US Senate approves key tax deal

1 January 2013 Last updated at 05:47 ET

President Obama said a larger deal could be accomplished “in several steps”

The US Senate has approved a deal to avert general tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff”.

The bill, which raises taxes for the wealthy, came after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans.

The House is due to consider it later. Spending cuts have been delayed for two months to allow a wider agreement.

Congress missed the deadline to pass a bill, but few effects will be felt as Tuesday is a US public holiday.

Tax cuts approved during the presidency of George W Bush formally expired at midnight (05:00 GMT).

Without approval in the House, huge tax rises for virtually all working Americans will kick in automatically.

Analysts warned that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, the resulting reduction in consumer spending could spark a new recession.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

American politicians certainly know how to take it to the wire – and just a little bit beyond”

End Quote

The compromise deal reached on Monday seeks to avoid this by extending the tax cuts for Americans earning under $ 400,000 (£246,000) – up from the $ 250,000 level Democrats had originally sought.

A huge spending cut that would see $ 1.2tn cut from the federal budget over 10 years has been deferred for two months, allowing Congress and the White House to reopen negotiations.

The Senate approved the compromise bill by 89-8. “If we do nothing, the threat of a recession is very real,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said. “Passing this agreement does not mean negotiations halt, far from it.”

In addition to the income tax rates and spending cuts, the package includes:

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• On 1 January 2013, tax rises and huge spending cuts come into force – the so-called fiscal cliff


• The deadline was put in place in 2011 to force the president and Congress to reach agreement on the budget over the next 10 years


• Date coincides with expiry of Bush-era tax cuts


• There are fear that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have a huge impact on households and businesses


• The fiscal squeeze could also push the US into recession, and have a global impact

• Rises in inheritance taxes from 35% to 40% after the first $ 5m for an individual and $ 10m for a couple

• Rises in capital taxes – affecting some investment income – of up to 20%, but less than the 39.6% that would prevail without a deal

• One-year extension for unemployment benefits, affecting two million people

• Five-year extension for tax credits that help poorer and middle-class families

‘Imperfect solution‘

President Barack Obama welcomed the Senate vote.

“Leaders from both parties in the Senate came together to reach an agreement that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support today that protects 98% of Americans and 97% of small business owners from a middle class tax hike,” he said in a statement.

Continue reading the main story

Press reaction

Jennifer Steinhauer in The New York Times writes: “The confusing struggle to head off a national fiscal crisis has made one thing crystal clear: The era of the Big Deal is over.”

In The Washington Post, David A Fahrenthold says:”The New Year’s Eve agreement between [Vice-President Joe] Biden and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell provided a glimpse at the ways that personality quirks and one-to-one relationships can still change the course of Washington politics.”

The Wall Street Journal says: “The wider deal doesn’t do much to control the US’s long-term budget woes, which are driven largely by entitlement spending, especially on health care, left untouched in this agreement.”

“While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said: “It took an imperfect solution to prevent our constituents from a very real financial pain, but in my view, it was worth the effort.”

The BBC’s Mark Mardell in Washington says many of the Republicans who dominate the House dislike the deal and may stand on their principle.

Speaker John Boehner said the House would consider the deal but left open the possibility of amending the Senate bill – which would spark another round of legislation.

“Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members… have been able to review the legislation,” Mr Boehner and other House Republican leaders said in a statement.

The current House can legislate until Wednesday, when it is replaced by a new chamber chosen during last November’s election.

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Canadian job creation seen sharply lower in December

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada‘s job market is expected to slow markedly in December to reflect the sluggish economy and employers’ fears about the U.S. fiscal crisis following outsized gains of over 50,000 jobs in two of the previous three months.

The median forecast in a Reuters poll is for the economy to add just 5,000 jobs in the month, with forecasts ranging from a loss of 20,000 positions to a gain of 21,000.

The forecast compares with employment growth of 59,600 in November, 1,800 in October and 52,100 in September.

The unemployment rate is seen ticking higher in the final month of the year to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent.

Derek Holt, vice president of economics at Scotiabank, said he’s been surprised by the strength of job growth which he estimates to be the equivalent in the United States of about 1.5 million non-farm payroll jobs over the last three months.

