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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Judge blocks Citigroup-SEC settlement (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A federal judge angrily threw out Citigroup Inc's proposed $285 million settlement over the sale of toxic mortgage debt, excoriating the top U.S. market regulator over how it reaches corporate fraud settlements.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said that in agreeing to the settlement, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appeared uninterested in actually learning what Citigroup did wrong. He also said the regulator erred by asking him to ignore the interests of the public.
"An application of judicial power that does not rest on facts is worse than mindless, it is inherently dangerous," Rakoff wrote in an opinion dated Monday.
"In any case like this that touches on the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives, there is an overriding public interest in knowing the truth," he added.
Rakoff called the settlement "neither reasonable, nor fair, nor adequate, nor in the public interest," and said it was hard to tell whether by settling the SEC was getting more than "a quick headline." He set a trial date of July 16, 2012.
Monday's decision throws into question the SEC's policies toward settlements with publicly traded companies, at a time when the regulator is trying to burnish its reputation for tough enforcement amid skeptics in Congress and elsewhere.
Many SEC cases against Wall Street banks and investment firms are settled out of court, without any admission or denial of wrongdoing. The absence of agreed-upon facts can make it harder for shareholders, bondholders and others to bring their own civil lawsuits against those same defendants.
THORN
Both the SEC and Citigroup on Monday maintained that the settlement was reasonable.
Robert Khuzami, the SEC director of enforcement, said the $285 million sum "reasonably reflects the scope of relief that would be obtained after a successful trial," but without the "risks, delay and resources" required.
He also said Rakoff ignored "decades of established practice throughout federal agencies and decisions of the federal courts."
Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos called the settlement "a fair and reasonable resolution to the SEC's allegation of negligence." She said if a trial occurred, the bank would present "substantial factual and legal defenses."
The SEC and Citigroup did not in their statements address whether they might be able to reach a revised settlement that could win court approval.
In its complaint, the SEC accused Citigroup of selling a $1 billion mortgage-linked collateralized debt obligation, Class V Funding III, in 2007 as the housing market was beginning to collapse, and then betting against the transaction.
The SEC said the CDO caused more than $700 million of investor losses. One Citigroup employee, director Brian Stoker, was charged by the SEC, and is contesting those charges.
Rakoff has been a thorn in the side of the SEC. In 2009 he rejected its initial proposed settlement with Bank of America Corp over its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Bradley Bondi, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and former counsel to two SEC commissioners, said the decision will hamper the regulator's ability to settle cases in the Manhattan court.
"But the judge's decision to probe the settlement to ensure it is in the best interest of shareholders - and requiring the SEC to show the facts in support ... are in the best interests of process," Bondi said in an email.
'POCKET CHANGE'
Rakoff called the Citigroup accord too lenient, and noted that the bank was charged only with negligence. Private investors cannot bring securities claims based on negligence.
"If the allegations of the complaint are true, this is a very good deal for Citigroup; and, even if they are untrue, it is a mild and modest cost of doing business," the judge wrote.
The settlement would have required the third-largest U.S. bank to give up $160 million of alleged ill-gotten profit, plus $30 million of interest.
It also would have imposed a $95 million fine for the alleged negligence, less than one-fifth what Goldman Sachs Group Inc paid last year in a $550 million SEC settlement over a different CDO.
Rakoff called the $95 million fine "pocket change" for Citigroup and said investors were being "short-changed."
Khuzami said the regulator will review the ruling and "take those steps that best serve the interests of investors."
In striking down the SEC's $33 million settlement with Bank of America over Merrill, Rakoff said it unfairly punished shareholders. He later approved a $150 million accord.
Citigroup shares closed 6 percent higher at $25.05 on Monday. Stocks rose broadly on optimism that leaders in Europe might take steps to address the region's debt crisis.
