Questions remain, however, about Sharif's stance on another key issue: violent Islamic extremism. Critics have accused his party of being soft on radicals because it hasn't cracked down on militant groups in its stronghold of Punjab province.

That could be a concern for the United States, which has pushed Pakistan for years to take stronger action against a variety of Islamic militant groups, especially fighters staging cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

As unofficial returns rolled in Sunday, a day after the election, state TV estimates put Sharif close to the majority in the national assembly needed to govern outright for the next five years. Even if he falls short of that threshold, independent candidates almost certain to swing in Sharif's favour would give his Pakistan Muslim League-N party a ruling majority.

That would put the 63-year-old Sharif in a much stronger position than the outgoing Pakistan People's Party, which ruled for five years with a weak coalition that was often on the verge of collapse.

Pakistan suffers from a growing energy crisis, with some areas experiencing power outages for up to 18 hours a day. That has seriously hurt the economy, pushing growth below 4 per cent a year. The country needs a growth rate of twice that to provide jobs for its expanding population of 180 million.

Ballooning energy subsidies and payments to keep failing public enterprises afloat have steadily eaten away at the government's finances, forcing the country to seek another unpopular bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Pakistan also has an ineffective tax system, depriving the government of funds.

Sharif, the son of a wealthy industrialist, is seen by many as more likely to tackle the country's economic problems effectively because much of his party's support comes from businessmen. He is also expected to push for better relations with Pakistan's archenemy and neighbour India, which could help the economy.

The Pakistan People's Party was widely perceived to have done little on the economic front.

"Anything better than zero and you have already improved on the PPP's performance in terms of managing the economy," said Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.

The former ruling party was soundly beaten in Saturday's election. Sharif's party was leading in contests for 127 seats, just short of the 137 directly elected seats needed to form a majority, state TV said.

The PPP was ahead in contests for 32 national assembly seats, a significant drop from the 91 seats the party won in the 2008 election.

Independent candidates were leading in more than 20 contests, and they historically join the party that forms the government, which would leave the Pakistan Muslim League-N with a majority.

"I'm sure business and the economy will be far better in a couple of years," said Amir Nayaz, one of hundreds of Sharif supporters who gathered outside his home in Punjab's capital, Lahore, beating on drums, dancing and chanting slogans.

It was a remarkable comeback for the two-time prime minister, who was toppled in a 1999 coup by then-army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf and was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia for years. He returned in 2007, and his party came in second in elections the following year.

Over the last five years, Sharif put steady pressure on the PPP-led government. But because he was wary of army interference, he never applied enough pressure to threaten the government's hold on power. That attitude helped enable parliament to complete its term and transfer power in democratic elections for the first time since the country was founded in 1947.

President Barack Obama praised "the historic peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power."

In an ironic twist, the man who toppled Sharif in a military coup, Musharraf, is currently under house arrest in the country after returning from self-imposed exile. It will be up to Sharif's government to decide whether to bring treason charges against Musharraf in the Supreme Court.

Sharif's party managed to weather a serious challenge from former cricket star Imran Khan, whose criticism of the country's traditional politicians energized the youth. Even though Khan failed to deliver his promised "political tsunami," his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party did much better than it had historically.

It was leading in contests for 31 national assembly seats, state TV said, and appeared to be in position to possibly form the government in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The party boycotted elections in 2008 and only won one national assembly seat in 2002.

The Pakistani Taliban, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government, tried to derail the election with attacks. More than 150 people were killed with guns and bombs in the run-up to the election, including 29 on election day.

The deadly campaign failed to keep people away from the polls. Turnout was nearly 60 per cent, the highest in more than 40 years, the election commission said. But the violence, which mainly targeted secular parties, may have helped candidates seen as taking a softer line toward the militants, like Sharif and Khan, because they were able to campaign more freely.

