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For the first time, Indian prosecutors are taking Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other networking sites to court for refusing to remove material considered insulting to Indian leaders and major religious figures.

Government officials are upset about material insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and major religious figures. Some illustrations have shown Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions and pigs running through Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

On Friday, the federal government told a New Delhi court that there was sufficient material to proceed against 21 social networking sites for offenses of “promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration,” according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The cases, which PTI said name companies including Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft, represent a new risk of doing business in the nation of more than 1 billion people, which is looking to technology to boost its economy and standard of living. The dispute highlights India’s difficulty in balancing the Internet culture of freewheeling discourse with its homegrown religious and political sensitivities.

Convictions could bring fines and up to five years’ imprisonment, through prosecutors have named only the companies involved rather than any executives. Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar on Friday asked India’s External Affairs Ministry to serve summons to officials of foreign-based companies for court appearances March 13 my credit score.

In December, Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal said he had spoken repeatedly with officials from major Internet companies over the past three months and asked them to come up with a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the Internet. He said that the companies told him there was nothing they could do.

There was no immediate comment by the networking sites after Friday’s court proceedings.

However, Facebook said last month that it would remove content that “is hateful, threatening, incites violence or contains nudity.”

Google said in a December statement that it removes content that violates local law and its own standards.

“But when content is legal and doesn’t violate our policies, we won’t remove it just because it’s controversial, as we believe that people’s differing views, so long as they’re legal, should be respected and protected,” Google said in a statement in December.

Sibal had shown reporters Web illustrations showing Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions as well as a site showing pigs running through Islam’s holy city of Mecca, a clear insult to Muslims.

Sibal said the Internet companies had told him that they were applying U.S. standards to their sites, and he objected, saying that they needed to be sensitive to Indian sensibilities.

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The addition of 200,000 new jobs in December shows that the economy is strengthening, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said on Friday.

“We have seen a steady firming up of our economy” in recent months with two million jobs created in the private sector of the past year, she told CNBC television.

“Now we are seeing a better trajectory, we are moving in the right direction.”

“In the last few months, on the whole I have seen good incremental increase in the private sector jobs, so on that side of the factor I would say, ‘Hey, that is not a bad thing at all,” she said free business cards.

But she urged the extension of the payroll tax cut and further measures to support continued improvement in the jobs market.

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U.K. manufacturing (PMITMUK) shrank less than economists forecast in December as demand increased in Germany and China.

A gauge of factory output based on a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply rose to 49.6 from a revised 47.7 in November, the groups said in an e-mailed statement today. The median forecast of 19 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a drop to 47.3 from an initially reported 47.6 in November. A level below 50 indicates contraction.

The sovereign debt turmoil in Europe, the U.K.

Gas prices unexpectedly rose more than 30 percent for the new year in Myanmar and sparked fears of other goods costing more as well.

Motorists learned of the increase at the pump Sunday when prices increased from 2,500 kyat (3.15 dollars) to 3,350 kyat (4.2 dollars) per Imperial gallon (4.5 liters).

The government made no announcement. But with the fuel price hike, and a new 40 percent electricity cost increase announced late last year, people are concerned about inflation of consumer goods, too.

Myanmar’s energy production is not enough to meet domestic demand, and it imports petrol and other fuels. The government subsidizes gas prices and rations it to two Imperial gallons (9 liters) a day.

An unannounced price hike in 2007 sparked anti-government protests that led to the “saffron rebellion.” The military government then in power crushed it, leaving at least 15 dead and thousands arrested.

The nominally civilian government that took power early last year has made political changes that have improved its relationship with citizens.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects conversion of Imperial gallon to liter, from 4.2 to 4.5. This story is part of AP’s general news and financial services.)

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The holiday shopping season turned out to be two seasons: the Black Friday binge and a last-minute surge.

Together, they added up to decent sales gains for retailers. And the doldrums in between showed how shoppers have learned to wait for the discounts they know will come.

“The days that the American consumer gets excited about 25 percent off are over,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group. “Shoppers are keeping their eye on the ball for the big sales events.”

