Fatah party stages first rally in Gaza since 2007

 Leaders of the Palestinian Fatah party led tens of thousands of supporters Friday in a mass rally in the Gaza Strip, the first such gathering for the largely secular party in the territory since the rival Islamist Hamas seized power there in 2007.
The demonstration, which was condoned by Hamas, showed how the long-bitter relations between the rival Palestinian factions have improved since an Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in November.
While Friday's rally pointed to the improving ties between Hamas and Fatah, it also served as a reminder of the conflicts within Fatah that continue to dog the movement: Officials cancelled the event halfway through after 20 people were injured due to overcrowding, and shoving matches erupted between separate Fatah factions.
Yahiya Rabah, a top Fatah official in Gaza, said the rally was cancelled "due to the huge number of participants and logistical failures."
But witnesses said one pushing match was between supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and partisans of former Fatah's former Gaza security commander Mohammed Dahlan, who was expelled from the party because of conflicts with Abbas.
Another Fatah official, who spoke anonymously because he did not want to embarrass the party, said the rally was cancelled because hundreds of Dahlan supporters jumped up on the stage and clashed with Abbas supporters.
Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Etta attributed the injuries to overcrowding and the excitement of the rally.
Overnight, throngs had camped out in a downtown Gaza square to ensure themselves a spot for the anniversary commemoration of Fatah's 1965 founding, and tens of thousands marched early Friday carrying Fatah banners. When the rally began, people stampeded to the stage to try to shake leaders' hands.
Hamas was not directly involved in the event but allowed it to take place. Top Fatah officials arrived in Gaza for the first time since they were ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007.
Abbas, who rules in the West Bank, did not attend the event, but spoke to the crowd via a televised address, telling them that "there is no substitute for national unity."
Organizers then ended the rally, cancelling the other planned speeches and musical performances.
Hamas has gained new support among Palestinians following eight days of fighting with Israel in November, during which Israel pounded the seaside strip from the air and sea, while Palestinians militants lobbed rockets toward the Israeli cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for the first time.
Following the fighting, relations have thawed somewhat between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas was allowed to hold its first West Bank rallies since the 2007 split in which Hamas seized Gaza and Fatah was left in control of the West Bank. Hamas returned the favor Friday by allowing the Fatah rally.
Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath said the party received a congratulatory message from Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who expressed hope that the two factions could reconcile their differences and work together as joint representatives of the Palestinian people.
"This festival will be like a wedding celebration for Palestine, Jerusalem, the prisoners, the refugees and all the Palestinians," Shaath said.
Reconciliation between the two factions, however, is still far from a done deal. Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, considered more pragmatic than Hamas' Gaza-based hardline leaders, forged a reconciliation agreement with Abbas in 2011.
But the Gaza-based leadership, unsupportive of the deal, has held up implementing it. Fatah enjoys Western support and has been pressured not to forge a unity agreement with the militant Hamas - facing a potential cutback in foreign aid if it does. Hamas has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks against Israeli citizens and is regarded by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization.
Fadwa Taleb, 46, who worked as a police officer during the previous rule of Fatah, gathered at the rally with her family. "We feel like birds freed from our cage today," Taleb said. "We are happy and feel powerful again."
A Gaza security official said a Fatah-linked former aide to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died of a heart attack in the square overnight, saying he was shocked by the large crowd that was allowed to gather.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Abbas signed a presidential decree changing the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine," following the Palestinians' upgraded status at the United Nations as a non-member observer state.
According to the decree, reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa Thursday night, all stamps, signs, and official letterhead will be changed to bear the new name.
It is the first concrete, albeit symbolic, step the Palestinians have taken following the November decision by the United Nations. Abbas has hesitated to take more dramatic steps, like filing war crimes indictments against Israel at the International Criminal Court, a tactic that only a recognized state can carry out.

Read More..

