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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Oil prices rise as 'fiscal cliff' talks to resume
BANGKOK (AP) -- The price of oil rose Wednesday after President Barack Obama indicated he would cut his Christmas holiday short and head to Washington to try to work out a deal to keep the U.S. from heading over the "fiscal cliff."
Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 40 cents at midday Bangkok time to $89.01 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Monday, concerns over the stalemate in Washington drove benchmark oil prices lower, with the contract closing down 5 cents at $88.61 a barrel on the Nymex.
Obama was expected to arrive in Washington early Thursday, the White House said, after a brief vacation in Hawaii. Congress was also expected to return to the U.S. capital Thursday and begin budget negotiations.
Hopes that U.S. leaders might reach a budget deal helped buoy oil prices. Failure to agree on a plan before Jan. 1 would lead to spending cuts and tax hikes that economists predict will push the economy back into recession. Otherwise, the economy is expected to show slight improvement in 2013, a positive for energy consumption and prices.
In other energy futures trading:
? Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 42 cents to $109.22 a barrel.
? Natural gas fell 2.8 cents to $3.318 per 1,000 cubic feet.
? Heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.0022 a gallon.
? Wholesale gasoline rose 1.6 cents to $2.75 a gallon.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-prices-rise-fiscal-cliff-052551228.html
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Lawmakers see 'fiscal cliff' deal as elusive
WASHINGTON (AP) ? With anxiety rising as the country lurches towards a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers are increasingly skeptical about a possible deal and some predict the best possibility would be a small-scale patch because time is running out before the yearend deadline.
Sen. Joe Lieberman predicted Sunday: "We're going to spend New Year's Eve here, I believe."
Even those who see the possibility of a deal don't expect a lot.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she expects "it is going to be a patch because in four days we can't solve everything."
With the collapse Thursday of House Speaker John Boehner's plan to allow tax rates to rise on million-dollar-plus incomes, Lieberman said: "It's the first time that I feel it's more likely we'll go over the cliff than not," meaning that higher taxes for most Americans and painful federal agency budget cuts would be in line to go ahead.
"If we allow that to happen it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in American history because of the impact it'll have on almost every American," said Lieberman, a Connecticut independent.
Wyoming Sen. Jon Barrasso, a member of the GOP leadership, predicted the new year would come without an agreement, and he faulted the White House.
"I believe the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. He senses a victory at the bottom of the cliff," he said.
Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was incredulous at Barrasso's assertion that 'there is only one person that can provide the leadership" on such a matter vital to the nation's interests.
"There are 535 of us that can provide leadership. There are 435 in the House, 100 in the Senate and there is the president, all of us have a responsibility here," he said. "And, you know what is happening? What is happening is the same old tired blame game. He said/she said. I think the American people are tired of it. What they want to hear is 'What is the solution?'"
President Barack Obama and Congress are on a short holiday break. Congress is expected to be back at work Thursday and Obama will be back in the White House after a few days in Hawaii.
"It is time to get back to the table," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., "And I hope if anyone sees these representatives from the House in line shopping or getting their Christmas turkey, they wish them a merry Christmas, they're civil, and then say 'go back to the table, not your own table, the table in Washington.'"
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he expects something will be passed, but nothing that will solve the nation's growing financial problems.
"I think there's unfortunately only going to be a small deal," he said, but added "it's critical we get to the big deal."
Obama already has scaled back his ambitions for a sweeping budget bargain. Before leaving the capital on Friday, he called for a limited measure that extends George W. Bush-era tax cuts for most people and stave off federal spending cuts. The president also urged Congress to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that would otherwise be cut off for 2 million people at the end of the year.
The failure of Boehner's option in the House has shifted the focus.
"The ball is now clearly with the Senate," said Lieberman.
He said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky "have the ability to put this together again and pass something. It won't be a big, grand bargain to take care of the total debt, but they can do some things that will avoid the worst consequences going over the fiscal cliff."