In November, spending rose 4.1 percent. And from Dec. 1 to Dec. 24, it rose 4.7 percent compared with the same period last year, according to research firm ShopperTrak. A 4 percent increase is considered a healthy season.

The higher sales are good news for the economy, because they show shoppers were willing to fund a holiday splurge despite high unemployment and other lingering economic woes. Consumer spending, including major items such as health care, accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

Still, plenty of people are pinched for cash in the slow economic recovery, and they were seeking the best deals, which could squeeze stores’ profits for the fourth quarter, says Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner in the retail practice of A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm.

Stores have trained even shoppers who are primed to spend to look for a discount.

Heading into the season, stores were nervous that shoppers would be tight-fisted. Many officially opened the season with discounts on TVs and toys that started as early as Thanksgiving Day. Consumers came out in droves, resulting in record spending.

Then the frenzy tapered off. A mild winter and the fact that Christmas fell on a Sunday encouraged people to wait until the last minute and accentuated the peaks and valleys of spending.

Stores started to push more discounts to get shoppers to spend in the finale. In fact, retailers’ promotional e-mails from Sunday, Dec. 18, to Thursday, Dec. 22, spiked 34 percent, compared with the same period a year ago, according to Responsys, which tracks e-mail activity from more than 100 merchants.

According to Beemer’s consumer surveys, 60 percent of shoppers polled were looking for discounts of more than 50 percent to get them to buy. That’s up from last year’s 51 percent of shoppers polled.

Tracey Spears of Locust Grove, Ga., who was shopping Wednesday at Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall, said she got 75 percent of her holiday shopping done on Black Friday or the day after Thanksgiving. She took advantage of deals, including a Keurig coffee pot from Target and clothes from Hollister on sale.

“I had more money because I got a better bonus this year, but sales are important. You always want to buy stuff cheaper,” she said.

Spears and others helped to create pronounced waves in spending.

“The downs and ups were much more accentuated,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. “It just shows how cautious the consumer is. Consumers are bargain hunters more today than ever before.”

In the week before Christmas, last-minute shoppers gave retailers a 4.5 percent increase in revenue over the same week last year at stores open at least a year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. The index estimates sales at 24 major chain stores including Macy’s Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

Revenue at stores open at least a year is an important measure of a retailer’s performance because it excludes stores that open or close during the year.

Total retail revenue for the week that ended Saturday reached $44 billion, 14.8 percent higher than a year earlier, ShopperTrak estimates.

For the week that ended Nov. 26, which included the traditional start of holiday shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, stores had the biggest sales surge from the week before since 1993, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index.

The post-Black Friday lull was deeper than usual. The two weeks after Thanksgiving weekend showed the biggest percentage sales decline since 2000.

Then, during the final two weeks before Christmas, sales surged again, by the highest rate since 2005, Niemira said.

The season “was good but uneven,” he said.

Stores are expected to benefit when shoppers come back to spend gift cards, because people often spend more than the cards’ value. In addition, gift card sales are recorded only when shoppers redeem them.

People have more money on their cards to spend. According to an ICSC-Goldman Sachs survey of shoppers conducted Sunday, 18 percent of holiday spending went toward gift cards, up from 14.6 percent last year.

A total sales figure for the whole season won’t be available until after Dec. 31. And a fuller holiday spending picture will come Jan. 5, when stores including Target Corp. and Macy’s release December sales figures. Government retail sales data will be released in mid-January.

ICSC said it expects holiday sales for November and December to rise in line with its forecast of 3.5 percent. The National Retail Federation expects total retail sales for November and December combined to increase by 3.8 percent, up from its earlier forecast of 2.8 percent issued back in October. That’s still below the 5.2 percent holiday sales increase in 2010 from the previous year.

As proof that consumers are timing their spending to seek the best bargains, Black Friday was the biggest sales day, as expected, generating sales of $11.4 billion, up 6.6 percent from a year ago, according to ShopperTrak.

But the day after Christmas ranked fourth, behind Black Friday, Friday, Dec. 23, and Saturday, Dec. 17, according to final figures from ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin. Christmas Eve was strong too.

