BEIJING | Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:01pm EST BEIJING (Reuters) - If corruption is allowed to run wild in China then the ruling Communist Party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule, state media on Monday quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying at one of his first major meetings since taking the role. In unusually blunt language, Vice Presid...

By Julian Linden Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:01pm EST (Reuters) - Houston quarterback Matt Schaub passed for 527 yards, equaling the second-highest total in a single National Football League game, as the Texans fought their way back to defeat Jacksonville on Sunday. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Atlanta's Matt Ryan also got it right when they really needed to as t...

By Gene Cherry Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:08pm EST (Reuters) - Athletes guilty of serious doping offenses will be suspended for four years from 2015 under proposals being considered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but there are no plans for a specific rule to ban offenders from the Olympics. Currently, athletes...

By Nicola Leske Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:05pm EST (Reuters) - Networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc said it will buy privately held cloud networking company Meraki for $1.2 billion in cash as part of its cloud and networking strategy. Cisco said the acquisition of Meraki, which was founded in 2006 by members of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, is...

AUSTIN, Texas | Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:55pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday while Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel failed to clinch his third consecutive drivers' title on his 100th career start. Red Bull did celebrate another victory, however, securing the constructors' title for a thir...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:53pm EST (Reuters) - Houston Dynamo reached the MLS Cup, the final of Major League Soccer's playoffs, on Sunday when a 1-1 draw at D.C. United earned them a 4-2 aggregate win in the Eastern Conference championship game. Dynamo led 3-1 from the first leg and extended their advantage with a 33rd minute goal from Honduran Oscar Boniek Garcia. D.C....

By Andrea Shalal-Esa BALTIMORE | Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:14pm EST BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Latinos, African-Americans and other minorities who helped President Barack Obama win a second term are skeptical about enhanced Republican outreach to their communities, but also say the future of the coalition that shaped the 2012 election may be fragile. Top Rep...

By Julian Linden Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:35pm EST (Reuters) - Houston quarterback Matt Schaub passed for 527 yards, equaling the second-highest single-game total in National Football League history, as the Texans fought their way back from the brink of defeat on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan also got it right when they really needed to as the Green Bay P...

MIAMI | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:34pm EST MIAMI (Reuters) - Tea Party-backed Republican U.S. Representative Allen West said he was still not ready to concede defeat on Sunday, almost two weeks after the November 6 election, when the clock ran out on a partial recount in South Florida. Results showing West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy by 1,900 ...

SYDNEY | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:34pm EST SYDNEY (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe is planning to sell his stake in Australian rugby league club South Sydney Rabbitohs in an effort to "simplify" his life after breaking up with his wife. In an e-mail to a local television reporter, the 48-year-old said the split had caused him to put on the market ...

By Jason Hovet PRAGUE | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:25pm EST PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic beat holders Spain 3-2 to win the Davis Cup for the first time as an independent nation when Radek Stepanek overcame Nicolas Almagro in four tough sets before a raucous home crowd on Sunday. Stepanek, who jumped over the net and triumphantly waved his arms t...

By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:13pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - One of Charlie Chaplin's bowler hats and a cane, the staple of Hollywood silent-era comedy, were auctioned for $62,500 on Sunday, said auction house Bonhams. Chaplin's hat and cane, which fetched more than the initial estimate of $40,000-60,000, are synonymous with hi...

LONDON | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:00pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - James Bond actor Daniel Craig surprised British troops in Afghanistan on Sunday by turning up at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to introduce the latest 007 movie "Skyfall" as 800 soldiers sat down to watch it. According to the Ministry of Defence, after giving a brief speech ahead of the screening...

LONDON | Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:56pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Boy band One Direction topped Britain's singles and album charts on Sunday, outselling new releases from rock veterans Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, the Official Charts Company said. The English-Irish quintet shot to number one in the album charts with "Take Me Home", with one of its tracks, "...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:49pm EST (Reuters) - Super Bowl winning coach and player Mike Ditka has been released from a Chicago hospital two days after suffering a mild stroke, ESPN reported on Sunday. The hugely popular Hall of Fame, 73, works as an analyst for the network. He plans on hosting his radio show again on Tuesday and hopes to return to ESPN's NFL shows soon,...

By Andrea Burzynski and Lisa Richwine Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:47pm EST (Reuters) - The "Twilight" vampire saga's final chapter debuted with a massive $341 million in global movie ticket sales as devoted fans bid farewell to blood-sucking spouses Bella and Edward and one of Hollywood's biggest franchises. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" earned an es...

WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:37pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party needs to stop insulting voters and broaden its appeal after Democratic President Barack Obama won re-election this month over Mitt Romney with overwhelming support from Hispanics, blacks and single women, top Republicans said on Sunday. Comments made by two leading Repub...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:15pm EST (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg says he would be ready to splash his cash and invest in Scottish soccer champions Celtic. The 41-year-old, who is as well known for his love of sport as he is his music and drugs busts, fell further in love with the Glasgow club after watching highlights of Celtic's heroic 2-1 victory over Barcelona i...

By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason BANGKOK | Sun Nov 18, 2012 1:58pm EST BANGKOK (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama denied on Sunday his upcoming trip to Myanmar was an endorsement of the government there, calling it an acknowledgement of the progress made in shaking off decades of military rule and encouragement for it go further. On Monday,...

