TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's minority Liberal government unveiled a budget on Thursday that projected a narrower-than-expected 2013-14 deficit and included measures aimed at securing opposition support and preventing an early election for Premier Kathleen Wynne.

However, it was not clear whether the budget will receive enough support to keep the Liberals in power, as opposition New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath said she would consult with voters before deciding what to.

Canada's most populous province, which accounts for about 40 percent of the country's economy, will run a budget shortfall of C$11.7 billion ($11.60 billion) in 2013-14 under the C$127 billion budget plan unveiled by Finance Minister Charles Sousa, who succeeded Dwight Duncan in February.

The deficit is below the government's year-ago forecast of C$12.8 billion, but above its 2012-13 shortfall of C$9.8 billion.

With just 51 seats in the 107-seat Ontario legislature, Wynne's Liberals need the support of at least one opposition party to pass the budget and avert an automatic election.

The right-leaning Progressive Conservatives, who hold the second-most seats, said they will not support the document, while Horwath gave it a lukewarm reception, even as she acknowledged the government listened to many the demands she has made in recent weeks.

"This budget clearly reflects the budget proposal we put forward ... but we want to make sure (voters) get those results," she told reporters.

Wynne, whose party's popularity jumped when she took over from longtime Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in January, has since watched poll numbers move in favor of the PCs, as her government struggled with the fallout of a power generation spending scandal.

The PCs currently enjoy 36 percent support, followed by 33 percent for the Liberals and 26 percent for the NDP, according to an aggregation of recent polls published in the Globe & Mail newspaper on Tuesday.

As such, the budget featured more than a little input from NDP leader Horwath in certain areas, most notably a pledge to cut auto insurance premiums 15 percent, as well as a C$295 million youth job creation program.

"We recognize that we're in a minority situation and we need to work with all sides of the house," Sousa told reporters.

The auto insurance reduction follows ballooning premiums in recent years, which insurers have blamed on rising claims and fraud-related costs.

Sousa said he has been in touch with insurance companies - Ontario's largest publicly traded auto insurer is Intact Financial Corp - and hopes to see rates start to come down within a year.

PATH TO BALANCED BUDGET

The deficit is seen shrinking to C$10.1 billion in 2014-15 and C$7.2 billion the following year, and disappearing by 2017-18, a projection that relies on average annual revenue increases of 3 percent over the next three years and expense growth of just 1.8 percent.

"To maintain that (expense growth), it's going to be very challenging," said Jonathan Bendiner, an economist at TD Economics.

Ontario's deficits spiraled higher in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis when global automakers shed jobs, sending tremors through the province's industrial base.

Public long-term borrowing during 2013-14 should total C$33.4 billion, down C$3.2 billion from 2012-13 and C$5.7 below forecasts, which the government attributed to lower-than-projected deficits in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

The government's total public debt is expected to hit C$272.8 billion next year.

The budget extends a freeze on corporate tax implemented in the previous year's budget and will extend an accelerated capital cost allowance program for manufacturers at a cost of C$265 million over three years.

(With additional writing by Allison Martell; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Andre Grenon)

Arias was charged in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Arias initially denied involvement, then blamed it on two masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Alexander in self-defence.

Testimony began in early January, with Arias eventually spending 18 days on the witness stand. Jurors got the case Friday.

The trial has been a made-for-the-tabloids drama, garnering daily coverage by the cable news networks, with tales of lurid sex, lies and death, nude photos and accounts of a salacious relationship that ended in a bloody killing.

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

Jurors reached a verdict Wednesday in the trial of Jodi Arias, who is accused of murdering her one-time boyfriend in Arizona.

Arias is charged with first-degree murder in the June 2008 death of Travis Alexander, a motivational speaker and salesman, at his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities said she planned the attack in a jealous rage after being rejected by the victim while he pursued other women.

Arias initially denied involvement and later blamed the killing on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Alexander in self-defence.

Jurors got the case Friday afternoon. They reached a decision late Wednesday morning. It was scheduled to be announced at 1:30 p.m.

Testimony in the trial began in early January, with Arias later spending 18 days on the witness stand. The trial quickly snowballed into a made-for-the-tabloids drama, garnering daily coverage from cable news networks, and spawning a virtual cottage industry for talk shows, legal experts and even Arias, who used her notoriety to sell artwork she made in jail.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the forehead and had his throat slit before Arias dragged his body into his shower. He was found by friends about five days later.