ShopperTrak measures foot traffic in 25,000 stores in the U.S. and blends those figures with economic data and proprietary sales figures from merchants. The data exclude sales from auto dealers, gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores.

“Shoppers are willing to spend when they know the biggest discounts are available,” Martin said.

Brooks Brothers, the upscale men’s and women’s clothier that doesn’t discount before Christmas, learned that this year. The Monday after Christmas, when the company offered discounts up to 40 percent, was a record spending day at its stores and its website.

“The first three weeks leading up to holiday were soft,” Lou Amendola, chief merchandising officer, wrote in an email. “But customers really partook in the after-Christmas sales.”

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The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong.

Since Jan. 1, the number of cows in Texas has dropped by about 600,000, a 12 percent decline from the roughly 5 million cows the state had at the beginning of the year, said David Anderson, who monitors beef markets for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. That’s likely the largest drop in the number of cows any state has ever seen, though Texas had a larger percentage decline from 1934 to 1935, when ranchers were reeling from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, Anderson said.

Anderson said many cows were moved “somewhere there’s grass,” but lots of others were slaughtered. He said that in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas, about 200,000 more cattle were slaughtered this year, a 20 percent increase over last year.

That extra supply could help meet increased demand from China and other countries, but the loss of cows likely will mean fewer cattle in future years.

“Consumers are going to pay more because we’re going to have less beef,” Anderson said. “Fewer cows, calves, less beef production and increasing exports.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that beef prices will increase up to 5.5 in 2012, in part because the number of cattle has declined. That follows a 9 percent increase in beef prices in the past year.

Oklahoma, the nation’s second-largest cattle producer, also saw about a 12 percent drop in cows, Oklahoma State University agriculture economist Derrell Peel said.

Anderson said beef production nationally will be down 4 percent next year.

In Texas, the problem is primarily due to the worst single-year drought in the state’s history. From January through November the state got just 46 percent of its normal rainfall of about 26 inches.

The drought was the result of a La Nina weather pattern, which brings drier than normal conditions to the southwestern states paydayloans. Forecasters have said La Nina is back, meaning another dry year for Texas, Oklahoma and other nearby states.

The lack of rain coupled with blistering summer heat caused pastures to wither, leaving rancher with the choice of buying feed for the cattle or selling them.

Betsy Ross, a 75-year-old rancher from the small central Texas community of Granger, said she sold all but 80 of the 225 grass-fed animals she had in January. With feed costs up 40 percent and her pasture parched, Ross said she didn’t have any other option.

“It’s not a profitable year, heavens no,” she said. “If you can’t keep them on grass when they’re grass fed you’re not going to make any money.”

About 200 miles north in Sulphur Springs, Texas, part-time rancher Dwyatt Bell said producers in his part of the state sold off up to half their herds. Bell said high prices for cattle have helped offset increases expenses, but many ranchers still are struggling to stay afloat.

“It’s been a rough year,” he said.

Across Texas, the drought has caused an estimated $5.2 billion in losses to farmers and livestock producers, and that figure is expected to rise

Nationally, the number of cows has dropped by an estimated 617,000 this year, a 2 percent decline from the 30.9 million animals on Jan. 1. That number would be larger, but states in northern plains such as North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, increased their cow herd.

Anderson said it’s unclear whether high beef prices would hurt U.S. sales or limit exports. The U.S. is the world third largest consumer of beef per capita at 85.5 pounds per year. Uruguay is first at 137 pounds per capita.

“Exports have been the strongest part of beef demand all year and they’re expected to remain so but higher prices should constrain their growth,” he said.

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Virgin America CEO David Cush believes flying doesn’t have to be painful. He remembers when boarding a plane was exciting and wants to bring back that joy.

That is why every job applicant, including pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers, takes a personality test. He wants employees who are hard-wired with positive outlooks on life.

Virgin America, which is partly owned by Richard Branson, the founder of the edgy British airline Virgin Atlantic, doesn’t aim to be the biggest carrier. It only flies between big cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, serving about 5 million passengers annually _ a tiny fraction of the size of major airlines like Delta and United.

But Cush wants Virgin America to be recognized for superior quality _ and he appears to be succeeding. The airline, based near San Francisco, has routinely ranked at the top of customer surveys.

