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IMF's Lagarde keeps job, escapes penalty after negligence conviction in France | Reuters

By Chine Labbé and David Lawder | PARIS/WASHINGTON PARIS/WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde kept her job and escaped punishment on Monday despite a conviction on negligence charges by French judges over a state payout made while she served as France's finance minister in 2008. The Washington-based IMF executive board reaffirmed its full confidence in Lagarde's abilities to perform her duties leading the Fund, hours after the verdict was issued in Paris."The Executive Board looks forward to continuing to work with the Managing Director to address the difficult challenges facing the global economy," the board said in a statement.In Monday's ruling, the judges did not find negligence in Lagarde's decision to seek an out-of-court settlement with tycoon Bernard Tapie. But they said her failure to contest the award to him of about 400 million euros ($417 million) was negligent and led to a misuse of public funds."The context of the global financial crisis in which Madame Lagarde found herself in should be taken into account," Martine Ract Madoux, the main judge on the case, said in explaining the absence of any sentence.

Exclusive - U.S. proposed $5 billion-7 billion penalty on Credit Suisse on toxic debt: source | Reuters

By Joshua Franklin, Oliver Hirt and Karen Freifeld | ZURICH/NEW YORK ZURICH/NEW YORK The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) to pay between $5 billion and $7 billion to settle a probe over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a source with knowledge of the matter said, but the bank has resisted settling for that amount.The size of the suggested settlement indicates that the cost to the bank may be higher than analysts had expected and explains why Credit Suisse management, according to a second source, has been seeking a smaller penalty."Credit Suisse is confident of reaching a better solution," said the second person. Should talks break down, U.S.

U.N. chief fears genocide about to start in South Sudan | Reuters

UNITED NATIONS United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he feared the process of genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action was taken, renewing his plea for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country."If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities," Ban told the Security Council.

Wall Street trims gains after truck kills shoppers in Germany | Reuters

By Noel Randewich U.S. stocks reduced their gains on Monday after several people were killed by a truck driven into a Christmas market in Germany.All three major U.S.

Truck ploughs into crowd at Berlin Christmas market, nine dead | Reuters

By Michael Nienaber | BERLIN BERLIN A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital Berlin on Monday evening, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others, police said. German media, citing police at the scene, said first indications pointed to an attack on the market, situated at the foot of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, which was kept as a bombed-out ruin after World War Two.The incident evoked memories of an attack in France in July when Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, killing 86 people. The attack was claimed by Islamic State.The truck careered into the Berlin market at what would have been one of the most crowded times for the Christmas market, when adults and children would be gathering in the traditional cluster of wooden huts that sell food and Christmas goods.Berlin police said nine people were killed"I heard a big noise and then I moved on the Christmas market and saw much chaos...many injured people," Jan Hollitzer, deputy editor in chief of Berliner Morgenpost, told CNN.

Gold buoyed as geopolitical tensions offset stronger dollar | Reuters

By Chris Prentice and Clara Denina | NEW YORK/LONDON NEW YORK/LONDON Gold prices edged higher on Monday as geopolitical tensions offset expectations of tighter U.S. monetary policy and a stronger U.S

Gold buoyed as geopolitical tensions offset stronger dollar | Reuters

By Chris Prentice and Clara Denina | NEW YORK/LONDON NEW YORK/LONDON Gold prices edged higher on Monday as geopolitical tensions offset expectations of tighter U.S.

Gold buoyed as geopolitical tensions offset stronger dollar | Reuters

By Chris Prentice and Clara Denina | NEW YORK/LONDON NEW YORK/LONDON Gold prices edged higher on Monday as geopolitical tensions offset expectations of tighter U.S. monetary policy and a stronger U.S. dollar

Oil little changed in quiet trade, supply outlook unclear | Reuters

By Scott DiSavino | NEW YORK NEW YORK Oil prices were little changed on Monday, with little news to influence a market waiting to see whether U.S.

New Yorker gets 30 years in prison for 'death ray' plot against Muslims | Reuters

NEW YORK A white supremacist convicted on charges he planned to use a "death ray" to kill Muslims and President Barack Obama was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in prison, federal prosecutors in New York said.Glendon Scott Crawford, 52, a Navy veteran and a self-proclaimed member of the Ku Klux Klan, was found guilty in August 2015 of conspiring with another man to build a radiation dispersal device, dubbed a "death ray" by tabloids.Crawford is the first person to be convicted under a law barring attempts to acquire or use a radiological dispersal device. Congress passed the statute in 2004 to punish individuals who try to set off a so-called "dirty bomb," which combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe imposed the sentence at a hearing in Albany, prosecutors said in a statement.