It was only a week ago when news emerged that Obama and Boehner had significantly narrowed their differences. Both were offering a cut in taxes for most Americans, an increase for a relative few and cuts of roughly $1 trillion in spending over a year. Also included was a scaling back of future cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients ? a concession on the president's part as much as agreeing to higher tax rates was for the speaker.
Lieberman was on CNN's "State of the Union," while Barrasso, Klobuchar and Conrad appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Hutchison and Warner were on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-see-fiscal-cliff-deal-elusive-085001557.html
Afghanistan: Woman who killed American is Iranian
Afghan policemen stand guard outside of Kabul police headquarters, where a an American advisor was killed, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 24, 2014. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Afghan policemen stand guard outside of Kabul police headquarters, where a an American advisor was killed, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 24, 2014. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Afghan policemen watching down from top of the Kabul police headquarters, following the killing of an American advisor in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Afghans walk past by a gate of the Kabul police headquarters, where an American advisor was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
An Afghan policeman stands guard outside of Kabul police headquarters gate, where an American advisor was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. An Afghan policewoman killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters on Monday, a senior Afghan police official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan official says the policewoman who killed an American contractor in Kabul is an Iranian who came to Afghanistan 10 years ago with her husband and obtained a fake ID through him.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said Tuesday she had displayed "unstable behavior" but that the investigation revealed no militants links so far.
On Monday, the policewoman identified as Sgt. Nargas shot 49-year-old Joseph Griffin, of Mansfield, Georgia, in what was the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies.
The U.S-based security firm DynCorp International says on its web site that Griffin was a U.S. military veteran who had earlier worked with law-enforcement agencies in the United States. In Kabul, he was advising the Afghan police force.
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Egypt to announce result of constitution vote on Tuesday
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will announce on Tuesday the official results of a vote on its new constitution, the head of the elections committee told state media on Monday, a step which paves the way for the formation of a new parliament in about two months.
The creation of a new constitution is a vital step in Egypt's transition to democracy almost two years after the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.
But the opposition says the text, crafted mostly by President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies, fails to guarantee personal freedom and the rights of women and minorities. It says it will lead to more trouble in the most populous Arab nation.
Unofficial tallies from the Muslim Brotherhood - which catapulted Mursi into the presidency this year - indicated that 64 percent had approved the charter. An opposition tally had a similar result.
"The Supreme Elections Committee will announce on Tuesday at 7 P.M. (17:00 GMT) the results of the referendum on the new constitution," judge Samir Abu el-Matti told state radio and TV late on Monday.
Matti also said that the committee, which is led by judges, had spent the last two days investigating opposition and rights' groups accusations of voting fraud.
Mursi's critics said the vote, conducted in two stages in a process that ended on Saturday, had been marred by a litany of irregularities, and have demanded a full inquiry.
The opposition, a loose alliance of socialists, liberal-minded Muslims and Christians, have also noted that less than a third of those eligible turned out to vote, undermining the legitimacy of the new constitution.
ELECTION LOOMS
If the "yes" vote is confirmed, a parliamentary election will follow in about two months, setting the stage for Islamists to renew their battle with more secular-minded opponents.
Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize winner, urged Mursi to form an all-inclusive government together with the liberal camp in order to patch up divisions and steer Egypt out of trouble in a democratic way.
"I am ready to join hands with President Mursi on condition that he forms a national (unity) government and speaks as president for all Egyptians," he told the daily Al-Shorouk.
ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear agency, said a new assembly should rewrite the draft - a call unlikely to be heeded by Mursi, who is keen to push it through quickly.
By forcing the pace on the constitution, Mursi risks squandering the opportunity to build consensus for the austerity measures desperately needed to kick-start a the ailing economy, economists say.
Highlighting investor concerns, Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating and said another cut was possible if political turbulence worsened.
Responding to what it said were market rumors, the central bank said it was taking steps to safeguard bank deposits.