The past month has been a little rocky, though. Since the airline switched to a new reservation system on Oct. 28, customers have not been able to change or cancel flights online or select seats on Virgin America’s website. Instead, they’ve had to call the airline or wait until they got to the airport. Cush emailed a letter to the 56,000 passengers affected apologizing for the problem and the airline says it hopes to have it fully resolved by the first week in December.

Virgin America’s fleet is made up of brand-new Airbus A319s and A320s, fuel-efficient aircraft that seat 119 and 146. Each is equipped with TVs for every passenger, colorful mood lighting and Wi-Fi. Instead of flight attendants dictating meal times, passengers buy food when they want it by pressing a few buttons on their TV.

“If you talk to people about what is most frustrating about air travel, what comes out is the loss of control,” Cush says. “We’ve been pushing to give people control again.”

Virgin isn’t the first U.S. airline to use TVs and friendly service to attract customers. Cush acknowledges some copying as he works to create the California version of New York-based JetBlue.

“JetBlue came around and had a different type of service. That opened my eyes,” he says.

But his quest to create a fun airline has been stymied by more serious concerns like high fuel prices and a recession whose impact is still being felt.

Since it started flying in August 2007, Virgin America has lost $661.4 million. Cush expects to become profitable in 2012, a year later than originally planned.

The privately held company is owned by a New York hedge fund, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and private investors, including Donald J. Carty, the former head of American Airlines’ parent company, AMR Corp.

Cush, 51, spent most of his career at American and left to head up Virgin America just four months after the airline started flying.

The Shreveport, La.-native is a graduate of Southern Methodist University _ yet a giant Louisiana State University football fan.

In his spare time, Cush likes to swim and fish. In college, he was a DJ, spinning Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd tunes.

Cush visited The Associated Press in New York. Below are excerpts, edited for clarity, of the interview where he spoke about the health of American, his favorite seat and why risk-taking is necessary to survive.

Q: How is Virgin America different?

A: The biggest difference is our in-flight entertainment system. It’s a nine-inch screen _ larger than JetBlue. We’ve got live TV, on-demand movies, about 3,000 MP3s. We have food and drink on-demand. We’re the only airline in the world that has it. You order from the seatback, swipe your credit card. They see seat 12C wants a turkey sandwich and a Heineken and bring it to you on a tray. Carts aren’t blocking the aisles.

Q: Who came up with that?

A: This was designed before my time but as I tell people, as time goes on and memories fade it will become my idea.

Q: How much more are people willing to pay for these services?

A: The model is getting them to pay the same amount with a much lower production cost.

Q: How can you attract business travelers when your miles can’t be redeemed for Hawaii, Europe or other places you don’t serve?

A: The mile problem will be solved early next year. We have basic agreements with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia that will be fully reciprocal. We also have agreements with Cathay Pacific, Singapore and Emirates that will develop into frequent flier relationships.

Q: In Dallas, you’re telling fliers to “dump your older airline for a younger, hotter one.” American responded by slashing fares to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Can you survive this fare war?

A: We’ll survive. At current fares, it will not be a profitable route but it wouldn’t be such a loss-making one where we would consider any type of reduction. You have to be in Dallas-Fort Worth if you’re going to be a business airline.

Q: In one ad you refer to American as running a cattle car. If you feel that way, how could you have worked there for 22 years?

A: It wasn’t always that way. The industry, out of survival, did a lot of things. One of the reasons I left was because I didn’t think the industry had to operate that way.

Q: Why did you get into the business?

A: I don’t think anyone knows why they get in unless they are a pilot or an aviation enthusiast. I wanted to live in Dallas. American was a big employer. Young, single, the ability to fly around anywhere you wanted to, it all sounded pretty good. Once you get in, you find it so intellectually demanding that you can’t see yourself doing anything else.

Q: Do you think that American is on the right path?

A: It’s hard to tell. There’s a culture there that is perhaps a bit risk-averse. In the past, it was always an airline that was willing to accept risk. The industry’s consolidated around it and all of a sudden American finds itself in third place. I don’t know if they have the answer. I do know their top guys. They’re smart, capable but at some point you need to stick your neck out a little bit if you’re going to get out of a rut.

