The crowd of protestors had dwindled to a few thousand by early Thursday, but was expected to grow again later in the day. American said it would no longer contest the issue of its liability for provable compensatory damages to passengers or others who have sued over the June 1 crash. After weeks of negotiation, the Clinton administration on Wednesday authorized its envoy in Yemen to sign an agreement to allow U.S. presence at all future interviews in the investigation of the USS Cole bombing. Yemen, conducting the investigation into the blast that killed 17 U.S. sailors, had barred U.S. investigators from interviews with suspects and witnesses. Also on the agenda, major retailers are expected to report November sales figures, including the pivotal Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Many analysts expect sales to look sluggish compared with the blazing pace set a year earlier.
People familiar with the matter say Chase may close on the merger before the end of the year, earlier than the originally scheduled, the story said. Spokesmen declined to comment. In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei average of 225 stocks closed up 140.87 points, or 1 percent, at 14,648.51. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.1 percent at 14,008.56 in late trading, while Singapore's Straits Times index shed 0.6 percent to 1,949.21. The St. Louis Blues knew their comeback was something special.