Shares steady after rally, dollar jumps

 World stocks stalled on Thursday as traders were cautious after equities hit an 18-month high, while the U.S. dollar climbed to a three-week high against a basket of currencies on concerns about more budget wrangling in Washington.
Data suggesting some momentum in the U.S. economy as the year ended showed private-sector employers stepped up hiring in December, allowing for the upward tick in stocks and further supporting the greenback.
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans face two more months of tough talks on spending cuts and an increase in the nation's debt limit as the hard-fought deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts covered only taxes and delayed decisions on expenditures until March 1.
"There's still some clouds over the horizon, with the fiscal issue of the government," said Jeff Meyerson, head of trading at Sunrise Securities in New York. "We don't know how they're going to pan out, but in all likelihood there's not going to be a calamity."
The MSCI world equity index <.miwd00000pus> advanced less than 0.1 percent, reversing a dip through most of the session after hitting an 18-month high on Wednesday.
A European equity benchmark <.fteu3> ended up 0.45 percent after hitting its highest intraday level since March 2011, boosted by a belated reaction in Swiss stocks due to a holiday.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 7.03 points, or 0.05 percent, at 13,419.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 1.57 points, or 0.11 percent, at 1,463.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 2.49 points, or 0.08 percent, at 3,114.75.
The euro tumbled against the dollar as investors grew worried about more budget fights ahead. Analysts say the market could be set up for volatility as Obama and congressional Republicans tussle over the next two months.
The dollar was up 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies <.dxy> at a three-week high of 80.13, although it slipped 0.4 percent against the yen to 86.97.
"We really just kicked the can down the line and we're set up for another fight on the hill in the next month and a half or so," said John Doyle, currency strategist at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
The euro, which had touched an 8-1/2 month high against the dollar on Wednesday, was down 0.6 percent at $1.3110.
Investors will now turn their attention to Friday's December U.S. employment report. It is expected to show modest job growth of around 150,000, compared with 146,000 in November.
The ADP National Employment Report showed Thursday the U.S. private sector added 215,000 jobs in December, comfortably above economists' expectation of a 133,000 gain. Following the recent rally in equities, any disappointment in Friday's payrolls number could trigger a profit-taking sell-off.
DOLLAR JUMP HITS COMMODITIES
The dollar's strength and rising oil supplies pushed crude prices lower, with Brent down 0.1 percent to $112.31 a barrel. U.S. crude futures were down 0.1 percent at $93.15.
Analysts expect oil prices to drop in 2013 as supply outweighs demand, especially after U.S. crude production hit a 19-year high in 2012.
Gold futures followed commodities lower and were down about 0.6 percent at $1,676.41 an ounce.
Thursday's retreat across riskier asset markets might have been sharper but for data showing activity in China's services sector and at U.S. factories expanded in December, brightening the outlook for global growth.
China's official purchasing managers' index for the non-manufacturing sector rose to a four-month high in December, adding to signs of a revival in the world's second-largest economy.
U.S. Treasury debt prices eased, pushing yields to three-month highs after the U.S. private jobs data cut into the appeal of safe U.S. government issues. Treasuries had already sold off sharply on Wednesday following the U.S. government deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff."
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 7/32, the yield at 1.8618 percent, a 15-week high.

Read More..