The case is SEC v Citigroup Global Markets Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-07387.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis, Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace)
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Lenovo's LePhone S2 joins the Beijing party, boasts a 1.4GHz chip in a much lighter body (updated)
Sadly there's no word on release dates or prices for the S2, so again, come back in a bit for our hands-on photos from Engadget Chinese.
Update: We've now been told that starting today the S2 will be sold for RMB 2,990 (about $470) unsubsidized. There will also be a TD-SCDMA variant at some point for those hooked up to China Mobile.
Update 2: And our hands-on photos are up now! Enjoy.
Lenovo's LePhone S2 joins the Beijing party, boasts a 1.4GHz chip in a much lighter body (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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World stocks rise from 7-week low on Europe hopes (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) ? World stocks rose from last week's 7-week low on Monday as hopes grew euro zone leaders would unveil fresh measures to resolve the two-year-old debt crisis, while caution ahead of next week's key summit kept the euro and German yields under pressure.
An unsourced report in Italian daily La Stampa suggested the International Monetary Fund was preparing a rescue plan for Italy worth up to 600 billion euros ($796 billion), later dismissed by an IMF spokesperson.
But a downgrade in Belgium's sovereign rating late on Friday and a warning by Moody's that the rapid escalation of the region's sovereign and banking crisis threatens the rating of all European government bonds kept top-rated German debt supported.
"The bears out there will know that markets do not go down in a straight line and this could be just a relief rally in what will prove to be a prolonged bear market," said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets.
MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 0.9 percent, rising for the first time after ten consecutive days of losses. The index is down nearly 15 percent since January and more than 22 percent since hitting a three-year high in May.
European stocks (.FTEU3) and emerging stocks (.MSCIEF) both rose around 1.5 percent.
U.S. stock futures were up more than 2 percent, pointing to a firmer open on Wall Street later.
The market was also expected to get some support from news that U.S. retailers racked up a record $52.4 billion in sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, a 16.4 percent jump.
U.S. crude oil gained 2.2 percent to $98.92 a barrel.
Bund futures were steady on the day.
After the Italian aid report, Italian/German 10-year government bond yield spread tightened 10 basis points to 496 bps.
The premium investors pay to hold Belgium's 10-year government bonds rather than German debt was largely unchanged from Friday at 368 basis points.
Belgian borrowing costs have increased sharply in past weeks as the country has struggled to set up a government, with the country's benchmark 10-year yield rising near the 6 percent level on Friday, beyond which financing costs could become unsustainable.
A sustained rise in yields is likely to scare some of the long-term euro bond buyers. Kokusai Asset Management, Japan's biggest mutual fund, said it had sold all its Italian, Spanish and Belgian bond holdings, spooked by a jump in Italian bond yields to above 7 percent and other signs that the crisis in Europe was deepening [ID:nL4E7MS152].
Investors will keep a close eye on developments in the euro zone. Documents showed detailed operational rules for the region's bailout fund were ready for approval and will clear the way for the 440 billion euro facility to attract cash from private and public investors in coming weeks.
Officials say Germany and France are exploring ways for rapid fiscal integration among euro zone countries. Germany's original plan was to get all 27 countries on board, but officials have been looking at alternatives such as an agreement among just the euro zone countries or a separate agreement outside the EU treaty that could involve a core of around 8-10 euro zone countries.
The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.3301.
The dollar (.DXY) fell 0.6 percent against a basket of major currencies.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
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NASA launches most sophisticated rover yet to Mars
The Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity rover, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After an 8 1/2-month journey, the rover is expected to arrive at the Red Planet in August 2012.
NASA launched its newest, largest and most sophisticated rover yet to Mars on Saturday (Nov. 26), marking an important step toward the agency's ambitious goal of one day landing humans on the surface of the Red Planet.
Skip to next paragraphThe?Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity rover, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After an 8 1/2-month journey, the rover is expected to arrive at the Red Planet in August 2012. Once on the surface, Curiosity will investigate whether the planet is or ever was habitable.
