Indian police arrest 3 for threatening Kashmir girl band on social media

SRINAGAR, India – Three people have been arrested in Indian-controlled Kashmir for allegedly threatening the first Kashmiri all-girl rock band, which disbanded after its debut concert following abusive comments on social media and a demand from a top Muslim cleric that they stop performing, police said Thursday.

The three have been booked for criminal intimidation and violating internet laws, police officer Afadul Mujtaba said. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to seven years each. They were arrested Wednesday night

The controversy over the band Pragaash, or “First Light” in Kashmiri, highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an armed uprising against Indian rule and a crackdown by government forces have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989.

Police are looking for at least a dozen other people whose comments were abusive. However, no action has been taken against the cleric for describing the girls’ band as a non-Islamic activity.

The arrests came as one of the band members told India’s CNN-IBN channel that the group had decided to stop singing because of the cleric’s edict, and not merely because of the online abuses. “Everything was going fine till the fatwa was issued,” she said, referring to the cleric’s order.

The TV channel did not identify the band member, who also said the band members respected the cleric’s decision because he was “more aware of our religion.” She urged the media to stop reporting on the case.

Pragaash performed in public for the first time in December in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It won third place in an annual “Battle of the Bands” rock show organized by an Indian paramilitary force as part of a campaign to win hearts and minds in the region.

Soon after the show, Kashmiri pages on social networking sites like Facebook hotly debated the band. Some wondered whether the performance was appropriate in Muslim-dominated Kashmir, while others raised broader questions on the Islamic approach to music and the role of women in the society.

Many commenters backed the girls, but others were abusive, calling them “sluts” and “prostitutes” and calling for them and their families to be expelled from the region.

The controversy deepened Saturday after Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, promised a police probe into the threats and wrote on Twitter that “the talented teenagers should not let themselves be silenced by a handful of morons.”

The all-girl band then came under the scrutiny of various groups.

Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad, Kashmir’s state-sponsored cleric, issued a fatwa on Sunday ordering the girls to “stop from these activities and not to get influenced by the support of political leadership.”

Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, also did not approve of the band, calling the band “a step toward westernization of young girls.”

However, the alliance also distanced itself from the cleric’s edict, and denied the girls were under threat. It said the Indian media was “blowing up a small issue with a purpose to defame the Kashmiri freedom struggle.”

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Kristin Cavallari: Cam's Putting His New Teeth to Good Use

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Kristin Cavallari is one lucky mom!

The former reality star says that even though son Camden Jack is currently teething, he hasn’t been crying at all.

“He’s such a good baby,” Cavallari, 26, tells PEOPLE while promoting her new GlamBoutique jewelry line.

“I was just getting curious, so I put my finger in his mouth to feel around. I felt it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ We wouldn’t have even known that he was getting his first tooth [otherwise].”

Turns out Cam isn’t wasting any time making use of his brand new assets.

“He started eating food a couple of weeks ago, which has been so much fun,” explains Cavallari.

“He’s had everything: peas, broccoli, zucchini, carrots and avocados. He absolutely loves avocados!”

The designer, who also has a line of footwear through Chinese Laundry, says her baby boy is starting to show his personality — and he’s a perfect mix of her and her fiancé Jay Cutler.

“He’s a really good combination,” she notes. “He’s always laughing and smiling, and in a good mood unless he’s tired, which is like me! The only way to describe him is the word ‘sweetheart.’”

While she’s loving motherhood, Cavallari is looking forward to spending some quality time with her Chicago Bears quarterback beau on Valentine’s Day.

“I’m just going to cook dinner. It’s going to be a very low-key, romantic evening, which — for being parents — sounds amazing to both of us,” she jokes. “[We're looking forward to] being in bed early and getting a good night’s sleep!”

– Gabrielle Olya

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

___

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Wall Street slips after Tuesday rally, results eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday as investors, awaiting fresh trading incentives, locked in profits after recent rallies took the S&P 500 to five-year highs.

Transportation stocks were among the worst performers weighed down by an 8.2 percent drop in CH Robinson Worldwide , which dropped 8.2 percent to $61.53 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings.

The Dow Jones Transportation index <.djt> shed 0.6 percent after closing at an all-time high on Tuesday. The index has surged more than 10 percent this year so far.

