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| Hours from "fiscal cliff," Washington still awaits deal Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:01 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress comes back on Monday without a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and only a few hours of actual legislative time scheduled in which to act if an agreement materializes. Negotiations involving Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to offer the last hope for avoiding the across-the-board tax increases and draconian cuts in the federal budget that will be triggered at the start of the New Year because of a deficit-reduction law enacted in August, 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secretary of State Clinton hospitalized with blood clot Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was admitted to a New York hospital on Sunday with a blood clot linked to a concussion she suffered earlier this month, the State Department said in an announcement that looked sure to fuel speculation over the health of one of America's best-known political figures. Clinton, 65, has been out of the public spotlight since mid-December, when officials said she suffered a concussion after fainting due to a stomach virus contracted during a trip to Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel says euro zone crisis far from over Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:02 PM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - The euro zone sovereign debt crisis is far from over even though reform measures designed to address the roots of the problem are beginning to bear fruit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her New Year's address. In a taped interview to be broadcast on Monday evening, Merkel urged Germans to be more patient even though the euro zone crisis has already dragged on for three years. She drew a line linking German prosperity to a prosperous European Union. "For our prosperity and our solidarity we need to strike the right balance," Merkel said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan militants kill 41 in mass execution, attack on Shi'ites Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:36 AM PST  PESHWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants, who have escalated attacks in recent weeks, killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials said on Sunday, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups. The United States has long pressured nuclear-armed ally Pakistan to crack down harder on both homegrown militants groups such as the Taliban and others which are based on its soil and attack Western forces in Afghanistan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate approves Baer to head Justice Department's antitrust team Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:13 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Sunday approved prominent antitrust attorney William Baer to head the Justice Department's Antitrust Division 10 months after he was tapped by President Barack Obama. The Senate voted 64-26 to approve Baer's nomination, which ran into problems with some Republicans because of secret information in an FBI background report. Baer, an antitrust and white collar criminal defense attorney with the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP, has worked in the past for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Huawei partner offered embargoed HP gear to Iran Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:06 PM PST  (Reuters) - A major Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator in late 2010, documents show. China's Huawei, the world's second largest telecommunications equipment maker, says neither it nor its partner, a private company registered in Hong Kong, ultimately provided the HP products to the telecom, Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, known as MCI. ... Full Story | Top |
| No end to Syria war if sides refuse to talk: envoy Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:56 AM PST  AZAZ, Syria/CAIRO (Reuters) - The international peace negotiator for Syria pleaded with outside countries on Sunday to push the warring parties to the table for talks, warning that the country would become a failed state ruled by warlords unless diplomacy is given a chance. Lakhdar Brahimi, who inherited the seemingly impossible task of bringing an end to the war after his predecessor Kofi Annan resigned in frustration in July, has launched an intensified diplomatic campaign to win backing for a peace plan. He spent five days this week in Damascus, where he met President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says failure to reach fiscal deal would hurt markets Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:05 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Financial markets would be affected adversely if U.S. lawmakers fail to agree on a "fiscal cliff" deal before Tuesday, President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, while urging Congress to act quickly to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans. Lawmakers are seeking a last-minute deal that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to start within days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sunni protesters attack Iraq official's convoy, guards wound two Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:07 PM PST RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Bodyguards for Iraq's deputy prime minister wounded two people when they fired warning shots at Sunni protesters who pelted his convoy with bottles and stones on Sunday, witnesses said. The incident took place in the city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar, to where Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq had travelled to address people in an attempt to defuse sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama skeptical of NRA proposal to put more guns in schools Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:57 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday he hopes to get new U.S. gun control measures passed during the first year of his second term and is skeptical of a proposal by the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby to put armed guards in schools. Obama assigned Vice President Joe Biden to lead a task force to come up with proposals on guns at the beginning of 2013 after the massacre of 20 children and six adults by a gunman at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, this month. "I'd like to get it done in the first year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Body of India rape victim cremated in New Delhi Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:52 