The rover is also equipped with?10 different instruments?that will allow it to dig, drill, and shoot a laser into rocks to examine the chemical makeup of Martian soil and dust. The mission will help scientists understand the environment and atmosphere of Mars, which will be essential for planning a manned mission to the planet.
"The goal [is] to send humans to Mars and return them back again safely ? in order to return them back safely, we really need to know about the surface properties," Doug Ming, a co-investigator for the Mars Science Laboratory, said in a news briefing Wednesday (Nov. 23) from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. [Photos: NASA's Curiosity Rover Launches to Mars]
Curiosity will characterize Martian dust by drilling into rocks and studying their chemical properties, Ming explained. The rover will also be able to determine how pervasive the dust is on the surface of the planet.
These analyses will help address two key questions for a future manned mission: how will Mars' global dust storms affect vehicles and hardware on the planet, and what are the possible toxic effects of Martian dust? NASA is aiming to send humans to Mars in the mid-2030s. But before then, many important questions about the planet will need to be answered.
"Another key investigation is to determine if there are resources on Mars that we can use for human missions," Ming said.
Data from Curiosity is expected to paint a clearer picture of the environment of Mars, including whether oxygen and water can be extracted from subsurface water ice, or even from the atmosphere itself, Ming said.
A?manned mission to Mars?will also be a lengthy undertaking, which requires mission planners to investigate how to grow food on the planet for the crew. By examining the surface properties of Mars, Curiosity will explore this possibility. The rover is also equipped with an instrument that will measure the amount of radiation on the Martian surface, which could be a critical stumbling block for a future human mission.
Previous studies of the effect of space radiation and the link to cancer "suggests our tolerance for long-duration spaceflight is about as long as it takes to get to Mars," said John Charles, a program scientist in NASA's human research program.
This would leave astronauts at risk for the duration of their stay on the Red Planet, plus the return trip home to Earth. Scientists in the human research program will continue to study space radiation, as well as other?medical and health concerns on long spaceflights.
Researchers are also conducting ongoing studies of propulsion technology, in hopes of developing a more efficient way of traveling to and from Mars, which will cut down on the amount of time in space.
But, before humans step foot on Mars, NASA and the European Space Agency aim to complete a series of robotic sample return missions to the Red Planet. The?Mars Astrobiology Explorer Cacher?(MAX-C) expedition is envisioned as a joint effort to collect dirt samples from Mars and bring them back to Earth in order to gain a greater understanding of the conditions on the planet.
Earlier this year, the National Research Council released its?Planetary Science Decadal Survey, which represents a consensus of the scientific community's goals for planetary science over the next 10 years. A sample return mission was deemed the highest priority, but it was recommended that the cost be kept under $2.5 billion.
In an increasingly difficult budgetary climate, the details of the joint effort are still being worked out. The agency is currently aiming to launch the series of missions between 2016 and 2018.
"We really do envision probably having more robotic missions prior to a human mission," said Bret Drake, deputy chief architect of NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team. "Also pinnacle is a sample return mission. Bringing back via robotic, uncrewed mission samples of Mars would really facilitate human exploration."
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter?@denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.
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Climate negotiations open, focus on emissions cuts (AP)
DURBAN, South Africa ? Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions.
"For most people in the developing world and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death," said the South African leader as he formally opened a two-week conference with participants from 191 countries and the European Union.
The conference is seeking ways to curb ever-rising emissions of climate-changing pollution, which scientists said last week have reached record levels of concentration in the atmosphere.
Seasoned nongovernment observers said the outcome of the conference, which ends Dec. 9, is among the most unpredictable since the annual all-nation meetings began following the conclusion in 1992 of the basic treaty on climate change.
"Everything seems to be fluid. Everything is in play," said Tasneem Essop, of WWF International.
The main point of contention is whether industrial countries will extend their commitments to further reduce carbon emissions after their current commitments expire next year. Most wealthy countries have said their agreement is conditional on developing countries like China, India and Brazil accepting that they, too, must accept legally binding restrictions on their own emissions.