Sharif has called for negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban but hasn't said clearly whether he thinks army operations against the militants should continue until peace is achieved. His party, which has ruled Punjab for the past five years, has not taken any clear action against the powerful Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group based in that province. Those militants are blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.

"I don't think that these guys have enough understanding of the risk," said Imtiaz Gul, director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies, referring to Sharif's party members. "They think they cannot afford to stoke unnecessary trouble for them by cracking down on people or groups who are extremists or terrorists."

It's also unclear what Sharif's policy will be toward neighbouring Afghanistan, where the U.S. plans to withdraw most of its combat troops by 2014 and is seeking help from Pakistan to negotiate peace with the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan and Afghanistan have long had tense relations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised "full co-operation" with Pakistan's new government Sunday, but alluded to the often-hostile relationship between the two countries and suspicions that Islamabad has aided insurgents and contributed to Afghanistan's instability.

"We hope that the new elected government provides the ground for peace and brotherhood with Afghanistan" and co-operates "in rooting out terrorist sanctuaries," he said.

The U.S. and Pakistan have also had a troubled relationship, especially after the 2011 American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani army town.

Sharif is expected to be somewhat more nationalistic and protective of state sovereignty when it comes to relations with the U.S. than the outgoing government. He defied U.S. opposition to Pakistan's nuclear test in 1998 and has criticized unpopular American drone attacks targeting militants in the country. But that doesn't mean the relationship will radically change, especially since the army often plays a dominant role in foreign policy issues.

"At the end of the day, Sharif is a businessman, and he looks at these things through a kind of pragmatic analysis," Almedia said. "I don't see any reason for him to want ties with U.S. to be poor, tense or troublesome."

___

Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana, Munir Ahmed and Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Kathy Gannon in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

___

Abbot reported from Islamabad.

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Carrie Underwood has assumed the title of "Sunday Night Football's" resident country-music singer.

"American Idol" winner Underwood has been tapped to replace Faith Hill as the singer of the opening theme song, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night," NBC said Tuesday.

Underwood will make her "Sunday Night Football" premiere on September 8, as NBC kicks off its first "SNF" broadcast of the 2013 NFL season with a faceoff between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants.

"I am thrilled to be a part of NBC's 'Sunday Night Football' and am so honored they asked me," Underwood said. "I have always loved football season, and it is so exciting to now become part of it every Sunday night!"

"Sunday Night Football" producer Fred Gaudelli added, "Carrie Underwood was our first and only choice to perform the 'Sunday Night Football' opening. She's one of America's most popular entertainers and the perfect fit for our show."

Hill announced that she was leaving the hugely popular sports show in April, noting on Twitter, "Amazing 2 have been part of SNF - an honor. I've just let everyone there know it's time 2 let someone else rock the open."

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Richwine's dissertation focused on differences in IQ scores and what they suggested for immigration policy.how he explained his findings at a public event in 2008:

Revelations about Richwine's previous work put the Heritage Foundation in a serious quandary, one which . Yesterday, a spokesperson for Heritagewhile distancing itself from any previous statements. The Heritage spokesperson said that Richwine was only a secondary "number-cruncher," and not the lead author who developed the methodology.

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Such defenses were unsustainable given Richwine's long record of similar racism. Over at The Atlantic,the various previous instances in which Richwine maligned the intellectual capabilities of non-whites. "Richwine's belief that intelligence is determined by biology and genes," she writes, "is something he's been peddling around conservative institutions in Washington, D.C., for years."  Richwine's colleagues often worked to dissuade him from doing so. Clearly, it didn't work.

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None of the outcry has stopped those who embrace the findings of the report (which , Richwine's beliefs aside) from rising to his and its defense. Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin wrote

Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve which met with similar critiques of its racial analysis, tweeted his support for Richwine.

Thank God I was working for Chris DeMuth and AEI, not Jim DeMint and Heritage, when The Bell Curve was published. Integrity. Loyalty. Balls.