A 6-percent advance this year so far has lifted the benchmark S&P 500 index to its highest since December 2007, while the Dow <.dji> briefly climbed above 14,000 recently, making it a challenge for investors to continue pushing the equity market upward in the absence of strong catalysts.

"You knew a correction was coming; the question was whether they were going to tease you and get it close and then start selling it off or get (the Dow) up to 14,000 and then start to make a move to the sell side," said Gordon Charlop, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

"We got a quick move and it's really just not healthy for markets to go one way, so the idea that a little bit of a correction is due isn't troublesome to me at all."

Walt Disney Co was among the bright spots, up 1.4 percent to $55.07 after the company topped estimates for quarterly adjusted earnings and gave an optimistic outlook for the next few quarters.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Wednesday morning, of 301 companies in the S&P 500 <.spx> that have reported earnings, 68.1 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters. In terms of revenue, 65.8 percent of companies have topped forecasts.

Looking ahead, fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are now expected to grow 4.7 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> lost 35.52 points, or 0.25 percent, at 13,943.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> slipped 3.17 points, or 0.21 percent, at 1,508.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> shed 4.34 points, or 0.14 percent, at 3,167.24.

The benchmark S&P index rose 1.04 percent Tuesday, its biggest percentage gain since a 2.5-percent advance on January 2, when legislators sidestepped a "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes that could have hurt a fragile U.S. economic recovery.

Ralph Lauren Corp climbed 7.4 percent to $177.13 as the best performer on the S&P 500 after reporting renewed momentum in its holiday-quarter sales and profits.

Time Warner Inc jumped 4.3 percent to $52.11 after reporting higher fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates, as growth in its cable networks offset declines in its film, TV entertainment and publishing units.

Visa , the world's largest credit and debit card network, is expected to report earnings per share of $1.79 for its first quarter, up from $1.49 a year earlier. Smaller rival MasterCard recently reported better-than-expected results but said its revenue growth could slow in the first half of the year due to economic uncertainty.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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Tunisia protests after government critic shot dead

TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian opposition politician was shot dead on Wednesday, sending protesters onto the streets of cities nationwide two years after the uprisings that swept Tunisia's president from power and inflamed the Arab world.

The headquarters of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which rules in a fractious coalition with secularists, was set ablaze after Chokri Belaid, an outspoken critic of the government, was gunned down outside his home in the capital.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who said the identity of the attacker was not known, condemned Belaid's killing as a political assassination and a strike against the "Arab Spring" revolution. Ennahda denied any involvement by the part.

Despite calls for calm from the president, 8,000 protesters, massed outside the Interior Ministry, calling for the fall of the government, and thousands more demonstrated in cities including Mahdia, Sousse, Monastir and Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the revolution, where police fired teargas and warning shots.

"This is a black day in the history of modern Tunisia ... Today we say to the Islamists, 'get out' ... enough is enough," said Souad, a 40-year-old teacher outside the Interior Ministry in Tunis. "Tunisia will sink in the blood if you stay in power."

The small North African state was the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections as uprisings spread around the region, leading to the ousting of the rulers of Egypt, Yemen and Libya and to the civil war in Syria.

But like in Egypt, many who campaigned for freedom from repression under autocratic rulers and better prospects for their future now feel their revolutions have been hijacked by Islamists they accuse of clamping down on personal freedoms, with no sign of new jobs or improvements in infrastructure.

HARDSHIP

Since the uprising, the government has faced a string of protests over economic hardship and Tunisia's future path, with many complaining hardline Salafists were taking over the revolution in the former French colony dominated previously by a secular elite under the dictatorship of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Last year, Salafist groups prevented several concerts and plays from taking place in Tunisian cities, saying they violated Islamic principles, worrying the secular-minded among the 11 million Tunisians, who fear freedom of expression is in danger.

Declining trade with the crisis-hit euro zone has also left Tunisians struggling to achieve the better living standards many had hoped for following Ben Ali's departure. Any further signs of unrest could scare off tourists vital to an industry only just recovering from the revolution.

"More than 4,000 are protesting now, burning tires and throwing stones at the police," Mehdi Horchani, a Sidi Bouzid resident, told Reuters. "There is great anger."

Jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010 in the city, 300 km (180 miles) southwest of Tunis, after police confiscated his unlicensed fruit cart, triggering the "Jasmine Revolution" that forced Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia less than a month later, on January 14, 2011.

