Grupo Clarin has battled with President Cristina Fernandez for years. Fernandez argues that it is a corporate monopoly and has funded a network of pro-government newspapers and stations to challenge Clarin's dominance.

Grupo Clarin has called Fernandez's bid to break it up an illegal attempt to silence one of the government's leading critics and to stifle press freedom.

Martin Sabbatella, the head of the government media regulation body, said on Monday that the government will make the conglomerate and other companies comply with the law, which bars any company from owning too many different media properties.

It comes after a lower court judge ruled Friday that a three-year-old law against media monopolies is constitutional.

"We notified them of the start of the transfer of licenses because the law is constitutional," Sabbatella said at an impromptu press conference outside of Grupo Clarin's headquarters in Buenos Aires.

The process, which will end up with transfer of licenses, will last about 100 days. During this time, the media empire must take care of all its current holdings and keep all jobs, Sabbatella said.

Grupo Clarin said in an emailed statement that the government's action tramples on past rulings that favored the media group.

"It's totally inadmissible and illegal because it openly violates several legal rulings," Clarin said.

Clarin has said the judge's declaration lifting all injunctions in the case violates court procedures. The media group says a higher court had stayed the divestment requirement until the justice system rules definitively on challenges to the law.

The 2009 law was tweaked in Congress to specifically target Clarin, the only company that runs afoul of all its major anti-monopoly clauses. The law could require Clarin to sell off broadcast licenses as well as its majority stake in Cablevision, the cable TV network that has become the company's cash cow.

Clarin says the government cannot take away its licenses because the group lodged an appeal to Friday's ruling before Sabbatella's visit on Monday. A lower court has three days to look at it, and if it is rejected, Clarin can go before an appeals court.

Graciela Romer, a political analyst in Buenos Aires, said the case could eventually go before the Supreme Court and take anywhere from months to years.

"The government says it's in compliance to demand disinvestment and not wait for the deadlines set by the law. That's the point. The government feels like it loses ground if it leaves any room, which leads me to think that this will eventually end up in the Supreme Court," Romer said.

"But this could take from two months to two years and the government needs to resolve this without leaving any breathing room that can get in the way of achieving this historic triumph for freedom of speech, which is how the state has branded its fight with Clarin."

Gregorio Badeni, a constitutional lawyer, agreed that the case could land before the Supreme Court.

"The government cannot force Clarin to disinvest at this moment because the judge's ruling ... has been appealed," Badeni said.

The government says Clarin has 237 licenses but must abide by the law, which allows companies to only have 24 cable licenses and 10 free-to-air licenses for radio and TV, and to cover no more than 35 percent of the pay-per-view population.

Clarin says it has seven radio licenses and four open-TV ones. It also says its TV cable operator Cablevision owns 158 local licenses and that the law's 24 would limit their market.

The media group has been at odds with the government since it criticized Fernandez's handling of a tax on the key agricultural industry and a massive farmers strike in 2008.

Since then, critics of Fernandez's government say she's been out to break up the media empire. The government has sent tax agents to raid the offices of Argentina's biggest-circulation daily and suggested that the owner of Clarin could have adopted her children from babies stolen during the military regime.

It has also tried to gain control of Argentina's only newsprint maker and encouraged the national soccer association to break its contract with a cable TV channel owned by Clarin.

___

Associated Press Writer Luis Andres Henao in Santiago, Chile and Jessica Weiss in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

Decisions were making right now will have impacts decades into the future, which is a problem if were deciding to dump carbon into atmosphere. But if we make the right choicesabout how to get our power, how to build our buildings, and how to get from place to placetheres a chance to start moving in the right direction.

The gun lobby, timid politicians and the Supreme Court continue to aid and abet rampant gun violence that is nothing less than domestic terrorism, carried out with weapons of mass destruction that are too freely owned and carried.

Arnold Grossman of Denver, author of a recent book, One Nation Under Guns: An Essay on an American Epidemic, in a letter to the editor of The New York Times on December 15, commenting on the mass murder of students in Newtown, Connecticut.

This latest terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is no fluke. It is a result of the senseless, immoral neglect of all of us as a nation to fail to protect children instead of guns

Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Childrens Defense Fund, in a comment quoted in The Washington Post on December 15.

The day before a gunman massacred 20 schoolchildren in their classrooms in Connecticut on Friday, lawmakers in Michigan passed a bill over the objections of the states school boards that would allow people to carry concealed weapons in schools.