Q: Are you a risk-taker?

A: Absolutely. But I don’t take unnecessary risk and I always have an exit strategy.

Q: Mile for mile, airplanes burn more fuel than cars, trucks or trains. Do you think this poses a problem for the industry?

A: If we don’t find a way to clean up air travel, we’ll become a pariah. We’ll be what the coal companies used to be.

Q: You’re in 14 markets. Where would you like to fly to next?

A: We’ve been trying to get into Newark, (N.J.) since the day we started. This is a huge policy issue _ slots and gates are tied up by legacy carriers. The economics of keeping us out of Newark are huge for United so they’ll fly unprofitable (regional jets) just to occupy slots. When we go into markets, fares drop by 30 or 40 percent.

Q: When you fly your own airline you always pick the second row of coach. Why?

A: I get to watch the interaction between our in-flight teammates and the customers in first. It’s a nice seat, 4A.

Q: A window.

A: I’m a window guy. Our in-flight entertainment system has Google Maps. You zoom in when you see something on the ground you’re interested in.

Q: How would you describe yourself as a boss?

A: I’m probably a tough guy to work for. I’m pretty demanding and part of the reason is the airline business is a demanding business. We have very little margin for error in building this into a successful company. We have 2,500 people that rely on us for a paycheck.

Q: Do you ever get overshadowed by Richard Branson?

A: All the time. People want to talk to him, they want to see him. When he’s around, I’m just the hired help.

Q: How much patience do you have for unprofitable routes?

A: We stopped service to two different places. One because we needed the aircraft, that was Orange County, (Calif.). We didn’t see that as a big strategic need. The other is Toronto. We misjudged the market.

Q: Did you fire the guy who pushed that route?

A: That was me, so no.

Q: In ten years, do you see Virgin America being a full-blown national airline?

A: That’s not our goal. The biggest discipline we need to have is not outgrowing the model. That means maybe 100, 150 aircraft, probably no more. The goal would be to be consistently profitable, the highest quality airline where we can hopefully make a few hours of people’s day a little bit nicer.

Q: Will you go public?

A: As much as it’s nice being private _ because you don’t have to manage to the short term and there are a lot of burdensome regulations that come from being public _ ultimately we need to (do an initial public offering.) It’s a capital-intensive business. We need to tap public markets and our investors want to take some money off the table. It could be 2013 if the market is ready.

Q: How do you unwind after leaving the office?

A: I do a lot of yoga. It’s a nice way to separate the mind from what you’ve gone through all day.

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Boeing is starting to fly right.

An Indonesian airline’s commitment to buy $21.7 billion worth of new planes is the latest good news for the company after a year when some things could have gone better.

Earlier this week, Emirates Airlines ordered $18 billion worth of 777s. Both deals come shortly after Boeing finally began delivering its two newest planes, the next-generation 787 and the latest version of the iconic 747.

Just a year ago, the outlook was dicier.

The new 787 was already running nearly three years late when an electrical fire on a test plane in November 2010 forced it to suspend flight tests. The revamped 747 was running late, too. And Airbus announced plans to put a new engine on its A320, making the plane more fuel efficient and a more potent competitor to Boeing’s 737.

The Airbus move forced Boeing to switch gears and offer a new-engine version of its 737 rather than build an all-new plane as it had originally expected to do.

Boeing needed some successes, and it found them in Asia and the Middle East, where rising wealth is turning more people into travelers.

Boeing expects demand for 11,450 planes in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 20 years, more than in any other part of the world. That number includes planes made by Boeing and competitors such as Airbus and new entrants into the market. Airbus has already booked 1,268 firm orders for its A320neo, so named for its “new engine option.”

The commitment by Indonesia’s Lion Air announced on Thursday is for 230 Boeing 737s. Lion Air also has options for 150 more planes, valued at $14 billion, bringing the deal’s total potential value to $35 billion.

The order would be Boeing’s largest ever in terms of both volume and dollars.

“This order is a big deal,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a research note to clients. The deal “gives a meaningful boost to Boeing’s backlog.”