Some Egyptians say they have withdrawn their funds from banks out of concern that they will be frozen by authorities.
LEGISLATIVE POWERS
Under the new constitution, legislative powers that have been temporarily held by Mursi move to the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament until a new lower house is elected.
The make-up of the Supreme Constitutional Court, which Islamists say is filled with Mubarak-era appointees bent on throwing up legal challenges to Mursi's rule, will also change as its membership is cut to 11 from 18.
Those expected to leave include Tahani al-Gebali, who has described Mursi as an "illegitimate president".
The low turnout in voting on the constitution has prompted some newspapers to question how much support the charter really had, with opponents saying Mursi lost the vote in much of the capital.
"The referendum battle has ended, and the war over the constitution's legitimacy has begun," said newspaper Al-Shorouk, while a headline in Al-Masry Al-Youm read: "Constitution of the minority".
The head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Saad al-Katatni, wrote on Facebook that the group's members were "extending our hands to all political parties and all national forces", adding: "We will all start a new page."
But the opposition National Salvation Front say the new constitution only deepens a rift between the liberals and Islamists who combined to overthrow Mubarak, and that they will keep challenging it through protests and other democratic means.
"We do not consider this constitution legitimate," liberal politician Amr Hamzawy said on Sunday, arguing that it violated personal freedoms.
The run-up to the referendum was marred by protests triggered by Mursi's decision to award himself broad powers on November 22. At least ten people were killed in clashes in Cairo and violence also flared in Egypt's second city, Alexandria.
(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Patrick Werr; Writing by Edmund Blair, Maria Golovnina and Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-judges-review-ballot-contentious-constitution-104801606.html
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Boston condos and real estate report for week ending December 23 ...
The following is Boston Proper condo and real estate sales data for the month ending December 23 2012, (December 16 2012), (December 25 2011), (December 18 2011), (December 25 2010), (December 26 2009), and (December 25 2008) where available. All condominium closings recorded by our local MLS during the past month.
Number of units currently on the market: 228 (254) 467 (499) (580) (837) (N/A)
Average days on market: 141 (132) 159 (157) (177) (155) (N/A)
Median list price: $995,000 ($947,000) $775,000 ($749,900) ($695,000) ($639,000) (N/A)
Average list price: $1,573,809 ($1,519,866) $1,184,088 ($1,172,922) ($1,142,041) ($1,067,755) (N/A)
Number of units sold (past 30 days): 156 (133) 120 (119) (141) (133) (83)
Average days on market: 75 (60) 118 (120) (107) (127) (86)
Median close price: $715,000 ($749,000) $560,000 ($590,000) ($635,000) ($544,000) ($545,000)
Average close price: $987,834 ($964,303) $852,203 ($881,044) ($952,533) ($743,102) ($787,486)
Original list to close price: 95% (95%) 93% (94%) (95%) (92%) (94%)
Sales velocity: $154,102,167 ($128,252,267) $102,264,346 (104,844,246) ($134,307,171) ($98,832,520) ($65,361,360)
Thoughts: Happy Christmas!
This report includes sales and inventory information for condominiums located in the following downtown Boston neighborhoods: South End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, North End, Waterfront, Seaport District, Chinatown, Leather District, Midtown, and Fenway.
Data collected from third-party sources by the Multiple Listing Service Property Information Network, Inc.