“Here we are with the conundrum where we have zero growth in the Canadian economy, long predating the appearance of the greatest fiscal-cliff risks and yet we’re heaping on jobs like there’s no tomorrow,” Holt said.

Unlike the United States, Canada has long recovered all the jobs lost during the 2008-09 recession but the pace of hiring in 2012 was unsteady.

Benjamin Reitzes, economist at BMO Capital Markets, said if the 5,000-job forecast was accurate, it would put 2012 job growth at just 1.1 percent, “the weakest non-recession year since 1996.”

Canadian employers have faced uncertainty in one form or another during the recovery and are now fretting about the U.S. fiscal cliff, a set of tax hikes and spending cuts that will automatically take effect and could throw the United States into recession unless the White House and Congress reach an alternative agreement.

“For as long as Washington cannot agree on the new tax rules and spending focus, they’re not going to give business the confidence to go out and hire and engage in capital spending projects and that’s going to impede the pace of recovery until we get more clarity,” said Holt.

With the Canadian economy now expected to grow by far less in the fourth quarter than the Bank of Canada‘s projection of 2.5 percent, annualized, the blockbuster jobs growth of recent months looks suspect. The six-month trend shows more sustainable gains of about 21,000 a month.

The moderation means the Bank of Canada will be in no hurry to raise its benchmark interest rate, which it has held at 1.0 percent since September 2010.

Market players surveyed by Reuters in late November predicted the bank would resume hiking rates in the fourth quarter of 2013.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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New Year, New Headache? Hangover Cures and Myths

After the Times Square ball drops on New Year’s Eve and copious amounts of Champagne get  toasted and drunk, many might find themselves  forgetting more ”auld acquaintances” than they intended and waking up to  2013 with a vicious hangover.

A hangover is essentially a build-up of acetaldehyde, a toxin in the liver. When one overdoes it on the booze, the liver can’t produce enough glutathione, a compound that contains the amino acid L-cysteine, to combat it. Cysteine breaks down acetaldehyde into water and carbon dioxide, which is then flushed out of the body as urine.

While nothing has been shown scientifically to “cure” a hangover, Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ chief medical editor,  offered these tips to help nurse the pain:

• Drink plenty of water.  Alcohol is quite dehydrating.

• If you have a headache, take aspirin or ibuprofen the next morning, not acetaminophen (Tylenol).  Acetaminophen is processed by your liver that has just taken a hit from your overdrinking.

• Go to bed. Most hangovers are over after eight  to 24 hours but before you do …

• Pull out your smartphone and record a video message to yourself.  Tell yourself how lousy you feel and repeat this phrase: “I won’t overdrink again, I won’t overdrink again, I won’t overdrink again.”

Other suggestions from our past contributors include how to avoid a hangover while still slugging back the brewskies, and what to do if the  hangover arrives anyway:

While You’re Boozing:

1. Sip Slowly

If you drink your alcohol slowly instead of guzzling it down, doctors say it helps give the stomach a fighting chance to absorb the toxins so your body isn’t assaulted with booze.

2. Eat Fatty Foods

Food products with a lot of fat in them, such as chips, can help slow down the absorption of alcohol.

3. Avoid Carbonated Drinks

Doctors say carbonation can increase the absorption of alcohol, so put down the rum and Coke.

The Morning After — Happy Hangover:

1. Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

Time will heal all wounds.

2. Flush Your System

When you are dehydrated, your body is depleted of potassium and sodium, which is why you have that achy “hit by a dump truck” feeling the next morning.

Doctors say try to replenish your body with lots of fluids. Drink water or drinks that are heavy in electrolytes, such as sports drinks or coconut water.

3. Be Leery of Caffeine

Caffeine, like alcohol, is a diuretic, which can further dehydrate your body after drinking, making the headache much worse, so doctors recommend extra water if you’re going to reach for a cup of coffee, tea or an energy drink.

But people who regularly drink minimal amounts of caffeine might find it helps soothe their headache. While the causes of a hangover aren’t completely understood, a leading theory for the pounding headache is that alcohol dilates blood vessels in the brain and caffeine constricts the blood vessels, which might bring relief to some people.

4. Avoid the ‘Hair of the Dog’

While that Bloody Mary or extra pint of beer with breakfast the next morning sounds like a rallying move, doctors say more alcohol means more dehydration, meaning more hangover hurting. Even if you don’t feel the pain now, you will later.

