Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to hand hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term, opening the way for a showdown with Iran and bolstering opponents of Palestinian statehood.


However, Netanyahu's own Likud party, running alongside the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, looks set to win fewer seats than in the previous parliament, with opinion polls showing a surge in support for the far-right Jewish Home party.


By 4 p.m. (9.00 a.m. ET), six hours before polls close, the Israeli election committee said turnout was 46.6 percent, up from 41.9 percent at the same time in 2009 and the highest level since 1999, when Netanyahu, serving his first term as prime minister, was defeated by then-Labour Party leader Ehud Barak.


Ahead of Tuesday's ballot, analysts had speculated that high turnout would benefit center-left parties that have sometimes struggled to motivate their voter base.


In a sign of concern over a possible centrist surge, Netanyahu urged his supporters to go to the polls.


"Go vote, and then go back to the cafes. Go vote so we can lead Israel because ... we don't really know how all of this is going to end," he said in public remarks at Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv.


Political sources said Netanyahu, worried by his apparent fall in popularity, might approach center-left parties after the ballot in an effort to broaden his coalition and present a more moderate face to Washington and other concerned allies.


British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Israel it was losing international support, saying prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were almost dead because of expanding Jewish settlement in occupied territory.


Some 5.66 million Israelis are eligible to cast a ballot, with polling stations closing at 10 p.m. (3.00 p.m. ET). Full results are due by Wednesday morning, opening the way for coalition talks that could take several weeks.


The lackluster election campaign failed to focus on any single issue and with a Netanyahu victory predicted by every opinion poll, the two main political blocs seemed to spend more time on internal feuding than confronting each other.


"There is a king sitting on the throne in Israel and I wanted to dethrone him, but it looks like that won't happen," said Yehudit Shimshi, a retired teacher voting in central Israel in balmy winter weather that drew out the electorate.


No Israeli party has ever secured an absolute majority, meaning that Netanyahu, who says that dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions is his top priority, will have to bring various allies on board to control the 120-seat Knesset.


The former commando has traditionally looked to religious, conservative parties for backing and is widely expected to seek out the surprise star of the campaign, self-made millionaire Naftali Bennett, who heads the Jewish Home party.


Bennett has ruled out any peace pact with the Palestinians and calls for the annexation of much of the occupied West Bank.


His youthful dynamism has struck a chord amongst Israelis, disillusioned after years of failed peace initiatives, and has eroded Netanyahu's support base.


The Likud has also shifted further right in recent months, with hardline candidates who reject the so-called two-state solution dominating the top of the party list.


"TRENDY PARTIES"


Surveys suggest Bennett may take up to 14 seats, many at the expense of Likud-Beitenu, which was projected to win 32 in the last round of opinion polls published on Friday - 10 less than the two parties won in 2009 when they ran separate lists.


Acknowledging the threat, Netanyahu's son Yair urged young Israelis not to abandon the old, established Likud.


"Even if there are more trendy parties, there is one party that has a proven record," he said on Tuesday.


Amongst the new parties standing for the first time in an election were Yesh Atid (There is a Future), a centrist group led by former television host Yair Lapid, seen winning 13 seats.


"All our lives we voted Likud, but today we voted for Lapid because we want a different coalition," said Ahuva Heled, 55, a retired teacher voting with her husband north of Tel Aviv.


Lapid has not ruled out joining a Netanyahu cabinet, but is pushing hard for ultra-Orthodox Jews to do military service - a demand fiercely rejected by some allies of the prime minister.


Israel's main opposition party, Labour, which is seen capturing up to 17 seats, has already ruled out a repeat of 2009, when it initially hooked up with Netanyahu, promising to promote peace negotiations with the Palestinians.


U.S.-brokered talks collapsed just a month after they started in 2010 following a row over settlement building, and have lain in ruins ever since. Netanyahu blamed the Palestinians for the failure and says his door remains open to discussions.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he won't return to the table unless there is a halt to settlement construction.


That looks unlikely, with Netanyahu approving some 11,000 settler homes in December alone, causing further strains to his already notoriously difficult relations with U.S. President Barack Obama, who was sworn in for a second term on Monday.


IRAN THREAT


Tuesday's vote is the first in Israel since Arab uprisings swept the region two years ago, reshaping the Middle East.


Netanyahu has said the turbulence - which has brought Islamist governments to power in several countries long ruled by secularist autocrats, including neighboring Egypt - shows the importance of strengthening national security.


If he wins on Tuesday, he will seek to put Iran back to the top of the global agenda. Netanyahu has said he will not let Tehran enrich enough uranium to make a single nuclear bomb - a threshold Israeli experts say could arrive as early as mid-2013.


Iran denies it is planning to build the bomb, and says Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, is the biggest threat to the region.


The issue has barely registered during the election campaign, with a poll in Haaretz newspaper on Friday saying 47 percent of Israelis thought social and economic issues were the most pressing concern, against just 10 percent who cited Iran.


One of the first problems to face the next government, which is unlikely to take power before the middle of next month at the earliest, is the stuttering economy.