Stocks edge lower as next fiscal showdown looms

Stock indexes turned lower Thursday afternoon after the Federal Reserve said its policymakers are split over how long to continue a bond-purchasing program intended to stimulate the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index treaded water for much of the day, then dipped into the red after 2 p.m. Eastern, when the Fed released minutes from its December policy meeting.
As of 2:33 p.m. the Dow was off 27 points at 13,396. The Dow is coming off its biggest gain in more than a year and is still up 450 points this week.
The S&P 500 was down three points at 1,459 and the Nasdaq composite fell eight to 3,104.
At last month's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee, the central bank said it would buy $85 billion of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds on an open-ended basis, and also keep a benchmark interest rate near zero until the unemployment rates drops below 6.5 percent. The unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in November. The government reports the rate for December on Friday.
On Thursday, the Fed revealed a split among its members over how long to continue the bond purchases. Some of its 12 voting members thought they would continue through this year, while others thought they should be slowed or stopped before the end of 2013. Those governors were concerned that the continued bond purchases would destabilize the economy.
Prices of U.S. government bonds fell, sending their yields higher, after the minutes of the Fed's meeting were released. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.90 percent from 1.84 percent late Wednesday. That means investors are anticipating the Fed will slow its purchases of bonds.
The stock market opened on a weak note after retailers reported mixed holiday sales and as the prospect of a new budget battle in Congress loomed. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower. The stock fell $1.65 to $52.88 after analysts at Deutsche Bank and other firms cut their ratings on the stock.
"It's natural to relax a bit after such a huge day as yesterday," said Lawrence Creatura, who manages a small-company fund at Federated Investors.
The Dow soared 308 points Wednesday, its largest point gain since December 2011. The rally was ignited after lawmakers passed a bill to avoid a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases called the "fiscal cliff."
That deal gave the market a jump start into the new year. The Dow and the S&P 500 are already up more than 2 percent.
"We're off to a very strong start," Creatura said. "The dominant reason is the resolution of the fiscal cliff. But January is usually a strong month, as investors all shift money into the market at the same time. When the calendar flips, it's as if you're allowed to begin the race anew."
Economists had warned that the full force of the fiscal cliff could drag the country into a recession. The law passed late Tuesday night averted that outcome for now, but other fiscal squabbles are likely in the months ahead. Congress must raise the government's borrowing limit soon or be forced to choose between slashing spending or paying its debts.
Ross Stores surged 6 percent in early trading. The retailer said sales at stores open at least a year increased 11 percent during the holiday shopping season. Ross Stores rose $3.65 to $58.09.
Nordstom Inc. surged 2 percent after the department-store chain also reported strong holiday sales, especially in the South and Midwest. Nordstrom's stock was up $1.21 to $54.84.
Other retailers struggled during the holidays as shoppers held out for deep discounts.
Family Dollar Stores sank 12 percent after reporting earnings that fell short of analysts' projections. The company also forecast a weaker outlook for the current period and full year. Family Dollar's stock lost $7.25 to $56.75.
Among other stocks making big moves:
— Transocean jumped $3.33, or 7 percent, to $49.57. The owner of the oil rig that sank in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 after an explosion killed 11 workers reached a $1.4 billion settlement with the Justice Department.

Read More..

Fed split on stimulus plans nudges stocks lower

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are fading into the close of trading on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve revealed a split among its policymakers over how long to continue an economic stimulus program.
The market started on a weak note Thursday following mixed holiday sales reports from retailers and the prospect of another fiscal fight looming in Congress over the nation's borrowing limit.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 21 points at 13,391. The Dow surged 308 points the day before, its biggest gain in more than a year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost three points to end at 1,459. The Nasdaq composite lost 11 to end at 3,100.
Rising stocks outnumbered falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 3.8 billion shares, above the recent average.

Read More..

Private sector job gains offer hope for labor market

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Private-sector employers shrugged off a looming budget crisis and stepped up hiring in December, offering further evidence of underlying strength in the economy as 2012 ended.
While other data on Thursday showed an increase in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits, the trend remained consistent with steady job growth.
"The underlying economy has momentum, and the employment data confirms that. The hope and prayer of the market is that our political leaders don't screw it up," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago.
Although Congress this week approved a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of sharp government spending cuts and higher taxes that would have sucked about $600 billion from the economy, the budget problems are far from resolved.
The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 215,000 jobs last month after increasing payrolls by 148,000 in November. The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.
The job gains came even as companies worried the economy might fall off the fiscal cliff.
However, the ADP data tends to overstate job gains in December because of a year-end accounting quirk.
"While we are encouraged by the better tone in the ADP employment report, we are cautious about reading too much into it, particularly given its tendency to exaggerate the performance of the labor market in December," said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York.
Still, the report added to other data ranging from consumer spending to manufacturing that have suggested the economy was in a much better shape than previously thought.
It was released ahead of the government's more comprehensive employment report on Friday, which is expected to show employers added 150,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists, up from 146,000 in November.
STEADY JOB GAINS
A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 last week. However, claims data for nine states, including California and Virginia, was estimated because of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of job market trends, was little changed at 360,000, a sign labor conditions continue to improve at a steady pace.
"The claims data are not always reliable labor market indicators around the holiday season because of issues seasonally adjusting the data, but it is still a somewhat encouraging sign to see the trend in the data remain relatively low," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.
Job gains in the first 11 months of last year averaged about 151,000 per month, not enough to significantly lower unemployment. The jobless rate dropped by 0.2 percentage point to 7.7 percent in November and is expected to have held at that level last month.
Labor market concerns prompted the Federal Reserve to aggressively ease monetary policy, but consensus is diminishing.
Minutes of the U.S. central bank's December 11-12 meeting released on Thursday showed some policymakers thought it would be prudent to slow or stop asset purchases well before the end of this year because of concerns about financial stability.
Stocks on Wall Street ended lower on the prospect of the Fed adopting a less accommodative stance. Prices for U.S. government debt fell, with the yield on the longer-dated 30-year bond touching its highest level since May.
The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies.
The improving labor market tone was also captured by a third report showing planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell in December for the first time in four months, while the overall job-cut total in 2012 was the lowest since 1997.
"The key to job creation is the pace at which companies are willing to hire new workers since it appears they are already retaining existing employees at a high rate," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
Better job security is helping to support domestic demand. Auto sales rose 9.0 percent last month to a 1.36 million-unit annual rate last month.
Several major retailers reported better-than-expected sales in December. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.5 percent, beating analysts' estimates for 3.3 percent growth.