5. Have a Snack 

According to the Mayo Clinic, bland foods, such as toast and crackers, can help boost blood sugar and settle your stomach. Eating chicken noodle or bouillon soups, which are  loaded with sodium and potassium, can help make you feel better.

Foods and drinks that contain fructose, such as honey, apples, berries or fruit juice, as well as vitamin C and B  can also help burn off alcohol.

Final Thoughts: Not to be a buzz kill, but the bottom line is that the best way to to avoid a hangover is to stay away from the booze. Entirely.

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Kanye West, Kim Kardashian expecting 1st child

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A kid for Kimye: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.

The rapper announced at a concert Sunday night that his girlfriend is pregnant. He told the crowd of more than 5,000 at Revel Resort‘s Ovation Hall in song form: “Now you having my baby.”

The crowd roared. And so did people on the Internet.

The news instantly went viral on Twitter and Facebook, with thousands posting and commenting on the expecting couple.

Most of the Kardashian clan also tweeted about the news, including Kim’s sisters and mother. Kourtney Kardashian wrote: “Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!”

West, 35, also told concertgoers to congratulate his “baby mom” and that this was the “most amazing thing.”

Representatives for West and Kardashian, 32, didn’t immediately respond to emails about the pregnancy.

The rapper and reality TV star went public in March.

Kardashian married NBA player Kris Humphries in August 2011 and their divorce is not finalized.

West’s Sunday night show was his third consecutive performance at Revel. He took the stage for nearly two hours, performing hits like “Good Life,” ”Jesus Walks” and “Clique” in an all-white ensemble with two band mates.

___

AP Writer Bianca Roach contributed to this report.

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US ‘fiscal cliff’ talks go to wire

31 December 2012 Last updated at 03:27 ET

US Congressional leaders have one more day to stop steep tax rises and spending cuts, known as the “fiscal cliff”, after talks ended with no deal.

Senators will continue to seek a compromise deal on Monday to send to the House of Representatives.

Failure to reach agreement by 1 January could push the US back into recession.

President Barack Obama has blamed Republicans for the deadlock. He said their “overriding theme” was protecting tax breaks for the rich.

Fallback plan

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Adam Blenford BBC News, Washington

---

Few in the US capital could talk of anything but who would win Sunday’s must-win showdown. For most, that meant an NFL game between the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys; on Capitol Hill the stakes were somewhat higher.

Cliches and aphorisms abounded in the Senate corridors as reports spread of a breakdown in deal-making. “The fat lady hasn’t sung yet,” one Republican declared, obscured by the pack of reporters following him down the hallway. “These things always happen at the end,” said Chuck Schumer, a senior Democrat.

But it was the retiring senators, three days away from their final goodbyes, who spoke the most openly. Failure would “send a message worldwide that we don’t have the capacity to work across political aisles on critical issues”, said Olympia Snowe, Maine’s outgoing Republican.

“The world has gotten used to this so they are no longer shocked,” Ben Nelson, a retiring Nebraska Democrat said. “They see this as just more of the same and hope that one of these days maybe Congress will get its act together.”

Republicans and Democrats have been fighting for months over how to deal with the combination of automatic spending cuts and the expiration of Bush-era tax reductions at the new year.

Without an agreement, higher taxes will rise for virtually every working American and across-the-board cuts in government spending will kick in from Tuesday.

Analysts say this could significantly reduce consumer spending, leading the US economy to fall off the “fiscal cliff”.

After the latest round of intense negotiations in the Senate on Sunday the main sticking points reportedly include such key issues as the income threshold for higher tax rates and inheritance taxes.

If no agreement is reached on Monday, senators are expected to be given the chance to vote on a fallback plan proposed by President Obama.

That would renew tax cuts on earnings under $ 250,000 (£154,000) and extend unemployment benefits, but does not address the spending cuts.

Both the House and Senate are due to convene on Monday in a last-minute attempt to bridge the gap between the two sides. The Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has insisted that the Senate act first.

The current stand-off has its roots in a failed 2011 attempt to tackle the government debt limit and budget deficit.

Republicans and Democrats agreed then to postpone difficult decisions on spending until the end of 2012.

Commentators say that even if a deal is reached, it will do little to reduce the original problem of the deficit and the government debt limit, raising the prospect of further political infighting early in the new year.