Michael Cooper, New York Times reporter, in the opening paragraph of a story published on December 16 under the headline, Debate on Gun Control Is Revived, Amid a Trend Toward Fewer Restrictions.

checkAmericans belief in their Constitution and in its power to right the wrongs in society leads them inevitably to look there for a solution to a tragedy like the killing of 20 students in their Connecticut classrooms. If only the Supreme Court could change its mind about the Second Amendment right to keep bear arms, lawmakers and judges might find a way to reduce gun violence.

As a search begins for ways to ensure that there are no more Newtown tragedies, it is not at all surprising that some would see a direct connection between the expanding constitutional right to have a gunand that right is, indeed, expandingand the occurrence of another massacre with guns. As is often true with such suggestions, it is too simplistic, as a matter of constitutional reasoning as well as practical reality.

Establishing a new constitutional right, as the Supreme Court did in 2008 in interpreting the Second Amendment to include a personal right to possess a gun for self-defense, does not ensure that such a right will not be abused. And neither does the expansion of that right to include carrying a gun in public places, as a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled just three days before the shooting in Connecticut. The Supreme Court had recognized a gun possession right within the home, and the appeals court said the logic of that extended outside the home, too.

Both of those decisions were based on the protection of a social value: the capacity to defend ones self against an imminent physical threat. And neither one of them suggested that a school is a proper place to have a gun and have it ready for use. Indeed, both of those rulings left legislators entirely free to write new regulations against gun possession in sensitive public places, and to impose strict enforcement of such limitations.

Constitutional rights, however established, are never so absolute that they tell the people that anything goes. Having the right to practice ones religious faith does not create a right to impose the tenets of that faith on others; one can try to persuade, but cannot coerce. Having the right to publish a newspaper does not generate a right to print absolute falsehoods that cause injury. Having the right to be free from police invasions of a home does not create a right to use a home as the headquarters of a criminal gang.

The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name, which was written by Cole Haddon and published in 2011.

"The Strange Case of Hyde" follow Dr. Jekyll, after he is allegedly rehabilitated, and released from prison to help hunt a new monster who appears to be using an improved version of the infamous Hyde serum.

The film is being produced by Dark Horse Entertainment, Skydance Productions and Mark Gordon Productions.

The now classic characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde first appeared in a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886.

Torres credits include "Henry Poole Is Here," which starred Luke Wilson. He was also hired earlier this year to write a big-screen version of the Cartoon Network series "Ben 10" for Silver Pictures." He also came on board recently to re-write the script for "Akira" for Appian Way. Torres is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment and CAA.

The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will almost certainly get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan's seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.

Public broadcaster NHK's exit polls projected that the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era until it was dumped in 2009, won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Official results were not expected until Monday morning. Before the election, it had 118 seats.

The results were a sharp rebuke for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, reflecting widespread unhappiness for its failure to keep campaign promises and get the stagnant economy going.

A serious-looking Abe characterized the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than an endorsement of his party.

"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100 percent. Rather, they reflect 'no-votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he told NHK. "Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."

The LDP will stick with its long-time partner New Komeito, backed by a large Buddhist organization, to form a coalition government, party officials said. Together, they will probably control about 320 seats, NHK projected a two-thirds majority that would make it easier for the government to pass legislation.

With Japan stuck in a two-decade slump and receding behind China as the region's most important economic player, voters appeared ready to turn back to the LDP.

The new government will need to quickly deliver results ahead of upper house elections in the summer. To revive Japan's struggling economy, Abe will likely push for increased public works spending and lobby for stronger moves by the central bank to break Japan out of its deflationary trap.

The ruling Democrats, which won in a landslide three years ago amid high hopes for change, captured less than 100 seats, exit polls indicated, down sharply from its pre-election strength of 230.

"This election result does not mean a popular mandate for the LDP, but that voters decided the DPJ had to go," said Masahiro Matsumura, a politics professor at St. Andrews University in Osaka. "Apparently voters felt they didn't have any alternative to the LDP, since the other parties failed to organize competent, experienced candidates."

Still, some voters said they supported the LDP's vows to build a stronger, more assertive country to answer increasing pressure from China and threats of North Korean rocket launches. Abe has repeatedly said he will protect Japan's "territory and beautiful seas" amid a territorial dispute with China over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

"I feel like the LDP will protect Japan and restore some national pride," Momoko Mihara, 31, said after voting for the Liberal Democrats in the western Tokyo suburb of Fuchu. "I hope Mr. Abe will stand tall."

The LDP may also have benefited from voter confusion over the dizzying array of more than 12 parties, including several news ones, and their sometimes vague policy goals.

One of the new parties, the right-leaning, populist Japan Restoration Party, won between 40 to 61 seats, NHK projected. The party is led by the bombastic nationalist ex-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, both of whom are polarizing figures with forceful leadership styles.