Data last week showed the budget deficit rose to 4.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2012, double the original estimate, meaning spending cuts and tax hikes look certain.


(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Jeffrey Heller and Tova Cohen; Editing by Alistair Lyon)



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Canada wants RIM organic growth, may have to review handset sale






OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government wants BlackBerry maker Research in Motion to continue to be a global leader and grow organically, and Ottawa may have to review a future sale of its handset business, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said on Tuesday.


“We hope to see RIM remain a global leader and player, and make sure it grows organically,” Paradis told Reuters by phone from Germany, where he is meeting with industrial leaders.






He also said the government did not intend at present to open up Canada’s telecommunications sector further to foreign investment.


(Reporting by Randall Palmer Editing by W Simon)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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European shares test two-year highs, yen volatile before BOJ

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares inched towards two-year highs on Monday, as a political attempt to break a budget impasse in the United States and expectations of aggressive Japanese stimulus bolstered the appetite for shares.


U.S. House Republican leaders said on Friday they would seek to pass a three-month extension of federal borrowing authority in the coming days to buy time for the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a plan to shrink budget deficits.


European shares <.fteu3> were supported by the news <.eu>, but with no clear response from the Democrats and a thin session expected due to a market holiday in the United States, the impact on assets such as bonds and commodities was limited.


By 1500 GMT London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> were up 0.4 to 0.6 percent, leaving the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 within touching distance of a two-year high and MSCI's world index <.miwd00000pus> steady at a 20-month high. <.l><.eu/>


Expectations that the Bank of Japan will deliver a bold monetary easing plan at the end of its two-day meeting on Tuesday also supported shares and created choppy conditions in the currency market.


According to sources familiar with the BoJ's thinking, the government of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the central bank have agreed to set 2 percent inflation as a new target, supplanting a softer 1 percent 'goal'.


The yen, which has fallen 13 percent against the dollar over the last two months as the shift in Japanese policy has taken shape, touched a new 2-1/2 year low in early trading but then firmed as traders cut short positions given the BOJ has often fallen short of market expectations.


"Investors are being mindful that the moves we have seen over the course of the last month or two are just worth locking in at least until we understand how the BOJ are really going to play in the future," said Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.


CURRENCY WARS


Japanese equities have surged in recent weeks in anticipation of a more aggressive monetary policy stance, but not everyone is happy.


The slump in the yen has prompted Russia's deputy central bank governor to warn of a new round of 'currency wars' and the medium-term risk of running ultra-loose monetary policies is likely to be a theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which opens on Wednesday.


With little in the way of economic data or debt issuance and U.S. markets shut for the Martin Luther King public holiday, the rest of the day was expected to be a fairly quiet for investors.


As the first European finance ministers' meeting of the year got under way, most euro zone government bonds were trading virtually flat and the euro was steady at $1.3316.


Market pressure on Europe is now less intense thanks to the European Central Bank's promise to prevent a collapse of the euro. Policymakers are set to discuss Cyprus's plight and plans for the euro zone's bailout fund to directly recapitalize banks.


French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said as he arrived at the Brussels meeting that a proper recapitalization strategy was very important.


"Negotiations will be complex, and a final decision is unlikely to emerge soon. Risks for sovereign spreads in the periphery should be limited, but we have some concerns that the long-term solution may fall short of what a real banking union needs," said UniCredit economist Marco Valli.


POLITICAL GAME


The efforts by Republican lawmakers to give the U.S. government leeway to pay its bills for another three months dented demand for safe haven assets and pushed German government bond yields near the top of this year's range.


The U.S. Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise the current $16.4 trillion limit on U.S. debt sometime between mid-February and early March. A failure to achieve that could lead to a debt default.


"This is part of the political game, it remains to be seen whether the Democrats will accept it," KBC strategist Piet Lammens said, adding that investors' working scenario was that a solution to raise the ceiling would be eventually found anyway.


One of the key factors that drove 2-year German yields higher last week was also the prospect of sizeable early repayments of the 1 trillion euros euro zone banks took from the ECB roughly a year ago.


The central bank will publish on Friday how much banks plan to return at the optional first repayment date on January 30. A Reuters poll on Monday showed around 100 billion euros are expected to be repaid although some predict it could be as high as 250 billion.


OIL OVERSUPPLY


German markets showed no reaction after the country's center-left opposition party edged Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives from power in a regional election on Sunday, reviving its flagging hopes for September's national election.


The Bundesbank's latest report delivered an upbeat message on the country's economy, saying a recent slump should be short-lived and may have already bottomed out.


Oil prices took their cues from a report in the United States at the end of last week that showed consumer sentiment at its weakest in a year as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the country's debt crisis.


Concerns about demand overshadowed supply disruption fears reinforced by the Islamist militant attack and hostage-taking at a gas plant in Algeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.


Brent futures were down by 40 cents to $111.47 per barrel by mid-afternoon. U.S. crude shed 43 cents to $95.13 per barrel after touching a four-month high last week.


