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| Daiwa CEO sees 2013 Nikkei rally on Abe economy boost Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 07:13 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average could rally nearly 30 percent in 2013 due to an aggressive push to reflate the economy under the country's new premier, the chief executive of Daiwa Securities Group told Reuters in an interview. While securities executives are known for their bullish market predictions, the comments from Takashi Hibino reflect an optimism among business leaders that the policies of Shinzo Abe will give Japan's sluggish economy a needed jolt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama may cut vacation to deal with fiscal crisis in Washington Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 07:07 PM PST  HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is likely to leave his vacation in Hawaii to return to Washington as early as Wednesday to address the unfinished "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Congress, an administration official said on Tuesday. As the clock ticks toward a January 1 deadline, negotiations to avert a sharp rise in taxes and deep spending cuts have stalled, worrying world financial markets. Obama and congressional lawmakers left Washington on Friday for the Christmas holidays with talks to avert the fiscal disaster in limbo. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. moves to sell advanced spy drones to South Korea Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 06:14 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration formally proposed a controversial sale of advanced spy drones to help South Korea bear more of its defense from any attack by the heavily armed North. Seoul has requested a possible $1.2 billion sale of four Northrop Grumman Corp RQ-4 "Global Hawk" remotely piloted aircraft with enhanced surveillance capabilities, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement dated on Monday and distributed on Tuesday. South Korea needs such systems to assume top responsibility for intelligence-gathering from the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe set for second term, to tap allies for cabinet Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 06:11 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Shinzo Abe will be voted in as prime minister by parliament's lower house on Wednesday, giving the hawkish lawmaker a second chance at Japan's top job as the country battles deflation and confronts a rising China. Abe, 58, has promised aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and big fiscal spending by the debt-laden government to slay deflation and weaken the yen to make Japanese exports more competitive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt approves constitution drafted by Mursi allies Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:14 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's allies, results announced on Tuesday showed, proving that liberals, leftists and Christians have been powerless to halt the march of Islamists in power. Final elections commission figures showed the constitution adopted with 63.8 percent of the vote in the referendum held over two days this month, giving Mursi's Islamists their third straight electoral victory since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic rebels seize central town, defying foreign troops Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 02:29 PM PST BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic seized the central town of Kaga Bandoro on Tuesday despite the presence of foreign troops meant to support the government, a government official said. The fall of the town, 333 km (207 miles) north of the capital Bangui, came hours after the Seleka rebel alliance said they would suspend their push and means they now have a firm grip on the north and east of the fragile nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Link between pot, psychosis goes both ways in kids Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 01:57 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Marijuana (cannabis) use may be linked to the development of psychotic symptoms in teens - but the reverse could also be true: psychosis in adolescents may be linked to later pot use, according to a new Dutch study. "We have focused mainly on temporal order; is it the chicken or the egg? As the study shows, it is a bidirectional relationship," wrote the study's lead author Merel Griffith-Lendering, a doctoral candidate at Leiden University in The Netherlands, in an email to Reuters Health. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York gunman left note declaring plan to kill people Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 01:26 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gunman who killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others in a Christmas Eve ambush in upstate New York left a typewritten note saying he planned to burn down his neighborhood and start "killing people," authorities said on Tuesday. The gunman, William Spengler, 62, opened fire on volunteer firefighters who responded to a house fire he deliberately set early on Monday morning in Webster, New York, a suburb of Rochester, authorities said. Spengler shot and killed himself in an ensuing gunfight with police. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges Egyptians to bridge divisions after constitutional vote Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 12:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday urged all sides in Egypt to increase political engagement after Egyptian officials announced that voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies. "President Mursi, as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognizes the urgent need to bridge divisions," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement, noting that many Egyptians had voiced "significant concerns" over the constitutional process. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt constitution approved with 63.8 percent: election committee Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 10:00 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new constitution, drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, has been approved by 63.8 percent of voters in a two-round referendum, the supreme election committee said on Tuesday. The result, which followed votes held on December 15 and on December 22, matched an earlier unofficial tally given by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood. "We have seriously investigated all the complaints," judge Samir Abu el-Matti of the Supreme Election Committee told a news conference. The final official turnout was 32.9 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill six in northeast Nigeria church attack Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 09:51 AM PST KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed six people at a church in northeast Nigeria early on Tuesday, the third year running that Christmas services have come under deadly attack in the country, the military said. The strike took place after a Christmas Eve midnight service outside the town of Potiskum in northeastern Yobe state, where Islamist sect Boko Haram has carried out several attacks this year. "Unknown gunmen attempted to attack Potiskum but were repelled by the troops. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eight killed in Yemen clashes; attacks in capital target officers Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:47 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - At least six militants and two soldiers were killed in Yemen on Tuesday in fighting near a damaged oil pipeline east of the capital Sanaa, a defense ministry official and residents said. Separately, gunmen and bombers targeted three senior military officers and the transport minister in a series of attacks in the capital Sanaa. In one incident, two gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead Brigadier Fadel Mohammed Ali, an adviser to the minister of defense, outside the ministry's offices in Sanaa, a police source said. Further details were not immediately available. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameroon archbishop calls same-sex marriage crime against humanity Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:43 AM PST YAOUNDE (Reuters) - One of Cameroon's most senior Christian leaders on Tuesday called same-sex marriages a "crime against humanity", ramping up anti-gay rhetoric in the Central African state. As in most African nations, homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon. But a number of incidents have highlighted the clash between a largely conservative culture backed by draconian law and youth for some of whom it is less of an issue. "Marriage of persons of the same sex is a serious crime against humanity," Victor Tonye Bakot, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Yaounde, told followers at Christmas Day mass. ... Full Story | Top |
| Christmas provides Connecticut town a break from mourning Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:25 AM PST  NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Christmas has helped some people in the grieving Connecticut town of Newtown cope a little better with the shooting tragedy that killed 20 schoolchildren, while others have yet to feel the holiday joy. Smiles returned for those taking a respite from the mourning now that funerals for the victims have concluded. For the crestfallen, the holiday spirit was absent in a town that just buried its children. "We're getting through this with our faith and our prayer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope gives advice as Italians prepare for bitter campaign Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:04 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict sent a political Christmas greeting to Italians on Tuesday as they head into an election campaign expected to be brutal and bitter: think, cooperate for the common good and don't discard values when making big choices. The pope, in his Christmas greetings in 65 languages, said in his special message to Italians that he hoped the spirit of the day would "make people reflect, favor the spirit of cooperation for the common good and lead to a reflection on the hierarchy of values when making the most important of choices". ... Full Story | Top |
| Gulf Arabs decry Iran "interference" in region Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 07:39 AM PST  MANAMA (Reuters) - Six U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states demanded on Tuesday that Iran end what they called interference in the region, reiterating a long-held mistrust of their main rival. The Islamic Republic denies trying to subvert Saudi Arabia and its wealthy Gulf neighbors. A communique issued at the end of a two-day summit of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also urged action to halt mass killings and violations of international law in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria envoy seeks peace as clashes rage Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 07:19 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pursued mediation efforts in Damascus on Tuesday, but there was no pause in the bloodletting as Syrian Christians marked a bleak Christmas Day with prayers for peace. "We are here in a cave that symbolizes Syria right now," said a priest standing beside a nativity scene in a grotto. "It is cold here but the door is open to all refugees," he told Syrian state TV. "Amid the hunger, cold and deprivation, we still have hope for peace and love for our country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Worried Egypt slaps new controls on travelling with cash Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 07:05 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has banned travelers from carrying more than $10,000 in foreign currency in or out of the country, as officials worry over pressure on its pound currency and a rush by Egyptians to withdraw their savings from banks. Political turmoil over the past month has raised fears among ordinary citizens and investors that the government - which has pushed back talks to seal IMF funding till January - may not be able to get its fragile finances under control. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dakota Indians mark hangings of 1862 with trek on horseback Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 06:52 AM PST  ST. PAUL, Minn (Reuters) - The day after Christmas will be somber for Dakota Indians marking what they consider a travesty of justice 150 years ago, when 38 of their ancestors were executed in the biggest mass hanging in U.S. history. Overshadowed by the Civil War raging in the East, the hangings in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, followed the often overlooked six-week U.S.