Yen falls, Nikkei surges as Japan gets a new government

TOKYO (Reuters) - The yen fell to a 20-month low against the dollar on Wednesday, buoying the benchmark Nikkei stock average to nine-month highs, as Japan swore in a new prime minister eager to pursue drastic stimulus steps to drive the country's economy out of deflation. Asian shares and other assets were capped in thin holiday trade, with investors focusing on the fate of U.S. negotiations...

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With a Parent at War, a Holiday of Pain and Pride

Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesMercedes Patterson, 16, helped Tango Jackson, 17, with his R.O.T.C. uniform tie in the hallway at Fort Campbell High School at the Army post in Kentucky. More Photos »FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Signs of the season have been everywhere at Fort Campbell High School over the last couple of weeks: a student soloist sang the Carpenters’ “Merry Christmas, Darling” at the annual...

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Jack Klugman, Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. Star, Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman 12/24/2012 at 07:35 PM EST Jack Klugman, The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. star beloved by TV, movie and theater audiences for five decades, died in Los Angeles on Monday, one of his sons told the Associated Press. He was 90."He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it and he...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Yen on defensive on U.S. fiscal worry, helps Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Uncertainty over whether U.S. lawmakers will strike a deal by an end-of-year deadline to avert a severe fiscal retrenchment undermined the yen and bolstered Japanese shares on Tuesday in low volume, with many participants away on Christmas holiday. The dollar rose to a 20-month high of 84.965 yen early on Tuesday in Asia, as Japanese markets caught up with global investors...

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Citing Broken System, Critics Fight Russia’s Adoption Ban

MOSCOW — The orphans’ faces can be called up on screen, their photos the size of postage stamps, along with a few data points and a note about their personalities, often just a word or two. Kirill P., age 6, from Rostov in the south — hazel eyes, brown hair — wears a sweatshirt with dragons on it and is described simply as “sociable.” Angelina F., 16 months, from Khabarovsk in the Far East...

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Sandy Hook Shootings: How to Cope

By Howard Breuer 12/23/2012 at 06:00 PM EST State police personnel lead children to safety away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shannon Hicks/Newtown Bee/Reuters/Landov The Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 innocent children and six heroic elementary school faculty members were gunned...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Budget uncertainty hangs over quiet stocks, FX

LONDON (Reuters) - World stock, commodity and currency markets were steady on Monday, with tensions over the U.S. budget dispute subdued by a holiday lull in Europe. With a number of stock markets including in Germany, Italy and Switzerland closed for the Christmas holiday, the FTSEurofirst300 <.fteu3> was flat at 1,138.92 points by 1045 GMT and the MSCI index of global stocks <.miwd00000pus>...

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Clashes Break Out in India at a Protest Over a Rape Case

Anindito Mukherjee/European Pressphoto AgencyThe police used water cannons on demonstrators gathered in India’s capital city on Saturday. Protesters scuffled with the police throughout the day. Some police vehicles were damaged, and the police eventually used tear gas, water cannons and sticks to disperse the crowd. Officials said 35 protesters and 37 police officers had been injured, two officers...

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