Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word government. 14 news.

Treasury prices rallied in the final session of 2007 as investors who turned to the safety of government bonds throughout a turbulent year hedged once more against a variety of risks.

Kenya was plunged into a media black out as the government banned all live broadcasts and the death toll climbed in violence sparked by president Mwai Kibaki's disputed election victory.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Arizona puts into effect on Jan. 1 a law that punishes businesses that knowingly employ illegal workers, the toughest such law in the U.S., the Arizona Republic reported. Only about 6% of the state's 150,000 employers have so far signed up for E-Verify, an Internet database the U.S. federal government operates to enable employers to determine whether a person is eligible to work, the paper reported. Arizona's new law requires employers to use E-Verify; the database is voluntary at the federal level, the paper reported. While the new law has survived two legal challenges, many employers are waiting to see whether the law is ultimately upheld, the paper reported. Arizona has more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants, and many employers are reluctant to use the database, the Republic reported, because screening out the workers cuts off a major supply of low-cost labor.

Thaksin's allies and three small political parties have enough parliamentary seats to form a coalition government in Thailand, said the leading candidate to become the country's next leader.

The Singapore government, which recently bought a 9 percent stake in UBS, does not aim for operational control over the Swiss bank, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday.

A-listers in politics and government are in MPAA's audience. The previews you see in movie theaters are approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Assn. of America. But the trade group for the major Hollywood studios saves one type of sneak peek for a more select crowd.

Scotch whisky is to be given greater protection against counterfeiting, under a consultation launched by the British government.

Former top maker wins NASA pact in comeback effort Boeing Co.'s satellite-making complex in El Segundo, Calif., received a much-needed boost last week when it won a U.S. government contract potentially worth $1.2 billion.

Agency will start taking requests for discounts on converter boxes Tuesday. In 2009, analog will be history. The federal government doesn't usually give things away, but starting Tuesday broadcast TV watchers can apply for a gift that could keep their sets from going dark in 2009.

For government contractors, 2007 wasn't pretty: They had to contend with tighter budgets and increased oversight from a new Democratic Congress, as well as polarizing controversies surrounding the conduct of contractors in Iraq.

The new Australian government considers the F/A-18E Super Hornet not good enough to guarantee air supremacy for Australia in a region where advanced Su-27 and Mig-29 derivatives are becoming common. But Australia is not exactly spoilt for choice.

Brown has been given advice that the government needs to regain momentum and improve its position amid negative perceptions, if Labour were to hang on to power

SAN FRANICISCO (MarketWatch) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner Sunday of a national election marred by violence and allegations of vote fraud and sworn into office, according to media reports. Kibaki's margin of 231,728 votes over Raila Odinga was the closest in Kenyan history. At least 15 people were reported killed in the violence. According to media reports, the government has suspended live television coverage as riots rage through Kenyan slums where many of Odinga's supporters live. The election had been closely watched as a test of democracy in Kenya, one of Africa's most-developed countries.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Chinese government has said it will allow direct election of Hong Kong's governmental leader, called the chief executive, by 2017, according to a media report. The decision, while seen as a concession to growing pro-democracy forces, disappointed advocates who had hoped for a direct election in 2012, when current executive Donald Tsang's term ends, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The chief executive now is picked by an 800-member assembly that includes dignitaries and legislators appointed by the Beijing government, according to the report. Free election of the chief executive were promised when China took possession of the territory from the United Kingdom in 1997, the Journal said.