Rival Palestinian Factions Urged to Talk

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Saudi Arabia's king urged Palestinian rival factions Sunday to hold talks in the holy city of Mecca as fighting between the Hamas and Fatah movements persisted in Gaza with no clear winner emerging.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen battled each other across Gaza early Monday. Two Hamas fighters were killed overnight in the fighting as attacks were mounted on security compounds. An electrical transformer was knocked out by gunmen, plunging large parts of Gaza City into darkness.

Some of the most intense fighting took place outside the Gaza City headquarters of the Preventive Security Service, which a decade ago had led a crackdown on Hamas and is fiercely …

Higher Learning.(home design)(Brief Article)

With a bayed study and convenient master sitting room, a home office is an easy assignment. For study breaks, a huge kitchen with a stovetop island, bright breakfast nook, and separate laundry room serves the purpose. Fireside readings in either the living room or spacious family room make learning a treat. All those books can be neatly stored with built-in bookshelves. With four bedrooms, …

The Loan Market's Comeback Kid? Covenants.

Further indicating that investors are now calling the shots on the credit markets, issuers are hotfooting to add covenants to recently launched leveraged loan deals.

Last week, Source Interlink, Vertrue, Van Houtte and Harlan Sprague Dawley were forced to add leverage maintenance covenants to their credit facilities, according to a report from Credit Suisse. Across the pond, England's Alliance Boots has also added covenants to its megadeal. And sources say these issuers likely won't be the only ones.

With the covenants added, however, investors are confident these deals, which are all acquisition financings, will close.

"In the past four weeks, the market has backed up big time," one investor said. "Covenant-lite is very out of favor currently, and the covenant-lite kind of structures we saw get done in the past are trading much more [bearishly] relative to their corporate structures. I would think given the general market demand for that type of paper, I'm not surprised they would add covenants."

Indeed, in a round of selling to hit the loan market early …