Fresh off hydrangea-gate at the Venice film festival — when she was caught on camera expressing her distaste for the flowers after receiving a bouquet from an appreciative fan  — Madonna has found herself in another slight controversy in Toronto. The Material Girl’s spokesperson was quick to deny on Wednesday a press report that Madonna’s security detail had ordered Toronto film festival volunteers to turn their backs to the wall as she passed by on the way out of a press conference for her new movie “W.E.” Madonna’s spokeswoman denied that the singer had done anything like that and  pointed out that the pop star-turned-filmmaker had thanked TIFF volunteers from the stage ahead of the festival’s “W.E.” premiere. “We are still trying to figure out who and why anyone would ask the volunteers to turn away from Madonna. She has never and would never ask anyone to do that ever,” Liz Rosenberg said in a statement. A TIFF organizer said it was not the festival’s doing, and that apparently it was an outside security firm that made the request.

He welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to modify the European treaty, but said they needed to take a harsher stance with countries who failed to meet the bloc’s economic conditions.”The new treaty should make it possible to kick a country out of the euro zone if a majority of 75 percent are in favour,” Delors told Le Monde. “Having a single currency means having to meet stricter requirements.”He said if the region had set up an economic coordination unit years ago the troubles with Greece that now threaten to bring down the currency could largely have been avoided.”The euro council would have asked questions about the situation in Greece when there was still time to act, and about the worrying increase in private debt in Spain, Ireland and Italy. They could have reacted,” he said.Euro zone countries are battling to save Greece from an outright bankruptcy, a scenario that threatens to spread to other countries in the region and bring down banks exposed to sovereign debt.Economists have speculated that Greece might be forced to quit the euro, a solution currently not possible under the terms of the European treaty.Euro zone leaders are trying to agree on a way to shore up banks’ capital to weather a Greek default, and leveraging the bloc’s rescue fund to prevent contagion to other countries.Ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday it could place France’s Aaa debt rating on negative watch if slower growth and the cost of a bailout for banks and other countries put its budget under too much strain.Delors voiced exasperation that leaders had taken so long to act decisively on the debt crisis and said talk of a bank recapitalisation was jumping the gun.”We’re moving onto the next step — recapitalisation of the banks — before we’ve applied the terms of the July 21 agreement,” he told Le Monde.

DALLAS Oct 17 (Reuters) - Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd expects U.S. solar installations to reach about 2 gigawatts this year, a senior executive said on Monday.Most industry projections were for between 1.5 and 1.6 GW for the U.S. market for this year, compared with less than 900 GW last year.Including Canada, this year’s number could be 2.2 or 2.3 GW, Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Beebe said. That would be greater than the capacity of two large nuclear reactors.At the same time, the German market in the second half of the year has been slower to pick up than the company had expected, Beebe said.”Europe is going through a lot of macro issues in terms of finance support, and a lot of people are waiting for a lot of things,” Beebe said in an interview. “Sometimes they are waiting to see how much lower can panel prices go … other people are waiting to see when can financing stability sort of re-enters the world over there.”The erosion of subsidies in Germany and Italy, the world’s two biggest markets, and rising production of the panels that turn sunlight into electricity has left the industry awash in a glut of equipment and driven panel prices down by some 35 percent this year.That is good news for consumers and distributors who buy the solar modules, but has left manufacturers reeling as their profit margins shrink and their share prices plummet to multi-year lows. Suntech’s stock, for instance has sunk 72 percent this year.In the United States, Suntech is supplying modules for Sempra Energy’s 150 megawatt Mesquite Solar 1 project in Arizona. It has already delivered 140,000 panels to the site, or 15 percent of the total, Beebe said.Suntech will recognize revenue from the Mesquite project over six quarters, Beebe said.

