Stock futures set to gain for a third day, Oracle rallies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Wednesday as the latest offers in ongoing U.S. budget negotiations underlined hopes for a deal, while technology shares were lifted by strong results from Oracle.

The S&P 500 is on track to extend its best two-day run in a month, a sign that investors are looking past the "fiscal cliff," a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts many fear could push the economy into recession if they take effect next year.

President Barack Obama's most recent offer to Republicans in the ongoing fiscal talks made concessions on taxes and social programs spending, amid concerns from Senate Democrats. House Speaker John Boehner said he remained hopeful about an agreement, though the offer was "not there yet."

"Both Obama and Boehner have been making concessions, suggesting a deal will get done before the deadline, resulting in an acceleration in stock buying," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

Tech shares will be in focus a day after Oracle Corp reported earnings that beat expectations on strong software sales growth. Shares rose 2.1 percent to $33.56 in premarket trading.

FedEx Corp reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations, but said its earnings in the quarter had been impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Shares were slightly lower in light premarket trading.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 37 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 10.5 points.

The S&P has gained 2.3 percent over the past two sessions, the first time it has notched two straight days of 1 percent gains since late July. Markets have been supported by any indication agreement might be reached, with banks and energy shares- groups that outperform during periods of economic expansion - leading gains.

"We've been breaking above levels of resistance, including the 50-day moving average and the November high, so from a technical standpoint we're seeing a lot of improvement," Sarhan said. "We're set up for a strong 2013."

Trading volume has been light ahead of the holidays and as some caution remains over the cliff. Equities have struggled to gain ground in recent weeks amid signs there was little room for compromise between the two political parties.

November housing starts are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast 873,000 housing starts in November versus 894,000 in October.

General Mills Inc reported earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit view, citing a recent acquisition which lifted sales.

Knight Capital Group agreed to be sold to Getco Holding Company LLC in a deal valuing Knight at about $1.4 billion. Shares of Knight rose more than 6 percent in premarket trading before being halted.

Industrial machinery maker SPX Corp is closing in on a roughly $4.2 billion deal to buy rival Gardner Denver Inc , as it makes progress in securing financing, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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India Ink: Outrage in Delhi After Latest Gang-Rape Case

The recent rape of a young woman on a moving bus by a group of men in Delhi sparked outrage across India on Tuesday, triggering protests in Parliament and on the streets of the capital, and calls for the death penalty for perpetrators.

”A terrible, terrible atrocity has happened,” Renuka Chowdhury, a member of Parliament, said during a raucous session in the upper house. ”I am not going to allow this incident to become another statistic.”

Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the opposition, demanded that the death penalty be applied to rapists. ”She will live her whole life as a living corpse if she survives,” Ms. Swaraj said of the woman. ”Why should there not be the death penalty in such a case?”

The woman, 23, boarded a chartered school bus with a male friend in Munirka, a south Delhi neighborhood, on Sunday evening. While on the bus, which they were led to believe by the driver was a public bus, she was raped by at least two men, according to the police. When the woman’s friend tried to defend her, he was beaten with an iron rod. The two were than stripped of their clothing and thrown off the bus onto a highway.

Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said in a news conference on Tuesday that the men on the bus had been on a “joyride” when they picked up the victims. “The idea was to have fun,” he said. The police plan to ask the courts to ”fast track” the case, he said, and prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The woman is being treated for her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where she reportedly regained consciousness on Tuesday after multiple surgeries, local news media reported. Four men, including the bus driver, have been arrested based on evidence from nearby surveillance cameras, the police said.

Across Delhi, women’s groups and students organized protests to demand better security, at one point shutting a highway that runs around the city. Several hundred protesters gathered around the police station where the complaint was filed, holding placards and chanting slogans.

”This is an expression of our horror and anger and discontent at how things are,” said Komal, a doctoral student at Jawaharlal Nehru University who only gave her first name. ”The government has to take responsibility.”

She said she takes the same bus route as the victim, and often feels unsafe traveling in Delhi. Being sexually harassed is an ”everyday experience,” she said, adding that women are constantly followed by men and groped on public transport.

”This is not about sexuality, it’s about power and violence,” said Anupama Ramakrishnan, 33, who is studying sociology at Delhi University, blaming what she called ”a deeply held sense of patriarchy.”