"The over-riding fundamental feeling in the market is that crude oil is over-supplied in 2013," said Tony Nunan, an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi.


Last week's data showing a pick-up in the Chinese economy helped keep growth-sensitive copper prices steady at roughly $8,056 an ounce. Gold, meanwhile, reversed Friday's losses to stand at $1,688 an ounce.


(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Marious Zaharia and Anooja Debnath; Editing by Peter Graff)



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Jenna von Oy Blogs: The Magic of the Holidays

Jenna von Oy's Blog: The Magic of Christmas
In front of the Christmas Tree – Courtesy Jenna von Oy


Celebrity blogger Jenna von Oy is a new mama!


Best known for her roles as Six on Blossom and Stevie on The Parkers, von Oy is also a musician who has released two albums and is set to publish a book, The Betweeners.


von Oy, 35, wed Brad Bratcher on Oct. 10, 2010, and resides in Nashville with her husband and five dogs.


They welcomed their first child, daughter Gray Audrey, on May 21. She is now almost 8 months old.


In her latest blog, von Oy reflects on the spirit of Christmas — and celebrating the holiday with Gray.


You can find her on Facebook and Twitter @JennavonOy, as well as posting on her weekly blog, The Cradle Chronicles.


I realize it’s January now, and you’ve probably taken down your holiday lights. You’ve stowed the stockings, eaten all of the cookies and put away the gifts. But in my house, the Christmas spirit is still alive and well. Christmas has not left the building. Our tree is still whiling away the hours in our living room, and it isn’t because I’m lazy or haven’t found time to return everything to the attic. I just wanted to wake up to it for one more week, to enjoy the season a bit longer, to absorb the hope and happiness it brings.


Christmastime has always been truly magical for me. I believe it isn’t just a time of year; it’s a state of being. Regardless of your spiritual upbringing, it’s a season for togetherness, joy, peace, and goodwill. It’s a time to treasure those you love, in a profoundly meaningful way … especially your children. There’s no other season that incites wonder quite like Christmas, and seeing it through the eyes of my daughter for the first time was nothing short of miraculous. We have begun the holiday memories she will think back on fondly one day.


It inspires me to reminisce about my own special Christmas moments, especially those shared with my siblings: penning wish lists for Santa, trudging through snow to choose the “jolliest” tree we could find, hanging stockings on our mantle, putting our boots out in celebration of the German holiday of Saint Nicholas (the boots would get filled with nuts, fruit and other goodies), baking cookies and over-decorating them, festooning our tree in the ornaments we’ve collected each year since we were born, and dancing maniacally to “The Nutcracker Suite.”


I miss the winter wonderland of our East Coast upbringing: ice skating on the pond behind the home in which we were raised, watching snowflakes blanket the ground like frosting (it just begged for snowmen and snow angels to be made), sledding down our driveway in makeshift toboggans, and warming up in front of the fire with mugs of mulled cider. Those were the days!


But it isn’t all of the “deck the halls” and “fa-la-la” that made my spirit bright. Most importantly, the holiday season meant time spent with my family. It meant hunkering down out of the bitter cold and playing board games, while Burl Ives sang “A Holly Jolly Christmas” in the background. It meant attending midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and listening to my dad’s beautiful voice resonate from the choir. It was the joy of finding the perfect gift for my sister or brothers, and the glee of watching them unwrap it.


Even in adulthood, I find the Christmas magic hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still in my heart, though its style has morphed a bit. Now I get to celebrate with my own little family, embracing long-held traditions while creating new ones with my husband and daughter.


I thought it might be fun to share some of them with you. I warn you, if you are feeling a bit of “bah humbug” and want Christmas to just go away already, this may not be the blog for you … I’ll begin with our “infamous Christmas tape.”


Jenna von Oy's Blog: The Magic of Christmas
Me back in 1980 – Courtesy Jenna von Oy


Many years ago, my siblings and I acquired a cassette tape of a schizophrenic compilation of Christmas music. It contains everything from Mahalia Jackson’s “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” to Johnny Mathis singing “Sleigh Ride,” to the Philadelphia Orchestra playing the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Like I said, it’s a wacky mix of tunes. Regardless, it’s our auditory mascot during Christmas. A year without hearing this crazy collection of songs would be a sad year, indeed.


The four of us used to jam to it while trimming the tree, and it was almost always accompanied by our crooning at the top of our lungs and dancing wildly around the living room. This was typically followed by a period of breathlessness and tearful laughter. My poor parents either hid or videotaped it. Want to know how to shed the pounds from over-indulging in Christmas cookies? The routine I just mentioned will definitely do it. I’ll spare you any sort of visual, but take my word for it … it’s a special breed of insanity aerobics.