* Rebels in ruling party oppose austerity measuresBy Yiorgos KarahalisATHENS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Greek protesters tried to disrupt collection of an unpopular new property tax on Thursday and transport workers went on strike in a growing wave of protests against harsh new austerity measures.With the socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou trying to push new cuts through parliament to meet demands from international lenders, opposition has strengthened ahead of a planned general strike on Oct. 19 which is expected to shut down much of the country.On Thursday, protesters occupied the printing offices of Greek power utility PPC < DEHr.AT >, which is set to collect the property tax, with a few dozen protesters hanging banners reading: “We are not going to stop providing electricity to the poor people even if they put us in jail”.Protests have spread to other sectors as well. The ancient Acropolis, Greece’s most famous monument, was closed to tourists and Athens was hit by strikes by garbage collectors and hospital workers. Lawyers refused to appear in court.The wave of protests come as euro zone leaders scramble to put together a new rescue plan to stave off bankruptcy and stop the crisis spreading out of control.International lenders are demanding further painful reforms but unions say the belt-tightening hurts only the poor and middle-class and will drag Greece’s stricken economy further into recession.The action at power company PPC underlines the challenge faced by the government, which has included the property tax in electricity bills to ensure it will be paid in a country where tax evasion is endemic.PPC’s management said the bills would be printed anyway, in another venue and at a greater cost but protesters said they would continue their protest.”We came to stay … we are here to give a fight” said Nikos Fotopoulos, president of PPC’s union GENOP-DEH, on Skai TV.Unions have planned a 24-hour, general strike on Oct. 19 to protest against the new tax hikes, pension cuts and plans to put tens of thousands of state workers on the road to redundancy.RECESSIONGreece is trapped in a deepening recession and fighting to control a public debt expected to reach 162 percent of gross domestic product this year, with most economists saying these measures will not be enough to avoid a default.Euro zone countries are now considering asking banks to accept losses of up to 50 percent on their holdings of Greek debt, officials said on Wednesday, as part of a grand plan to avert a disorderly default and stem a crisis that is shaking financial markets worldwide.Inspectors from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank concluded a review of Greece’s progress on a first, 110-billion-euro bailout plan on Tuesday.They gave the green light for euro zone finance ministers and the IMF to release an 8-billion euro aid tranche Greece needs to avoid immediate bankruptcy but said Athens was too slow to implement reforms and warned it must step up efforts if it is to continue receiving aid.Analysts expect ruling socialist party lawmakers to pass the new austerity measures before an Oct 23 EU summit on the debt crisis. But in a further sign of steep discontent among the party ranks, former Labour Minister Louka Katseli threatened to vote against a provision of the law changing labour rules.”I will not vote article 37 if the article is not modified, Katseli told Mega TV late on Wednesday. “This article is changing the collective agreements and leads to a deeper recession our economy.”

The figure represent 17.4 percent of his $39.8 million in taxable income, a percentage he has repeatedly said is too low compared to what his own staff pays.Buffett caused an uproar in August when he said the wealthy should be subject to a higher rate of tax. The White House has co-opted his call into a “Buffett Rule” that would raise levies on the richest people.Following Buffett’s suggestion, Republican congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas sent the “Oracle of Omaha” a letter in late September calling on him to release his tax returns.Huelskamp sent Buffett a second letter reiterating the request earlier this month, and promising to release his own returns if Buffett would as well.Buffett, the chief executive of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, responded in kind on Tuesday, according to a copy of the letter. Buffett did not release his full return, though, as many have called for him to do.In the letter, Buffett reiterated what he saw as the inequality of his paying a rate in the teens when most people who work for him pay a rate in the 30 percent range.But what he told Huelskamp he also wanted was for other ultra-wealthy Americans to release their own returns — in full, rather than the limited data Buffett himself shared.”If you could get other ultra rich Americans to publish their returns along with mine, that would be very useful to the tax dialogue and intelligent reform,” Buffett said. “I stand ready and willing - indeed eager - to participate in this exercise.”Buffett went on to suggest a method to get reticent moguls to release their returns, among them Rupert Murdoch, whom he has repeatedly challenged on the subject.”Having the ‘favored 400’ make their tax returns public - even if only code letters were attached to the various returns - would be a big step in informing legislators and the public of what needs to be done,” Buffett wrote.Huelskamp, in a statement Wednesday, slammed Buffett’s letter as inadequate and again called on him to either release his full returns or voluntarily give more tax money to the federal government.”Mr. Buffett still refuses to release his tax returns. What he does disclose may be accurate, but it is incomplete and it fails to explain how he shelters millions of dollars in income from taxation,” Huelskamp said.