President Moncef Marzouki, who last month warned the tension between secularists and Islamists might lead to "civil war", canceled a visit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday and cut short a trip to France, where he addressed the European Parliament.

"We will continue to fight the enemies of the revolution," the secularist leader told European Union lawmakers in Strasbourg.

Belaid, who died in hospital, was a leading member of the opposition Popular Front party. A lawyer and human rights activist, he had been a constant critic of the government, accusing it of being a puppet of the rulers in the small but wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which Tunisia denies.

"Chokri Belaid was killed today by four bullets to the head and chest," Ziad Lakhader, a leader of the Popular Front, told Reuters. "Doctors told us that he has died. This is a sad day for Tunisia."

DENIES INVOLVEMENT

Ennahda Prime Minister Jebali said the killers wanted to "silence his voice".

"The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution," he said.

Party President Rached Ghannouchi denied any involvement in the killing. Belaid said earlier this week that dozens of people close to the government attacked a meeting of his party.

"Is it possible that the ruling party could carry out this assassination when it would disrupt investment and tourism?" Ghannouchi told Reuters.

He blamed those seeking to derail Tunisia's democratic transition after a 2011 uprising. "Tunisia today is in the biggest political stalemate since the revolution. We should be quiet and not fall into a spiral of violence. We need unity more than ever," Ghannouchi said.

He accused secular opponents of stirring up sentiment against his party following Belaid's death. "The result is burning and attacking the headquarters of our party in many areas," he said.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the shooting, saying he was concerned by the rise of violence in Paris's former dominion, where the government says al Qaeda-linked militants linked to those in neighboring countries have been accumulating weapons with the aim of creating an Islamic state.

"This murder deprives Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices," Hollande's office said in a statement.

Riccardo Fabiani, Eurasia analyst on Tunisia, described it as a "major failure for Tunisian politics".

"The question is now what is Ennahda going to do and what are its allies going to do?" he said. "They could be forced to withdraw from the government which would lead to a major crisis in the transition."

Marzouki warned last month that the conflict between Islamists and secularists could lead to civil war and called for a national dialogue that included all political groupings.

Ennahda won 42 percent of seats in a parliamentary election in 2011 and formed a government in coalition with two secular parties, the Congress for the Republic, to which President Marzouki belongs, and Ettakatol.

Marzouki's party threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the government unless it dropped two Islamist ministers.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Alison Williams; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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Microsoft Surface Pro: Not a Tablet, Not Yet a Laptop

With Microsoft‘s Surface Pro going on sale this Saturday, the gadget experts have put out their lengthy takes on the bigger more expensive tablet-laptop hybrid, many of them confused about what the gadget is supposed to be. With its second piece of tablet hardware, Microsoft aimed for the perfect hybrid between the two portable devices, with all the power and operating system of a desktop, on a portable, touchable slab. The $ 899 device gets there in theory, but, in practice, it could use some work.

RELATED: Mixed Signals for Microsoft Surface Tablet Sales

The Surface Pro has a lot of good ideas, writes Gizmodo’s Kyle Wagner, but that’s about it:

While the Surface Pro might not be the future, exactly as it is, it’s absolutely full of ideas and functions that are just off the horizon, or just in from it. A pro-level stylus, touch-based everything, extreme portability, creative new ways to type.

As a tablet, it works okay. But as a laptop, not so much, as CNET explains:

The Surface Pro’s gutsy design successfully reinvents the Windows 8 laptop by cramming an ultrabook experience into the body of a 10-inch tablet. Those wanting to go all-in on the tablet experience won’t regret buying the Surface Pro, but we’re holding out for a future, more polished generation of the device.

Or actually, it’s not a tablet at all, notes Wired‘s Alexandra Chang:

But let me be clear: The Surface Pro is not a tablet. Many people have confusedly asked me if the Surface Pro is even a good tablet. The answer is a clear and resounding, “No.” It’s heavy and thick. It doesn’t invite you to curl up with it on the couch. It’s tough to read with it in bed, and it works much better propped up on a desk than it does resting on a knee or in a lap.

Actually, it’s neither, adds Ars Technica’s Peter Bright.