The calamity often occurred into the wee hours of the morning, since we were generally high on sugar when it all went down. We found that the addition of hot cocoa or eggnog greatly improved our stamina. I’ve long suspected this display of madness would frighten away potential suitors or spouses, but I’m happy to report Brad has stuck around despite this tradition. He has witnessed it on several occasions and, while he has declined any participation in it, he hasn’t disowned me yet. :)


I must admit it wasn’t quite the same this year without my siblings around to share in my decorating dance-a-thon. Sadly, leaping across the kitchen via Skype just doesn’t have the same effect. This didn’t stop me, however, from showing my daughter what the hype is all about. I transferred that wonderfully awful cassette tape to my iPod, and Gray and I danced like no one was watching. She was all smiles and laughter. I can only hope the Christmas enthusiasm runs through her veins, as it does mine!


Another family tradition involves our ongoing ornament collection. My mom began the custom of gifting each of us kids with a yearly ornament, beginning at our births. The keepsakes have always served as a reminder of the wonderful memories we shared that year, often depicting something meaningful we experienced. For example, the first year I visited France, I received a mini Eiffel Tower to suspend from the pine branches. When I played “Molly” in a regional production of Annie at the age of six, I got a Little Orphan Annie ornament. It’s neat to go back through the years to see what stories our tree adornments conjure up!


Brad and I are continuing this collection with Gray, and she ended up with several ornaments this year. I hope they will always be a reminder of her first Christmas, and I look forward to passing them along to her once she is married and has a family of her own.


This tradition actually gave way to a new one as well … A few weeks before Christmas, once our main tree was already dressed and lit with the normal accoutrements, Gray got to pick out a smaller tree to host all of her special ornaments. She also had the honor of placing the first decoration on the larger one. Now that Christmas is over, we are going to find a spot in our yard to plant the sapling. I think it’s a great way to show her the importance of giving back to the earth, and it will be a neat project for us as a family.


Jenna von Oy's Blog: The Magic of Christmas
Bratcher Family Photo 2012 – Lila McCann Photography


The side benefit of this new tradition is that it helps to satisfy my need for a real evergreen in the house. Though I grew up in a family where we never dreamed of putting up a plastic tree, I’ve had to switch gears a bit in the past few years. Two words for you: Basset Hound. Evidently Christmas trees are the equivalent of a five-star gourmet meal to our sweet Mia, and the ornaments are her canine caviar. She will take any opportunity to snack on the branches if they are real pine, which we found out the hard way.


Needless to say, we’ve had a huge plastic deal ever since. At least the smaller tree that Gray chose fits on a tabletop, where it is out of reach! Mia’s Scrooge-like master plan has officially been thwarted. Now if I could just keep our pug, Bruiser, from unwrapping presents before Christmas morning…


So now that you know some of our special yearly customs, here’s an idea of how Gray’s first Christmas went down: I suppose it began the first week of December, with our official Christmas photo shoot. Though attempting to get all three of us to smile simultaneously was documentary-worthy, I’m thrilled to say it actually happened.


I give full credit to the patience of our photographer, Lila, who also happens to be one of my best friends. Since she has two children of her own, she’s well aware of the trials and tribulations of photographing a child in the throes of the naptime hour. Fun was had by all, especially when a tantrum began rearing its ugly head as we approached the agreed upon location. Granted, Gray immediately perked up when she saw the camera turn its focus onto her. Go figure.


My mom spent the first two weeks of December with us, and we got to bake cookies and peanut brittle together … Okay, I’m lying. I spent the time trying to keep my daughter’s hands out of the flour and butter, while my mom wound up doing the bulk of the work. I think I got more exercise during the whole affair, but my mom put in the baking time. She has been generous enough to tell everyone we made the tasty treats together, but I thought I should set the record straight; I was on baby duty. The cookies were mostly her doing. (Thank you, Mommy!)


The neat part was that she got to be here for a plethora of Gray’s first holiday experiences, such as picking out the baby tree, decorating the house in its holiday attire, and the aforementioned family photo extravaganza. It was a very special time for us, and made it feel a lot more like Christmas. (I should also point out that the number of gifts Gray wound up getting virtually doubled in size, thanks to my mother and mother-in-law. Grandmas sure do love to spoil their grandbabies!)


One other adventure my mom got to be present for was Gray’s first picture with Santa. We waited until a weekday morning, to avoid crowds, and headed over to experience all that is jolly old St. Nick at the mall. I’ll be honest — my cynical side anticipated a fraud. I envisioned a scary, spiked eggnog-breathing, smoker’s cough-hacking, faux-bearded, senile, skinny guy in a fat suit, smiling at all of the children in a way that makes every mother’s stomach turn.


Jenna von Oy's Blog: The Magic of Christmas
First Picture with Santa – Worldwide Photography


I couldn’t have been farther off. This guy was the real deal. And when he said to Gray, “I’d take you to the North Pole if I could,” I actually believed he meant it in the sweetest way possible. Santa was the kindest man I could have asked for. And you know what? Gray knew it too. My little girl, who has been battling some serious bouts of separation anxiety, reached out for Santa like she’d known him all her life. The photographers said she was the first kid all day to smile for a photo … which made my day almost as much as it made theirs!


On Christmas morning, Bruiser demonstrated how presents should be opened (in his world: frenzied and with no regard for content…). Gray sort of got the hang of it, though next year will be more of a sight to see, I imagine. We took it easy with gifts this year … quality not quantity. Instead, our gifts were mostly in the form of time together, since my husband got a week off from work.