Arias said she recalled Alexander attacking her in a fury after a day of sex. She said Alexander came at her "like a linebacker," body-slamming her to the tile floor. She managed to wriggle free and ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf. She said she fired in self-defence but had no memory of stabbing him.

Arias acknowledged trying to clean the scene of the killing, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi to avoid suspicion. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

As deliberations drag on, dozens of people gather daily on the courthouse steps waiting for a verdict.

If Arias is convicted of first-degree murder, she faces either life in prison or a death sentence. Jurors also have the option of convicting Arias of second-degree murder if they believe she didn't premeditate the killing but still intentionally caused Alexander's death. If convicted of that charge, she could be sentenced to 10 to 22 years in prison.

Manslaughter is an option if the panel believes Arias didn't plan the killing in advance and the attack occurred in the heat of passion after "adequate" provocation from Alexander. A conviction on this charge carries a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.

If they believe she killed Alexander in self-defence, Arias would be acquitted and would walk out jail after being incarcerated for more than four years.

Created by U.S. President Barack Obama, the online petitioning system was designed as an "easy way for Americans to make their voices heard", according to the website. But he may have underestimated its global appeal in the internet age.

"We request that the U.S. government make sweet the official flavour of jellied tofu, namely through the addition of syrup, granulated or brown sugar or other sweeteners," said one petition, written in Chinese, on the site.

Video: China netizens bring old mystery to White House: http://link.reuters.com/xus87t

The number of signatures for the appeal created on Tuesday was steadily climbing. As of Wednesday morning, it had received more than 1,000 digital endorsements.

That falls far short of the 100,000 signatures needed to merit a response from the Obama administration, a threshold the government has reserved the right to adjust.

There is a regional divide in China on how jellied tofu should be consumed, with a slightly sweetened variety enjoyed in many parts of the south and a saltier style common in the north.

"Send troops to liberate the Chinese people," reads another petition, this one with more than 3,500 signatures.

Part protest, part entreaty, petitioning has deep roots in China, a country where courts are seen as beyond the reach of ordinary people or beholden to officials. Many seek redress for land seizures, factory layoffs, or medical and police disputes.

But doing so in China can be a risky affair, often leading to detention in secret facilities dubbed black jails.

The China-related requests appeared alongside pleas for Obama to reduce gun violence and increase the budget for NASA, the U.S. space agency, and not all were funny.

One called for the United States to extradite a suspect in the 1994 poisoning of Chinese graduate student Zhu Ling. It received 134,000 signatures in five days.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and Sally Huang; Editing by Elaine Lies)

The unclassified version of the report, which was required by a 2012 law, offered no estimate of when North Korea might achieve that capability. It said the pace of progress will depend in part on how many resources are invested.

The report fits an established U.S. intelligence picture of North Korea making an enormous effort to become a nuclear power and of an economically poor country directing a disproportionate amount of resources to its military.

Much about North Korea is a mystery to Western intelligence agencies, including the intentions of its leader, Kim Jong Un, who came to power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December 2011. The Pentagon report said the U.S. foresees little change in North Korea's key strategic aims, which it said to include using "coercive diplomacy" to compel acceptance of its security interests, as well as developing a nuclear arsenal and undermining of the U.S.-South Korean alliance.

"We anticipate these strategic goals will be consistent under North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong Un," it said.

U.S. intelligence agencies are not fully in agreement on how far North Korea has advanced in its effort to make a nuclear weapon small enough to fit atop a ballistic missile. In April, a U.S. congressman disclosed that the Defense Intelligence Agency believes with "moderate confidence" that the North could deliver a nuclear weapon by ballistic missile but with "low reliability." The DIA assessment did not mention the potential range of such a strike.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the top U.S. intelligence official, said shortly after the DIA assessment was made public that its conclusion was not shared by other intelligence agencies. Clapper said North Korea has made progress but has not "fully developed, tested or demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear-armed missile."

In its report Thursday, the Pentagon made no mention of the DIA report.

The Pentagon asserted that North Korea wants to leverage the perception that it poses a nuclear threat in order to counter technologically superior forces. South Korea, which does not have nuclear weapons, has a modern military that benefits greatly from a close alliance with the U.S. There are about 28,500 American troops based in the South.

The Pentagon report noted that North Korea has recently showcased its advances in missile technology, including an April 2012 parading of a new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that the Pentagon says has not been flight tested.