Read More..

Stocks fade after Fed discloses split on stimulus

A two-day rally in the stock market came to an end Thursday afternoon when an account of the Federal Reserve's last meeting revealed a split between bank officials over how long the Fed should keep buying bonds to support the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index treaded water for much of the day, then slid into the red around 2 p.m. Eastern, after the Fed released the minutes from its December meeting.
The Dow ended with a loss of 21.19 points at 13,391.36.
The S&P 500 lost 3.05 points to 1,459.37 and the Nasdaq composite fell 11.70 to 3,100.57.
At last month's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-making committee, the central bank pledged to buy $85 billion of Treasurys and mortgage-backed bonds and also keep a benchmark interest rate near zero until the unemployment rates drops below 6.5 percent.
On Thursday, the minutes from that meeting showed Fed officials were divided over the bond purchases. Some of its 12 voting members thought they should continue through this year, while another group thought they should be slowed or stopped much earlier. Just "a few" members saw no need for a time frame, according to the minutes.
"It's pretty surprising," said Thomas Simons, market economist at the investment bank Jefferies. "I think everybody thought there was broad agreement on policy, but now it seems like few of them really wanted to vote for it."
The stock market opened on a weak note after retailers reported mixed holiday sales and as the prospect of a new budget battle in Congress loomed. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower. The insurance giant's stock fell $2.55 to $51.99 after analysts at Deutsche Bank and other firms cut their ratings on the stock.
"It's natural to relax a bit after such a huge day as yesterday," said Lawrence Creatura, who manages a small-company fund at Federated Investors.
The Dow soared 308 points Wednesday, its largest point gain since December 2011. The rally was ignited after lawmakers passed a bill to avoid a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases called the "fiscal cliff."
That deal gave the market a jump start into the new year. The Dow and the S&P 500 are already up more than 2 percent.
"We're off to a very strong start," Creatura said. "The dominant reason is the resolution of the fiscal cliff. But January is usually a strong month, as investors all shift money into the market at the same time. When the calendar flips, it's as if you're allowed to begin the race anew."
Economists had warned that the full force of the fiscal cliff could drag the country into a recession. The law passed late Tuesday night averted that outcome for now, but other fiscal squabbles are likely in the months ahead. Congress must raise the government's borrowing limit soon or be forced to choose between slashing spending and paying its debts.
In other Thursday trading, prices of U.S. government bonds fell, sending their yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.90 percent from 1.84 percent late Wednesday, a sign that some bond traders believe the Fed minutes hinted at an early end to its bond buying.
Family Dollar Stores sank 13 percent after reporting earnings that fell short of analysts' projections. The company also forecast a weaker outlook for the current period and full year. Family Dollar's stock lost $8.30 to $55.74.
Nordstom Inc. surged 3 percent after the department-store chain reported strong holiday sales, especially in the South and Midwest. Nordstrom's stock was up $1.64 to $55.27.
Among other stocks making big moves:
— Transocean jumped $2.96 to $49.20. The owner of the oil rig that sank in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 after an explosion killed 11 workers reached a $1.4 billion settlement with the Justice Department.
— Hormel Foods, known for making Spam and other meat products, said that it's buying Skippy, the country's No. 2 peanut butter brand, from Unilever for about $700 million. Hormel's stock jumped $1.19 to $33.20.