Most of the planes are the 737 Max, a new version of Boeing’s most popular plane with more fuel-efficient engines. It won’t be delivered to its first customer until 2017. Boeing has said it has about 600 commitments for the 737 Max.

But the Lion Air deal is not a certainty. The airline still has to finalize the order, and it’s struggling no teletrek payday advance. The Jakarta Post reported in August that Lion Air was ordered to ground 13 planes so it would have more in reserve because it had too many late flights.

“There’s always a risk that a deal’s going to fall through,” Citi analyst Jason Gursky said. “It’s a brutal industry, and when we go through periods of slower economic growth, there will be failures. It’s Boeing’s job to pick the winners and losers. But I think they’re pretty agnostic right now as to who they sell to.”

Gursky said Boeing went on “order holiday” in 2011 because it didn’t have a product to sell. That has changed now that it decided to put a new engine on the 737. He expects Boeing’s deliveries to increase by 27 percent next year, compared with a 9 percent increase at Airbus.

“That’s why we think this year is going to be the year of Boeing,” he said.

Even before Lion Air announced its plans, Boeing has been ramping up production to try to meet demand for the 737 as well as the 777, a larger plane used mostly on international routes. It already has a backlog of 2,191 737s that have been ordered by airlines around the world but not yet built.

Boeing already completes about one 737 every day in Renton, Wash. It is raising that to 42 per month in 2014. It has not yet said whether the 737 Max will be assembled in Renton or somewhere else, perhaps in South Carolina, where it is opening a second assembly line for its new 787.

Boeing already employs some 80,000 people in Washington state. Gursky, the analyst, has written that the biggest risk to Boeing’s planned rate increases appears to be its ability to hire the thousands of new workers it will need.

Lion Air already has orders for 125 more Boeing 737-900ERs. Its fleet currently stands at 73 planes, according to Airfleets.net. Sixty-five of those are Boeing 737s.

Also Thursday, Boeing said that aircraft leasing company Aviation Capital Group had ordered 20 of its 737-800s and committed to buy 35 of the planned 737 Max.

Shares of Chicago-based Boeing fell 25 cents Thursday to close at $66.09.

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Prime Minister-designate Mario Monti of Italy says he is ready to present his new government to the president on Wednesday after winning wide backing from political, business and union leaders.

Monti expressed his “serenity” and “conviction” in Italy’s ability to overcome the difficult phase of its economic crisis. He told reporters Tuesday evening that he had received assurances from various parties that they would endure sacrifices for the greater good of the country.

The economics professor tapped to head Italy’s next government has been holding intense talks for two days, seeking support for his mission to steer the eurozone’s third-largest economy through its debt crisis.

Monti’s government must then win confidence votes in both houses of Parliament, expected later this week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ROME (AP) _ Italy’s prime minister-designate is ready to present his new government on Wednesday after winning wide backing from political, business and union leaders for his Cabinet and economic reforms during intense consultations aimed at steering the euro zone’s third-largest economy through its debt crisis.

Italian news reports said Monti would present details of his government on Wednesday morning. Monti’s government must then win confidence votes in both houses of Parliament, expected this week.

Monti, a respected economist and former European commissioner, is under pressure to quickly reassure markets that Italy will avoid a default that could tear apart the 17 countries that use the euro currency and push the global economy back into recession.

Monti, 68, has already shown his determination to press through deep reforms by making it clear he intends to serve until regularly scheduled elections in 2013, rejecting calls for an early vote.

On Tuesday, after rounds of meetings, Monti garnered support from the center-left Democratic Party, Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party and the Confindustria, a powerful business lobby.

“We strongly support the birth of this government because for us it is the last chance to regain credibility,” Confindustria leader Emma Marcegaglia said.

Union leader Raffaele Bonanni said Monti was close to completing his Cabinet at the time of their meeting Tuesday afternoon.

“Monti told us that he has reached an agreement with the main political forces that will give him a consistent parliamentary majority that will support him and he will very quickly be in a position to present the list of ministers,” said Bonanni, leader of the powerful CISL union no credit check payday loans.