"These advances in ballistic missile delivery systems, coupled with developments in nuclear technology ... are in line with North Korea's stated objective of being able to strike the U.S. homeland," the report said.

After a February 2013 nuclear test, North Korea made what the Pentagon called "authoritative public announcements" of its desire to field nuclear-armed missiles with sufficient range to attack targets in the United States.

"North Korea will move closer to this goal, as well as increase the threat it poses to U.S. forces and allies in the region, if it continues testing and devoting scarce regime resources to these programs," the report said.

Earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a series of bellicose threats to attack South Korea, Japan or the United States with nuclear weapons, sparking tough rhetoric in return. In response, the Pentagon in April announced plans to beef up its missile defenses by deploying 14 additional missile interceptors at a military base in Alaska.

Thursday's Pentagon report said the North's work on a space-launch vehicle has contributed heavily to its effort to build a missile capable of reaching the U.S. with a nuclear warhead. That work was highlighted by the launch of a satellite into space last December.

But it added that the North has yet to test a re-entry vehicle, without which it cannot deliver a warhead to a target. A workable re-entry vehicle is necessary to get a warhead back into Earth's atmosphere with protection against severe heating.

The report also projected that North Korea under Kim will stick to its current strategic priorities, including developing nuclear weapons to deter any attack from outside powers and trying to undermine the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

___

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

The South African, who flew in from his home in Florida on a private jet provided by the organizers of the European Tour event, was four-under through 16 holes in Seoul.

After a day when play was suspended for more than two hours due to rain and poor visibility, Oosthuizen trailed clubhouse leaders Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France, Australian Kieran Pratt, Swede Johan Edfors, Briton Matthew Baldwin and South Korean Kim Gi-whan who all shot 67s.

Oosthuizen roared to the turn in 30 strokes thanks to six birdies in the opening eight holes including four in a row from the first.

The 2010 British Open champion, who missed the cut at the U.S. Masters earlier this month, then dropped back with bogeys at the 10th and 12th.

"It's a good start," Oosthuizen told reporters at the Blackstone Golf and Country Club. "I'm hitting it really well and hit it fairly close on the front nine.

"When I teed off on 10 the wind and the weather came in ... but I'm feeling good. I haven't hit it as well as I did on that front nine for a while."

Ireland's Peter Lawrie and South Korea's Lee Jung-hwan carded 68s while Briton Tommy Fleetwood was also four-under after 17 holes.

Former U.S. PGA Championship winner Yang Yong-eun of South Korea posted a 70 in the sixth edition of the event that is also co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour.

"I'm quite used to the hot weather of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and also the chilly weather of Korea and the United States," Yang said.

"I know I need to overcome those difficulties...to perform well. However, it was not that easy out there today."

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai, editing by Tony Jimenez)

TOKYO (Reuters) - More than 100 people lined up at midnight at a Tokyo bookstore, eager to get their hands on the latest Haruki Murakami novel that went on sale on Friday, the first in three years by the global bestselling author and Nobel prize favorite.

The publisher is printing 600,000 copies of "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" to assuage the appetite of fans kept in the dark about the book's subject and storyline.

Murakami, who regularly tops bookmakers' lists as a favorite for the Nobel Literature Prize, confessed that much of the book had been a surprise even to himself.

"One day I just felt like it, and I sat at my desk and started to write the first few lines of this story," he said in quotations printed on the cover of the book.

"Then for about half a year, I continued to write this story without knowing anything like what would happen, what type of people would appear and how long the story would be."

Unlike the massive, three-volume love story "1Q84" that preceded it, the new 370-page book is about loss and survival, centering on a lonely 36-year-old man named Tsukuru Tazaki who loves train stations.

Fans waiting at a bookstore in central Tokyo, who cheered at the stroke of midnight when stacks of the book were revealed, passed time by speculating about the novel and what Murakami might have been thinking as he wrote it.

"After '1Q84' came out, we went through a huge earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan. I think Murakami must have been impacted by that event and wrote what he felt," said Daiki Oka, a 20-year-old college student.

"We are going to stay up to read the book together and discuss it," added his friend, Ayumi Ishihara, 19.

The book was already ranking as a top-seller on websites in Japan, including the Japanese Amazon.com. Publisher Bungeishunju decided on a reprint of 100,000 copies on Friday, just hours after the book went on sale, raising the total to 600,000 copies.