The figure represent 17.4 percent of his $39.8 million in taxable income, a percentage he has repeatedly said is too low compared to what his own staff pays.Buffett caused an uproar in August when he said the wealthy should be subject to a higher rate of tax. The White House has co-opted his call into a “Buffett Rule” that would raise levies on the richest people.Following Buffett’s suggestion, Republican congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas sent the “Oracle of Omaha” a letter in late September calling on him to release his tax returns.Huelskamp sent Buffett a second letter reiterating the request earlier this month, and promising to release his own returns if Buffett would as well.Buffett, the chief executive of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, responded in kind on Tuesday, according to a copy of the letter. Buffett did not release his full return, though, as many have called for him to do.In the letter, Buffett reiterated what he saw as the inequality of his paying a rate in the teens when most people who work for him pay a rate in the 30 percent range.But what he told Huelskamp he also wanted was for other ultra-wealthy Americans to release their own returns — in full, rather than the limited data Buffett himself shared.”If you could get other ultra rich Americans to publish their returns along with mine, that would be very useful to the tax dialogue and intelligent reform,” Buffett said. “I stand ready and willing - indeed eager - to participate in this exercise.”Buffett went on to suggest a method to get reticent moguls to release their returns, among them Rupert Murdoch, whom he has repeatedly challenged on the subject.”Having the ‘favored 400’ make their tax returns public - even if only code letters were attached to the various returns - would be a big step in informing legislators and the public of what needs to be done,” Buffett wrote.Huelskamp, in a statement Wednesday, slammed Buffett’s letter as inadequate and again called on him to either release his full returns or voluntarily give more tax money to the federal government.”Mr. Buffett still refuses to release his tax returns. What he does disclose may be accurate, but it is incomplete and it fails to explain how he shelters millions of dollars in income from taxation,” Huelskamp said.

* Hewlett-Packard Co is rethinking its plan to spin off its personal-computer division, as fresh analyses show the costs might outweigh the benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.* Alcoa Inc reported third-quarter earnings far short of analysts’ recently reduced forecasts as slower global economic growth and a drop in prices weighed down the aluminum maker.* Two Swiss bankers were charged by federal prosecutors with allegedly helping wealthy U.S. clients hide their money from the Internal Revenue Service, the latest move in a multi-year crackdown by U.S. authorities on Swiss financial institutions.* New York City’s securities industry faces the loss of nearly 10,000 jobs by the end of 2012, New York state’s comptroller predicted, a blow to the area’s economy and government budgets.* Social-games maker Zynga Inc moved to reduce its reliance on Facebook Inc’s social network, saying it will start distributing its games directly to users online or on mobile phones.* Slovak lawmakers held up the expansion of the euro zone’s bailout fund after the 16 other members ratified the changes, throwing up a new roadblock to the continent’s efforts to tame its debt crisis.* The U.S. Senate voted to pass legislation targeting China’s management of its currency, the yuan, underscoring U.S. frustration with one of its largest trading partners. Although the bill is unlikely to become law, the Senate debate has kept a public focus on the currency issue as the two countries remain at odds over China’s control of the yuan.* Asian stock markets dropped Wednesday, with Australian resources stocks leading the fall after aluminum producer Alcoa kicked-started the U.S. earnings season with a disappointing third-quarter report.