Parties divided

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell were locked in negotiations over the weekend.

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force – the so-called fiscal cliff


• Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years


• Date coincides with expiry of Bush-era tax cuts, which would affect all income groups and many businesses


• Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have a huge impact on households and businesses


• Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

The two senators appeared to admit before the 15:00 deadline (20:00 GMT) that negotiations were at a standstill, with their two parties still divided over core issues.

However late on Sunday, Senate Republicans said they were dropping their proposal to slow the growth of Social Security payments. The plan – which would have led to lower benefits to pensioners and the disabled – had been fiercely resisted by Democrats.

Meanwhile Senator McConnell said he had asked Vice-President Joe Biden for help in breaking the deadlock late on Sunday.

“I’m concerned with the lack of urgency here. There’s far too much at stake,” he said. “There is no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point – the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest or courage to close the deal.”

In his interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, broadcast on Sunday, Mr Obama said the priority was to ensure taxes do not rise for middle-class families, saying that would “hurt our economy badly”.

“That’s something we all agree on. If we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the ‘fiscal cliff’,” he said.

There is also debate over where to set the threshold for tax rises. Democrats say the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for all Americans except the richest – those with annual earnings of more than $ 250,000 (£155,000).

Republicans – some of whom have pledged never to vote for increased taxes – say the deficit is a consequence of excessive government spending.

They want the tax threshold set higher, at around $ 400,000, and for revenue to be raised by economic growth and cuts in social security and other services states are legally bound to provide.

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Suspected US drone kills 3 al-Qaida men in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Three al-Qaida militants were killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike in southern Yemen, Yemeni security officials said, the fourth such attack this week and a sign attacks from unmanned aircraft are on the upswing in the country.

The officials said the three men were hit as they were riding in a Land Cruiser in el-Manaseh village on the outskirts of Radda in Bayda province. Dozens of local al-Qaida-linked fighters protested the drone strikes after traditional Islamic Friday prayers.

Earlier this week another suspected U.S. drone strike killed two militants in Radda itself, Yemeni security officials say, and seven were killed in two other strikes in the southeastern province of Hadramawt. Four suspected drone strikes a week is uncommon in Yemen.

According to statistics gathered by the Long War Journal before Saturday’s attacks, the United States “is known to have carried out 41 airstrikes” this year against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the group’s branch in Yemen is known. That makes for an average of around three to four strikes per month.

The Journal, a product of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that was founded by former U.S. officials, says that since December 2009, the CIA and the US military’s Joint Special Operations Command are known to have conducted at least 54 air and missile strikes inside Yemen, excluding Saturday’s suspected attack.

AQAP overran entire towns and villages — including Radda — last year by taking advantage of a security lapse during nationwide protests that eventually ousted the country’s longtime ruler. Backed by the U.S. military, Yemen’s army was able to regain control of the southern region but al-Qaida militants continue to launch deadly attacks on security forces that have killed hundreds.

Also on Saturday, two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed an intelligence officer in the southeast, security officials said. They said that the officer, Mutea Baqutian, was on his way to work in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt province, when the men stopped his car, gunned him down, and fled.

The government has blamed al-Qaida militants for similar assassinations of several senior military and intelligence officials this year. The bullet-riddled body of Major al-Numeiry Abdo al-Oudi, deputy director of the security department of al-Qitten in Hadramawt, was found in the town’s suburbs last week. He had been kidnapped earlier in the month.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Seif, who is commander of Yemen’s central military region, said the Defense Ministry has deployed an infantry brigade in the northeastern province of Marib to stop armed tribesmen who maintain cordial ties with al-Qaida from attacking oil pipelines and power generating stations, as well as to counter al-Qaida militants.

State TV meanwhile aired a meeting between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and eight Yemeni sailors who were rescued last week by forces of Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region after being held for nearly three years by Somali pirates.

The Puntland government says that its forces captured the hijacked Panama-flagged MV Iceberg 1 on Sunday after a siege that lasted two weeks. They freed the eight Yemeni sailors together with five Indians, two Pakistanis, four Ghanaians, two Sudanese and a Filipino. The ship was hijacked March 29, 2010.

Hadi congratulated the eight sailors for their safety and ordered the government to compensate them for their suffering.

