some words of wisdom to a newly dating Howard Wolowitz — and soap him up in the tub too. "It's an interesting way to meet someone, getting naked and stepping into a bathtub," Simon Helberg, who can also currently be seen in the film A Serious Man, tells TVGuide.com. "I usually wait until after a handshake, but we basically popped right in there and did it — did the scene, that is." See what advice Starbuck has for the skirt-chasing genius, what's in store for Wolowitz's love life, and get an update on the Dr. Horrible sequel!

TVGuide.com: Katee is your dream sci-fi woman and she gives you some relationship advice in your fantasy.
Simon Helberg: Yeah, she's almost like my conscience. She's much prettier than Jiminy Crickett. She just basically says, "C'mon, you're not going to get me! You have this great girl and you're dropping her for a fantasy." I get disillusioned and I know what's the wrong thing to do.

TVGuide.com: They both have mama issues.
Helberg: They do. [In the 10th episode], they're at his place. It's hard to get intimate with someone when you have an overbearing mother screaming at you from the next room. That's a buzzkill. He has to deal with all that. There's been no mention of [Bernadette] to my mom as far as I know yet. His mother is always in another room, so it's not conveyed to her necessarily that there's someone in there. There's a lot of room to play.

TVGuide.com: Has he ever had a second, third or fourth date before with the same woman?
Helberg: I think he has had a second date. This is probably the most reciprocal relationship he's been in. I think he's had women use him, I think he's used women. I think he pays for women. [Laughs] But he's doing all right for himself now.

TVGuide.com: Do you have an update on the Dr. Horrible sequel?
Helberg: My understanding is that it might be a movie, but it also might be another Internet thing. I don't quite know. I know they're working on the next installment. It will happen. When I talked to Joss [Whedon], he sort of told me some things, but what he was talking about was so intricate that I would not do it justice if I tried to explain it now! But it will happen and we're all going to be there.

Despite a likely end-of-year slowdown in fixed-income trading, Goldman Sachs will top Wall Street expectations by cutting the percentage of sales it sets aside as compensation, an analyst said.Starbucks Corp.'s cost control efforts and the likelihood of a key sales measure improving prompted an analyst to lift the coffee chain's rating and price target.A surprisingly strong weekend opening for the second movie in the Twilight vampire series, "New Moon," led analysts to raise their box office forecasts and support a more upbeat outlook for theater chains.Investors should begin buying shares of Met-Pro Corp. since the shares have fallen back to a level that makes them a good value, an analyst said.A Jefferies & Co. analyst raised his rating on medical software company Eclipsys Corp., citing a better opinion on the company's prospects after a meeting with management.Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's No. 1 personal computer and printer maker, was likely buoyed by a recovering PC market in the latest quarter but worries persist about the health of some of its other businesses.