"1Q84" was a best-seller in Japan when it was published between 2009 and 2010 and was subsequently translated into at least 35 languages. A spokesman for Bungeishunju said he did not yet know specific translation plans for the new book.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota, editing by Elaine Lies)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks Corp , which has faced criticism for its low tax rate in Britain, has sought new tax breaks in the United States in comments to a congressional committee.

As U.S. lawmakers move closer to possibly overhauling the tax code for the first time since 1986, scores of companies and interest groups have submitted comments to the tax law-writing Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, a Republican, has vowed to introduce tax code overhaul legislation this year.

Like other companies with substantial foreign profits, Starbucks wants profits made outside U.S. borders to be spared, in whole or in part, from the U.S. corporate income tax. Starbucks expressed support in its comment letter for a territorial tax system that would permit this.

More particular to Starbucks itself, the company also asked for expanded tax breaks for the royalties it pays to entities that operate many of its stores outside the United States

Tax economist Martin Sullivan, a former Treasury Department official who has testified in hearings for Democrats, said the Starbucks proposal would move policy in the wrong direction.

"In a principled territorial system, all royalties would be subject to tax because they are deductible in a foreign jurisdiction," Sullivan said. "Otherwise that income is not taxed anywhere."

Tax treatment of royalties for the use of intellectual property, such as the brand, were a part of the controversy in Britain.

Starbucks spokesman Corey duBrowa said in an email: "We are simply seeking a level playing field and fair treatment of income from royalties for U.S. tax purposes regardless of business structure."

Starbucks said it pays a high effective U.S. tax rate of 32 percent, near the statutory rate of 35 percent. Many U.S. companies, by taking advantage of the many tax breaks available in the code, pay far lower effective rates.

Starbucks has faced months of controversy in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, over reports that it has paid little or nothing in corporation tax in some EU countries.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh. Editing by Andre Grenon)

In the Custody Canine Program, 36 inmates take care of two dogs every five weeks. Each dog is rescued from a shelter, days before it is scheduled to be euthanized.

This time around the inmates are caring for Jet, a one-year-old puppy, and Glock, a German Shepherd.

"I think it's a good thing for these guys and for us," said inmate Caesar Cunanan, who is serving time on a drug charge. The 35-year-old says he's formed a special bond with Jet. "I've almost died on the street, too. I've been shot. Just to give this guy another chance, because I'm thankful for me having another chance at living, too."

The inmates live with the canines 24 hours a day, bathing, feeding and training the dogs so they can find a new home.

Dog behaviorist Rick Belmonte helps the inmates teach the dogs to sit, stay, heel and much more. Belmonte said the special bond the men have formed with the dogs will help them integrate back into society without reoffending.

"They're starting to walk taller. I've seen people who are shy, speaking louder," Belmonte said. "They're feeling a sense of empowerment. I think that confidence will help them get a job interview."

And every dog that has come through the Custody Canine Program has been adopted.

At first, Sgt. Raymond Harley with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was surprised to see dogs roaming the halls of the jail. Now, he said he believes they help keep inmates from acting out while they are behind bars.

"The inmates are much more calm and relaxed," Harley said.

The sheriff's department is also now working on expanding the program to two additional jails.

Cunanan has one more year left on his sentence and is now considering adopting a dog once he's free, because he says time with Jet is changing his life.

"Having a job with Jet has made me probably more responsible," Cunanan said.