It was such a joy to cuddle up together on the sofa, even if it is nowhere near large enough to comfortably fit all of our human and canine family members. We watched time-treasured classics such as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and the original version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In a very merry post-gift unwrapping fatigue, Gray fell asleep on her Daddy’s chest and took a little nap. Brad said it was the best Christmas present he could have received. Sometimes the most cherished gifts don’t come in a package tied with ribbon.


Moving on to a slightly less magical subject, many friends said they sneezed and vomited their way through the remainder of 2012. Thankfully, we made it through without getting sick. We were desperately trying to spread Christmas cheer instead of germs this year, which is often hard with young kids. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t lose my voice during the holidays, so I was thrilled to get through unscathed.


Then again, you ain’t heard nothin’ until you’ve heard my Darth Vader-esque rendition of “Joy To The World,” which I usually grace everyone with at the mass on Christmas Eve. It brings anything but joy to the world, I can promise you that. Instead, I was able to sing loud and proud this year. Gray even tried to join in! The irony? As I publish this blog, I’m plagued with a cold … at least it allowed me to ring in the New Year first.


Much to our dismay, no snow fell in advance of our holiday here in Nashville. We did not wake up to a white Christmas morning. However, we had just enough of a flurry in the days following, to don boots and gloves and let Gray experience her first snowfall. It was really only a minor dusting, but she was mesmerized and commenced “tap dancing” in the snow.


For those who are currently picturing some fantastic routine involving staccato wings and ball changes, being executed by world-class artists such as Savion Glover and Gregory Hines, you may want to rethink your visual. Our version consisted of my holding Gray’s body upright, while she shuffled her feet around. Snow and dirt were flying everywhere, but my kid was as happy as … well, a kid in snow.


Jenna von Oy's Blog: The Magic of Christmas
Gray’s first snow! – Courtesy Jenna von Oy


If you kept reading until the end of this post, I’m impressed. Santa’s list isn’t as lengthy as this month’s blog, so I hope you’ll forgive the verbosity. I guess I was swept up in the holiday magic and excitement. Perhaps my New Year’s resolution should include minimalizing my words? :)


I hope you and yours had a fantastic holiday, filled with love, laughter and endless blessings. We wish you many more in 2013, and pray you are surrounded by the Christmas spirit all year long!


Until next time,


– Jenna von Oy


More from Jenna’s PEOPLE.com blog series:


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More than 140 nations adopt treaty to cut mercury


GENEVA (AP) — A new and legally binding international treaty to reduce harmful emissions of mercury was adopted Saturday by more than 140 nations, capping four years of difficult negotiations but stopping short of some of the tougher measures that proponents had envisioned.


The new accord aims to cut mercury pollution from mining, utility plants and a host of products and industrial processes, by setting enforceable limits and encouraging shifts to alternatives in which mercury is not used, released or emitted.


Mercury, known to be a poison for centuries, is natural element that cannot be created or destroyed. It is released into the air, water and land from small-scale artisanal gold mining, coal-powered plants, and from discarded electronic or consumer products such as electrical switches, thermostats and dental amalgam fillings. Mercury compound goes into batteries, paints and skin-lightening creams.


Because it concentrates and accumulates in fish and goes up the food chain, mercury poses the greatest risk of nerve damage to pregnant women, women of child-bearing age and young children. The World Health Organization has said there are no safe limits for the consumption of mercury and its compounds, which can also cause brain and kidney damage, memory loss and language impairment.


A decade ago, Switzerland and Norway began pushing for an international treaty to limit mercury emissions, a process that culminated in the adoption of an accord Saturday after an all-night session that capped a weeklong conference in Geneva and previous such sessions over the past four years.


"It will help us to protect human health and the environment all over the world," Swiss environment ambassador Franz Perrez told a news conference.


But the treaty only requires that nations with artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations, one of the biggest sources of mercury releases, draw up national plans within three years of the treaty entering force to reduce and — if possible — eliminate the use of mercury in such operations. Governments also approved exceptions for some uses such as large measuring devices for which there are no mercury-free alternatives; vaccines where mercury is used as a preservative; and products used in religious or traditional activities.


Switzerland, Norway and Japan each contributed $1 million to get the treaty started, but U.N. officials say tens of millions more will be needed each year to help developing countries comply. The money would be distributed through the Global Environment Facility, an international funding mechanism.


The U.N. Environment Program said the treaty will be signed later this year in the southern Japanese city of Minamata, for which it is to be named. After that, 50 nations must ratify it before it comes into force, which officials predicted would happen in three to four years.


So-called Minimata disease, a severe neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning, was discovered in the late 1950s because of methylmercury escaping from the city's industrial wastewater. The illness, which sickened people who ate contaminated fish, killed hundreds and left many more badly crippled. Some 12,000 people have demanded compensation from Japan's government.