Read More..

New purported BlackBerry Z10 specs emerge: 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP camera

Another week, another batch of purported leaks for Research In Motion’s (RIMM) first BlackBerry 10-powered Z10. BBin claims to have most of the Z10′s final specs confirmed and it is shaping up to be a powerful device. Rumored specs for the Z10 include a TI OMAP 4470 1.5GHz dual-core processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 for the U.S. and Canada), a 4.2-inch display (1,280 x 768 resolution), quad-band LTE, 2GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, a 2-megapixel front camera, a microSD card slot, and an 1,800 mAh removable battery. On the connectivity side, the Z10 is also rumored to have NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a Micro USB port and a Micro HDMI-out port. BlackBerry 10′s January 30th unveiling in New York City can’t come soon enough.

Read More..

Apple still said to account for 87% of North American tablet traffic as Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 gain

Apple’s (AAPL) share of the global tablet market is in decline now that low-cost Android slates are proliferating, but the iPad still appears to be the most used tablet by a huge margin. Ad firm Chitika regularly monitors tablet traffic in the United States and Canada and in its latest report, Apple’s iPad was responsible for almost 90% of all tablet traffic across the company’s massive network.
[More from BGR: Samsung looks to address its biggest weakness in 2013]
Using a sample of tens of millions of impressions served to tablets between December 8th and December 14th this year, Chitika determined that various iPad models collectively accounted for 87% of tablet traffic in North America. That figure is down a point from the prior month but still represents a commanding lead in the space.
[More from BGR: New purported BlackBerry Z10 specs emerge: 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP camera]
The next closest device line, Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle Fire tablet family, had a 4.25% share of tablet traffic during that period, up from 3.57% in November. Samsung’s (005930) Galaxy tablets made up 2.65% of traffic, up from 2.36%, and Google’s (GOOG) Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets combined to account for 1.06% of tablet traffic in early December.
“Despite these gains by some of the bigger players in the tablet marketplace, there has been a negligible impact to Apple’s dominant usage share,” Chitika wrote in a post on its blog.

Read More..

iOS apps see Christmas sales spike shrink in 2012

Distimo just released its statistics on Christmas Day app downloads and revenue growth… and the download spike is far smaller than it was last year. Back in 2011, Christmas Day iOS app download volume spiked 230% above the December average. This year, the increase was just 87% — far below industry expectations. The revenue spike came in at 70%.
[More from BGR: Google names 12 best Android apps of 2012]
Interestingly, iPad downloads increased by 140% this Christmas, implying that the iPhone download bounce was really modest.
[More from BGR: New purported BlackBerry Z10 specs emerge: 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP camera]
A few weeks ago, AppAnnie released statistics showing that iOS app revenue growth had stalled over the summer of 2012, whereas Android app revenue growth was relatively strong at 48% over a five month period. Both Distimo and Appannie are respected companies and their analytics are closely followed by app industry professionals. Could it be that the pace of iPhone app revenue growth has slowed down sharply from 2011 levels, even if Distimo and AppAnnie numbers aren’t entirely accurate?

Read More..

Leaked BlackBerry 10 slides show video calling and screen sharing for BBM

Research in Motion (RIMM) recently updated its BlackBerry Messenger application to include free Wi-Fi calling. With the release of BlackBerry 10 just around the corner, RIM is looking to add even more features to its flagship messaging app. Slides from a purported internal BlackBerry 10 presentation that were originally posted on the CrackBerry forums suggest that the company is planning to update BBM to include video calling and screen-sharing capabilities. A second slide highlights a task manager application called BlackBerry Remember, which is believed to be the replacement for RIM’s native Tasks app. Additional slides from the presentation can be viewed below.

Read More..