From the tablet perspective, Surface Pro is not acceptable. It gets too hot for a hand-held device, its battery life is woefully inadequate, and it’s too thick and heavy to be comfortable to hand hold for long sessions…

From a laptop perspective, Surface Pro falls down too. The traditional laptop has a stiff hinge to hold the screen at an angle of your choosing. It is hard to understate the importance of this hinge. I use laptops not just because they’re small and I want something that won’t take lots of space in my home, but because I actually need portable computing. I go to conferences, I stay in hotels, I ride trains, and take planes. My laptop’s hinge means I can comfortably use my laptop with coffee tables, dining tables, the little desks you get in hotel rooms, and wherever else I happen to be.

In other words, it’s “compromised,” as Engadget’s Tim Stevens puts it:

We’re still completely enraptured by the idea of a full-featured device that can properly straddle the disparate domains of lean-forward productivity and lean-back idleness. Sadly, we’re still searching for the perfect device and OS combo that not only manages both tasks, but excels at them. The Surface Pro comes about as close as we’ve yet experienced, but it’s still compromised at both angles of attack.

ABC News’s Joanna Stern gets a little more specific in her run-down of all the trade-offs:

The Surface Pro solves a lot of the issues I had with the Surface RT, but has some new ones. It can now run a lot more programs, but the tablet is much thicker and heavier. It is now a lot faster, but it only lasts five hours on a charge. It has a beautiful, high-resolution screen, but it’s now more expensive.

Or, a little harsher from AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg:

Some users may not mind the price or bulk of the Surface Pro if it frees them from carrying a tablet for some uses and a laptop for others. But like many products that try to be two things at once, the new Surface Windows 8 Pro does neither as well as those designed for one function.

Even TechCrunch’s John Biggs, who liked the gadget, hints at some trade-offs:

Instead it is a hybrid device that works surprisingly well as both a laptop and a tablet. There are obviously trade-offs, but the simplicity of form, the excellent design, and the promising OS make the Surface Pro a real treat – and threat to other manufacturers.

AnandTech’s Anand Lal Shimpi would recommend the tablet, but again, points out that using it as a  lap computer has its drawbacks:

Surface Pro is an easier recommendation simply because you don’t have to wait for the Windows ecosystem to mature, you can already run all of your existing PC apps on the platform and it’s competitive with other Ultrabooks in terms of performance. If you’re shopping for an Ultrabook today and want that tablet experience as well, Surface Pro really is the best and only choice on the market. If however you do a lot of typing in your lap and in weird positions, a conventional notebook is better suited for you. The same goes for if you’re considering a tablet for reasons like all-day battery life or having something that’s super thin and light. Surface Pro is probably the best foot forward towards converging those two usage models, but it’s not perfect for everyone yet.

The Verge’s David Pierce wouldn’t mind the compromises, if they weren’t so expensive:

It’s as fast, consistent, and capable as any ultrabook I’ve tested in the last several months, and from a touch and responsiveness standpoint may be the best I’ve used. It has no confusing app incompatibilies, no weird performance issues. Sure, it’s heavier and thicker than the Surface RT and has frustratingly poor battery life, but it’s worth both the tradeoff and the extra expense. If you’re going to buy a Surface, buy the Surface Pro. Period. (And buy the 128GB model.) But if you’re going to buy a $ 900 tablet, get the decked-out iPad with LTE and 128GB of storage, and if you’re going to buy a Windows laptop

But despite all the issues, however, the Surface Pro is important, notes Computer World’s Michael Gartenberg.

Surface Pro is important, as it serves to raise the bar high for Windows 8 devices while also delivering a traditional, legacy PC experience that will be appreciated by many users. While it might not be the device for the masses, it is the device that points the way for Microsoft’s future. It demonstrates the power of integrating hardware and software tightly while declaring that there is room for multiple visions of personal computing in a world increasingly driven by applications and services.

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Michael Douglas Has Dating Advice for His Son: Be Courteous

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For most parents, nothing is scarier than the idea of their teen starting to date — even if you’re Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose 12-year-old son Dylan is entering that arena.

“I’m trying to digest it all, and I’m just trying to remember what it’s like to be in a teenage romance,” Douglas, 68, told PEOPLE at Thursday’s New York premiere of Zeta-Jones’s new film Side Effects, sponsored by Cinema Society and Michael Kors.

“And what I remember scares me as a father!”

Actually, the doting dad says he set relaxed dating rules for Dylan, because his son is so responsible.

“I’m not the over-protective dad,” says the Oscar winner. “Dylan is a great kid and I trust him. He’s having fun and conducting himself very well.”