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Analysis: Egypt's Islamists tighten grip on power
An Egyptian man reads a newspaper at a coffee shop in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. Egypt's opposition called Sunday for an investigation into allegations of vote fraud in the referendum on a deeply divisive Islamist-backed constitution after the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group backing the charter, claimed it passed with a 64 percent "yes" vote. Official results have not been released yet and are expected on Monday. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Egyptian man reads a newspaper at a coffee shop in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. Egypt's opposition called Sunday for an investigation into allegations of vote fraud in the referendum on a deeply divisive Islamist-backed constitution after the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group backing the charter, claimed it passed with a 64 percent "yes" vote. Official results have not been released yet and are expected on Monday. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian journalists tape their mouths and raise their pens during a demonstration against the draft constitution in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. Egypt's opposition called Sunday for an investigation into allegations of vote fraud in the referendum on a deeply divisive Islamist-backed constitution after the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group backing the charter, claimed it passed with a 64 percent "yes" vote. Official results have not been released yet and are expected on Monday. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian election workers count ballots at the end of the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of president Mohammed Morsi at a polling station in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution headed toward likely approval in a final round of voting on Saturday, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Egyptian election workers count ballots at the end of the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of president Mohammed Morsi at a polling station in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution headed toward likely approval in a final round of voting on Saturday, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Egyptian election workers empty a ballot box for counting at the end of the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of president Mohammed Morsi at a polling station in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution headed toward likely approval in a final round of voting on Saturday, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
CAIRO (AP) ? With the passage of a divisive constitution, Egypt's Islamist leadership has secured its tightest grip on power since Hosni Mubarak's ouster nearly two years ago and laid the foundation for legislation to create a more religious state.
The opposition's response ? a vow to keep fighting the charter and the program of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi ? ensured that the turmoil of the past two years will not end as many, especially the tens of millions of poor craving stability, had fervently hoped.
"The referendum is not the end game. It is only a battle in this long struggle for the future of Egypt," the opposition National Salvation Front said in a strongly worded statement on Sunday.
"We will not allow a change to the identity of Egypt or the return of the age of tyranny," added the front, which claims the new constitution seeks to enshrine Islamic rule in Egypt and accuses the Islamists of trying to monopolize power.
Critics say the new constitution does not sufficiently protect the rights of women and minority groups and empowers Muslim clerics by giving them a say over legislation. Some articles were also seen as tailored to get rid of Islamists' enemies and undermine the freedom of labor unions.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political organization in the post-Mubarak era, claimed early Sunday that the charter it had backed was approved in the two-stage vote with a 64 percent "yes" vote overall. Though official results will not be announced until Monday, there is little doubt they will confirm the passage.
Once the official result is out, Morsi is expected to call for a new election of parliament's lawmaking lower house within two months.
And if all of the elections since Mubarak's February 2011 ouster are any predictor, Islamists will again emerge dominant. In the last parliamentary vote in late 2011, the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies the Salafis ? ultraconservative Islamists ? won about 70 percent of seats.
If Islamists win the overwhelming majority again, there is nothing to stop their lawmakers from legislating in support of their longtime goal of turning Egypt into an Islamic state. The Salafis will likely seek to enlist the support of the less radical Brotherhood for legislation that would nudge Egypt closer to a religious state.
Khalil el-Anani, a British-based expert on Islamic groups, said the Salafis are likely to insist that every piece of legislation conforms with Islamic Shariah law, especially with regard to questions of morality, culture, personal freedoms and the nation's identity.
"The Salafis will want the Brotherhood to reward them for their campaigning for the 'yes' vote," said el-Anani. "The Brotherhood, meanwhile, will want to rebuild their image as a credible democratic group after a period in which it seemed in complete alignment with the Salafis."
The Islamists could also move early to pass laws restricting vibrant and outspoken privately owned media organizations that have flourished since the uprising and reported critically on Morsi and the Brotherhood.
Egypt analyst Michael W. Hanna said, however, that enduring political tensions will make it difficult for the Islamists to push ahead with any major or sensitive legislation.
"There will be a huge domestic backlash to any unpopular legislation, especially when it comes to the economy or the media," said Hanna of New York's Century Foundation.
Until the lower house is elected and seated, parliament's upper chamber, the Shura Council, will temporarily assume legislative powers and may give priority to more pressing issues.
After the opposition brought hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets in the past four weeks, including tens of thousands outside Morsi's presidential palace in Cairo, the Shura Council is expected to hurriedly debate and vote on a legislation that would place tight restrictions on the right to demonstrate.