"To agree on global targets is not easy to do," Achim Steiner, the executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, told reporters. "There was no delegation here that wished to leave Geneva without drafting a treaty."


Over the past 100 years, mercury found in the top 100 meters (yards) of the world's oceans has doubled, and concentrations in waters deeper than that have gone up by 25 percent, the U.N. environment agency says, while rivers and lakes contain an estimated 260 metric tons of mercury that was previously held in soils.


The treaty was originally blocked by powers such as the United States, but President Barack Obama's reversal of the U.S. position in early 2009 helped propel momentum for its adoption. China and India also played key roles in ensuring its passage; Asia accounts for just under half of all global releases of mercury.


"We have closed a chapter on a journey that has taken four years of often intense, but ultimately successful, negotiations and opened a new chapter toward a sustainable future," said Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan diplomat who chaired the negotiations.


Some supporters of a new mercury treaty said they were not satisfied with the agreement.


Joe DiGangi, a science adviser with advocacy group IPEN, said that while the treaty is "a first step," it is not tough enough to achieve its aim of reducing overall emissions. For example, he said, there is no requirement that each country create a national plan for how it will reduce mercury emissions.


His group and some of the residents of Minamata have opposed naming the treaty for their city because they feel it does not do enough to fix the problem.


"This treaty should be called the 'Mercury Convention,' not the 'Minamata Convention," said Takeshi Yasuma, a Japanese activist. "Water pollution resulting in contaminated sediment and fish caused the Minamata tragedy, but the treaty contains no obligations to reduce mercury releases to water and no obligations to clean up contaminated sites."


Treaty proponents called it a good first step, however, and Steiner said the document would evolve over time and hopefully become a stronger instrument.


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Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal.


The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations.


Sector indexes in transportation <.djt>, banks <.bkx> and housing <.hgx> this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well.


Michael Yoshikami, chief executive at Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California, said the key earnings to watch for next week will come from cyclical companies. United Technologies reports on Wednesday while Honeywell is due to report Friday.


"Those kind of numbers will tell you the trajectory the economy is taking," Yoshikami said.


Major technology companies also report next week, but the bar for the sector has been lowered even further.


Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices , which is due Tuesday, are expected to underperform as PC sales shrink. AMD shares fell more than 10 percent Friday after disappointing results from its larger competitor, Intel . Still, a chipmaker sector index <.sox> posted its highest weekly close since last April.


Following a recent underperformance, an upside surprise from Apple on Wednesday could trigger a return to the stock from many investors who had abandoned ship.


Other major companies reporting next week include Google , IBM , Johnson & Johnson and DuPont on Tuesday, Microsoft and 3M on Thursday and Procter & Gamble on Friday.


CASH POURING IN, HOUSING DATA COULD HELP


Perhaps the strongest support for equities will come from the flow of cash from fixed income funds to stocks.


The recent piling into stock funds -- $11.3 billion in the past two weeks, the most since 2000 -- indicates a riskier approach to investing from retail investors looking for yield.


"From a yield perspective, a lot of stocks still yield a great deal of money and so it is very easy to see why money is pouring into the stock market," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.


"You are just not going to see people put a lot of money to work in a 10-year Treasury that yields 1.8 percent."


Housing stocks <.hgx>, already at a 5-1/2 year high, could get a further bump next week as investors eye data expected to support the market's perception that housing is the sluggish U.S. economy's bright spot.


Home resales are expected to have risen 0.6 percent in December, data is expected to show on Tuesday. Pending home sales contracts, which lead actual sales by a month or two, hit a 2-1/2 year high in November.


The new home sales report on Friday is expected to show a 2.1 percent increase.


The federal debt ceiling negotiations, a nagging worry for investors, seemed to be stuck on the back burner after House Republicans signaled they might support a short-term extension.


Equity markets, which tumbled in 2011 after the last round of talks pushed the United States close to a default, seem not to care much this time around.


The CBOE volatility index <.vix>, a gauge of market anxiety, closed Friday at its lowest since April 2007.


"I think the market is getting somewhat desensitized from political drama given, this seems to be happening over and over," said Destination Wealth Management's Yoshikami.


"It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what you want to base your investing decisions on."


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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Algeria expects heavy hostage toll as West defends ally


ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - A veteran Islamist fighter claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage crisis, a regional website reported on Sunday, tying the bloody desert siege to France's intervention across the Sahara in Mali.


Algeria said it expected to raise its preliminary death tolls of 23 hostages and 32 militants killed in the four-day siege at a gas plant deep in the Sahara.


Western governments whose citizens died nevertheless held back from criticizing tactics used by their ally in the struggle with Islamists across the vast desert.


"We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation," Mokhtar Belmokhtar said in a video, according to the Sahara Media website, which quoted from the recording but did not immediately show it.


"We are ready to negotiate with the West and the Algerian government provided they stop their bombing of Mali's Muslims," said Belmokhtar, a one-eyed veteran guerrilla who fought in Afghanistan in 1980s and in Algeria's civil war in the 1990s.