Should you need it, ourwhy Richwine's IQ arguments are incorrect.

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Photo: An immigration protestor in Georgia. (AP)

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 5.2 percent to 104.8 in October. Excluding a few months when the index spiked because of a homebuyer tax credit, that is the highest level since March 2007.

The increase points to healthy sales increases of previously occupied homes in the months ahead. There's generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.

The rise in sales adds to evidence of a steady housing recovery. Builders are more confident in sales and are starting construction on more homes. Home prices are rising on a consistent basis, which encourages more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market if they gain confidence that they can sell at a good price.

The report is "another indicator suggesting that the recovery in housing has broadened and has sustained momentum," Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.

Signed contracts jumped 15.6 percent in the Midwest and rose 5.5 percent in the South. But they fell 1.1 percent in the West and dipped 0.1 percent in the Northeast.

Superstorm Sandy lowered pending sales in the Northeast, the Realtors' group said. The West was hurt by low inventories of available homes.

Mortgage rates remained near record lows this week. The average rate on the 30-year loan was 3.32 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said, just above 3.31 percent last week, which was the lowest on records dating to 1971.

A big reason for the rebound in housing is that the excess supply of homes that built up before the housing crisis has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale has fallen to a 10-year low. The inventory of new homes is also near the lowest level since 1963.

At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.

Those trends are also pushing up home sales and construction. Sales of previously occupied homes are near five-year highs, excluding temporary spikes in 2009 and 2010 when a homebuyer tax credit boosted purchases.

Builders, meanwhile, are more optimistic that the recovery will endure. A measure of their confidence rose to the highest level in six and a half years this month. And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years last month.

Nonetheless, many of the world's stock indexes remained within touching distance of their recent record highs after the 4,000 fall in U.S. claims to a new five-year low of 327,000.

"The latest reading continues to come in below forecast and so provides a positive surprise," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

However, the claims figures, coming on top of last week's surprisingly strong monthly nonfarm payrolls data for April, failed to help European stocks recover earlier losses or and give an early boost to U.S. trading.

In Europe, Germany's DAX, which has set a series of record highs, was up a further 0.16 percent at 8,262. The CAC-40 in France ended Thursday 0.7 percent lower at 3,942 while the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares dropped slightly, 0.02 percent, to 6,581, broadly unaffected by the expected decision by the Bank of England to keep its monetary policy unchanged.

Trading in many parts of Europe was light as many countries were on a public holiday, though markets remained open.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.05 percent at 15,1097 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,628.

The claims figures helped shore up the dollar, which was making another attempt to breach the 100 yen mark. Several attempts over the past few weeks have just fallen short. It was 0.4 percent higher at 99.34 yen, while the euro was trading 0.4 percent lower at $1.3104.

Earlier, government figures showing China's consumer price index rose 2.4 percent in the year to April, up from 2.1 percent the previous month and ahead of expectations of a more modest advance to 2.2 percent, had given the markets a soft tone.

Many reasons have been cited for the recent strength of stock markets around the world, including hopes over the U.S. economy, a seeming easing in Europe's debt crisis and an aggressive new monetary policy from the Bank of Japan.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.7 percent to 14,191.48 a modest retreat after a strong run that's sent the Nikkei up to five-year highs.

Another aspect of the Bank of Japan's massive monetary stimulus has been to weaken the yen dramatically. That feeds through into stocks as a lower currency makes the country's exports relatively cheaper.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.1 percent to 23,211.48 after the Chinese inflation figures. However, mainland Chinese shares were mixed with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.6 percent to 2,232.97 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 967.69.

South Korea's Kospi index was also in focus as it jumped 1.2 percent to 1,979.45 after the Bank of Korea lowered its benchmark interest rate for the first time in seven months. In announcing that it was lowering the rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent, the Bank of Korea became the latest central bank to take steps to boost flagging economic growth.

Oil prices drifted lower following recent strong gains the benchmark New York contract was down 83 cents at $95.79 a barrel.

