Fatah rally in Gaza looks toward unity with Hamas

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza on Friday for the first time since they were routed from power in the territory by the Islamist militants in 2007.
The rally, approved by Gaza's Hamas rulers, marks a renewed attempt by the rival Palestinian factions to show unity following a fierce Hamas battle with Israel in November and Fatah's subsequent recognition bid at the United Nations.
But many obstacles still remain before the sides can settle their differences, chief among them how to deal with Israel. Several rounds of reconciliation talks over recent years centered on finding ways to share power have failed to yield results.
Still, both sides expressed optimism following Friday's unprecedented Fatah show of strength that included hours of waving their yellow flags, dancing in the streets and chanting party slogans. For years, Fatah loyalists in Gaza faced retribution from the Hamas regime, which banned them from gathering.
"We feel like birds freed from our cage today," said Fadwa Taleb, 46, who worked as a police officer for Fatah before the Hamas takeover and attended Friday's rally with her family. "We are happy and feel powerful again."
Top Fatah officials arrived in Gaza for the first time since they were violently ousted. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules the West Bank, did not attend the event, but he addressed the crowd on a large screen telling them "there is no substitute for national unity."
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also expressed hope that the two factions could reconcile their differences, sending Fatah a message that he hoped they could work together as joint representatives of the Palestinian people, according to Fatah official Nabil Shaath. Hamas was not directly involved in the event.
Ihab al-Ghussian, the chief spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, said the sides would "work toward the consolidation of national unity." Egyptian officials say a first such meeting in months between the factions is scheduled for next week in Cairo.
After the rally, Haniyeh called Abbas to congratulate him and Abbas in turn thanked Haniyeh for letting it happen, said Haniyeh spokesman Taher al-Nunu. He added that both leaders expressed hope that the cooperation would lead to renewed reconciliation efforts.
The warmer tone is a result of recent gains by both factions.
Abbas has enjoyed a boost in his status since he led the Palestinians' successful bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations to a non-member observer state. On Friday, he signed a presidential decree officially changing the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine." All Palestinian stamps, signs and official letterhead will henceforth be changed to bear the new name, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The move marked 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.
Hamas, meanwhile, 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 for the first time lobbed rockets toward Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Following the fighting, Fatah allowed Hamas to hold its first rally in the West Bank since the 2007 split. Hamas returned the favor Friday by allowing the Fatah rally to take place.
Still, the two sides have wide differences — over Israel and over the possibility of sharing power.
Fatah has held several rounds of peace talks with the Jewish state and says it is committed to a two-state solution. Hamas does not recognize Israel and is officially committed to its destruction. Hamas has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks against Israeli citizens and is regarded by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization.
Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal, considered more pragmatic than the movement's Gaza-based hardline leaders, forged a reconciliation agreement with Abbas in 2011. But the Gaza-based leadership has held up implementing it and has blamed Fatah of doing the same.
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.
Friday's rally also served as a reminder of the conflicts within Fatah itself 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 Abbas and partisans of 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. Later, more Palestinians were injured when part of a stage collapsed. Youths also clashed and stabbings were reported. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said overall 55 people were injured, including three critically.
There was one death during the rally: A 23-year-old Fatah activist was electrocuted while trying to hang a flag on an electric pole.
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.

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Syrian forces bombard rebel areas near capital

 Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.
Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the city itself. The rebel advances in the suburbs threaten the government's grip on its seat of power, prompting a punishing response from the military on rebel areas skirting the capital.
Anti-regime activists circulated a video they said showed an explosion near a military intelligence office in the town of Nabk, north of the capital. They had no information on casualties and the government did not comment on the bombing.
The blast came one day after a car bomb hit a gas station in the capital itself, killing eleven people, activists said. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, they could be guerrilla strikes by rebels groups who lack the force to battle Assad's troops in the capital.
Syria's 21-month conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate that the United Nations says has killed more than 60,000 people, and it warns the civil war could claim the lives of many more this year. International efforts to stop the fighting have failed so far, and although rebels have made gains in recent months, they still can't challenge Assad's hold on much of the country.
On Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government warplanes bombed suburbs of the capital, including Douma, where twin airstrikes killed more than a dozen people a day earlier.
The Observatory also reported the explosion near the military intelligence building in Nabk, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Damascus.
A amateur video posted online showed a large explosion and a large gray cloud of smoke billowing from the area. An off-camera narrator said the blast struck the intelligence building.
The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting.
Fighting also raged south of the capital, where rebels have been trying to push into the city for weeks.
Damascus activist Maath al-Shami said the government fired rockets and mortars from Qasioun mountain overlooking the capital at orchards near the southern suburbs of Daraya and Kfar Sousseh.
The Observatory reported clashes between rebels and the army in other areas south of the capital and on the road to the city's airport, to the southeast.
For its part, the Syrian army said in a statement late Thursday that troops had killed "terrorists" in areas around the capital, including Daraya.
The government says the uprising is fueled by foreign-backed terrorists who seek to destroy the country.
"Regime forces are facing very strong resistance in Daraya," said al-Shami via Skype, but added that government forces had been able to advance down the suburb's main thoroughfare.
The government's capture of Daraya, southwest of the city, would provide a boost to the regime's defense of Damascus. It is close to a military air base as well as government headquarters and one of President Bashar Assad's palaces.
In the north, rebels continued to clash with government forces inside the Taftanaz air base in Idlib province and near the Mannagh military airport and the international airport in Aleppo. The attacks are part of the rebel's effort to erode the military's air power.
Fadi al-Yassin, an activist based in Idlib, said the rebels killed on Thursday the commander of Taftanaz air base, a brigadier general.
"The battles now are at the gates of the airport," al-Yassin said via Skype. He added that it has become very difficult for the regime helicopters to take off and land at the facility.
He said warplanes taking off from airfields in the central province of Hama and the coastal region of Latakia are targeting rebels fighting around Taftanaz.
The Syrian Army General Command said troops directed "painful strikes" against the "armed terrorist groups" of Jabhat al-Nusra, a group the U.S. claims has designated a terrorist organization that is at the forefront of the airport attacks. The Syrian military said it killed many of the group's fighters.
The Aleppo airport has been closed since Monday. A government official in Damascus said the situation is relatively quiet around the facility, adding that it is up to civil aviation authorities to resume flights.
A man who answered the telephone at the information office at the Damascus International Airport said, "God willing, flights will resume to Aleppo very soon.

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Private hiring jumps in December despite fiscal worries

Private-sector employers added more new jobs than expected last month even as a potential budget crisis loomed, helping the job market end 2012 on a high note, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Thursday.
The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 215,000 jobs in December, comfortably above economists' expectation of a 133,000 gain.
The increase came even as companies worried the economy might fall off a "fiscal cliff" at year end, which would have meant higher taxes and, some predicted, suppressed hiring.
"All the labor market data...has held up very, very well so (there is) no sign of the fiscal cliff impact on the job market," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNBC television. The ADP report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.
On a conference call about the results, he said the report showed "the resilience of the economy in the face of some pretty significant uncertainty with regard to what's been going on in Washington," adding "I expected more of an impact on the job market than we have observed."
A last-minute deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff was struck on New Year's Day, though decisions on some important spending issues were delayed rather than decided.
"The underlying economy has momentum, and the employment data confirms that," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago. "The hope and prayer of the market is that our political leaders don't screw it up."
A revival in new construction jobs was also a hopeful sign, Zandi said, though the gains were likely boosted by rebuilding efforts after Superstorm Sandy hit the U.S. East Coast in October.
November's private payrolls tally was also revised upward to show a gain of 148,000 from the previously reported 118,000.
The ADP data has had a mixed track record when it comes to predicting changes in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' more comprehensive payrolls data. The December report, due on Friday, is expected to show the economy added 150,000 jobs last month after adding 146,000 in November.
"In terms of implications for the payrolls report tomorrow, we tend to discount this a little bit, especially around the turn of the year, because ADP tends to be very volatile in December in particular," said Yelena Shulyatyeva, U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York.