-Dakota war earlier that year -- a war that marked the start of three decades of fighting between Native Americans and the U.S. government across the Plains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans seek policewoman's motive for killing U.S. contractor Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 06:32 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - An Iranian-Afghan policewoman who killed a U.S. contractor at the police headquarters in Kabul may have been motivated by a personal grudge, said security officials, who were also probing possible Taliban or al Qaeda involvement. The officials said the woman named as Narges seemed wracked with remorse over the shooting. They said she held an Iranian passport but offered no evidence that Iran may have orchestrated the attack. She arrived at police headquarters on Monday morning and headed to a bathroom where she loaded a pistol and hid it under her long scarf, they said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians fret over economy after rancorous vote on constitution Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 06:17 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt prepared to announce on Tuesday the result of a vote on a new constitution that Islamist President Mohamed Mursi hails as a step toward stability in a country beset by political and economic crisis. But critics say that by ramming through the basic law, Mursi has angered his liberal, leftist and Christian opponents, and may have squandered any chance of building a broad consensus on tax rises needed to rein in a crushing budget deficit. Unofficial tallies from Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood showed the charter was approved by a 64 percent majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt says stability key to fixing economy: PM Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 05:33 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Tuesday that political stability was crucial to luring back foreign investors and tourists to help plug a yawning budget deficit and heal the country's ailing economy. In a statement hours before the expected announcement of the result of a divisive constitutional referendum, Kandil said President Mohamed Mursi's government was committed to taking steps to improve economic growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran to conduct navy drill in Strait of Hormuz in December Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 05:32 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will begin six days of naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz at the end of this week, an Iranian naval commander said on Tuesday, an exercise meant to showcase its military capabilities in what is a vital oil and gas shipping route. The "Velayat 91" drills will be held from Friday to Wednesday across an area of about 1 million square kilometers in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and northern parts of the Indian Ocean, said Habibollah Sayyari, according to Iranian media. ... Full Story | Top |
| Archbishop of Canterbury says Anglican church wounded, not dead Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 04:41 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of the Church of England on Tuesday said a vote last month that struck down proposals to allow women to become bishops had been "deeply painful", but that Christianity was still relevant in Britain despite falling numbers of believers. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who leads the global 80-million-strong Anglican Communion, said in his Christmas day sermon that the answer to the question of whether Christianity had "had its day" was a "resounding no". ... Full Story | Top |
| Former South African president Mandela "much better": Zuma Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:45 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two weeks in hospital, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. Zuma, who visited Mandela on Christmas Day, said in a statement that doctors were happy with the progress the elder statesman was making. "We found him in good spirits. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making," said Zuma. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former S.African president Mandela 'much better': Zuma Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:45 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two weeks in hospital, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. Zuma, who visited Mandela on Christmas Day, said in a statement that doctors were happy with the progress the elder statesman was making. "We found him in good spirits. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making," said Zuma. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says has no proof poison gas used in Syria Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:36 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday about the accuracy of Syrian activists' reports that chemical weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. "We have seen reports from the opposition. It is not the first time. The opposition has an interest in drawing in international military intervention," Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Army Radio. "As things stand now, we do not have any confirmation or proof that (chemical weapons) have already been used, but we are definitely following events with concern," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five killed in Yemen clashes, brigadier shot dead Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:28 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - At least five militants were killed and three soldiers wounded in Yemen on Tuesday in fighting near a damaged oil pipeline east of the capital Sanaa, a defense ministry official and residents said. In a separate incident, two gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead Brigadier Fadel Mohammed Ali, an adviser to the minister of defense, outside the ministry's offices in Sanaa, a police source said. Further details were not immediately available. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tajikistan blocks scores of websites as election looms Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 02:48 AM PST  DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Tajikistan blocked access to more than 100 websites on Tuesday, in what a government source said was a dress rehearsal for a crackdown on online dissent before next year's election when President Imomali Rakhmon will again run for office. Rakhmon, a 60-year-old former head of a Soviet cotton farm, has ruled the impoverished Central Asian nation of 7.5 million for 20 years. He has overseen constitutional amendments that allow him to seek a new seven-year term in November 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian refugees face harsh winter in desperate conditions Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 02:45 AM PST  BAB AL-SALAMEH, Syria (Reuters) - Huddled inside thin plastic tents in a makeshift camp after fleeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's bombs thousands of refugees say they face a new enemy. "The cold is killing us," many of them say. Having survived a conflict in which more than 40,000 people are estimated to have been killed, refugees at the Bab al-Salameh camp on the Syrian-Turkish border say the winter is now a bigger threat to them than the violence engulfing their country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran says defeats cyber attack on industrial sites Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 02:14 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - An Internet virus attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran, in an apparent extension of a covert cyber war that initially targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official said. Iran, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened online security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which Tehran believes was planted by arch-adversaries Israel or the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian navy hunts pirates who seized four sailors Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 01:09 AM PST  YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's navy is hunting for pirates who kidnapped four crew from a ship off the coast of the West African oil-producing country at the weekend, a naval spokesman said on Monday. The Italian-registered vessel, named by the navy as the MV Asso Ventuno, was boarded on Sunday about 40 miles (65 km) off the coast of Nigeri's Bayelsa state, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). There were no injuries to other crew members and the pirates released the ship, which continued to a safe port, IMB said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's incoming PM keeps up pressure on BOJ to attack deflation Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 12:54 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Incoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kept up his calls on Tuesday for the Bank of Japan to drastically ease monetary policy by setting an inflation target of 2 percent, and repeated that he wants to tame the strong yen to help revive the economy. Abe, a security hardliner who will be sworn in as premier on Wednesday, when he is also expected to appoint his cabinet, is prescribing a mix of aggressive monetary policy easing and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and rein in the strong yen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's opposition picks ex-trade minister as new leader Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 12:45 AM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese opposition party the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) chose former Economics Minister Banri Kaieda to replace the outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as its new leader on Tuesday, after a crushing lower house defeat earlier this month. Kaieda, a vocal critic of the outgoing leadership, won because party members blamed Noda for his handling of snap elections, and for losing public support after unpopular decisions to raise the sales tax and restart some nuclear reactors despite the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan new PM Abe wants to correct strong yen trend Monday, Dec 24, 2012 11:48 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated on Tuesday a pledge to revive the economy by correcting the recent trend towards a stronger yen. Abe is set to be selected as prime minister by lawmakers on Wednesday after leading his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a landslide victory in a lower house election earlier this month. Abe, who spoke after naming a new leadership team for the LDP, said he wanted to show voters who still doubt the party that the LDP has changed. The LDP is returning to government after three years in the opposition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sony says China business has recovered, foresees growth Monday, Dec 24, 2012 11:45 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Sony Corp's business in China has "more or less" returned to levels seen before recent protests against Japan's actions over a group of disputed islands, the Japanese company's China chief, Nobuki Kurita, told reporters on Tuesday. Calls for boycotts of Japanese products broke out across China in September after Japan nationalized two of a group of disputed East China Sea islands, known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese, by purchasing them from their private owners. ... Full Story | Top |
| China may require real name registration for internet access Monday, Dec 24, 2012 09:20 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China may require internet users to register with their real names when signing up to network providers, state media said on Tuesday, extending a policy already in force with microblogs in a bid to curb what officials call rumors and vulgarity. A law being discussed this week would mean people would have to present their government-issued identity cards when signing contracts for fixed line and mobile internet access, state-run newspapers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Chavez improving after surgery: officials Monday, Dec 24, 2012 08:31 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is improving after a cancer operation in Cuba and has started exercising, officials said on Monday, amid doubts over whether the former soldier is in good enough health to continue governing. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said he had spoken by phone with Chavez, who was walking and doing exercises as part of his treatment. "We've gotten the best present we could get this Christmas: a phone call from our commander president," Maduro said on state television. ... Full Story | Top |
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