Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/274111947?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Asia stocks jump as US staves off 'fiscal cliff'
South Korean dancers in traditional costumes beat their drums during opening ceremony of the Year 2013 trading outside the Seoul Stock Exchange Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started up 16.69 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2, 013.74. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean dancers in traditional costumes beat their drums during opening ceremony of the Year 2013 trading outside the Seoul Stock Exchange Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started up 16.69 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2, 013.74. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Staff members of the Korea Stock Exchange Market salute to the national flag during the opening ceremony to commence the Year 2013 trading at the Seoul Stock Exchange Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) started up 16.69 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2, 013.74.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
BANGKOK (AP) ? Stock markets in Asia registered relief Wednesday over the U.S. congressional vote to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that risked plunging the world's biggest economy into recession.
Benchmarks in Australia and Hong Kong boomeranged on the first trading day of the year, just before Congress passed an emergency measure to avert much of the impact of the tax-and-spending changes so steep they were dubbed the "fiscal cliff." Asian markets had slipped on Monday, fearing that negotiations might collapse.
Economists warned that without such a vote, the tax increases and spending cuts that technically took effect at the start of the year could cause a recession. Some experts had predicted financial markets would plunge unless a clear-cut deal was reached.
Instead, markets in Asia blessed the stopgap measure approved by Congress late Tuesday in Washington to retroactively counter some of the "fiscal cliff" effects. The bill awaits the signature of President Barack Obama.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.9 percent to 23,089.94. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.3 percent to 4,707.90. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.5 percent to 2,027.00.
Some analysts said that expectations for a compromise were so low that any deal was viewed as positive.
"Among business leaders, I'm gonna say this deal isn't enough to move the needle on confidence. It may improve consumer confidence a little, investors obviously are celebrating a tentative deal but you know how transitory investor confidence can become," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Group.
Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia also rose. Markets in Japan are still on holiday and reopen Friday.
Uncertainty about the outcome of negotiations drove down regional stocks Monday, the last trading day of 2012.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to close at 4,648.90, as investors sold off stocks to lock in profits. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed marginally lower. Singapore, New Zealand and India also declined. Japan and South Korea were closed.
The measure Congress approved calls for higher taxes on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, a victory for Obama. Taxes also would rise on estates greater than $5 million in size and on capital gains and dividend income made by the wealthy.
At the same time, it would stop $24 billion in spending cuts set to take effect over the next two months, although only about half of that total would be offset with spending reductions elsewhere in the budget.
Even if Washington bypasses the fiscal cliff, the next crisis is just around the corner, in late February or early March, when the government reaches a $16.4 trillion ceiling on the amount of money it can borrow.
"Call it breathing room, call it kicking the can down the road, call it whatever you like ... when the decision on the legal US debt limit will be needed, the fight starts afresh," said analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore.
Republicans say they won't go along with raising the limit on government borrowing unless the increase is matched by spending cuts to help attack long-term debt. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could lead to a first-ever U.S. default that would roil the financial markets and shake worldwide confidence in the United States.
"Republicans vow not to raise the limit without sharp cuts in spending and Obama vows not to cut spending without further tax hikes. Two more months of shenanigans ... It certainly looks that way," DBS said in a market commentary.
U.S. stocks shot higher Monday on the belief that lawmakers would work out a deal. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.3 percent to 13,104.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.7 percent to 1,426.19. The Nasdaq composite index rose 2 percent to 3,019.51.
___
Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson
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Iraqi civilian deaths rise in "low-level war": study
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A total of 4,471 civilians died in Iraq's festering "low-level war" with insurgents in 2012, the first annual climb in the death toll in three years, campaigners said on Tuesday.
The deaths, up from 4,059 in 2011, showed militant fighters were still bent on carrying out large-scale bomb attacks, said rights group Iraq Body Count (IBC) in its annual report.
Tensions between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions in Iraq's power-sharing government have been on the rise this year and the civil war in neighboring Syria is whipping up sectarian tension across the region.
Insurgents pose a potent threat even though violence has fallen sharply since the height of inter communal slaughter that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled former President Saddam Hussein.
There has been at least one large bombing a month this year, usually targeting security forces, government offices or Shi'ite Muslims. The bloodiest day of 2012 was September 9, when more than 100 people were killed in series of bomb blasts.
