By Fred Barbash WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 6:02am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama heads for familiar campaign ground Monday, an auto plant in Michigan, to press his case for tax hikes on the wealthy. Obama's trip, part of an aggressive White House public relations effort, comes a day after a Sunday meeting with the Republican...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:10am EST (Reuters) - Yahoo! Inc and NBC Sports Group said they will integrate and promote each others sports content on the Internet as well as on television in a move that would help both the companies draw on their respective strengths across both mediums. The collaboration will increase NBC's digital presence as well as bolster its college a...

By Richard Cowan and David Lawder WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:04am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents in Congress enter a crucial week in the "fiscal cliff" impasse with more than just differences over taxes to bridge: Also in the way is pervasive mistrust among members of Congress that discourages ...

By Robert Evans GENEVA | Sun Dec 9, 2012 7:19pm EST GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday. The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Uni...

MEXICO CITY | Sun Dec 9, 2012 7:10pm EST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera is feared dead after Mexican authorities said they found the wreckage of a plane she was traveling in on Sunday. A spokesman for the state government of Nuevo Leon said investigators had found the remains of Rivera's Lear jet, which disappeared off the r...

By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:45pm EST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Police in Sudan used teargas and batons to repel rock-throwing students on Sunday as tension simmered over the deaths of four students following a protest against tuition fees. The police moved in as more than 400 students marched from the University of Khartoum throug...

NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:38pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's largest maker of auto parts won an auction for A123 Systems Inc (AONEQ.PK), a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was funded partly with U.S. government money, A123 confirmed in a statement Sunday. Wanxiang Group Corp's bid of $256.6 million topped a joint bid from Johnson ...

By Kwasi Kpodo and Richard Valdmanis ACCRA | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:33pm EST ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's electoral authorities said on Sunday incumbent leader John Dramani Mahama won a new term as president in the West African state in an election the opposition claimed was marred by tampering. Mahama, who replaced former president John Atta Mills after...

By Steve Scherer and Lisa Jucca ROME/MILAN | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:32pm EST ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's imminent resignation has set off campaigning for an election expected in February, with financial markets on edge at the prospect of a return to an old-style Italian political crisis. On Saturday the 69-year-old form...

Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:22pm EST (Reuters) - National Hockey League (NHL) owners and players were hoping to get their contentious negotiations back on track this week, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on Sunday. Although there have been no formal talks since negotiations broke down last Thursday, Daly said the sides were in communication about resuming talks."We spok...

By Angus McDowall MANAMA | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:14pm EST MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain opposition groups welcomed a government appeal for dialogue to break a deadlock in the restive kingdom, saying they were prepared to meet without any pre-conditions, but called for the results of talks to be put to a referendum. The Gulf Arab state, which hosts the U...

By Steve Ginsburg LANDOVER, Maryland | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:13pm EST LANDOVER, Maryland (Reuters) - The Washington Redskins earned territorial bragging rights and continued their late-season playoff push by defeating the Baltimore Ravens 31-28 in overtime on Sunday behind the dramatic late-game heroics of rookie backup quarterback Kirk Cousins. A 34...

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 6:02pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's inauguration committee is accepting corporate donations to help fund the parade and other events associated with his January 21 inauguration after tapped-out Democratic donors spent huge sums helping him get elected. The move is a shift for Obama...

KANO | Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:53pm EST KANO (Reuters) - Nigerian security forces said they arrested 28 suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram over the weekend, in a series of dawn raids on their hideouts. "Our plan is to choke the (militants), to suffocate them and we are getting the desired results," said a spokesman for joint military and police forc...

By Julian Linden Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:46pm EST (Reuters) - The Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys both came back from the brink of defeat to win their National Football League games on Sunday and stay in contention for the playoffs. On a roller-coaster Week 14, full of drama and upsets, the Redskins beat the Baltimore Ravens 31-28 in overtime despite...

By Michael Martina BEIJING | Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:41pm EST BEIJING (Reuters) - As the number of self-immolations in restive Tibetan regions rises sharply, Beijing appears to be tightening rules against the anti-China protests despite hopes the new leadership may take a softer line against Tibet. Some experts have said Communist Party chief Xi Jinpin...

NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:35pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corporate giants Apple (AAPL.O), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) all made it into Barron's top 10 stock picks for 2013, the financial weekly reported on Sunday. Barnes & Noble (BKS.N), BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), General Dynamics (GD.N), Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N), Novartis (...

By Irene Preisinger MUNICH | Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:28pm EST MUNICH (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited Bavaria on Sunday, charming former critics of Greece in the southern German state who once wished to eject his country from the euro zone, and departing with pledges of solidarity and support. Samaras' visit to Munich and dinner...

By Iain Rogers MADRID | Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:25pm EST MADRID (Reuters) - Barcelona forward Lionel Messi reached another milestone in his phenomenal career on Sunday when he set a record for goals scored in a calendar year of 86 with a La Liga double at Real Betis, beating Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old tally of 85. The 25-year-old World Player of the Ye...

By Angela Moon and Steven C. Johnson NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 4:50pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Like many on Wall Street, investor Todd Petzel cringed when U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said this past Wednesday that he was ready to let the economy go over the "fiscal cliff" if Republicans would not agree to higher tax rates on the rich...