And does the star of HBO’s Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra — who gets to kiss Matt Damon onscreen — determine which girls Dylan can or cannot date?

“I don’t have much say in it. I keep my mouth shut,” said Douglas. “But I like his choices so far.”

Douglas, who has been happily married to Zeta-Jones, 43, for 12 years, has one piece of advice to give to his son about courting women: always be courteous.

“Unsolicited advice is a hostile gesture. I remembered that from a long time ago,” he says with a laugh. “But I want him to know to always be polite and respectful and just don’t try to hard. If he asks me for specific advice, I’ll have a long talk with him.”

As for his own relationship with Zeta-Jones, “Catherine and I are doing well,” he said. “She is more beautiful than ever inside and out. I support her with everything and she is simply the best.”

– Paul Chi

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Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.

The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the start, just over half of the 187 gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had been bullied; by 2010 that dropped to 9 percent of gay and bisexual boys and 6 percent of lesbian and bisexual girls.

The researchers said the same results likely would be found in the United States.

In both countries, a "sea change" in cultural acceptance of gays and growing intolerance for bullying occurred during the study years, which partly explains the results, said study co-author Ian Rivers, a psychologist and professor of human development at Brunel University in London.

That includes a government mandate in England that schools work to prevent bullying, and changes in the United States permitting same-sex marriage in several states.

In 2010, syndicated columnist Dan Savage launched the "It Gets Better" video project to encourage bullied gay teens. It was prompted by widely publicized suicides of young gays, and includes videos from politicians and celebrities.

"Bullying tends to decline with age regardless of sexual orientation and gender," and the study confirms that, said co-author Joseph Robinson, a researcher and assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. "In absolute terms, this would suggest that yes, it gets better."

The study appears online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, said the results mirror surveys by her anti-bullying advocacy group that show bullying is more common in U.S. middle schools than in high schools.

But the researchers said their results show the situation is more nuanced for young gay men.

In the first years of the study, gay boys and girls were almost twice as likely to be bullied as their straight peers. By the last year, bullying dropped overall and was at about the same level for lesbians and straight girls. But the difference between men got worse by ages 19 and 20, with gay young men almost four times more likely than their straight peers to be bullied.

The mixed results for young gay men may reflect the fact that masculine tendencies in girls and women are more culturally acceptable than femininity in boys and men, Robinson said.

Savage, who was not involved in the study, agreed.

"A lot of the disgust that people feel when you bring up homosexuality ... centers around gay male sexuality," Savage said. "There's more of a comfort level" around gay women, he said.

Kendall Johnson, 21, a junior theater major at the University of Illinois, said he was bullied for being gay in high school, mostly when he brought boyfriends to school dances or football games.

"One year at prom, I had a guy tell us that we were disgusting and he didn't want to see us dancing anymore," Johnson said. A football player and the president of the drama club intervened on his behalf, he recalled.

Johnson hasn't been bullied in college, but he said that's partly because he hangs out with the theater crowd and avoids the fraternity scene. Still, he agreed, that it generally gets better for gays as they mature.

"As you grow older, you become more accepting of yourself," Johnson said.

___

Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Wall Street rebounds from weakness, Dell to go private

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors sought bargains following the market's worst daily session since November and more companies reported results that were stronger than expected.

Major stock indexes had dropped about 1 percent in Monday's session, pressured by renewed worries over the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis. Still, equities have been strong performers recently, with the benchmark S&P 500 index up 4.9 percent for 2013.

Dell Inc agreed to go private in a $24.4 billion deal that was widely expected. Shares of the computer maker rose 0.7 percent to $13.36 after a brief trading halt.

Wall Street has advanced on strong fourth-quarter earnings and signs of improved economic growth, suggesting the market's longer-term trend remains higher.

"Stocks are really the only place investors can go for any kind of real return, and that's enough to have people continuing to come into the market, not just buying on dips but in general," said Thomas Nyheim, portfolio manager at Christiana Trust in Greenville, Delaware.

Archer Daniels Midland reported revenue and adjusted fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, boosted by strong global demand for oilseeds. Shares rose 4 percent to $29.58.

Estee Lauder Cos Inc gained 4.5 percent to $63.78 after reporting results.