208 Marc Warren (Britain)70 70 68

210 Craig Lee (Britain)69 71 70

211 David Horsey (Britain) 71 74 66

Paul Waring (Britain)71 71 69

212 Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 75 68 69

David Howell (Britain) 70 71 71

Peter Uihlein (U.S.) 70 68 74

Raphael Jacquelin (France) 73 66 73

213 Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 70 75 68

David Drysdale (Britain) 73 72 68

Gregory Bourdy (France)72 73 68

Espen Kofstad (Norway) 71 72 70

Eddie Pepperell (Britain)70 70 73

Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 68 71 74

214 Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)74 72 68

Joakim Lagergren (Sweden)69 76 69

Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 72 73 69

Ignacio Elvira (Spain) 71 72 71

Paul Casey (Britain) 72 70 72

Matthew Baldwin (Britain)73 68 73

Morten Madsen (Denmark)68 72 74

Rikard Karlberg (Sweden) 72 67 75

215 Sergio Garcia (Spain)72 73 70

Eduardo De La Riva (Spain) 72 73 70

Moritz Lampert (Germany) 76 68 71

Matteo Delpodio (Italy)73 69 73

Julien Quesne (France) 72 70 73

Lasse Jensen (Denmark) 71 70 74

Tommy Fleetwood (Britain)72 69 74

216 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (France)73 73 70

Lee Slattery (Britain) 75 71 70

Andrew Marshall (Britain)72 74 70

Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 74 72 70

Soren Hansen (Denmark) 74 70 72

Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 74 70 72

Phillip Price (Britain)70 74 72

David Higgins (Ireland)69 75 72

Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 71 73 72

Victor Dubuisson (France)74 70 72

Mark Tullo (Chile) 71 71 74

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain)69 73 74

217 Matthew Nixon (Britain)74 72 71

Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden)74 71 72

Joel Sjoeholm (Sweden) 69 76 72

Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 71 74 72

Alejandro Canizares (Spain)71 73 73

Anders Hansen (Denmark)72 71 74

218 Seve Benson (Britain)74 72 72

Pedro Oriol (Spain)71 75 72

Christian Cevaer (France)76 70 72

Matteo Manassero (Italy) 78 68 72

Tjaart Van der Walt (South Africa) 73 72 73

James Morrison (Britain) 72 73 73

Richard Green (Australia)73 72 73

Shane Lowry (Ireland)78 66 74

Callum Macaulay (Britain)73 71 74

Alvaro Velasco (Spain) 71 71 76

219 Sam Little (Britain) 73 72 74

Rhys Davies (Britain)73 72 74

Richard Finch (Britain)70 73 76

Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 69 73 77

220 Alastair Forsyth (Britain) 76 70 74

Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 72 73 75

Gareth Maybin (Britain)74 71 75

Daniel Brooks (Britain)69 75 76

Ignacio Garrido (Spain)72 71 77

221 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 70 73 78

Andreas Harto (Denmark)73 67 81

222 Guillaume Cambis (France)77 69 76

223 Carlos Aguilar (Spain) 71 72 80

224 Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 70 74 80

226 Jordi Garcia Pinto (Spain) 73 71 82

229 Gary Stal (France) 68 78 83

In an initial report, two non-governmental organizations, Shams and Tamoz, said over 300 irregularities had been recorded by the seven thousand monitors they had sent across Iraq to cover Saturday's polls.

The vote was a key test of Iraq's short experience with democratic elections because it was the first one run since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011. Allegations of vote fixing are not uncommon following elections in the country.

In one instance, Hoger Jato of Shams said some security force members had helped specific campaigns while on duty, with some advising voters at polling centers on who to support. Elsewhere, electoral commission employees reportedly failed to check the identities of voters, allowing them to cast ballots on behalf others.

The groups did not say whether the irregularities were widespread enough to significantly affect the election's outcome.

On Sunday evening, a bomb went off in a popular kebab shop in Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, killing eight and wounding 25, according to police and hospital officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.

Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007. But insurgents are still able to stage frequent high-profile attacks.

Earlier in the day, Iraqis began counting votes, unloading hundreds of ballot boxes from trucks and tallying the figures in the heavily guarded counting centers. Employees of the country's independent electoral commission went through the ballots under supervision of political party representatives.

Votes are first manually sorted before being entered into a computerized system. Final results are expected in several days.

Despite widespread violence in the run-up to the election that left at least 14 candidates dead, Saturday's voting was mostly peaceful. A few mortar shells and small bombs struck near polling centers, wounding at least six people.

The turnout stood at 51 percent, the same as at the last provincial elections in 2009. When some eligible voters complained they did not find their names on the voting rolls, the election commission blamed them for not updating their information.

Hours after closing the polls, the U.N. Special Representative, Martin Kobler, praised the vote as well-organized and peaceful.

"Credible elections are critical to the country's stability," Kobler said in a statement.

The voting took place in 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Voting was not scheduled in the ethnically-mixed province of Tamim, where ethnic groups have not reached a power-sharing deal. The last election for local officials there was in 2005. Elections were also delayed in two provinces because of unstable security conditions, and the country's autonomous three-province northern region was not included.

Thousands of candidates from 50 electoral blocs are vying for 378 seats on provincial councils. The Iraqi constitution does not give wide powers to provincial councils, but they have some say on security matters. They also negotiate local business deals and allocate funds.