More serious challenges to Morsi's leadership may lie ahead. The millions who voted "yes" for the constitution are hoping for stability, jobs and business opportunities that may be slow in coming.
The president will soon have to introduce painful economic reforms to salvage a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan that was delayed at Egypt's request because of the political turmoil of the past month.
A glimpse of what may be in store on that front emerged Sunday after Prime Minister Hesham Knadil met with the Cabinet's economic team.
"The current financial and economic situation is in grave danger," said Cabinet spokesman Alaa el-Hadidy. "Leaving things the way they are is not something we can afford to do," he said, hinting at the necessity of structural reforms. These will include price and tax hikes as well as lifting subsidies on fuel.
Morsi recently rescinded a package of price and tax hikes hours after he decreed them, saying he did not want to burden poor Egyptians with a higher cost of living. But economists say it is only a question of time before the package is re-introduced.
With foreign currency reserves around half of what they were two years ago and tourism revenues hard hit by resurgent political turmoil, the economy has been in a free-fall for months. Deepening the nation's economic plight is the seemingly endless series of strikes and demands for salary increases and better benefits.
Price hikes, warn many analysts, could prove to be the last straw for the nearly half of Egypt's 85 million people who live around the poverty line of surviving on $2 a day.
Many Egyptians want to see Morsi's government moving aggressively to tackle the nation's pressing problems such as security and reviving the vital tourism sector.
"We want factories to work again so we can find jobs here instead of traveling abroad to find work," said Mohammed Sweilam, a metal worker who spent seven years working in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. "When stability prevails, I will consider coming home to stay. Let us give the Brotherhood a chance. We owe them this," he said as he waited in line on Saturday to cast his vote in the town of El-Saf in Cairo's neighboring Giza province.
Another pressing issue for the new legislators may be the anti-Islamist editorial policy of the independent media, particularly privately owned TV networks whose political talk shows are watched nightly by millions and shape public perceptions.
Already, Morsi's allies have been filing numerous complaints against media celebrities who criticize or mock the president and the Brotherhood, including hosts of satirical shows and newspaper columnists. Several of them are on trial or being investigated on charges of "insulting" the president or undermining national security.
Since Morsi took office nearly six months ago, Brotherhood members or sympathizers have been named editors of most of the roughly 50 state-owned publications. The powerful information minister is a prominent Brotherhood leader.
A recent court ruling also shut down a TV network whose owner is a harsh critic of Morsi. Salafis who support Morsi have been staging a sit-in outside a media complex in Cairo for weeks to protest against what they say is the anti-Islamist policies of private TV networks housed there.
The constitutional crisis has re-energized and united the once-fractured opposition, turning it into a force to be reckoned with in the fight over Egypt's future. In a sign of its newly found strength, the National Salvation Front, the main opposition group, on Sunday scornfully rejected a Brotherhood invitation for dialogue.
The opposition has dismissed the constitution as the fruition of an illegitimate process.
The low turnout for the referendum ? 32 percent of the more than 51 million eligible voters, or 20 percent of Egypt's 85 million people, according to unofficial results ? has shown the limitations Islamists face in marketing an Islamic state in a nation still largely loyal to secular traditions.
Morsi could be tainted by allegations of voting violations instigated by Islamists and reported by rights groups. The charges could cast doubt on the democratic credentials of the Islamists and lead to damaging analogies between Morsi's administration and Mubarak's authoritarian regime, which oversaw massive electoral fraud for years.
The opposition is demanding an investigation of alleged wrongdoing in the vote.
The Brotherhood insisted violations were limited and should not affect the referendum's integrity.
But prominent lawyer and rights activist Negad Borai described the violations as systematic.
"What happened in the referendum could lead to violence and bloodshed if repeated in a parliamentary election when the stakes are higher," he warned.
___
Hendawi is the Associated Press chief of bureau in Cairo.
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