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Fiscal cliff market relief fades in Europe

Enthusiasm waned Thursday in Europe over U.S. legislators' deal to stave off the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have hurt the world's largest economy.
While the deal passed by Congress this week avoids the near-term risk of a major blow to businesses and households, it left unsolved several budget measures, mainly government spending cuts. Major indexes fell modestly as investors considered that U.S. politicians now have only two months to negotiate those cuts.
In afternoon trading in Europe, Germany's DAX shed 0.3 percent to 7,758.71 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.5 percent to 3,714.87. Britain's FTSE 100 rose a bare 0.1 percent to 6,035.18. Some broader indexes of European shares rose slightly, boosted by sharp gains in Switzerland. The 18-country STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent to 286.14.
Wall Street also appeared headed for a lower open Thursday after gains Wednesday. Dow Jones futures were down 0.1 percent to 13,311 while S&P 500 futures lost 0.2 percent to 1,454.10.
A last-minute deal agreed to by U.S. lawmakers late Tuesday triggered a global market rally on Wednesday. But while it settled tax rates, the deal only postponed automatic spending cuts to defense and domestic programs for two months. And it doesn't include any significant deficit-cutting agreement, meaning the country still doesn't have a long-term plan on how to curb spending.
Rabobank analyst Jane Foley said that a "more realistic sense" of the situation with U.S. budget affairs "has started to trickle into market sentiment this morning."
"Over the next couple of months, U.S. budget talks are set to remain a threat to risk appetite," Foley wrote in a note to investors.
Some traders may have decided to sell and lock in this week's gains. "After the euphoric mood of markets yesterday...a degree of profit taking was perhaps inevitable," GFT Markets strategist Fawad Razaqzada said.
Looking ahead, investors will keep an eye on the U.S. monthly jobs report due Friday. The figures often move markets as they are a key indicator for the health of the U.S. economy, which has struggled to gain steam in recent months.
Figures from human resources firm ADP showed U.S jobless claims rose by more than expected to 372,000. But that was offset by more positive figures showing the economy created 215,000 new jobs during the month.
The ADP numbers are a prelude to Friday's official U.S. government numbers, but sometimes differ.
Earlier in Asia, benchmarks in Hong Kong and Sydney rose modestly and crested above the 19-month highs hit Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 percent to 23,398.98, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 4,740.70. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and New Zealand also rose.
Still, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.6 percent to 2,019.41 amid fears the weakening Japanese yen could hurt South Korean exporters.
Markets in Japan and mainland China were closed for extended holidays until Friday.
Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 42 cents to $92.59 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro fell 0.6 percent to $1.3108, while the dollar slipped 0.5 percent to 86.90 yen.

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Monti says political rivals should sideline extremists

 Mario Monti, bidding for a second term as Italy's prime minister, said on Thursday a left-wing party on track to lead the next government should sideline "extreme" elements who hinder vital economic reforms.
The 69-year-old former European Commissioner was appointed in November 2011 to lead an unelected right-left government of experts to save Italy from financial crisis after then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi quit.
On Friday, he turned against his former allies and entered a three-way race against the Democratic Party (PD) on the left and Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) on the right. The election is scheduled for February 24-25.
Opinion polls suggest PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani's center-left, two-party coalition is most likely to form a government, either alone or in alliance with other groups.
Bersani's pro-European stance makes him the most likely ally for Monti's centrist bloc after the vote should the PD not win a solid majority in both houses of parliament.
"If (Bersani) wants a PD and a left that truly watches out for the needs of workers and acts dynamically to create job possibilities, then he should, with an act of courage, silence a little this wing that I consider conservative," Monti told the Uno Mattina program on state television.
Monti said PD economic adviser Stefano Fassina and Nichi Vendola - head of the PD coalition ally Left, Ecology, and Freedom party - espoused the over-protective labor policies of the left-wing labor union CGIL.
COURAGE
Monti has blamed the CGIL and a minority of PD supporters for blocking more radical labor market changes that he had wanted to introduce with his reform last year.
"I'll never shut anyone up," Bersani shot back after meeting with his party rival, Florence mayor Matteo Renzi, who Bersani defeated in a primary vote last year.
"The courage that is being asked of me I've already demonstrated, and it wasn't used to shut people up, but to make them participate," Bersani said, referring to the primary that crowned him the center-left leader.
Susanna Camusso, head of the CGIL, replied that Monti did not understand the country nor the desperate conditions of workers.
A poll published on Wednesday said Monti's grouping would win 12 percent of the vote. One published last week said it could gain up to 16 percent, depriving rivals of a clear win, but not enough to govern.
Under a complex electoral law, Bersani's coalition could win a comfortable majority in the lower house without taking secure command of the Senate, possibly making an alliance with Monti's bloc crucial to creating a stable parliamentary majority.
Monti also said Berlusconi's PDL had caved to pressure from lobbyists, especially the pharmacy sector, and had watered down an effort by his government to deregulate services.
Kicking off his political campaign on Wednesday, Monti pledged to cut labor taxes and redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest if he wins.
That was a shift from his role doling out painful austerity to Italians to shore up public finances.