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman, whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India, arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday and was cremated at a private ceremony. Scuffles broke out in central Delhi between police and protesters who say the government is doing too little to protect women. But the 2,000-strong rally was confined to a single area, unlike last week when protests raged up throughout the capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monti's reform path faces test beyond Italy elections Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:46 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Mario Monti declared "mission accomplished" when he resigned as Italy's prime minister, having seen off the debt crisis that loomed as he took office just over a year ago but 2013 will test whether he has laid the foundations for lasting economic change. Elections on February 24-25 will give Italian voters their first chance to decide whether they want to stick to the broad course he has set or turn to a growing chorus of politicians who have attacked his austerity medicine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fiscal deal stalls as clock ticks to deadline Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to prevent the economy from tumbling over a "fiscal cliff" stalled on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans remained at loggerheads over a deal that would prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day. One hour before they had hoped to present a plan, Democratic and Republican Senate leaders said they were still unable to reach a compromise that would stop the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the U.S. economy back into recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: U.S. has good leads on who carried out Benghazi attacks Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:06 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has some "very good leads" about who carried out the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans including the U.S. ambassador in September, President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the United States would carry out all of the recommendations put forward in an independent review of the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plane stuck in Iran for repairs after emergency landing Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:46 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - A small U.S. commercial plane has been stuck in Iran for nearly three weeks after making an emergency landing near the city of Ahvaz, the country's airports director said on Sunday. The plane was forced to land because of technical problems, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad said, quoted by the Mehr news agency. "After landing, the crew traveled on to countries around the Persian Gulf and the plane is currently being repaired," he said. Rasoulinejad did not specify who owned the aircraft, where it was headed or the nationality of the crew members. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy leftist PM candidate Bersani tops opinion poll, Monti second Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 05:17 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani is favorite among Italians to lead the next government, with outgoing technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti second most popular and Silvio Berlusconi coming a close third, a poll showed on Sunday. Bersani scored 36.2 percent, Monti 23.3 percent and Berlusconi 21.8 percent, the poll, conducted by the CISE electoral research institute for Il Sole 24 Ore daily, found. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel indicts former foreign minister Lieberman Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:41 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman was charged on Sunday with fraud and breach of trust, allegations that prompted his resignation as foreign minister two weeks ago, justice officials said. Lieberman, who has denied the accusations, remains head of the Yisrael Beitenu party that has formed a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party ahead of a January 22 parliamentary election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic president says ready to share power with rebels Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:40 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's embattled President Francois Bozize said on Sunday he was ready to share power with the leaders of a rebellion that has swept aside government defenses to within striking distance of the capital. The three-week old onslaught by the rebel alliance Seleka has highlighted the instability of the landlocked former French colony, which remains one of the least developed nations on the planet despite its rich deposits of uranium, gold and diamonds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel challenger under fire for saying chancellor underpaid Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:18 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck was widely criticized on Sunday, even by his own center-left Social Democrats (SPD), for saying German leaders were underpaid. Steinbrueck has struggled to gain ground against Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of next September's election, in part due to lingering criticism over him earning 1.25 million euros ($1.65 million) as an after-dinner speaker in the past three years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel eases ban on building material for Gaza Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:31 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. A Palestinian official with knowledge of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended eight days of fighting last month between Israel and Gaza militants said the move had been expected as part of the deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Old Aleppo, frontline ghost town of ruined treasures Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:59 AM PST  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - A 13th century mosque is shuttered, its tottering minaret struck at the base by a shell. Snipers fire from nests atop the immense stone walls of the citadel, where ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish warriors once perched. Until a few months ago, Old Aleppo was both a living museum and a breathing city, where souk shoppers haggled over spices, books and olive-oil soap beneath wrought-iron filigree balconies and wooden lattice screens. Aleppo is Syria's largest city and economic hub. ... Full Story | Top |
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