By Tim Kelly TOKYO | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:54pm EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp, Japan's struggling maker of Viera brand TVs, owns more than 10 million square meters of office and factory space, dormitories for its workers and sports facilities for its rugby, baseball and women's athletics teams. As it battles for Christmas shoppers' wallets in ...

By Tim Kelly TOKYO | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:54pm EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp, Japan's struggling maker of Viera brand TVs, owns more than 10 million square meters of office and factory space, dormitories for its workers and sports facilities for its rugby, baseball and women's athletics teams. As it battles for Christmas shoppers' wallets in ...

By George Georgiopoulos ATHENS | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:48pm EST ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece is set to purchase back about half of its debt owned by private investors, broadly succeeding in a bond buyback that is key to the country's international bailout, a Greek government official said on Saturday. Greek and foreign bondholders offered the targeted 3...

By Erika Solomon BEIRUT | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:30pm EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. and Russian officials have given their commitment to a political solution for the deepening Syrian conflict, a United Nations envoy said on Sunday, but Moscow dismissed speculation it was preparing for President Bashar al-Assad's exit. With rebels now fighting on the doo...

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:05pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The contrast could not be sharper: Economists are all but certain the U.S. Federal Reserve will expand its monetary stimulus this week, but they have no clue how the fiscal battle in Congress will shake out. U.S. central bankers look set to extend their mone...

AMSTERDAM | Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:58pm EST AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thousands of Dutch mourners walked in silence with candles and flowers on Sunday to commemorate the fatal beating of a volunteer football linesman, whose death last week shocked the Netherlands. Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, was attacked by a group of football players while refereeing an under-17 ...

LONDON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:53pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - British business minister Vince Cable said Britain could fall back into recession for a third time since the 2008 financial crisis but expected the economy to stagger on with minimal growth. In an interview published on Sunday, Cable, one of the most senior ministers in the coalition's junior Liberal...

By Ronald Grover and Andrea Burzynski Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:47pm EST (Reuters) - James Bond showed remarkable staying power as the latest installment of the spy series, "Skyfall," captured the box office title and collected $11 million in its fifth week in U.S. and Canadian movie theaters, outgunning Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and "The Twilight Saga: Breaki...

By Alistair Lyon and Tamim Elyan CAIRO | Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:46pm EST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's main opposition coalition rejected on Sunday Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's plan for a constitutional referendum this week, saying it risked dragging the country into "violent confrontation". Mursi's decision on Saturday to retract a decree awarding ...

Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:38pm EST (Reuters) - Bond was set at $500,000 on Sunday for Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent, charged with intoxication manslaughter in the fatal Dallas-area car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr., a jail spokesman said. Brent, 24, appeared at a hearing where he was ordered to post $500,000 bond or remain in jail in the Dallas ...

Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:36pm EST (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at North American box offices for the three-day weekend starting December 7, led by "Skyfall" at No. 1, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters. 1 (2) Skyfall .................................$11.0 million2 (4) Rise of the Guardians ...................$10.5 million3 (1) Twilight: Bre...

By Edith Honan NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:22pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fifty years since their first London jam sessions, the Rolling Stones kicked off the U.S. leg of a brief anniversary tour with a vibrant show in New York on Saturday that belied their years - wrinkles and nostalgia aside. Drummers wearing gorilla masks warmed up the crowd p...

By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 12:10pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors typically sell stocks to cut their losses at year end. But worries about the "fiscal cliff" - and the possibility of higher taxes in 2013 - may act as the greatest incentive to sell both winners and losers by December 31. The $600 billion of automatic t...

By Alexandra Alper MEXICO CITY | Sun Dec 9, 2012 11:47am EST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Juan Ramirez makes up to $42 a week selling candy, newspapers and other items from his street kiosk, but he's not interested in a new Mexican law that aims to bring millions of workers out of the country's informal economy. "I don't think it is going to benefit c...

By Erik Kirschbaum HANOVER, Germany | Sun Dec 9, 2012 10:35am EST HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) formally nominated former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck on Sunday as their candidate to run for chancellor against Angela Merkel in next September's election. Steinbrueck promised a more just society and c...

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM | Sun Dec 9, 2012 10:28am EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hamas's vow to vanquish Israel after claiming "victory" in last month's Gaza conflict vindicates Israel's reluctance to relinquish more land to the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Khaled Meshaal, the leader of the Islamist Hamas movement,...

WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 9:48am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States needs a balanced, comprehensive approach to tackle its fiscal woes that should include a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday. "My view, personally, is that the best way to go forward is to have a balanced app...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LAS VEGAS | Sun Dec 9, 2012 2:31am EST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Manny Pacquiao in the sixth round of their non-title welterweight bout on Saturday, getting his first win over the Filipino in four attempts. The 39-year-old Mexican, who had lost twice and drawn once in their three previous meeting...

Sat Dec 8, 2012 11:05pm EST (Reuters) - The Chicago Bulls have halted the New York Knicks' five-game winning streak with a 93-85 home win on Saturday, continuing their home dominance at the United Center. The Bulls have now won 19 of the last 22 home encounters against the Knicks, who were still without Carmelo Anthony.Chicago were led by Luol Deng and Marco Beli...

Sat Dec 8, 2012 11:02pm EST (Reuters) - Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, making him the first 'freshman' to win college football's top honor. Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football", beat out Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein at the swanky ceremony in New York."This is a mom...