Today's Top Stories 11-7-11

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From alternative fuels to clean air, President Obama’s record is a disappointment to environmentalists, who helped get him elected and now are threatening to sit out his re-election bid in 2012.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou spoke to the main opposition leader today as the two men worked out details of a unity government to secure outside financing and avert a collapse of the country’s economy.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi struggled to hold on to power and prove he can implement austerity measures pledged to European Union allies as reports of his imminent resignation sent Italian stocks surging.

France unveiled tax increases and spending cuts amounting to $9.6 billion for next year to defend its AAA rating as growth slows and Europe’s debt crisis deepens.

Danish firms are entreating banks in the Nordic country to step up their efforts to find funds that can be channeled into corporate lending as a lack of credit threatens to choke business, kill jobs and trigger a recession.

Jefferies Group climbed as much as 8.5 percent after it cut gross holdings in sovereign securities of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain by almost 50 percent since last week’s close of trading to show how easily it can reduce funds at risk.

Canada’s dollar rose to C$1.0158 versus its U.S. counterpart in Toronto as crude oil advanced.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s largest custody bank, is in early stage talks with federal prosecutors to settle accusations the bank overcharged customers for foreign-exchange trading, according to a person briefed on the discussions.

AP Top Stories

The rich aren’t just getting richer, but wealthy older Americans are noticeably better-off than their counterparts from three decades ago in several areas like income, employment, home ownership and housing values.

High-profile discrimination attorney Gloria Allred says another woman has come forward accusing Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of sexual harassment. The woman would be at least the fourth to accuse Cain.

Nineteen Occupy Atlanta protesters were released from police custody today after a raucous night of protesting, in which protesters skirmished with cops in riot gear, on horseback and on motorcycles.

New laws requiring voters to show photo identification are set to take effect in Kansas, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. And Democrats, who as a party are staunchly opposed to voter ID laws, are already ramping up their efforts to combat the new laws.

The Israeli military says it opened fire at a group of militants planting explosives along Gaza's border with Israel. Tank shrapnel wounded three Palestinians, one of whom was in critical condition.

Ron Paul won another Republican straw poll this weekend, in Illinois this time.

In Connecticut, about 50,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity by Monday morning, nine days after the storm.

People's visits to fast-food joints increased along with their incomes, and that poor people were spending fewer dollars on fast food than lower-middle and middle-income Americans.

Derivatives exchange ICE said it would launch its new Brent crude oil futures and options contract on December 5 with a first trading contract of December 2012 rather than February 2013 as initially proposed.