"2012 marks the first year since 2009 where the death toll for the year has increased," IBC said in a statement.
"In sum the latest evidence suggests that the country remains in a state of low-level war little changed since early 2009, with a 'background' level of everyday armed violence punctuated by occasional larger-scale attacks designed to kill many people at once," it added.
A year after U.S. troops left, sectarian friction, as well as tension over land and oil between Arabs and ethnic Kurds, threaten renewed unrest and are hampering efforts to repair the damage of years of violence and exploit Iraq's energy riches.
In December, figures released by government showed 208 Iraqis were killed, including 55 policemen and 28 soldiers.
IBC said it has now recorded between 110,937 and 121,227 civilian deaths in violent incidents since the 2003 invasion.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Isabel Coles and Andrew Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraqi-civilian-deaths-rise-low-level-war-study-150119597.html
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Asia stocks wilt hours before U.S. fiscal cliff hits
BANGKOK (AP) ? With just hours left before the U.S. hits the "fiscal cliff," stocks on the other side of the world wilted Monday as investors sold off riskier assets to lock in profits just in case budget negotiations fail in Washington.
American political leaders face a Monday night deadline to reach an agreement before steep tax increases and spending cuts begin to take effect Jan. 1. The cuts and increases would come at a time when the U.S. economy is still struggling to recover from the last recession.
Democrats and Republicans have failed so far to reach a budget deal despite intense negotiations. President Barack Obama says any deal must include higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Republicans, meanwhile, have been demanding deeper spending cuts than Democrats want to make.
Much of the impasse centers on how to address the automatic tax increases that take effect in 2013. That's when tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush, and extended under Obama, are scheduled to expire. That would drive taxes up for nearly all Americans and deplete the already fragile economy of $536 billion. And budget cuts of 8 percent or 9 percent would hit most of the federal government, totaling about $110 billion.
Some economists predict the tax-and-spending effects of the fiscal cliff could eventually throw the economy into recession ? although if the deadline passes, politicians still have a few weeks to keep the tax hikes and spending cuts at bay by repealing them retroactively once a deal is reached.
Still, the failure to adhere to the deadline will be bad for investor confidence, according to Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.
"I think the market reaction to that will be very negative. This means the U.S. will never be able to bring its house in order. And the deficit will continue to accumulate," Lun said. "No meaningful reform and no solution in sight. You can throw confidence out of the window."
The uncertainty drove down stock markets on the last trading day of the year. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,648.90, with profit-taking driving the market's direction, analysts said.
Peter Esho, chief market analyst at CityIndex in Sydney, said Australian markets could cope with the fiscal cliff uncertainty ? as long as it doesn't blow up into the financial crisis that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
"I think the market has a fairly strong conviction that at some point these issues will be addressed but the timing will continue to create uncertainty," he said. "A temporary deal will be well received by the markets."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng, trading for a half-day, was less than 0.1 percent down at 22,656.92. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Singapore and India also declined.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose after a private survey showed the country's manufacturing growth at its strongest level in 18 months in December. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.3 percent to 2,262.83 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.8 percent to 879.74.
Markets in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan were closed for the New Year's holidays.
Even if Washington bypasses the fiscal cliff, the next crisis is just around the corner, in late February or early March, when the government reaches a $16.4 trillion ceiling on the amount of money it can borrow.
Republicans won't go along with raising the limit on government borrowing unless the increase is matched by spending cuts to help attack the long-term debt problem. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could lead to a first-ever U.S. default that would roil the financial markets and shake worldwide confidence in the United States.
Compounding that is U.S. earnings season in February, Esho said.
"There are some very aggressive assumptions for earnings to improve in 2013 and ... if the earnings numbers don't meet expectations, it is going to be quite disappointing," Esho said.
Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 14 cents to $90.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to finish at $90.80 per barrel in New York on Friday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3192 from $1.3221 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell slightly to 86.05 yen from 86.07 yen.
