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| Storm brings tornadoes, snow to South; two dead Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:00 PM PST  MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - A major winter storm system swept through the southern United States on Tuesday, spawning tornadoes in several states and killing two people in weather-related road accidents. The National Weather Service (NWS) said a tornado struck Mobile, Alabama, home to about 200,000 people, at about 5 p.m. local time (2300 GMT). There were reports of damage to trees and widespread power outages, along with some structural damage, but no injuries or fatalities. ... 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 |
| Obama to cut vacation short to deal with fiscal crisis Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 08:13 PM PST  HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is cutting short his Hawaiian holiday to leave for Washington on Wednesday to address the unfinished "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Congress, the White House said on Tuesday. As the clock ticks toward a January 1 deadline, efforts 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Two killed as passenger plane lands in Myanmar rice field Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 03:41 AM PST  YANGON (Reuters) - Two people were killed and 10 wounded in northeast Myanmar on Tuesday when a passenger plane missed an airport runway in heavy fog and landed in a rice paddy, state television said. The pilot of the Air Bagan plane touched down beyond Heho airport in Shan state, killing one passenger and a motorcyclist on the ground, MRTV said. MRTV had earlier reported the dead passenger was an 11-year-old boy but the airline later confirmed the deceased was a female tour guide. Four foreigners -- two Americans, a South Korean and a Briton -- and the pilot were among the injured. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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