A high-level executive reshuffling at the Walt Disney Co. on Thursday will give Chief Executive Robert A. Iger a deeper bench from which to choose a No. 2.

The restructuring came in advance of the company's fourth-quarter earnings announcement. Disney reported an 18% bump in income, fueled by gains in the television group that helped offset a loss at the film studio and softness in the theme park business.

Reporting from Washington and Beijing - On the eve of his first Pacific trip since entering the White House, President Obama signaled Thursday that he would press Asian leaders to open up their markets and boost purchases of U.S. goods instead of relentlessly focusing on exporting more and more to American consumers.

In remarks made before leaving Washington on the seven-day, four-nation trip, the president suggested that Asia must do more to "rebalance" the global economy by accepting more U.S. imports, increasing its own domestic consumption and relying less on Americans as buyers of last resort.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Singletary didn't exactly hand it to his old team. That didn't matter - Jay Cutler handed the desperate San Francisco 49ers a much-needed win.

Frank Gore ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, Cutler threw a career-high five interceptions with his last coming in the end zone on the game's final play and San Francisco snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Chicago Bears 10-6 on Thursday night.

In town to introduce a preview screening of "Pirate Radio," writer-director Richard Curtis ("Love Actually") described his comedy about a boatload of renegade DJs who broadcast rock-and-roll from a ship anchored off the coast of England in the mid-1960s as only "partly true." Well, duh. The disclaimer will, I suspect, be utterly unnecessary for anyone who sees the film, a tale so raucous, raunchy and punch-drunk with love for the rebellious spirit of rawk -- and so disdainful of those who have tried to squelch it -- that it pretty much negates any claims to objectivity, let alone factuality.

If a film critic awards four stars to a movie directed by Roland Emmerich -- Hollywood's reigning king of catastrophe, the critically scorned director of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla" -- will the world come to an end? That's a question the ancient Mayans never asked, but it's the one facing me after the enormously satisfying, astonishingly accomplished, reprehensible-yet-irresistible "2012," the crowning achievement in Emmerich's long, profitable career as a destroyer of worlds.

About 22 million Americans have become ill with pandemic H1N1 influenza in the past six months and 3,900 have died, according to new estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of pediatric deaths -- about 540 -- is four times as high as the number that physicians, hospitals and health departments had reported to the public health agency in Atlanta.

The new estimates, drawn from detailed surveillance and record-checking in 10 states, sketch the most detailed picture by far of the national toll from the new flu strain that emerged in California and Mexico in April.

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Massey Energy Co., the fifth-largestU.S. coal company, succeeded for a second time in getting a$50 million jury verdict thrown out after the U.S. Supreme Courtsaid West Virginia’s highest court had to re-hear the casebecause its chief justice should have recused himself.

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia againreversed the jury verdict and dismissed the case in an opinionfiled yesterday. In November 2007, it first overturned the awardwon by a competing coal supplier. In June this year, the U.S.Supreme Court said West Virginia Supreme Court Justice BrentBenjamin shouldn’t have taken part in two 3-2 decisions thatblocked the award. Massey’s chairman, Donald Blankenship, hadspent $3 million to get Benjamin elected.

Ferguson banned for criticizing referee's fitness

WEMBLEY, England — Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was banned for four games and fined $32,000 Thursday for criticizing the fitness of a referee after a Premier League game.

Ferguson received the punishment when he appeared before a Football Association disciplinary panel at Wembley Stadium on a misconduct charge.

After his team tied 2-2 with Sunderland on Oct. 3, Ferguson said referee Alan Wiley was not fit enough to handle the game. Although he later apologized, the FA banned Ferguson from the bench for two domestic games and left two more suspended until the end of the 2010-11 season.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas [stats] outfoxed himself on the final play of last night’s 1-0 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.

The shootout entered the sudden-death phase after three skaters from both teams failed to slip the puck past either Thomas (23 saves) or Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun (40 saves). Panthers left winger Rostislav Olesz and center Stephen Weiss both attempted shots from the slot that sailed wide.

St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols and New York Yankees infielder Mark Teixeira, the National and American League home run leaders, were among those chosen Thursday to receive Silver Slugger awards.

The awards, instituted in 1980 to the best offensive player in each league at each position, are chosen by managers and coaches.