Despite reports of progress, European markets closed lower Tuesday as investors worried that politicians might pull their support in the future if austerity measures proved unpalatable.

Amid the uncertainty, the yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds jumped again to 6.94 percent. Last week’s spike above 7 percent _ a level considered unsustainable in the long term _ raised fears Italy would eventually need a bailout like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

But a financial debacle in Italy raises a whole new set of problems, because the country is considered too big for Europe to bail out.

Monti was asked to form a government Sunday after Berlusconi resigned amid weeks of market turmoil over Italy’s stagnant growth and high public debt, which at euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) is nearly 120 percent of GDP.

Many of those debts are coming due soon, with Italy having to roll over more than euro300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone.

Monti met Tuesday with the head of the Democratic Party and Angelino Alfano, leader of the Peoples of Freedom party.

“We think, in light of the facts and after this latest conversation, that Professor Monti’s attempts are destined to turn out well,” Alfano told reporters afterward.

Previously, his party had conditioned its support on the shape of Monti’s cabinet, his government agenda and the duration of his term.

Pierluigi Bersani, head of the Democratic Party, pledged support and placed no timeframe on Monti’s tenure.

Only the Northern League, Berlusconi’s allies, have refused to support his government. They wanted early elections this spring, something Monti has rejected.

The EU, meanwhile, says said new measures will be necessary for Italy to balance its budget as promised by 2013. The eurozone avoided contracting in the third quarter, thanks mainly to Germany and France, but is widely expected to fall into recession imminently as a result of its raging debt crisis.

Monti says Italians will have to make some sacrifices to get through the crisis but “not tears and blood.”

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Nicaraguan president and one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega appears headed for victory Sunday in an election that his critics say could be the prelude to a presidency-for-life.

Since returning to power in 2007, the 65-year-old Ortega has boosted his popularity in Central America’s poorest country with a combination of pork-barrel populism and support for the free-market economy he once opposed.

Now, riding on a populist platform and World Bank praise for his economic strategies, he seeks a third term _ his second consecutive one _ after the Sandinista majority on the Supreme Court overruled the term limits set by the Nicaraguan constitution.

With nearly 50 percent of voter support and an 18-point lead over his nearest challenger in the most recent poll, Ortega could end up with a mandate that would not only legitimize his re-election but allow him to make constitutional changes guaranteeing perpetual re-election.

He leads his closest competitor, opposition radio station owner Fabio Gadea of the Liberal Independent Party, by 18 points. Conservative Arnoldo Aleman, a former president and perennial candidate, has 11 percent support in the poll taken between Oct. 10-17 with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Ortega led the Sandinista movement that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, and withstood a concerted effort by the U.S. government, which viewed him as a Soviet-backed threat, to oust him through a rebel force called the Contras.

The fiery, mustachioed leftist ruled through a junta, then was elected in 1984 but was defeated after one term in 1990. After two more failed runs, he softened his rhetoric, took a free-market stance, and regained the presidency in the 2006 election.

To his supporters, he is just plain Daniel, while opponents say that in his new incarnation, he has espoused “Orteguismo,” a politics of personality based on Christianity, socialism and free enterprise.

In his most recent term, Ortega has built wide support among the youth and the poor in a country of 5.8 million people, more than 40 percent of whom live on less than $2 a day.

He also has maintained ties to the U.S. even as he has grown closer to Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez, signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement and cultivated Nicaragua’s large business sector. Per capita income, one of the lowest in Latin America, has grown steadily since 2006, according to the World Bank, which has praised Ortega’s macroeconomic policies as “broadly favorable.”

Still, he has been helped immensely by Chavez, who according to estimates has provided at least $500 million a year in discounted oil and outright donations.

Many warn his success comes at democracy’s expense. Claims of widespread fraud in the 2008 municipal elections led Washington to cancel $62 million in development aid.

The 2006 election drew more than 18,000 election observers. This time election observation is much more difficult and local observers are being denied credentials.

The European Union and the Organization of America States have negotiated access to Sunday’s vote. The Carter Center, whose Nicaragua delegation was led by former President Jimmy Carter in 2006, has elected not to observe because of the restrictions.

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