India’s upper house of Parliament was adjourned briefly Tuesday afternoon after lawmakers traded shouts over the issue. Lawmakers later called for better safety for women in Delhi, which attracts a large number of female students and professionals.

Delhi is notorious in India for its high rate of crime against women. Nearly six hundred rapes were reported in Delhi last year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore combined.

Some of India’s most prominent activists and social commentators took to Twitter to voice their opinion. ”Security in mobility for a woman is the first right she needs to be guaranteed,” said Kiran Bedi, a social activist and former police officer. ”Failure to ensure this is clear failure of governance.”

The outrage in Delhi was accompanied by an outpouring of suggestions for how rapes could be curbed in newspapers, press conferences and in social media. These include better training for the police, the establishment of fast track courts to ensure speedy justice and more stringent rape laws. A conviction of rape currently carries a minimum sentence of two years.

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$35 Raspberry Pi computer gets its own app store

Title Post: $35 Raspberry Pi computer gets its own app store
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A Very Royal Christmas (but Not Really)

William and Kate's doppelgängers show how the expectant parents might spend their holiday

Credit: Alison Jackson/REX USA

Updated: Friday Dec 14, 2012 | 03:30 PM EST

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

__

AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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Stock futures gain on hopes for "fiscal cliff" deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Tuesday, indicating equities could extend a rally that took them to nearly two-month highs on growing optimism over a "fiscal cliff" deal.

Stocks have struggled for direction in recent weeks, with investors reluctant to make big bets in the face of uncertainty over the cliff, a combination of steep tax hikes and spending cuts that could hurt the U.S. economy if they take effect next year. Moves have been muted over the past weeks, with volume anemic.

Hopes for a deal grew on Monday night as President Barack Obama made a counter-offer to Republicans that included a major change in position on tax hikes for the wealthy, according to a source familiar with the talks.

That report followed a meeting between Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who has edged closer to Obama's position by proposing to extend lower tax rates for everyone who earns less than $1 million.

Many investors fear that going over the fiscal cliff could push the U.S. economy back into recession, an outcome that would also pressure global growth and sap demand for commodities.

"Neither side appears to be digging in their heels so much, and that increases the optimism there might be a deal," said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York. "Political risks have been the main thing suppressing market gains, so if those abate we could see a rally that is significant."

S&P 500 futures rose 5.5 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 30 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 18 points.

European shares <.fteu3> rose 0.3 percent on Monday, while January crude futures were up 0.6 percent. The MSCI index of global stocks <.miwd00000pus> rose 0.2 percent.

While the cliff has been the primary driver for markets, tech shares will also be in view as Oracle Corp reports results after the market closes. The company is seen posting profit growth of more than 10 percent but a 2.3 percent dip in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Reporting quarterly results early on Tuesday, Sanderson Farms Inc posted a better-than-expected profit, helped by rising poultry prices. Jefferies Group is on tap to report later in the day.

The New York Times late Monday said that Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Mexican affiliate routinely used bribes to open stores in desirable locations. The story cited 19 instances of the retail giant paying off local officials. In a statement Monday night, Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said the company was looking into the allegations.

Arbitron Inc surged 25 percent to $47.60 in premarket trading after Nielsen Holdings NV agreed to buy the media and marketing research firm in a deal worth $1.26 billion.

U.S. third-quarter current account figures are due to be released at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a $103.4 billion deficit versus a deficit of $117.4 billion in Q2.

Hopes for a fiscal cliff deal lifted shares on Monday, breaking a two-day decline for the S&P. The Dow and Nasdaq surged more than 1 percent in Monday's session, while all 10 S&P 500 sectors ended higher.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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10 Afghan Girls Killed in Old Mine Blast; Car Bomb Kills One in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives targeted the compound of a private military contractor on the eastern outskirts of Kabul on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 15 others, including foreigners, the police said.

In a separate incident, 10 girls were killed in a rural district of eastern Afghanistan on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded while they were collecting firewood, Afghan police said. The office of the governor of Nangarhar Province said the girls were all aged between 9 and 11 years. The Ministry of Education said some were as young as six.

The Kabul explosion sent a large plume of smoke above the capital on the Jalalabad road, a main thoroughfare leading east out of the city lined with shops, yards and industrial units.