Belmokhtar's fighters launched their attack on the In Amenas gas plant before dawn on Wednesday, just five days after French warplanes began strikes to halt advances by Islamists in neighboring northern Mali.


European and U.S. officials say the raid was almost certainly too elaborate to have been planned in so short a time, although the French campaign could have been one trigger for fighters to launch an assault they had already prepared.


"We had around 40 jihadists, most of them from Muslim countries and some even from the West," Sahara Media quoted Belmokhtar as saying. Algerian officials say Belmokhtar's group was behind the attack but he was not present himself.


Some Western governments have expressed frustration at not being informed in advance of the Algerian authorities' plans to storm the complex. However, Britain and France both defended the Algerian action in public.


"It's easy to say that this or that should have been done. The Algerian authorities took a decision and the toll is very high but I am a bit bothered ... when the impression is given that the Algerians are open to question. They had to deal with terrorists," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.


British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised statement: "Of course people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched this vicious and cowardly attack."


"We should recognize all that the Algerians have done to work with us and to help and coordinate with us. I'd like to thank them for that. We should also recognize that the Algerians too have seen lives lost among their soldiers."


OIL VULNERABILITIES EXPOSED


The Islamists' assault has tested Algeria's relations with the outside world, exposed the vulnerability of multinational oil operations in the Sahara and pushed Islamist radicalism in northern Africa to centre stage.


Algeria, scarred by the civil war with Islamist insurgents in the 1990s which claimed 200,000 lives, has insisted there would be no negotiation in the face of terrorism.


France especially needs close cooperation from Algeria to have a chance of crushing Islamist rebels in northern Mali. Algiers has promised to shut its porous 1,000-km border with Mali to prevent al Qaeda-linked insurgents simply melting away into its empty desert expanses and rugged mountains.


Algeria's permission for France to use its airspace, confirmed by Fabius last week, also makes it much easier to establish direct supply lines for its troops which are trying to stop the Islamist rebels from taking the whole of Mali.


Algeria's Interior Ministry had reported on Saturday that 23 hostages and 32 militants were killed during the assaults launched by Algerian special forces to end the crisis, with 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerian hostages freed.


Minister of Communication Mohamed Said said the toll would rise when final numbers were issued in the next few hours: "I am afraid unfortunately to say that the death toll will go up," Said was quoted as saying by the official APS news agency.


Private Algerian television station Ennahar said on Sunday that 25 bodies had been discovered at the Tiguentourine plant, adding that the operation to clear the base would last 48 hours.


The bodies were believed to belong to hostages executed by the militants, said Ennahar TV, which is known to have good sources within Algerian security.


With so much still unknown about the fates of foreigners held at the sites, countries that have faced casualties have yet to issue full counts of the dead. The plant was run jointly by Britain's BP and Norway's Statoil with the Algerian state oil company. A Japanese engineering firm and a French catering company also operated there.


In London, Cameron said three British nationals were confirmed killed and another three plus a British resident were also believed to be dead. One American has been confirmed killed. Statoil says five Norwegians are missing. Japanese and French citizens are also among those missing or presumed dead.


MULTINATIONAL HOSTAGE-TAKERS


Said reported that the militants had six different nationalities and the operation to clear the plant of mines laid by the hostage-takers was still under way.


Believed to be among the 32 dead militants was their leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, a Nigerien close to Belmokhtar.


Mauritanian news agencies identified the field commander of the group that attacked the plant as Nigeri, a fighter from one of the Arab tribes in Niger who had joined the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in early-2005.


That group eventually joined up with al Qaeda to become Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). It and allied groups are the targets of the French military operation in Mali.


The apparent ease with which the fighters swooped in from the dunes to take control of an important energy facility, which produces some 10 percent of the natural gas on which Algeria depends for its export income, has raised questions over the country's outwardly tough security measures.


Algerian officials said the attackers may have had inside help from among the hundreds of Algerians employed at the site.


Security in the half-dozen countries around the Sahara desert has long been a preoccupation of the West. Smugglers and militants have earned millions in ransom from kidnappings.


The most powerful Islamist groups operating in the Sahara were severely weakened by Algeria's secularist military in the civil war in the 1990s. But in the past two years the regional wing of al Qaeda gained fighters and arms as a result of the civil war in Libya, when arsenals were looted from Muammar Gaddafi's army.


(Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, Estelle Shirbon and David Alexander in London, Brian Love in Paris, Daniel Flynn in Dakar; Writing by David Stamp; Editing by Peter Graff)



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Biggest Loser's Cate Laughlan: I Have Trouble Eating Enough















01/19/2013 at 10:15 AM EST



Cate Laughlan may have lost the title of The Biggest Loser, but she found something important during her three weeks on the Ranch: herself.

"[My trainer Dolvett Quince] brought out in me that I was worth it," Laughlan told reporters after the elimination. "I never realized how little I felt about myself until I got [to the Ranch] and got to working with him."

Laughlan, 28, was the first member of the Red Team eliminated because her teammates believed she had the support system to succeed at home.