By Melanie Warner AUSTIN, Texas | Sun Nov 18, 2012 1:53pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Celebrities and well-heeled Formula One fans from around the world hit art shows, book signings, fashion shows and parties this weekend in the Texas capital that is hosting the first U.S. Grand Prix in five years. The glittering off-track events to celebrate S...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller GAZA/JERUSALEM | Sun Nov 18, 2012 1:51pm EST GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday, medical officials said, in an apparent attack on a top militant that brought a three-storey home crashing down. International pressur...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:39pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading U.S. lawmakers expressed confidence on Sunday that they could reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" even as they laid down markers on taxes and spending that may make any agreement more difficult. Republicans and Democratic leaders have agreed on a framew...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:27pm EST (Reuters) - The head of the House Intelligence Committee suggested on Sunday that President Barack Obama might have known about former CIA Director David Petraeus' extra-marital affair before the November election, and said Attorney General Eric Holder should address this question soon before Congress. U.S. Representative Mike Rogers,...

WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:06pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee wondered on Sunday whether the transition from four-star general to civilian intelligence chief may have thrown ex-CIA Director David Petraeus off his game and into an adulterous affair. "You see the medals he has, you see the stars. One day he ...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:29am EST (Reuters) - Sweden's Henrik Stenson claimed the South African Open at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate on Sunday, helping him to qualify for the lucrative DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Heading into the event, Stenson was 59th in the Race to Dubai rankings and knew he could be in danger of missing out if he could not produ...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:50am EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The owner of Germany's Nuerburgring motor racing track has said the popular Formula One venue could still host the German Grand Prix next year despite uncertainty linked to the track's insolvency. The current operator NAG, which has leased the facilities from the owner, is in talks with F1 commercial boss Bernie E...

By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason BANGKOK | Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:06am EST BANGKOK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama kicked off a three-country Asian tour with a visit to Thailand on Sunday, using his first post-election trek overseas to try to show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus eastwards. Obama's itinerary will include a la...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller GAZA/JERUSALEM | Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:04am EST GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day on Sunday, preparing for a possible ground invasion while also spelling out its conditions for a truce. Palestinians launched dozens ...

NAIROBI | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:58am EST NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least five people were killed when a grenade ripped apart a minibus in Nairobi's Somali-dominated Eastleigh neighborhood on Sunday, a Reuters witness said. "I saw bodies ripped apart," the Reuters photographer said.Nairobi regional police commander M...

By Emma Pinedo MADRID | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:56am EST MADRID (Reuters) - The Catalan nationalist party CiU will win regional parliamentary elections in Spain on November 25, but will not gain an absolute majority, newspaper polls showed on Sunday, weakening any bid for independence. Hundreds of thou...

By Jonny Hogg KINSHASA | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:41am EST KINSHASA (Reuters) - Rebels in Congo were on the outskirts of the eastern city of Goma on Sunday after pushing back U.N. peacekeepers and government troops, but a spokesman for the M23 rebels said they did not plan to take the city. In four days of battles, the rebels have advanced closer than ...

By Manuel Mogato and Stuart Grudgings PHNOM PENH | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:34am EST PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations displayed a rare show of unity on Sunday against China's sweeping maritime claims, calling for the first formal talks with Beijing over a sea dispute that has raised tensions and exposed deep divisions in the region. As Ch...

By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:33am EST CAIRO (Reuters) - The Coptic Orthodox church staged a ceremony rich in ritual on Sunday to install its pope, Tawadros II, who Christians hope will guide them through the new, Islamist-led Egypt. The 60-year-old pope was picked on November 4 and the ceremony on Sunday filled with incense, elabor...

Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:29am EST (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg says he would be ready to splash his cash and invest in Scottish soccer champions Celtic. The 41-year-old, who is as well known for his love of sport as he is his music and drugs busts, fell further in love with the Glasgow club after watching highlights of Celtic's heroic 2-1 victory over Barcelona i...

By Edward Krudy NEW YORK | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:08am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The "fiscal cliff" sounds like a scary place. Headlines about "taxmaggeddon" are flashing on TV screens, next to clocks ticking down to January 1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has skidded more than 7 percent over the last month, largely due to concerns about the stand...

By Jim Christie and Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO | Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:07am EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Warnings that a new millionaires' tax would send California's wealthy stampeding for the state line began before the results were final. But the super-rich may well stand their ground. "Anyone know a good realtor in Incline Village?" Aaron Mc...

By Erik Kirschbaum HANOVER, Germany | Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:28am EST HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's Greens have gone grey. The world's most successful pro-environment party has turned deadly serious about gaining power by stealing votes from Chancellor Angela Merkel - and perhaps by joining her. The muesli, woolly sweaters, thick beards and ...

By Naomi O'Leary ROME | Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:07am EST ROME (Reuters) - At dawn before lessons could start last week, high school pupils at the Nomentano Science School in a northern suburb of Rome slipped chains around the gates and blocked the doors with chairs taken from classrooms. Between the ragged European Union flag and Italian tricolour ove...

By Daren Butler and Seyhmus Cakan ISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR | Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:55am EST ISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Hundreds of Kurdish militants ended a hunger strike in jails across Turkey on Sunday in response to an appeal from their leader, fuelling hopes a deal had been struck that could revive talks to end a decades-old conflict. Kurdistan ...

By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH | Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:19am EST PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders will put pressure on Myanmar to resolve violence between Buddhists and minority Muslims, a senior regional official said on Sunday, after unrest left scores dead and as many as 100,000 people displaced since June. Myanmar President Thein Sein...