Eqbal Yassin, a relative of one of the freed sailors, told The Associated Press that the hijackers had allowed some sailors to phone their relatives and convey the pirates’ demand for $ 5 million ransom. He said he was told by his relative that the hijackers killed a Yemeni sailor who tried to escape. He gave no further details.

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Five-year-old finds porn on refurbished Nintendo 3DS from GameStop

Five-year-old Brandon Giles must have been excited to receive a Nintendo 3DS for Christmas — at least, he was until he turned it on. According to 9News, Giles’ father bought a refurbished 3DS from GameStop (GME) in Colorado for his son. However, when his son turned  it on and started poking around, he found nine pornographic images of two people in a bed and asked his brother to help him erase them. That’s when the father gave GameStop a call. GameStop’s response was that the images were most likely left over from its previous owner and an employee failed to properly wipe out the data on the 3DS before re-stocking it. “We have a rigorous quality control process in place to ensure that existing content is removed from all devices before they are re-sold,” GameStop said in a statement issued from its corporate office. “Out of millions of transactions each year, ones like this happen very rarely. Our number one priority is to make this right for our customer.”

[More from BGR: Samsung could face $ 15 billion fine for trying to ban iPhone, other Apple devices]

The bigger question many people are asking is, why would anyone take pornographic photos with the 3DS’s terrible low-res cameras? We may never know the answer.

This article was originally published by BGR

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Dan Ariely Talks Creativity And Dishonesty

Title Post: Dan Ariely Talks Creativity And Dishonesty
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Hot spots draw believers, but not doomsday

As the sun rose from time zone to time zone across the world on Friday, there was still no sign of the world’s end — but that didn’t stop those convinced that a 5,125-year Mayan calendar predicts the apocalypse from gathering at some of the world’s purported survival hot spots.

Many of the esoterically inclined expected a new age of consciousness — others wanted a party. But, in some places said to offer salvation from the end, fewer people showed up than officials had predicted — much to the disappointment of vendors hoping to sell souvenirs.

Here are some key places being marked by the fascination over doomsday rumors:

MEXICO

In an area of Mexico that was once the ancient Mayan heartland, spiritualists gathered in the darkness before dawn on Friday to prepare white clothes, drums, conch shells and incense. They believed the sunrise would herald the birth of a new and better age as a vast cycle in the Mayan calendar comes to an end.

Many people who came to Yucatan for the occasion were already calling it “a new sun” and “a new era.”

FRANCE

According to one rumor, a rocky mountain in the French Pyrenees will be the sole place on Earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens are said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety. But there is bad news for those seeking salvation: French gendarmes, some on horseback, blocked outsiders from reaching the Bugarach peak and its village of some 200 people.

Eric Freysselinard, head of local government, said the security forces had “partially stopped the new age enthusiasts as well as curious people from coming to the area.”

Meanwhile, some Bugarach residents dressed up like aliens, with tinfoil costumes and funnels and fake antenna on their heads, strolling around their village Friday to make light of the rumored UFO prophecy.

RUSSIA

Doomsday rumors have prompted some people across Russia to stock up on candles, water, canned foods and other non-perishable foods. The apocalypse has proven a good business, with some shops selling survival aid packages that include soap and vodka.

In Moscow, salvation has also been promised in the underground bunker for the former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin — with a 50 percent refund if nothing happens. An underground stay was originally priced at 50,000 rubles ($ 1,625) but dropped to 15,000 ($ 490) a week ahead of the feared end.

The bunker, located 65 meters (210 feet) below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Now home to a small museum, it has an independent electricity supply, water and food — but no more room, because the museum has already sold out all 1,000 tickets.

BRITAIN

Hundreds of people have converged on Stonehenge for an “End of the World” party that coincides with the Winter Solstice.

Arthur Uther Pendragon, Britain’s best-known druid, said he was anticipating a much larger crowd than usual at Stonehenge this year. But he doesn’t agree that the world is ending, noting that he and fellow druids believe that things happen in cycles.

“We’re looking at it more as a new beginning than an end,” he said. “We’re looking at new hope.”

Meanwhile, end-of-days parties will be held across London on Friday. One event billed as a “last supper club” is offering a three-course meal served inside an “ark.”

SERBIA

Some Serbs are saying to forget that sacred mountain in the French Pyrenees. The place to be Friday is Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak in Serbia already drawing cultists.