The team "had two really great weeks in a row but you can't pull big numbers all the time," said Laughlan, who left her elimination vote up to chance and selected a teammate's photo at random with her eyes closed. "I knew that all of us in our own way [were] strong enough to do it at home."

And now the newly confident student from Ransomville, N.Y., who says she has struggled with her weight as long as she can remember, has crossed a major milestone: dropping below 200 lbs., and reaching "one-derland."

"That moment was unbelievable," Laughlan said of reaching a weight she had not seen since her early teens. "When I saw the scale, it was a wonderful dream come true. I took a picture."

Most recently weighing in at 187 lbs., Laughlan has found herself in an unusual diet predicament. She is having trouble eating enough calories!

"I never dreamed I'd have a problem eating enough," said Laughlan, who started her Biggest Loser journey at 237 lbs. "It's easy to fill 2,000 calories with garbage. It's not as easy to fill 1,100 calories with good food."

Laughlan is eating a lot of bright, colorful vegetables and lean proteins like chicken, fish and the occasional pork tenderloin. But there are still healthy dishes she can't handle.

"I still don't like spinach and egg whites. I didn't like it on the Ranch and I don't like it now," she said.

To burn the calories, Laughlan is continuing to train for a marathon – a goal she has always wanted to accomplish – and marvels at the woman she has found along the way.

"When I look in the mirror I see the Cate that I was always supposed to be," she said. "I went from having no confidence to all the confidence in the world."

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Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study


Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.


The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.


Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's but it showed some promise against milder disease. Researchers think it might work better if given before symptoms start.


"The hope is we can catch people before they decline," which can come 10 years or more after plaques first show up in the brain, said Dr. Reisa Sperling, director of the Alzheimer's center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.


She will help lead the new study, which will involve 1,000 people ages 70 to 85 whose brain scans show plaque buildup but who do not yet have any symptoms of dementia. They will get monthly infusions of solanezumab or a dummy drug for three years. The main goal will be slowing the rate of cognitive decline. The study will be done at 50 sites in the U.S. and possibly more in Canada, Australia and Europe, Sperling said.


In October, researchers said combined results from two studies of solanezumab suggested it might modestly slow mental decline, especially in patients with mild disease. Taken separately, the studies missed their main goals of significantly slowing the mind-robbing disease or improving activities of daily living.


Those results were not considered good enough to win the drug approval. So in December, Lilly said it would start another large study of it this year to try to confirm the hopeful results seen patients with mild disease. That is separate from the federal study Sperling will head.


About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer's. Current medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.


___


Online:


Alzheimer's info: http://www.alzheimers.gov


Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org


___


Follow Marilynn Marchione's coverage at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal.


The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations.


Sector indexes in transportation <.djt>, banks <.bkx> and housing <.hgx> this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well.


Michael Yoshikami, chief executive at Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California, said the key earnings to watch for next week will come from cyclical companies. United Technologies reports on Wednesday while Honeywell is due to report Friday.


"Those kind of numbers will tell you the trajectory the economy is taking," Yoshikami said.


Major technology companies also report next week, but the bar for the sector has been lowered even further.


Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices , which is due Tuesday, are expected to underperform as PC sales shrink. AMD shares fell more than 10 percent Friday after disappointing results from its larger competitor, Intel . Still, a chipmaker sector index <.sox> posted its highest weekly close since last April.


Following a recent underperformance, an upside surprise from Apple on Wednesday could trigger a return to the stock from many investors who had abandoned ship.


Other major companies reporting next week include Google , IBM , Johnson & Johnson and DuPont on Tuesday, Microsoft and 3M on Thursday and Procter & Gamble on Friday.


CASH POURING IN, HOUSING DATA COULD HELP


Perhaps the strongest support for equities will come from the flow of cash from fixed income funds to stocks.


The recent piling into stock funds -- $11.3 billion in the past two weeks, the most since 2000 -- indicates a riskier approach to investing from retail investors looking for yield.


"From a yield perspective, a lot of stocks still yield a great deal of money and so it is very easy to see why money is pouring into the stock market," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.


"You are just not going to see people put a lot of money to work in a 10-year Treasury that yields 1.8 percent."


Housing stocks <.hgx>, already at a 5-1/2 year high, could get a further bump next week as investors eye data expected to support the market's perception that housing is the sluggish U.S. economy's bright spot.


Home resales are expected to have risen 0.6 percent in December, data is expected to show on Tuesday. Pending home sales contracts, which lead actual sales by a month or two, hit a 2-1/2 year high in November.


The new home sales report on Friday is expected to show a 2.1 percent increase.


The federal debt ceiling negotiations, a nagging worry for investors, seemed to be stuck on the back burner after House Republicans signaled they might support a short-term extension.


Equity markets, which tumbled in 2011 after the last round of talks pushed the United States close to a default, seem not to care much this time around.


The CBOE volatility index <.vix>, a gauge of market anxiety, closed Friday at its lowest since April 2007.


"I think the market is getting somewhat desensitized from political drama given, this seems to be happening over and over," said Destination Wealth Management's Yoshikami.


"It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what you want to base your investing decisions on."


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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