American League winners were first baseman Teixeira, second baseman Aaron Hill of Toronto, shortstop Derek Jeter of New York, third baseman Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay, catcher Joe Mauer of Minnesota, designated hitter Adam Lind of Toronto, and outfielders Torii Hunter of Los Angeles, Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle and Jason Bay of Boston.

Wall Street's mantra is that a weak dollar is a good thing, boosting U.S. exports and, by extension, the economy and employment.

But any export surge mightn't be big enough-or at least come quickly enough-to outweigh the potential downsides of a weaker currency.

The question will be front-and-center when the Census Bureau releases September trade data on Friday morning. Economists estimate that the U.S. trade deficit widened to $32 billion ...

WASHINGTON -- The Republican National Committee's health insurance plan covers elective abortions for its employees, an option Republicans strongly oppose in health overhaul legislation that Democrats are trying to push through Congress.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele learned of the policy's abortion coverage Thursday through a news report and immediately instructed staff to inform the insurance carrier that the RNC wanted to opt out of elective abortion coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said.

PISCATAWAY, N.J., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Tom Savage threw two touchdown passes Thursday and Rutgers held No. 24 South Florida to 154 yards of offense in blanking the Bulls 31-0.

Rutgers won its third straight game, improved to 7-2 and climbed to 2-2 in the Big East Conference. South Florida fell to 6-3 and 2-3.

Savage guided the Scarlet Knights 65 yards in nine plays on the opening drive of the game and finished it by hitting Mohamed Sanu with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Savage also had a 26-yard scoring toss to Tim Brown in the third period.

A suicide bomb blast struck near a US military base in the Afghan capital on Friday, officials said.

"It was a suicide attack near Camp Phoenix," said Zemaray Bashari, spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry.

"We have no information on who it was targeted against and no information on casualties," he told AFP.

A spokesman for NATO, which together with the US military maintains more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, confirmed an explosion near the base.

The early verdict Thursday on the settlement reached between Intel and Advanced Micro Devices over several legal disputes, including major antitrust charges against Intel? A win for the industry, for AMD and perhaps even for Intel, which will pay AMD $1.25 billion as part of the agreement, said industry analysts and channel partners of the two companies.In addition to the payment from Intel to AMD, the two companies have also ended a dispute over their x86 cross-license, with that arrangement extended another five years, and Intel also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions, which have yet to be detailed.

NEW YORK - Analysts say good timing alone doesn't account for trading in bullish 3Com Corp. options Wednesday, which gained as much as 315 percent yesterday.

Volume in contracts to buy shares of the company, based in Marlborough, surged to the highest level since September 2007 before Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would buy the maker of computer-networking equipment for $2.7 billion.

"I don't believe in that much luck,'' said Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at OptionsHouse LLC, the Chicago-based online brokerage unit of options trading firm PEAK6 Investments LP, and a former market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange...

LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao, or at least his image, is everywhere these days.

It’s on the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine, a blow-up of which is on an easel in the corner of the press room at the MGM Grand as if it’s a work of art. Considering how difficult it has been in recent years to get a boxing article even in Time’s sister publication, Sports Illustrated, one can see why people think so.

Operation Cast Lead in Gaza was perceived in Israel as a shining victory. Rocket fire from Gaza was brought to a halt almost completely. The Israel Defense Forces emerged from its failure during the Second Lebanon War and deployed ground forces with few casualties. "The world" let the operation continue and did not impose a cease-fire. A wonderful war.

Ten months later, it seems the victory was a Pyrrhic one. Israel did not realize that the rules have changed with Barack Obama's election as U.S. president. Prime minister Ehud Olmert timed Cast Lead to take place during the twilight period between the outgoing and incoming U.S.

DENVER — The parents who last month claimed that their 6-year-old son floated away in a balloon, a hoax that captured a national TV audience, will plead guilty today to avoid the possible deportation of the boy's mother, a Japanese citizen, a lawyer said Thursday.

Richard Heene will plead guilty to one felony charge of attempting to influence a public official, and Mayumi Heene will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false report to law enforcement, Richard Heene's attorney, David Lane, said.

Reporting from Jerusalem - Palestinian officials trying to organize a Jan. 24 election recommended Thursday that the vote be postponed, a move that could prolong uncertainty over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' political future and the prospect for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Abbas, who is considered a reliable and moderate leader by the West, threw the Palestinian Authority into a crisis last week by declaring he would not seek reelection. Since then, his Palestinian backers, along with some Israeli officials and leaders of Western governments, have urged him to reconsider.