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December retail sales mixed, nimble chains do better

Several major U.S. retailers beat expectations of modest sales increases in December as shoppers wrapped up holiday buying, but overall results were mixed and only stores that were nimble enough thrived in an uncertain economy.
Costco Wholesale Corp , Nordstrom Inc , TJX Cos Inc and Ross Stores Inc were among the winners of the month, while such chains as Target Corp and Family Dollar Stores Inc felt the pinch as cautious consumers focused purchases on food and other basics.
Across 17 retailers including discounters, department stores and apparel chains, December sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.5 percent, topping analysts' estimates for 3.3 percent growth. The result reported Thursday also topped 1.6 percent growth in November 2012 and a 4.2 percent increase in December 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Companies like Costco, TJX and Ross "are able to thrive in whatever economic environment they happen to be operating in" by adjusting their business models, inventory levels and sales strategies better than many peers, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners.
The stronger-than-expected December is likely to help retailers overcome a softer start to the key holiday season. The 2012 season was never expected to be stellar, but even the single-digit growth anticipated by chains and analysts came under pressure as Superstorm Sandy, the ever-present headlines about the "fiscal cliff" and the Connecticut school shootings affected consumers' moods in November and December.
With the number of chains that report monthly sales dwindling in recent years, Thursday's tally offered a limited snapshot of consumer behavior. Industry heavyweights like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and sector leaders like consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co Inc have yet to report sales for the holiday season.
Retail stocks, which largely missed out on Wednesday's market rally, rose on Thursday. The S&P 500 retail index <.spxrt> added nearly 1 percent near midday, while the S&P 500 index <.spx> inched up 0.1 percent.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
With the country moving past the fiscal cliff debate, retailers will be watching whether the expiration of the payroll tax cut takes a toll on consumer spending.
The expiration of the payroll tax holiday, which this week raises Social Security taxes for workers to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent, may be more important to the economy than the income tax hike for wealthy people, said Michael Wilson, head of research at Morgan Stanley's wealth management division.
"A two percent hit off the top for the average person is meaningful," he said. "It will change their spending behavior."
While it was hard to say American consumers were tapped out, they are "fragile," said Chris Donnelly, global head of Accenture's retail practice. "It doesn't take much to rattle the consumer."
As cautious U.S. consumers try to stick to their budgets, it remains a very competitive marketplace for retailers, Donnelly said.
Madison Riley, managing director of retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon, predicted that if the upcoming debt ceiling debate goes better than the Washington wrangling to avoid the cliff, there could be a bigger uptick in consumer spending in 2013.
HO-HUM SPRING
As retailers finish up their quarter this month, they are bringing out fresh merchandise while offering deep discounts to move winter goods.
Michael Niemira, chief economist of the International Council of Shopping Centers, sees a ho-hum spring selling season. He expects sales growth in the 2013 spring season to be weaker than in 2012.
Higher food prices this year mean "a little less discretionary spending power" for U.S. shoppers, he said.
One bright spot this spring could be home goods. Home improvement chains such as Home Depot Inc and Lowe's Cos Inc and retailers selling home goods and furnishings could benefit as people start to update their homes with the turn in the housing market, said Customer Growth's Johnson.
HITS AND MISSES
TJX and Ross, which appeal to bargain hunters with marked-down name-brand merchandise, posted stronger-than-expected sales and raised their fourth-quarter earnings forecasts.
But at Barnes & Noble Inc , holiday sales fell sharply, with a decline in the number of Nook devices sold and shoppers at its stores.
Kohl's Corp slashed its fourth-quarter profit outlook, as holiday sales came late in the season at deeper discounts than planned. Still, its 3.4 percent rise in December same-store sales topped forecasts.
Gap Inc's December same-store sales topped expectations. The retailer also said it would buy women's luxury retailer Intermix.
Target's same-store sales were essentially flat, while analysts anticipated a 0.8 percent increase. Target said fourth-quarter earnings should meet or somewhat exceed the low end of its forecast, but the warning was not as dire as some may have anticipated, and its shares were up 2.3 percent.
Limited Brands Inc sales rose less than anticipated, marking a rare miss for the owner of the Victoria's Secret chain. Limited said its merchandise profit margin came in below its own forecast. Its shares fell 5.4 percent.
Wet Seal Inc expects a fourth-quarter loss at or near the bottom of its prior forecast after December same-store sales fell 9.7 percent, the steepest decline among the 17 chains. Its shares were flat.
Family Dollar's same-store sales rose about 2.5 percent in December after increasing 6.6 percent in the preceding quarter. Its shares slid 11 percent.
"The holiday selling season proved to be more challenging than we expected as customers faced increasing financial uncertainty," said Family Dollar Chairman and CEO Howard Levine.