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - If you wondered when the post-"Saturday Night Live" curse, which has led to any number of rotten movies featuring former Not Ready for Prime Time Players, would hit the talented Tina Fey, that day has come.

In Fey's case, the curse comes in the form of "Admission," a comedy that isn't funny, a love story that never sparks with serious moments that might have worked in a smarter movie but here represent only a jarring shift in tone.

Would that Fey had been as choosy and critical about the screenplay by Karen Croner ("One True Thing") as her character is about personal essays attached to applications to Princeton University.

Portia Nathan (Fey) has spent years standing at the Ivy League college's gates, seeking out the nation's best and brightest high school students and ruthlessly culling the ones who don't measure up. This school year promises to be a challenging one: not only is Portia's boss (Wallace Shawn) retiring, leaving her to compete with office rival Corinne (Gloria Reuben) for a promotion, but Portia's English professor boyfriend Mark (Michael Sheen) has just dumped her for colleague Helen (Sonya Walger).

Adding to her complications is an encounter with an old classmate, John Pressman (Paul Rudd), a globe-trotting do-gooder whose current project is an alternative school in the wilds of New England. He gets her to do a school visit, mainly so she can meet Jeremiah (Nat Wolff of "The Naked Brothers Band"), an enthusiastic pupil who has blossomed from D-student to self-taught genius. John thinks Jeremiah would be perfect for Princeton; he also thinks that Jeremiah is the son that Portia put up for adoption when she was an undergrad.

As with "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," "Admission" offers situations that are ripe with comic potential and talented performers who are more than capable of bringing the funny, while offering very little in the way of laughs. We're never made to care very much about Portia's romantic or workplace problems - whereas we absolutely cared about both in regards to Liz Lemon on "30 Rock" - and while Rudd and Fey are eminently empathetic and charming performers, their romantic chemistry never clicks.

Also irritating is the weirdly misogynistic streak running through the film. Taylor Swift and Jezebel.com notwithstanding, Fey has earned a reputation as a smart and ferociously funny feminist, so it's more than a little annoying that the female supporting characters are so lazily drawn: Portia's mother Susannah (Lily Tomlin) is an old-school Women's Libber with a Bella Abzug tattoo (and cats named for Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan), but she goes from firebrand to simpering ninny after just one night of passion with a studly Russian professor. The only other women of consequence are Corinne and Helen, both two-dimensional gorgons.

Director Paul Weitz, when collaborating with his brother Chris, showed a real deftness for witty adult comedy in films like "About a Boy" and "In Good Company," but here the jokes tend to clang, and the dramatic bits - particularly a rather hateful confrontation between Portia and Susannah - come flying in out of nowhere.

Everyone involved in "Admission" has done far better work in the past and will, with any luck, succeed again in the future, so maybe "Denial" would have been a better title for a movie that's going to be missing from a lot of rsums.

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - For years, Apple Inc was a stock investor's dream regardless of the market environment. But now concern about the iPhone maker's growth has made many investors wary about a big share swing after its earnings are released on Tuesday.

Options pricing on Friday suggested a post-earnings move of about 7.5 percent by April 26. That is far more than in the past and reflects the fact that Apple stock has become more volatile.

The company, once the world's largest by market value, saw its shares close below $400 on Thursday for the first time since December 2011. It has shed nearly $300 billion in market value since peaking at $705.07 a share in September.

"Being a bear on Apple used to be a lonely position. The tables have turned," said Enis Taner, global macro editor at options research firm RiskReversal.com in New York.

A 7.5 percent swing for Apple would be the fourth largest one-day post-earnings move in the last five years, according to research firm Birinyi Associates. That could take shares as high as $419.20 or as low as $360.80, based on the weekly $390 "straddle" expiring on April 26, which cost $29.20 on Friday.