Ishihara was the one who stirred up the latest dispute with China over the islands when he proposed that the Tokyo government buy them from their private Japanese owners and develop them.

Nuclear energy ended up not being a major election issue even though polls show about 80 percent of Japanese want to phase out nuclear power after meltdowns last year at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

In the end, economic concerns won out, said Kazuhisa Kawakami at Meiji Gakuin University.

"We need to prioritize the economy, especially since we are an island nation," he said. "We're not like Germany. We can't just get energy from other countries in a pinch."

The staunchly anti-nuclear Tomorrow Party which was formed just three weeks ago captured between six and 15 seats, NHK estimated.

The LDP is the most pro-nuclear party, and has said Japan should decide over the next 10 years what sort of energy mix is best.

Abe, 58, is considered one of the more conservative figures in the increasingly conservative LDP.

During his previous tenure as prime minister, he pursued a nationalistic agenda pressing for more patriotic education and upgrading the defense agency to ministry status.

It remains to be seen how he will behave this time around, though he is talking tough toward China, and the LDP platform calls developing fisheries and setting up a permanent outpost in the disputed islands, called Senkakus by Japan and Daioyu by China a move that would infuriate Beijing.

During his time as leader, Abe also insisted there was no proof Japan's military had coerced Chinese, Korean and other women into prostitution in military brothels during Japan's wartime aggression in Asia. He later apologized but lately has suggested that a landmark 1993 apology for sex slavery needs revising.

He has said he regrets not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Japan's war dead, including Class-A war criminals, during his term as prime minister. China and South Korea oppose such visits, saying they reflect Japan's reluctance to fully atone for its wartime atrocities.

The LDP wants to revise Japan's pacifist constitution to strengthen its Self-Defense Forces and, breaching a postwar taboo, designate them as a "military." It also proposes increasing Japan's defense budget and allowing Japanese troops to engage in "collective self-defense" operations with allies that are not directly related to Japan's own defense.

It's not clear, however, how strongly the LDP will push such proposals, which have been kicked around by conservatives for decades but usually make no headway in parliament because they are supported only by a fairly small group of right-wing advocates.

"The economy has been in dire straits these past three years, and it must be the top priority," Abe said in a televised interview. "We must strengthen our alliance with the U.S. and also improve relations with China, with a strong determination that is no change in the fact the Senkaku islands are our territory."

Sunday, December 16

Fiorentina 4 Siena 1

Saturday, December 15

Lazio1 Inter Milan 0

Udinese1 Palermo 1

StandingsPWD LFAPts

1Juventus 16 12 2 233 10 38

2Inter Milan17 11 1 529 18 34

-------------------------

3Napoli 16 10 3 329 14 33

-------------------------

4Lazio17 10 3 425 18 33

5Fiorentina 17 95 333 19 32

-------------------------

6AS Roma16 92 538 26 29

-------------------------

7AC Milan 16 73 628 21 24

8Udinese17 58 425 25 23

9Catania16 64 622 24 22

10 Atalanta Bergamo 16 72 717 23 21

11 Parma16 55 619 22 20

12 Chievo Verona16 53 819 27 18

13 Sampdoria16 53 819 23 17

14 Cagliari 16 44 814 26 16

15 Bologna16 43 917 20 15

16 Torino 16 37 617 21 15

17 Palermo17 36 815 24 15

-------------------------

18 Pescara16 42 10 12 30 14

19 Genoa16 33 10 16 28 12

20 Siena17 45 816 24 11

-------------------------

Note: Siena deducted 6 points.

Note: Atalanta Bergamo deducted 2 points.

Note: Torino deducted 1 point.

Note: Sampdoria deducted 1 point.

1-2: Champions League / EC I

3: Champions League preliminary round

4-5: Europa League

6: Europa League depending on domestic cup

18-20: Relegation

Next Fixtures (GMT):

Sunday, December 16

AC Milan v Pescara(1400)

Cataniav Sampdoria(1400)

Chievo Veronav AS Roma(1400)

Genoav Torino (1400)

Juventus v Atalanta Bergamo (1400)

Parmav Cagliari (1400)

Napoli v Bologna(1945)

Business surveys, meanwhile, pointed to a continued contraction in the economy.

Annual inflation in the 17 countries sharing the euro was 2.2 percent in November, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said on Friday, falling to just above the European Central Bank's target and ending months of sharp price rises.

While good news for households struggling through the euro zone's public debt and banking crisis, the cooling inflation also underscores the stagnant economy where business is so slack that companies cannot pass on price increases to customers.

