Factory orders rebound, brighten growth view

(Reuters) - New orders received by factories unexpectedly rose in November, and orders excluding transportation recorded their largest gain in eight months, providing more signs the economic recovery was on sustainable path.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday orders for manufactured goods increased 0.7 percent after dropping a revised 0.7 percent in October.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders slipping 0.1 percent in November from a previously reported 0.9 percent decline in October. Orders have risen in four of the last five months.

Pakistani governor opposing blasphemy law killed

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The governor of Pakistan's wealthiest and most populous province was shot dead in the capital Tuesday by one of his own guards, who later told interrogators that he was angry about the politician's stance against the country's blasphemy law, officials said.

The killing of Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with crises ranging from a potential collapse of the government to a virulent Islamist insurgency.

The killing could also add to concerns about inroads by Islamist extremists and fundamentalists into Pakistan's security establishment and represented another blow to the country's Pakistan's embattled secular movement.

Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and a close associate of the president. The governor was vocal on a range of subjects, even using Twitter to get across his views.

Punjab is a major base and recruiting ground for Pakistan's powerful military and security establishment, which many fear is coming under the increasing influence of religious fundamentalists as Islamist movements have spread in Pakistan. Some analysts have suggested that fundamentalist members of the security establishment pose a greater threat of Pakistan nuclear proliferation than militant groups such as the Taliban.

LAPD in standoff with Hollywood shooting suspect

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Police shut down two blocks of Hollywood Boulevard -- in the heart of Hollywood's tourist district -- on Tuesday morning as they dealt with a barricaded suspect, they said.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, including members of a SWAT team, were trying to convince the suspect to surrender after finding a woman dead with gunshot wounds, police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said.

Authorities responded to a call about shots being fired in an apartment building near Hollywood's Walk of Fame and found the dead woman, who was about 25, police said.

The suspect is barricaded in the building, Eisenman said.

Australia floods force evacuations, recede in coal mine area

(Reuters) - Floodwaters eased in Australia's major coal mining region on Tuesday to allow some mines to slowly resume production, although most remain idle as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated.

Floods have submerged or disrupted life across an area the size of France and Germany combined, according to the premier of Queensland state, and more people evacuated their homes on Tuesday as others built moats and sandbag levees to stop waters surging downstream.

The weather bureau has declared flood warnings for seven river systems in Queensland, with monsoon rains forecast for the state's tropical north and thunderstorms for the southeast.

The state is the world's biggest exporter of coal used in steel-making and the floodwaters have brought production and shipments overseas to a virtual standstill, pushing world coal prices higher.

Queensland Resource Council said it would take until next week to determine when exports would return to normal.

"This is a three part drama: first mining production has to resume, then transport and then ports," said a council spokesman.

Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province assassinated

(Reuters) - A gunman assassinated the governor of Pakistan's central Punjab province, a senior member of the ruling party, in Islamabad on Tuesday, an aide said, as a new political crisis gripped the strategic U.S. ally.

Salman Taseer was killed by one of his guards probably because of his opposition to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Rights groups say the law is often exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

Islamist groups have been angry over what they believe were government plans to change or scrap the law.

The killing came as Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani tried to muster support for the government after a key coalition partner quit.

A witness at the scene said Taseer was stepping out of his car at a shopping area when he was shot.

"The governor fell down and the man who fired at him threw down his gun and raised both hands," said the witness, Ali Imran.

The shooting left blood stains on a parking area on the edge of the Kohsar shopping center, which is popular among foreigners in Islamabad.

Pakistan's main opposition group said on Tuesday it would not force a no-confidence vote in the government, offering a reprieve but leaving the coalition weak after a main ally quit at the weekend.

The second-biggest opposition party also said it would not push for a no-confidence vote, suggesting the opposition may prefer to wear down a weak prime minister by blocking legislation or even through street protests to force a call for an early election.

The political turmoil adds to the difficulties of a government trying to push through economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund, which has been propping up the economy with an $11 billion loan agreed in November of 2008.

(Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)