Traders use prices on the straddle to estimate the market's view of the potential range of a stock going into an event such as earnings. A straddle combines the purchase of a call option and put option with the same strike price and expiration date.

A move of 7.5 percent would exceed the average move in Apple after its earnings, which in the last eight quarters has been 5.4 percent. Apple's biggest post-earnings swing was a 12.4 percent drop on January 23 of this year.

Apple is expected to report an 8 percent increase in quarterly revenue, among the weakest displays of quarterly growth in years, according to estimates. Earnings per share are expected to fall 18 percent as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and other rivals erode market share for phones and tablets and put downward pressure on margins.

Because the stock was such a stalwart, investors for years knew it was difficult to go against the crowd. Between July 2009 and November 2012, short interest - the percentage of shares borrowed by investors who "short," or bet against, the stock - on Apple never exceeded two percent of the company's shares outstanding. At the current 2.1 percent, Apple's short interest is still lower than 55 percent of U.S. companies, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine.

Expectations of how much the stock is likely to move in coming weeks have also increased. Apple options show implied volatility for the next 30 days was 43.5 percent on Friday, according to data from options analytics firm Livevol.

That implies about a 4 percent move in the stock in either direction in the next month, said Livevol managing director Ophir Gottlieb.

Historic volatility for Apple for the 30-day period over the past year was about 34 percent. It has been rising over the past several months.

Many analysts still expect the stock to rebound because of still-strong demand for Apple's products. But there are many institutions that own shares bought at higher prices and they might remain a source of selling pressure if buyers surface, said Phil Erlanger, president of institutional research firm Phil Erlanger Research in Acton, Massachusetts.

"The problem for Apple is that those that have hung onto their shares after September will represent significant supply, which tends to squash any short-term advance," Erlanger said.

Apple is currently trading at nine times trailing earnings and 45 of 58 analysts polled by Reuters give the stock a "strong buy" or "buy" rating. According to Thomson Reuters Starmine, Apple's intrinsic value - a price target based on expected growth rates over the next decade - was about $565 a share.

The stock closed 0.4 percent lower on Friday at $390.53.

(Reporting By Angela Moon and Doris Frankel; Editing by David Gaffen and Andre Grenon)

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index recorded its second-biggest percentage jump of the year so far on Tuesday, boosted by gains in almost all main sectors and in Suncor Energy Incshares after a strong earnings showing.

The climb helped the index, which has advanced in eight of the last nine sessions, recover from a massive commodities-led selloff earlier this month and turn positive on the year.

An 18 percent jump in CGI Group Incafter the information technology services company reported strong fiscal second-quarter results further lifted sentiment.

Investors also closely eyed potential actions by central banks as weak European economic data heightened expectations of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank. U.S. Federal Reserve members gathered for a two-day meeting at which they are expected to agree to sustain the bond-buying program.

Despite the recent gains, the Toronto market is flat this year so far, compared with a nearly 12 percent rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index .

"The TSX is in a good position to narrow the performance gap," said Elvis Picardo, strategist and vice president of research at Global Securities in Vancouver.

"We've been lagging this whole bull run," he added. "You just have to wonder if investors have been too downbeat on Canada's prospects over the past few months."

Canada's economy delivered a welcome surprise in February, growing faster than expected and prompting economists to upgrade their forecasts for the first quarter, although none expect the central bank to raise interest rates any time soon.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite indexclosed up 143.83 points, or 1.17 percent, at 12,456.50.

Nine of the 10 main sectors of the index were higher.

Suncor rose 6 percent as Canada's largest energy company increased its dividend 54 percent, said it would buy back C$2 billion ($1.97 billion) of its own shares and reported first-quarter earnings that surpassed expectations. Suncor had the biggest positive influence on the index.

"It's a pleasant surprise," Irwin Michael, portfolio manager at ABC Funds, said of Suncor's results.

"You need more of the big companies doing a little better than expected," he added. "We expect to see more dividend increases and better earnings as well."

