In Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese Christians find respect, stability

In a home in a Shiite neighborhood in southern Beirut, images of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah share mantel and wall space with the Virgin Mary.The face of the revered Shiite militant leader appears on posters, a calendar, and in several photographs nestled amid those of Christian homeowner Randa Gholam's family members. Mr. Nasrallah is, Ms. Gholam asserts amid a string of superlatives, “a gift...

Read More..

Delhi gang-rape case could be turning point for India's rape laws

The gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a private bus as it cruised around Delhi Sunday could be the turning point for improvements in the country’s rape laws.After nearly a week of massive protests across the capital demanding tougher punishments for rapists and better protection of women, the parliamentary standing committee will meet next week to discuss creating fast-track courts for...

Read More..

Good Reads: gun laws, lottery winners, online education, and tech gets sensory

The Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut brought a deluge of media attention to gun control. One useful perspective came from the Lexington’s Notebook column in The Economist magazine. Britain’s gun-related homicide rate is drastically lower than that of the United States not only because guns are harder to purchase, but because ammunition is scarce, the writer points out. In one recent incident...

Read More..

Deep emotions run beneath Russia's adoption ban

You usually can judge Vladimir Putin’s dislike of a reporter's question by the intensity of his expression. Such was the case this week at his annual news conference, when he greeted with a hard scowl the subject of pending Russian legislation that would ban Americans from adopting orphaned children. Mr. Putin unleashed invective on the fact that consular representatives aren’t allowed to visit adopted...

Read More..

Japanese firms set spending record in buying up foreign assets

In the late 1980s, when Mitsubishi Estate bought Rockefeller Center and Sony snapped up Columbia Pictures, the Western media were full of stories of Japan’s imminent global economic domination. "Japan as No. 1" was a best-seller, and US autoworkers dramatically took sledgehammers to Japanese imports.But by the end of 2012, Japanese corporations will have bought more foreign companies, spending more...

Read More..

PREVIEW-Soccer-Table-topping United face testing nine days

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has presided over enough festive fixtures to know rotation is the key as he prepares for a busy period starting with the visit of Newcastle United in the Premier League on Wednesday.A disappointing 1-1 draw at Swansea City on Sunday saw United's lead at the top cut to four points over Manchester City and maximum points at home to Newcastle...

Read More..

Marseille cling on with leaders after beating St Etienne

PARIS (Reuters) - Andre Ayew struck just before the break to give Olympique Marseille a 1-0 home win against St Etienne on Sunday and keep them level on points with leaders Paris St Germain.As Ligue 1 goes into a three-week break, OM are third with 38 points, behind pacesetters PSG and second-placed Olympique Lyon on goal difference.St Etienne, who last beat OM at the Velodrome in 1979, are 10th with...

Read More..

Soccer-Liverpool eager to extend Gerrard contract

Dec 24 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his desire to extend Steven Gerrard's contract as soon as possible to ward off potential suitors for the inspirational Reds captain.The 32-year-old, who has 18 months left on his current deal, capped a dynamic performance with a clinical goal in Liverpool's 4-0 home win over Fulham at the weekend.Rodgers, who took over from Kenny Dalglish...

Read More..

Soccer-Lampard hails David Luiz's midfield display for Chelsea

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - David Luiz is sparkling like a diamond in his new playmaking role and vice-captain Frank Lampard believes the Chelsea number four can be equally valuable to the team in midfield and in his usual position in defence.The mop-haired Brazilian bustled and chased around Stamford Bridge like an over-exuberant puppy in Sunday's 8-0 demolition of Aston Villa but he also showed the...

Read More..

Liverpool eager to extend Gerrard contract

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his desire to extend Steven Gerrard's contract as soon as possible to ward off potential suitors for the inspirational Reds captain.The 32-year-old, who has 18 months left on his current deal, capped a dynamic performance with a clinical goal in Liverpool's 4-0 home win over Fulham at the weekend.Rodgers, who took over from Kenny Dalglish at the start...

Read More..

Mexico frees ex-Marine jailed for bringing in gun

A Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry a family heirloom shotgun across the border has been freed, U.S. officials and his lawyer said late Friday.The attorney for 27-year-old Jon Hammar tweeted Friday night that his client had been released from a detention center in Matamoros, Mexico."Jon is out, going home!" Eddie Varon Levy tweeted.Patrick Ventrell, the acting deputy...

Read More..

List of 1000s of missing raises doubts in Mexico

Federal police officer Luis Angel Leon Rodriguez disappeared in 2009 along with six fellow police as they headed to the western state of Michoacan to fight drug traffickers.Since then, his mother, Araceli Rodriguez, has taken it into her own hands to investigate her son's disappearance and has publicized the case inside and outside Mexico. She's found some clues about what happened but still doesn't...

Read More..

3-day trip becomes 3-week ordeal for 2 Jamaicans

 It was supposed to be a three-day fishing trip at most. It turned into a three-week ordeal, drifting under an intense sun for hundreds of miles in the Caribbean in a small boat with a broken motor.The two Jamaican fishermen survived by eating raw fish they caught and drinking water from melted ice they had brought to preserve their catch. The Colombian navy finally plucked them from the sea...