According to legend, the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire that will hit the mountain top. The inside of the mountain will then open up, becoming a safe place to hide as the sorcerer goes on to destroy the rest of the world. In the meantime, some old coal mine shafts have been opened up as safe rooms.

On Friday a New Age group called “The Spirit of Rtanj” was holding a conference there. Participants, however, said they expect not the end of time but the start of a new time cycle. Locals turned out to sell brandy and herbs.

“There will be no tragedy, no doomsday,” said resident Dalibor Jovic. “It was supposed to happen at 12:12 and I think that time has passed. So, we can now go on with our lives and be happy to be alive.”

TURKEY

A small Turkish village known for its wines, Sirince, has also been touted as the only place after Bugarach that would escape the world’s end. But on Friday journalists and security officials outnumbered cultists. This outcome disappointed local business people who had prepared a range of doomsday products to sell, including a specially labeled Doomsday wine and Turkish delight candy whose “best before” date was Dec. 21, 2012. One restaurant prepared a special “last meal” menu that included a “heaven kebab” and “forbidden fruit dessert.”

ITALY

Another spot said to be spared: Cisternino, a beautiful small town in southern Italy in an area of trulli, traditional dry stone huts with conical roofs. The notion that Cisternino could be a safe haven at world’s end derives from an Indian guru, Babaji, who said “Cisternino will become an island” at world’s end. His followers built a community in Cisternino centered on an ashram built in 1979. Hotel bookings are up this weekend.

Mayor Donato Baccaro told the AP that the beauty of the place has inspired many foreigners to live there. “This confirms that this place has a special energy,” he said.

CHINA

A fringe Christian group has been spreading rumors about the world’s impending end, prompting Chinese authorities to detain more than 500 people this week and seize leaflets, video discs, books and other material.

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, also called Eastern Lightning, which preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. Authorities in the province of Qinghai say they are waging a “severe crackdown” on the group, accusing it of attacking the Communist Party and the government.

U.S.

Dozens of Michigan schools canceled classes for thousands of students to cool off rumored threats of violence and problems related to doomsday. The fears were exacerbated by the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which “changed all of us,” the school system in Genesee County said. “Canceling school is the right thing to do.”

___

Associated Press writers Florent Bajrami in Bugarach, France; Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow; Peppino Ciraci in Cisternino, Italy; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Paisley Dodds in London; and Dejan Mladenovic in Mount Rtanj, Serbia, contributed to this report.

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Most ‘spent less on Christmas’

30 December 2012 Last updated at 02:16 ET

A majority of consumers spent less on their Christmas shopping this year than they did in 2011, according to a survey by the consumers’ association Which?

Nearly half used credit cards, overdrafts and other borrowing to help fund their purchases, the survey of 2,100 people across the UK suggests.

Nine out of 10 agreed that they felt under pressure to spend too much during the festive season.

Just under half – 46% – used some form of debt to help them meet their bills.

Nearly a quarter claimed they would not otherwise have been able to afford their Christmas shopping.

Credit cards were the most popular form of borrowing, although a substantial proportion also relied on authorised overdrafts from their banks.

A majority reported they had found the Christmas period financially tougher than last year, and more than half of those questioned also said that they had cut back on their seasonal spending.

Continue reading the main story

Most of us like to splash out on family and friends at this time of year, so the news that millions of people have drastically cut back on Christmas spending or taken out loans to cover Christmas costs shows just how squeezed household budgets are right now”

End Quote Richard Lloyd Which?

However, the message from the retail industry so far is that Christmas sales were acceptable, and may have been a little higher than last year.

The survey suggested 54% of consumers expected their Christmas budgets to be even tighter next year.

The average amount put on credit was £301, while for those who went into their savings, the average was £380.

Around 12% of consumers used authorised overdrafts, 8% spent on store cards and 5% simply borrowed money from friends or family.

Nearly half (48%) of those asked said they did not buy as much food and 45% bought less high quality food than last year because of increasing food prices.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Most of us like to splash out on family and friends at this time of year, so the news that millions of people have drastically cut back on Christmas spending or taken out loans to cover Christmas costs shows just how squeezed household budgets are right now.

“It also shows how far we are from a consumer spending-led economic recovery.”

BBC News – Business

Title Post: Most ‘spent less on Christmas’
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