___
Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-wilt-hours-us-fiscal-cliff-hits-043948008--finance.html
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Food Marriage: Drink Recipe: White Sangria with Pomegranate & Lime
Happy New Year's Eve to everyone!! ?I thought now was a good time to take a tiny break from the cookie recipes and share the fun drink that my friends surprised me with at my?2012 Cookie Exchange! ?Last year, I made some signature cookie cocktails for the 2011 Cookie Exchange:?Mint Milano Cookie Cocktails?and?Chocolate Chip Martinis. ?While they were tasty and quite a hit, they required so many ingredients and I ended up with a lot of leftover bottles of liquor.
Recipe: White Sangria with Pomegranate & Lime aka "Christmas Fancys"
This year, as much as I really wanted to do a signature drink again, I decided to just take the easy way out and pick up wine and beer. ?My friends Allison and Nicole surprised me with a delicious White Sangria, complete with red and green fruit to make it perfect for Christmas! ?Because of the beautiful colors, I re-named the drink "Christmas Fancys!" ?It is so easy to put together that you can still run out and make it tonight for New Year's Eve!
Recipe: White Sangria with Pomegranate & Lime aka "Christmas Fancys"
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle white wine
- 3 cans of 7up or Sprite
- Grand Marnier (a few ounces)
- Seeds of 1 pomegranate
- Slices of two limes
- Ice
Directions:
- Pour all ingredients into a punch bowl. ?Wait for the seeds to float.
- Serve!
Don't want a whole bottle of leftover Grand Marnier?? ?Just buy a few of the tiny one-ounce bottles at the liquor store! ?Cheers!!!!!
Source: http://www.foodmarriage.com/2012/12/drink-recipe-white-sangria-with.html
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Choctaw family devastated in Miss. SUV wreck
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (AP) ? Funerals will be held this week for five young siblings and an adult who died when a sport utility vehicle driven by the children's father careened off an eastern Mississippi road and into a creek.
All of the victims of Saturday's crash near Philadelphia were members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and lived in the Pearl River community.
Tribe spokeswoman Misty Dreifuss said a funeral for the children, who ranged in age from 18 months to 9 years old, will be held Wednesday at a tribal building in Choctaw. A wake for the siblings was planned for Monday, she said.
A funeral for Dianne Chickaway, a 38-year-old friend of the children's family, will be held Thursday at Hopewell Baptist Church in Leake County, according to Dreifuss.
"It has hit the community very hard," Dreifuss said of the 10,000-member tribe.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and no charges were immediately filed. A crash reconstruction team from the Mississippi Highway Patrol was to visit the scene Sunday.
Neshoba County Sheriff Tommy Waddell said the victims apparently drowned after their Dodge Durango left a country road and plunged into a rain-swollen creek 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
Waddell said the children's father, Duane John, remained hospitalized Sunday. Their mother, Deanna Jim, and Chickaway's husband, Dale Chickaway, also survived.
The children who died were identified as 9-year-old Daisyanna John; 8-year-old Duane John; 7-year-old Bobby John; 4-year-old Quinton John; and 18-month-old Kekambas John.
Waddell said it appeared that none of the children was in a child restraint, and that none of the adults was wearing a seat belt.
Dreifuss said four of the five children attended Pearl River Elementary School.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/choctaw-family-devastated-miss-suv-wreck-120855037.html
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Tribune to leave bankruptcy after 4 years
CHICAGO (AP) ? Tribune Co. announced it is emerging after more four years of bankruptcy.
Tribune said late Sunday the reorganized media company begins Monday with new ownership ? the senior creditors ? and a new board of directors: Bruce Karsh, Ken Liang, Peter Murphy, Ross Levinsohn, Craig A. Jacobson, Peter Liguori, and Eddy Hartenstein.
"Tribune will emerge from the bankruptcy process as a multimedia company with a great mix of profitable assets, strong brands in major markets and a much-improved capital structure," said Hartenstein, Tribune's chief executive officer.
Senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will control of the new company. The Chicago Tribune reported late Sunday that Liguori, a former TV executive at Discovery and Fox, is expected to be named chief executive the reorganized Tribune Co.
Tribune, which was founded in 1847, publishes some of the best-known newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and the Chicago Tribune. It also owns WGN in Chicago and 22 other television stations, as well as the WGN radio station. The Tribune's report Sunday said that the new owners expect to sell all of the company's assets.
Tribune Co. sought bankruptcy protection in 2008, less than a year after billionaire developer Sam Zell led an $8 billion leveraged buyout that left the company with $13 billion in debt.
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