Zuma said Sudan's drought is partly responsible for tribal wars there, and that drought and famine have driven people from their homes in Somalia. Floods along the South African coast have cost people their homes and jobs, he said.
"Change and solutions are always possible. In these talks, state parties will need to look beyond their national interests to find a global solution for a common good and benefit of all humanity."
As if to give the effects of global warming a dramatic dimension, Durban was hammered overnight Monday by a thunderstorm and downpour that killed several people and caused some damage in the city, including to the roof of the sprawling center where the conference was being held.
Although the unseasonable storm cannot be directly linked to climate change, it is the kind of extreme weather that scientists say is happening more often, said Christiana Figueres, the U.N.'s top climate official.
Figueres said future commitments by industrial countries to slash greenhouse gas emissions is "the defining issue of this conference." But she said that is linked to pledges that developing countries must make to join the fight against climate change.
The task is daunting, she said, then she quoted anti-apartheid legend and former President Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it is done."
The pledges by 37 wealthy countries were enshrined in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and expire in 2012. Canada, Japan and Russia announced last year they would not take on new emission reduction commitments for a second period, and Canadian television reported Monday that Ottawa would formally withdraw from the protocol next month.
Canada's withdrawal would be "a slap in the face," but would likely have little effect on the negotiations, said Alden Meyer of the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists. But Meyer said a withdrawal, which would only come into effect next year, would allow Canada to continue to be a negotiator on the future of the protocol "watering down the treaty and wrecking the job of the rest of us."
One of the greatest threats of global warming is to food supplies, which new studies by the United Nations and independent agencies show already are under stress.
In its first global assessment of the planet's resources, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that farmers will have to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world's expected 9 billion-strong population.
But most available farmland is already being farmed, and in ways that decrease productivity through practices that lead to soil erosion and wasting of water, the FAO said in a report released Monday in Rome.
Climate change compounded problems caused by poor farming practices, it found. Adjusting to a changing world will require $1 trillion in irrigation water management alone for developing countries by 2015, the FAO said.
The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said changing weather patterns will make farming more unpredictable and make water supplies more unreliable. Global warming is increasing the frequency of droughts and floods, and could create a catastrophic rise of sea levels if mountain and Arctic glaciers continue to rapidly melt.
The international aid agency Oxfam also released a report Monday showing that extreme weather events are driving up food prices, and the world's poorest peoples already spend 75 percent of their income on food.
In the last 18 months, Russia lost 13.3 million acres of crops, or about 17 percent of its production, due to a months-long heat wave. Drought in the Horn of Africa has killed 60 percent of Ethiopia's cattle and 40 percent of its sheep. Floods in September have raised the price of rice by 25 percent in Thailand and 30 percent in Vietnam, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
___
Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.
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Fans campaign to save zombie movie chapel
EVANS CITY, Pa.?? Horror movie fans are trying to save a southwestern Pennsylvania cemetery chapel featured in several scenes of the cult classic "Night of the Living Dead."
A sound engineer who worked on the 1968 George Romero film is trying to raise $50,000 to repair the chapel at Evans City Cemetery.
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The cemetery association had planned to tear down boarded-up building but delayed those plans to see if Gary Streiner can come up with the money.
Cemetery association President Ron Volz tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the building will have to come down if the fundraising effort falls short. Streiner has raised about $7,000 so far.
Story: Why don't zombies ever die? Because we love 'emStreiner says he hopes the chapel could be used as a movie museum or rented out for events, like zombie-themed weddings.
The website designed to highlight the campaign is at www.fixthechapel.com.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Raiders enter final month in prime position
By JOSH DUBOW
updated 5:56 p.m. ET Nov. 28, 2011
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Oakland Raiders head into the final month of the season in a most unusual place after an eight-year stretch of disappointment and losses.