Employment in the single currency area also fell 0.2 percent in the third quarter from the second, Eurostat said, showing a worsening of the bloc's job rate since the summer in Europe.

The bloc's 9 trillion euro economy slipped into its second recession since 2009 this year and policymakers are divided over whether it will rebound quickly, or at all, in 2013.

Data researcher Markit said it purchasing managers indexes for the fourth quarter were compatible with continued contraction, even though there was some improvement in the December numbers.

Many economists expect the ECB to cut its main lending rate to below 0.75 percent early in 2013 to try to revive the economy, but with the cost of borrowing already at a record low, such a move may not have much of an impact.

The slight improvement in the PMI manufacturing and services data may also deter the bank from cutting interest rates further.

"There may be one last chance for a cut of the refinancing rate, but the ECB doesn't have much ammunition left unless it is prepared to cut its deposit rate to below zero," said Nick Kounis, head of macroeconomic research at ABN AMRO.

A cut in the deposit rate, which is now at zero, would charge banks for keeping funds with the ECB, encouraging banks to lend money and freeing up money for smaller businesses.

"There is a more significant hurdle compared to traditional policy because it's not something you do lightly," he said.

At its last meeting on December 6, the ECB's Governing Council touched on the idea of taking its deposit rate into negative territory but did not elaborate.

Still, the ECB does have more room to maneuver now that inflation is coming down after peaking at 3 percent a year ago.

CHEAPER HOLIDAYS

French inflation eased more than expected in November to the lowest in over two years, while inflation in Greece, which is sunk in an economic depression, was just 0.4 percent.

Household spending in euro zone, constrained by government cuts and record unemployment, was mainly limited to food and clothing in November and overall, consumer price inflation fell 0.2 percent from October.

The cost of transport, recreation, culture and eating out at restaurant costs all slipped in the month, while package holidays fell 2.4 percent.

Stripping out energy inflation, consumer prices rose 1.4 percent, well below the ECB's target of just below 2 percent.

Even the cost of energy, which for most of 2012 was driven up by high world oil prices over tensions between the West and Iran's nuclear program, slid by more than expected in November from October and could fall further.

"Over the coming months, we expect energy inflation to moderate further," said Gizem Kara, an economist at BNP Paribas.

Worries about the impact of possible impact of steep tax increases and spending cuts in the United States, as well as the euro zone's stalled economy, have capped the price of Brent crude, which traded at $109 a barrel on Friday.

That is down from near $120 a barrel in August.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Rex Merrifield/Jeremy Gaunt)

"M-75" perfume, which comes in men's and women's fragrances, is named for the missiles Hamas Islamist militants shot at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in an eight-day conflict that killed more than 170 Palestinians and six Israelis, ending with an Egyptian-brokered truce.

Although both sides proclaimed victory, and Israel said it had halted rocket fire at its towns, many in Gaza take pride in militants having shot a rocket as far as Tel Aviv, the longest-range aerial strike by the Palestinians so far.

"I hope the smell is strong enough for them to whiff in Tel Aviv and remind the Jews of the Palestinian victory," Ahmed Hassan, a customer from neighboring Egypt, said as he bought 30 vials of the perfume as souvenirs in a Gaza City shop.

Rajaey Odwan, director of Gaza's Continental Style perfume company which markets imported fragrances and local knockoffs, said he thought he'd give customers a chance to smell victory and "turn it into a perfume".

He sells the 60 ml (2 oz) black-and-green bottles made of orange, lemon and other herbal scents collected in Gaza, for about $13 apiece.

"Sales have gone through the roof," he said.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Shares of Cardiome jumped as much as 51 percent to 37 Canadian cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Its U.S.-listed shares also rose 52 percent on the Nasdaq.

The company said in September that Merck returned the global marketing and development rights for intravenous and oral versions of their heart drug, six months after dropping the development of the oral version.

The drug vernakalant is an experimental treatment for chronic atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder that can lead to stroke and heart failure.

Cardiome, which had a cash balance of $53.6 million at the end of September, owed Merck $50 million. Merck had granted Cardiome an interest-bearing credit facility of up to $100 million.

The companies signed the collaboration and licensing agreement for vernakalant in April 2009.

"Complete resolution of our $50 million debt obligation to Merck removes a significant financial and operational overhang for Cardiome," said William Hunter, interim CEO of Cardiome, which develops drugs for diseases of the heart and circulatory system.

The settlement will terminate the credit facility and will release and discharge the collateral security taken in respect of the advances under the line of credit, Cardiome said in a statement.

Brokerage firm Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on the stock to 40 cents from 35 cents.

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)