Read More..

Peru's capital highly vulnerable to major quake

The earthquake all but flattened colonial Lima, the shaking so violent that people tossed to the ground couldn't get back up. Minutes later, a 50-foot (15-meter) wall of Pacific Ocean crashed into the adjacent port of Callao, killing all but 200 of its 5,000 inhabitants. Bodies washed ashore for weeks.Plenty of earthquakes have shaken Peru's capital in the 266 years since that fateful night of Oct....

Read More..

Argentina import controls put brake on bike sales

Summer has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere, and bicyclists all over the Argentine capital have hit the streets to enjoy the warm weather. That means this should be peak season for bicycle manufacturers and shops all over town, but the ride hasn't been so smooth this year.Instead, economic dysfunction has curtailed any possible boom. Cardboard boxes full of partially assembled mountain bikes, missing...

Read More..

Web host Go Daddy appoints former Yahoo executive as CEO

 Go Daddy, one of the world's biggest Internet hosting firms, appointed Yahoo Inc's former Chief Product Officer Blake Irving as chief executive.He will take over from interim CEO Scott Wagner on January 7. Irving left Yahoo, where he headed a centralized products group that straddled several client types, on April 27."Blake Irving's deep technology experience and his history of developing new...

Read More..

Intel launches microserver chips, gets nod from Facebook

Intel launched a data-center chip using low-power technology found in smartphones, stepping up competition in the nascent microserver market and winning a nod from Facebook.The Atom chip rolled out on Tuesday uses much less electricity than Intel's previous processors for servers and comes as Intel's rivals also eye the low-power server niche.Energy-sipping chips similar to those used in smartphones...

Read More..

Google, U.S. regulators close to deal in patents dispute: sources

U.S. regulators are near a settlement with Google Inc in a dispute over the search giant's efforts to stop the sale of products it says infringe essential patents, according to two sources close to the probe.But the Federal Trade Commission is not expected to reach a deal soon on the larger, more contentious issue of whether Google tweaks its search results to disadvantage rivals in travel, shopping...

Read More..

Obama election tweet most repeated but Olympics tops on Twitter

An election victory tweet from President Barack Obama -- "Four more years" with a picture of him hugging his wife -- was the most retweeted ever, but the U.S. election was topped by the Olympics as the most tweeted event this year.Obama's tweet was retweeted (repeated) more than 810,000 times, Twitter said as it published a list of the most tweeted events in 2012. (http://2012.twitter.com/)"Within...

Read More..

Publisher Bonnier, Flingo partner to make Smart TV Apps

 Bonnier, the publisher of magazines like Savuer and Popular Science, and Flingo, the largest publisher of apps for Smart TVs, have partnered to create a series of apps extending Bonnier's titles onto Internet-enabled TV sets and set-tops boxes like the Roku.Together, they will release a new app for each magazine, offering videos, images and archival content for fans. Savuer has a couple of web...

Read More..

Highlights from Egypt's draft constitution

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's draft constitution, which is being voted on in a referendum Saturday, is made up of an introduction, an 11-part preamble and 236 articles. Critics have raised concerns over issues including Islamic law and women's rights:— Shariah (Islamic) lawLike a previous constitution, the draft states, "Principles of Islamic Shariah are the principal source of legislation." For the first...

Read More..

Oman holds first municipal elections

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Oman says more than 1,400 candidates are competing in the Gulf nation's first municipal elections, a concession following Arab Spring-linked unrest. Oman has seen sporadic protests demanding more job opportunities and a greater public voice in the tightly run sultanate. The official Omani News Agency says the candidates, including 46 women,...

Read More..

Egyptians vote on disputed constitution

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians voted on Saturday in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has polarized the nation, with little indication that the result of the vote will end the political crisis in which the country is mired.For some supporters, a 'yes' vote was a chance to restore some normalcy after nearly two years of tumultuous transitional politics following...

Read More..

Correction: Bahrain-Security Summit story

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — In a story Dec. 8 about a security summit in Bahrain, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah said in a speech that Gulf states should quash any Arab Spring-inspired unrest. Prince Abdulaziz said, "Tampering with the stability and security of any Gulf Arab state is considered as tampering with the security...

Read More..

Yemen court sentences 3 militants to up to 6 years

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's state security court has sentenced three al-Qaida militants to up to six years in prison for planning attacks on security forces, foreign diplomatic missions and state institutions.The court on Saturday gave the three militants between two and six years each. They have the right to appeal.The judge also accused the three of running a training camp for al-Qaida in the southern...

Read More..

Toll Brothers 4Q net income soars on tax benefit

NEW YORK (AP) — Toll Brothers says its fiscal fourth-quarter net income soared, helped by a large income tax benefit and a 48 percent rise in revenue. The luxury homebuilder delivered more homes and its order backlog increased.CEO Douglas C. Yearley Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday that higher home prices, low interest rates, pent-up demand and improving consumer confidence prompted buyers to return...

Read More..