They stand alone in first place in the AFC West.
Oakland (7-4) has a one-game lead on Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos after beating the Chicago Bears 25-20 Sunday. So instead of preparing to play out the string on another failed season, the Raiders head into December with legitimate hopes of winning the division and making it to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2002 AFC championship.
While most of the players in Oakland have little understanding of what it takes to win meaningful late-season games or of going to the playoffs, there are a few veterans ready to dole out advice.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More news'Fire Andy' -- but then what?
PFT's 10-pack: Philly fans are chanting for the Eagles to fire Andy Reid, but the status quo probably is better than the alternative.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45469107/ns/sports-nfl/
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Bari Zell Weinberger, Esq.: In Today's Uncertain Financial Times, Mediated Divorce Makes More Sense Than Ever
The divorce process can be an expensive proposition. In uncertain financial times, like we are currently experiencing, it is even more crucial to find ways to help reduce the burden of divorce, both emotionally and financially. Couples need to preserve their money to start anew because it costs more to live as a single person or as a single parent.
If you are separated or considering a divorce, I recommend that you look into mediating your divorce versus going through the adversarial process and ending up in the courtroom. Mediation has always made sense for a lot of couples, and is even more attractive in today's tough economy.
How you handle your divorce can set you back financially for many years to come. During a divorce, some spouses can become strong adversaries, arguing over every single thing. The longer the fight continues, the more money the divorce will cost in fees paid to professionals such as lawyers, accountants etc. Is it worth it to spend your money on fees? Or is it better to put the money towards your children's education, child support or towards establishing a comfortable home where you/your family can have a fresh start?
Not only does a litigated divorce generally cost money, it also takes additional time and adds to your stress level. When your divorce is a fight, you may end up doing and saying things that can cause irreversible damage to your relationships with your spouse and your children. Your spouse could harbor great resentment and act out in various ways after the divorce settlement. If you have young children, you and your spouse will remain tied to each other for quite some time. If your relationship with your spouse is strained, it will negatively impact your children, and your relationship with them.
Now here comes mediation.
Though the mediation process can often be misunderstood (you can read some myths about divorce mediation here), it can also be a highly viable alternative to litigation. Not only is it efficient and cost effective, it also helps to preserve relationships.
During mediation, the mediator will facilitate discussions and negotiations between you and your spouse so that, together, you can reach a mutually beneficial agreement. A skilled mediator will diffuse negative emotions and teach couples to overcome impasses. This enables you and your spouse to discuss issues, concerns and goals in a non-adversarial way. Divorce mediation helps foster compassion and better understanding of each other's point of view. As a result, more creative and amicable solutions can emerge that suits your particular needs. Unlike being in a courtroom where the judge makes your decisions for you, the mediator leaves the decisions up to you. When decisions are made jointly, couples are more in control of their own destiny, and are more likely to honor what they have mutually agreed upon.
When you mediate your divorce, the process not only encourages reasonable negotiations, it also creates a foundation for cooperation and trust between you and your spouse. For example, your agreement may state that you have your children every other week, but you will be away on business for one of the weeks, your spouse may be more willing to change the schedule to accommodate yours. This way, it is a win-win situation for you and your children.
I have been a family lawyer and a mediator for 12 years and have seen and written about how divorce mediation works to help couples and families preserve their relationships and strengthen their ability to co-parent. On top of that, couples have also preserved their money towards establishing a new life. In today's economic situation, mediation makes more sense than ever. If you are getting a divorce, I encourage you to look into this alternative dispute resolution.
For more information about divorce or other family law related matters or to download a free copy of my divorce guide, visit www.weinbergerlawgroup.com.