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World stocks put relief rally on pause

 Enthusiasm faded on Wall Street and in European markets Thursday over U.S. legislators' deal to stave off the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have hurt the world's largest economy.
While the deal passed by Congress this week avoids the near-term risk of a major blow to businesses and households, it left unsolved several budget measures, mainly government spending cuts.
Major indexes fell modestly or saw only small gains as investors considered that U.S. politicians now have only two months to negotiate those cuts.
Wall Street lacked momentum after strong gains the previous day. The Dow industrials average was flat at 13,415.12 and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was up barely 0.1 percent at 1,464.31.
In Europe, Germany's DAX shed 0.3 percent to close at 7,756.44 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.3 percent to 3,721.17. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent to 6,047.34. Shares rose sharply in Switzerland, however, as markets there were closed on Wednesday.
A last-minute deal agreed to by U.S. lawmakers late Tuesday triggered a global market rally on Wednesday. But while it settled tax rates, the deal only postponed automatic spending cuts to defense and domestic programs for two months. And it doesn't include any significant deficit-cutting agreement, meaning the country still doesn't have a long-term plan on how to curb spending.
Rabobank analyst Jane Foley said that a "more realistic sense" of the situation with U.S. budget affairs "has started to trickle into market sentiment this morning."
"Over the next couple of months, U.S. budget talks are set to remain a threat to risk appetite," Foley wrote in a note to investors.
Looking ahead, investors will keep an eye on the U.S. monthly jobs report due Friday. The figures often move markets as they are a key indicator for the health of the U.S. economy, which has struggled to gain steam in recent months.
Figures from human resources firm ADP showed U.S jobless claims rose by more than expected to 372,000. But that was offset by more positive figures showing the economy created 215,000 new jobs during the month.
The ADP numbers are a prelude to Friday's official U.S. government numbers.
Earlier in Asia, benchmarks in Hong Kong and Sydney rose modestly and crested above the 19-month highs hit Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 percent to 23,398.98, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 4,740.70. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and New Zealand also rose.
Still, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.6 percent to 2,019.41 amid fears the weakening Japanese yen could hurt South Korean exporters.
Markets in Japan and mainland China were closed for extended holidays until Friday.
In currencies, the euro was down 0.6 percent at $1.311 while in commodity markets the benchmark crude oil contract was trading 5 cents higher at $93.17 in New York.

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