According to Thomson Reuters data, of the 53 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings thus far, 69 percent have beaten profit expectations, over the 62 percent average since 1994 and the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 4.5 percent, according to the data, above the 1.9 percent forecast at the start of earnings season, but well below the 9.9 percent forecast on October 1.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 83.88 points, or 0.60 percent, at 13,963.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 9.16 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,504.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 10.80 points, or 0.35 percent, at 3,141.97.

At current levels, the S&P is less than 5 percent away from its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, reached in October 2011.

McGraw-Hill extended its Monday decline, slumping 7.1 percent to $46.68 as the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil lawsuit against the company and its unit, Standard & Poor's, over mortgage bond ratings. The action marks the first such federal action against a credit rating agency related to the recent financial crisis.

The stock has dropped more than 20 percent over the past two days.

U.S. shares of BP Plc rose 1.8 percent to $44.38 after the company reported earnings that beat expectations and said underlying financial momentum would be "strongly evident" by 2014.

The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index was 55.2 in January, as expected and down slightly from the previous month.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Iran's Ahmadinejad in Egypt on historic visit

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Egypt on Tuesday on the first trip by an Iranian president since the 1979 revolution, underlining a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state.

President Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood politician elected in June, kissed Ahmadinejad as he disembarked from his plane at Cairo airport. The leaders walked down a red carpet, Ahmadinejad smiling as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries.

Visiting Cairo to attend an Islamic summit that begins on Wednesday, the president of the Shi'ite Islamist republic is due to meet later on Tuesday with the grand sheikh of al-Azhar, one of the oldest seats of learning in the Sunni world.

Such a visit would have been unthinkable during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the military-backed autocrat who preserved Egypt's peace treaty with Israel during his 30 years in power and deepened ties between Cairo and the West.

"The political geography of the region will change if Iran and Egypt take a unified position on the Palestinian question," Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV station, on the eve of his visit.

He said he wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory which neighbors Egypt to the east and is run by the Islamist movement Hamas. "If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people," Ahmadinejad said.

Analysts doubt that the historic changes that brought Mursi to power in Egypt will result in a full restoration of diplomatic ties between states whose relations were broken off after the Iranian revolution and the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

OBSTACLES TO FULL TIES

At the airport the two leaders discussed ways of boosting relations between their countries and resolving the Syrian crisis "without resorting to military intervention", Egyptian state media reported.

Egypt is concerned by Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising inspired by the revolt that swept Mubarak from power two years ago. Egypt's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population is broadly supportive of the uprising against Assad's Alawite-led administration.

The Mursi administration also wants to safeguard relations with Gulf Arab states that are supporting Cairo's battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr reassured Gulf Arab allies that Egypt would not jeopardize their security.

"The security of the Gulf states is the security of Egypt," he told the official MENA news agency, in response to questions about Cairo's opening to Iran and its impact on other states in the region.

Mursi wants to preserve ties with the United States, the source of $1.3 billion in aid each year to the influential Egyptian military.

His government has established close ties with Hamas, a movement backed by Iran and shunned by the West because of its hostility to Israel, but its priority is addressing Egypt's deep economic problems.

"The restoration of full relations with Iran in this period is difficult, despite the warmth in ties ... because of many problems including the Syrian crisis and Cairo's links with the Gulf states, Israel and the United States," said one former Egyptian diplomat.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of preparatory meetings for the two-day Islamic summit, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was optimistic that ties could grow closer.

"We are gradually improving. We have to be a little bit patient. I'm very hopeful about the expansion of the bilateral relationship," he said. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: "Trade and economics."

Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt follows Mursi's visit to Iran in August for a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar mosque and university, will meet Ahmadinejad at his offices in mediaeval Islamic Cairo, al-Azhar's media office said.

Salehi, the Iranian foreign Minister, stressed the importance of Muslim unity when he met Sheikh al-Tayeb at al-Azhar last month.

Egypt and Iran have taken opposite courses since the late 1970s. Egypt, under Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and became a close ally of the United States and Europe. Iran from 1979 turned into a center of opposition to Western influence in the Middle East.

Symbolically, Iran named a street in Tehran after the Islamist who led the 1981 assassination of Sadat.

Egypt gave asylum and a state funeral to Iran's exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown by the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a medieval Cairo mosque alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt's last king, Farouk.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir and Alexander Diadosz; Editing by Andrew Roche and Paul Taylor)

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