Suncor's gains offset declines in other major oil and gas producers, which fell with oil prices.

The index's materials sector, which includes mining stocks, rose 1.4 percent. In the group, miner Goldcorp Incadvanced 2.2 percent to C$29.82.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, added 0.9 percent.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)

(Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

"We enthusiastically support the proposal for international food aid reform in President Obama's FY 2014 federal budget plan. Under the Obama proposal our nation's food aid would reach millions more people by encouraging the purchase of local food from farmers and producers in developing countries rather than shipping the vast majority of U.S. food aid from the U.S. AJWS believes that the U.S. needs to help countries worktowards self-sufficiency and security, and the Obama plan moves us in that direction. The President's approach would be more efficient and effective, feed more hungry people worldwide today and contribute to a hunger-free world in the future.

"Based on our many decades of experience with projects in the developing world, we support this plan. Specifically, we work extensively in Haiti, which has received significant amounts of U.S. food aid over the past several years. This aid has undercut local farmers by flooding the market with rice and other crops from the U.S. and increased Haitian dependence on foreign aid instead of helping to revive Haiti's own agricultural production. Local Haitian farmers strongly support U.S. reforms that would use food aid dollars to bolster their ability to grow their own crops instead of using them to buy food in the U.S. and ship it to Haiti.

"President Obama's proposed reform would give the U.S. government the flexibility to purchase almost half of U.S. food aid in developing countries or to provide vouchers for people to buy food themselves in local markets in areas where there is food available, but prices are too high. This approach will get more food to more people in need faster, and boost their capacity to feed themselves. We urge Congress to act now to execute this overdue reform of the 60-year old food aid program, and weapplaud the President for his leadership in proposing this crucial overhaul."

American Jewish World ServiceInspired by Judaism's commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world.

SOURCE American Jewish World Service

Objects including a medieval nude sculpture and Christian icons suggest the Abu Dhabi Louvre will not steer clear of themes such as sexuality and religion that could draw fierce criticism in many other parts of the Islamic world.

The Abu Dhabi Louvre is building its collection to open in 2015, one of the centerpieces of a planned cultural district that will also include a branch of New York's Guggenheim and a national museum.

But recent UAE moves described by rights groups as a crackdown on expression and academic freedom, including closing international research groups and arresting online activists discussing Arab Spring reforms, have raised concerns about possible artistic red lines at the museums as well.

Laurence Des Cars, curatorial director of Agence France-Museums, said there are no "sensitive issues" that are out of bounds. She spoke to reporters during an early viewing of 130 works acquired for the future museum ranging from ancient Persian artifacts to 20th century paintings.

The works include a 1940 primitive-style painting by French artist Yves Klein that suggests naked male and female forms, and a 13th century North African wood carving of an anatomically correct man. An illuminated medieval Quran from Damascus shared a display case with 14th century European diptych showing scenes from the life of Christ.

Des Cars, whose agency is part of a cultural exchange between Paris' Louvre and Abu Dhabi, said the goal of the new collection is similar to the globe-spanning collections of the great museums of the late 18th century in Europe: to seek cultural connections as well as rifts and misperceptions.

"We are really talking about the same questions here," she said. "But we will approach it in our globalized time."

Museum officials gave few details of the process of buying the collection on behalf of oil-rich Abu Dhabi, saying only that it was through "normal channels" such as private collectors, galleries and auctions. Among the more modern acquisitions are works from famed impressionists Paul Gaugin and Edouard Manet, the 1928 ink-and-collage "Portrait of a Lady" by Pablo Picasso and mural-size abstract panels by American-born Cy Twombly.

Early photographs include an 1843 daguerreotype of a veiled Egyptian woman and an 1853 image by British photographer Roger Fenton entitled "Pasha and Bedouin" but really models posing in costumes in his London studio.

Abu Dhabi hopes to open its cultural district in 2015 but has faced repeated construction delays.