Bari Weinberger, the founding partner of Weinberger Law Group, LLC, is a prominent and highly sought after New Jersey divorce and family law attorney. She is Certified by the Supreme Court of NJ as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, a certification achieved by only 2% of the attorneys in New Jersey. Ms. Weinberger is also the associate author of the New Jersey Family Law Practice, a 5-volume treatise utilized by virtually every family law judge and attorney in the State. Her practice is located in Morris County, just minutes from Morristown and she represents clients throughout NJ including the following: Bergen County, Essex County, Hudson County, Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Morris County, Ocean County, Passaic County, Somerset County, Sussex County, Union County and Warren County.
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Analysis: U.S., Pakistani co-dependence may prevent rupture (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Pakistan and the United States depend on one another too much to allow the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers in a clash with NATO forces on Saturday to cause a definitive rupture.
But the incident, the latest in a series of embarrassments this year to bedevil the relationship between two ostensible allies, will only aggravate the mistrust between the countries and will require quick diplomatic work to contain.
Analysts and Western officials who track the relationship said a speedy, thorough investigation to find out what happened, establish responsibility and make amends is vital, though any reconciliation may be harder to achieve if NATO forces conclude that the Pakistani side started the fight.
"They still have a great deal of co-dependence. The United States needs Pakistan until it wraps up kinetic operations in Afghanistan," said Shuja Nawaz, an authority on the Pakistani military at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
"Pakistan, of course, is still fairly heavily dependent on U.S. financial and military support," he added. "But the way things have been going this past year, it's one event after another."
NATO helicopters and fighter jets based in Afghanistan attacked two Pakistan military outposts on Saturday, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in what Islamabad called an unprovoked assault.
A Western official and a senior Afghan security official on Sunday said that NATO and Afghan forces came under fire from across the border with Pakistan before NATO aircraft attacked the Pakistani forces.
EXTREMELY MURKY
An early test of how much the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has been hurt may come from how well, or poorly, the sides cooperate with one another and with the Afghan authorities to establish precisely what happened on the border.
The key questions include who fired first and from where; why NATO and Pakistani forces appear to have been unable to communicate so as to prevent the Pakistani deaths; and whether NATO helicopters knew they had entered Pakistani territory.
"All of this is extremely murky and needs to be investigated," said an Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Our goal today is ... that the investigation gets mounted in a way that is confidence-building on all sides," the official added.
Pakistan shut down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan -- used to send in nearly half of the alliance's land shipments -- in retaliation for the incident, the worst such attack since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The NATO attack was the latest perceived provocation by the United States, which infuriated Pakistan's powerful military with a unilateral U.S. special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.
That raid also cost Pakistan much goodwill among U.S. politicians who questioned why the United States provides so much military and economic assistance -- CRS report -- to a country where bin Laden lived with impunity.
Ties have been strained by a series of events over the past 15 months, including a September 30, 2010 incident in which NATO forces killed two Pakistani service personnel, leading Pakistan to cut off NATO's vital ground supply route for 10 days.
On January 27, a CIA contractor killed two Pakistani men he said were trying to rob him in Lahore, undermining ties between the U.S. and Pakistani intelligence services.
An in September, the then top U.S. military officer accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against U.S. targets including a September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
Former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) had supported militants known as the Haqqani network, which he described as a "veritable arm" of the ISI.
LAST STRAW?
"Is this the last straw? (I) hope not. I believe both governments also hope not," said retired Ambassador Teresita Schaffer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as a U.S. diplomat in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
While there have been suggestions Pakistan could seek to improve its ties to China as a strategic counterweight to the United States, analysts dismissed this idea.
Islamabad receives significant amounts of military hardware from Beijing and their armed forces are close but Schaffer said the United States is a source of two things Beijing does not provide: top-flight weaponry and extensive cash assistance.
Even if there is no radical rupture, things are unlikely to improve quickly.
"The U.S.-Pakistan relationship appears destined to lurch from crisis to crisis unless and until the two sides can reach some kind of understanding on the way forward in Afghanistan," said Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation think tank.
With NATO planning to intensify its operations in Eastern Afghanistan next year to try to cut off insurgent routes from Pakistan, Curtis said "the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better."
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