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| Senate leaders work to avoid New Year's "fiscal cliff" Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 04:22 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators burrowed into their offices on Saturday to see if they could stop the U.S. economy from falling off of a "fiscal cliff" in just three days when the biggest tax increases ever to hit Americans in one shot are scheduled to begin. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell worked through the day on a possible compromise that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to kick in next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Body of India rape victim arrives home in New Delhi Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 10:58 PM 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 early on Sunday and was quickly cremated at a private ceremony. The unidentified 23-year-old medical student died from her injuries on Saturday, prompting promises of action from a government that has struggled to respond to public outrage. She had suffered brain injuries and massive internal injuries in the attack on December 16, and died in hospital in Singapore where she had been taken for treatment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ford on track to sell 2.2 million cars in U.S. this year Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 06:11 PM PST  DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is on track to sell 2.2 million cars under its main brand this year, up 7 percent from 2011, the automaker said on Saturday, but the company has acknowledged losing market share as it struggled to keep up with consumer demand. It marks the second straight year the No. 2 U.S. automaker has surpassed the 2 million threshold. The projected sales jump for the Ford brand falls short of the overall industry's gains, which many analysts expect to exceed 13 percent in 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria doomed to "hell" without political deal: envoy Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 10:40 AM PST  MOSCOW/AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - The international mediator touting a peace plan for Syria warned on Saturday of "hell" if the warring sides shun talks, and Moscow accused enemies of President Bashar al-Assad of blocking negotiations. U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said in Moscow that responsible people inside and outside Syria should "help the Syrians stop their descent into more and more bloodshed, into more and more chaos and perhaps a failed state". ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: After "fiscal cliff" dive, more battles, new cliffs Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 01:20 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Whether or not the "fiscal cliff" impasse is broken before the New Year's Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington. With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff's steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending. The first will come in late February when the Treasury Department runs out of borrowing authority and has to come to Congress to get the debt ceiling raised. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sex, drugs and rock and roll: Australia's other boom Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 06:25 PM PST  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Forget Australia's mining boom. The nation's strong economy, high currency and wages have made it a magnet for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Foreign sex workers, drug smugglers and global rock acts are all targeting Australia to cash in on an economy growing at 3.1 percent when other developed nations are struggling to expand at all. The alternative boom has emerged as Australian average full-time wages hit $72,500 a year, and with the Australian dollar trading stubbornly above parity with the U.S. dollar for the past two years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab officials visit cash-strapped Palestinian territory Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 06:08 AM PST  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Top Arab officials paid a rare visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday to discuss a Palestinian financial crisis that President Mahmoud Abbas hopes will be eased by Arab donations. Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr congratulated the Palestinians on a successful United Nations status upgrade last month, but stopped short of promising the badly-needed funds. "Palestine is in need of material and political support," Elaraby told a news conference in the Palestinians' de facto capital of Ramallah. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: For Senate leaders, a mission impossible from Obama Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 09:22 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following a Friday meeting with congressional leaders, an impatient and annoyed President Barack Obama said it was "mind boggling" that Congress has been unable to fix a "fiscal cliff" mess that everyone has known about for more than a year. He then dispatched Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, on a mind-boggling mission: coming up with a bipartisan bill to break the "fiscal cliff" stalemate in the most partisan and gridlocked U.S. Congress of modern times - in about 48 hours. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four killed when Russian airliner crash lands Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 12:55 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian airliner flying without passengers broke into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow upon landing on Saturday, killing four of the eight crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road. The crash during peak holiday travel ahead of Russia's New Year's vacation, which runs from Sunday through January 9, cast a spotlight on the country's poor air-safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi says Monti plotting with Italy's center left Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 01:45 PM PST  ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday that outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti was plotting with the left in his centrist alliance's bid to win Italy's national election in February, but centrist leaders denied any secret accord. Monti, who replaced Berlusconi as prime minister last year when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, said on Friday he wanted to unite a broad coalition of factions around a reform agenda aimed at easing the country's economic woes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blast in Pakistan's Karachi kills six on bus, 48 hurt Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 04:31 AM PST  KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb went off on a bus in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday killing six people and wounding 48, police and a hospital official said. Pakistan's commercial capital and biggest city has seen numerous militant attacks over the past 10 years and is also plagued by violence between rival ethnic-based factions. The bus sustained serious damage in the explosion and a subsequent fire. While police said the bomb had been planted on the bus, provincial official Sharfud Din Memon said it was left on a motor-bike and went off as the bus passed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate leaders work to avoid New Year's "fiscal cliff" Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 03:51 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators burrowed into their offices on Saturday to see if they could stop the U.S. economy from falling off of a "fiscal cliff" in just three days when the biggest tax increases ever to hit Americans in one shot are scheduled to begin. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell worked through the day on a possible compromise that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to kick in next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death of India rape victim stirs anger, promises of action Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 02:07 PM PST  NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A woman whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India died from her injuries on Saturday, prompting promises of action from a government that has struggled to respond to public outrage. The unidentified 23-year-old medical student suffered a brain injury and massive internal damage in the attack on December 16 and died in hospital in Singapore where she had been taken for treatment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Only political process can save Syria from "hell": envoy Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 07:11 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria faces "hell" if no deal is struck to end 21 months of bloodshed, an international mediator said on Saturday, but his talks in Russia brought no sign of a breakthrough after a week of intense diplomacy. U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both said there was still a chance for a negotiated solution to the conflict, which has killed more than 44,000 people and set world powers against one another. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yale under fire for new campus in restrictive Singapore Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 10:36 AM PST  NEW HAVEN (Reuters) - For more than 300 years, Yale University has prided itself on training top students to question and analyze, to challenge and critique. Now, Yale is seeking to export those values by establishing the first foreign campus to bear its name, a liberal arts college in Singapore that is set to open this summer. The ambitious, multimillion-dollar project thrills many in the Yale community who say it will help the university maintain its prestige and build global influence. ... Full Story | Top |
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