The target was a company called Contrack International, said Gen. Mohammed Dawood Amin, Kabul’s deputy chief of police. Officials said the company is a construction maintenance company that provides logistics services for the Afghan Army and police and NATO coalition bases.

“There was a blast, a boom and a wall fell down,” said Roheen Fedai, 19, who said he worked in the company’s call center. Shortly after the blast, he was wandering close to the compound with his hand in a bandage and blood on his face from an eye injury.

The car exploded in a small lane between the company and another compound housing a carton making factory, blasting down walls and destroying a two-story office.

Barialyia, a security official for Contrack, said the company’s country director was wounded in the explosion. He said five American and South African citizens were among the injured.

Mr. Fedai said Contrack was an American-owned supplier to the Afghan military. Other officials here said the company was American-owned but the company could not be reached to confirm this or other details about the attack. Its Web site lists its headquarters as McLean, Va., and shows that it has provided services for the United States military in the past.

The compound is close to a NATO base, Camp Phoenix, and other NATO installations. The Taliban claimed responsibility. But a coalition spokesman in Kabul, Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, said the attack did not affect the NATO bases, and there were no coalition casualties.

In eastern Afghanistan. Hazarat Hussain Masharaqiwal, a spokesman for the police chief of Nangarhar Province, said the children discovered the unexploded bomb near their village, and the bomb went off when they hit it with an ax. The explosion also injured a boy who was with them.

The local police said the bomb probably dated from the civil war or even the Soviet occupation of the country.

The United States-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said the explosion was caused by the accidental triggering of an old land mine, quoting the governor of Chaparhar District in Nangarhar.

In a statement, Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of American and international forces in Afghanistan, said he was saddened by the girls’ deaths. “Over three decades of conflict, Afghanistan became one of the most heavily mined countries on earth,” he said.

Sharifullah Sahak contributed reporting from Kabul and Khalid Alokozai from Nangarhar

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Google could emerge unscathed from federal web search probe – WSJ

(Reuters) – Google may not face any major repercussions from the Federal Trade Commission‘s (FTC) two-year-old anti-trust investigation into its web search business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The FTC might drop the investigation sometime this week based on voluntary changes Google will make to its search practices, rather than making the company sign a formal settlement called a consent decree, the Journal said.

The web search investigation examined whether Google tweaks its search results to disadvantage rivals in travel, shopping and other specialized searches.

Google will probably still be required to sign a consent decree for a separate federal investigation into the licensing of mobile-technology patents it acquired when it took over phone maker Motorola Mobility, the Journal said.

An end to the federal probe into Google’s search business would allow the company to avoid getting mired in anti-trust investigations like rival Microsoft Corp endured in the early 2000s.

The European Commission, which is also probing Google, is expected to announce a decision next month.

The FTC declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal and could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular business hours. Google could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular business hours.

(Reporting by Tej Sapru in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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President Obama Meets with Grieving Families

By Stephen M. Silverman

12/17/2012 at 07:20 AM EST

President Barack Obama on Dec. 14

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

At an interfaith memorial service in Newton, Conn., for those lost in Friday's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, an emotional President Obama told the grieving audience, "We can't tolerate this anymore," and vowed "in the coming weeks I'll use whatever power this office holds" in "preventing more tragedies like this."

As he told the 1,000 people, including the surviving families, as he spoke on the stark stage of Newtown High School Sunday night, the President said, "I can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone. … Across this land of ours, we have wept with you."

And he pledged, "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

Noting this was the fourth time in his presidency the nation has had to deal with senseless acts of gun violence, the President said it was "the fourth time we've hugged survivors. The fourth time we've consoled the families of victims.

"There have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children. Much of the time, their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He added, "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. … But that can't be an excuse for inaction."

The President asked, "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is the price of our freedom?"

Privately, the President met with the relatives of about 15 of those gunned down Friday and with first-responders. He also held the granddaughter of the slain school principal, Dawn Hochsprung, and Hochsprung's daughter, Cristina Hassinger, Tweeted with a photo of the President with the little girl: “My mom would be so proud to see President Obama holding her granddaughter. But not as proud as I am of her."

His speech cited the heroics of the six Sandy Hook school personnel who sacrificed their own lives trying to protect the children.

As audible sobs were heard from the audience, Obama closed his words by reading the first names of all those killed.

Seven funerals are planned to take place in Newtown on Monday. More will follow in the coming weeks.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

__

AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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