Eli Lilly banks on cost controls for higher 2013 profit

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.Lilly, whose shares were up nearly 4 percent on Friday, said 2013 sales will be flat to a bit higher, despite the loss of patent on its $5 billion-a-year antidepressant, Cymbalta, in December.The Indianapolis-based...

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Lilly 2013 profit forecast tops expectations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Eli Lilly and Co. unveiled a better-than-expected 2013 earnings forecast Friday, in part because the pharmaceutical company expects growth from several established drugs to help make up for revenue lost to generic competition.The Indianapolis drug developer saw sales for its all-time best-selling drug, the antipsychotics Zyprexa, crater in 2012 after it lost U.S. patent protection....

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"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week.Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current estimates...

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For Egypt's satirists, Morsi's power is no joke

There are few things dictators hate more than satirists, with their uncomfortable habit of piercing hypocrisy and self-importance with just a few well-placed verbal or written barbs.Under Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian public's rich horde of satirical memes was an underground phenomenon, the province of cafe talk and SMS messages. That former President Mubarak was commonly called La Vache qui rit ("The...

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Taiwan undersea oil plans raise neighbors' eyebrows

Taiwan, a normally quiet claimant to portions of the disputed South China Sea, plans to explore for undersea oil there, a move likely to test fragile relations with China and upset major Southeast Asian nations.Ringed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and others, the waters are believed to hold as many as 213 billion barrels of oil but competing claims from the six bordering nations have...

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US drone strike in Pakistan kills influential Taliban commander

Key Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir – considered a "good" Taliban by some among the Pakistani military – died in a US drone strike that left at least six dead on Thursday, according to local reports.According to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, Taliban and local government officials confirm that Mr. Nazir and at least two of his deputies were killed when a US drone hit their vehicle in South Waziristan,...

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Russia plans biggest war games since Soviet era

The Russian navy has announced that it will hold its biggest war games since Soviet times in the Mediterranean and Black seas later this month.The ambitious exercises, which will involve ships from all four major Russian fleets, are a sign of growing confidence on the part of Russia's military as it begins to enjoy the benefits of President Vladimir Putin's huge budget allocations for renewing and...

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Gerard Depardieu's latest drama: a Russian passport

Vladimir Putin flourished his pen Thursday morning and signed what must be the oddest decree of his long years in power: an order granting a Russian passport to French actor and tax exile Gerard Depardieu.A terse announcement posted on the Kremlin website noted that Mr. Putin acted "to satisfy an application for citizenship of the Russian Federation by Gerard Xavier Depardieu, who was born in 1948...

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Lending to businesses still weak in Europe

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Bank loans to companies fell again in Europe, another sign that the economy remains slack in the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.The European Central Bank said Thursday that loans to non-financial corporations fell by 1.4 percent in November from the year before.It's a sign that businesses remain reluctant to take on risk and borrow, despite the ECB's record...

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German jobless rate up to 6.7 percent

Germany's unemployment rate crept up to 6.7 percent in December due to seasonal factors and a more sluggish economy, but the labor market remained robust and the average number of people out of work last year was the lowest in more than two decades.The unadjusted jobless rate rose from 6.5 percent in November, the Federal Labor Agency said Thursday. Some 2.84 million people were registered unemployed...

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Japan's finance minister in Myanmar with development pledges

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Japan's new government confirmed its support for the emerging democracy in Myanmar on Thursday when Finance Minister Taro Aso visited the country to reaffirm Japan's intention to cancel debt and help develop a big industrial zone.Myanmar has implemented rapid economic and political reforms since President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government took over from a long-ruling...

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Uganda holds key rate with eye on growth, inflation

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's central bank held interest rates on Thursday, treading a path between managing inflation and supporting an economic upturn it said would likely lead it to cut borrowing costs in the coming year.With the country's currency under pressure, traders and analysts had mostly expected the Central Bank of Uganda to leave the key lending rate at 12 percent - ending a run of growth-boosting...

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Botswana GDP growth at 1.1 pct q/q in Q3 2012

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Botswana's economy grew by 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2012 after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in the second quarter, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday.On a year-on-year basis growth was at 5.7 percent in the third quarter compared with a revised 8.5 percent in the previous quart...

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Benazir Bhutto's son takes up the family trade in Pakistan

Five years after the assassination of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari made his first major speech today aimed at galvanizing supporters of the Bhutto family-led Pakistan Peoples Party.The speech, delivered in the family’s hometown of Garhi Khuda Bux in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, was attended by thousands of party supporters gathered to mark the anniversary...

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India gang rape spurs national dialogue

The Indian government’s crackdown on the anti-rape protests that have continued for nearly two weeks in New Delhi has only aggravated public anger and concern about women’s safety.The protests were sparked by the gang rape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old student on a bus in the elite South Delhi district on Dec. 16.As the girl battles for her life in a Singapore hospital, Indians are debating...

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Putin signs antiadoption law, throwing pending adoptions into confusion

President Vladimir Putin signed the Dima Yakovlev Act into law Friday, banning all adoptions of Russian orphans by US citizens as of Jan. 1 and throwing dozens of currently ongoing adoptions into confusion.The mood among workers in the almost 40 Russia-accredited adoption agencies, which have survived repeated bouts of political tensions and ever-tightening regulations over the years, was near despair...

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US embassy evacuated as rebels surge in Cental African Republic

Rebels are closing in on the capital of the impoverished Central African Republic, threatening to topple the weak government and push yet another African nation into civil war, failure, or outright collapse, The Associated Press and other news outlets are reporting.The former French colony joins a string of countries stretching from Mali and the Ivory Coast to Congo and South Sudan where war and turmoil...

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In 2013, possibilities for stability from Somalia to South China Sea

The international news of any year is a disparate affair, a global chronicle of courage, calamity, and close calls. The interconnectedness of events is not always clear.But looking ahead to 2013, whether in Syria, South America, or the South China Sea, policymakers have a common New Year's wish: for unity to usher in and consolidate political and economic stability.EUROPE TURNS TOWARD INTEGRATIONAfter...

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China academics warn of "violent revolution" if no political reform

A prominent group of Chinese academics has warned in a bold open letter that the country risks "violent revolution" if the government does not respond to public pressure and allow long-stalled political reforms.The 73 scholars, including well-known current and retired legal experts at top universities and lawyers, said political reform had not matched the quick pace of economic expansion."If reforms...

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Gold ticks higher; on track for 12th annual gain

 Gold ticked up to around $1,660 an ounce on Monday after the euro firmed against the dollar, but wary investors stayed on the sidelines as last-ditch attempts by U.S. lawmakers to resolve a fiscal crisis seemed to be getting nowhere.Lawmakers pushed the United States to the edge of the "fiscal cliff" as they struggled to reach a last-minute deal that could prevent the world's largest economy...

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Zambia extends deadline for new bank capital rules

Zambia's central bank has extended a deadline for commercial banks to meet new minimum capital requirements by a year to December 31, 2013, saying it was satisfied with progress made so far.Zambia raised its capital requirements for foreign banks to $100 million from $2 million this year to insulate its banking sector from the effects of a weak global economy.The capital requirement for local banks...

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S.Africa stocks up 22 pct in 2012 on retail surge

 South African stocks ended the year near record highs on Monday, after a 22 percent surge that marks their best annual return since 2009, lifted by a runaway performance from the booming retailing industry.Equities in Africa's biggest economy have confounded market watchers this year, as shares largely shrugged off lacklustre economic growth and three months of crippling strikes in the crucial...

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China to keep prudent monetary policy in 2013: central bank

 China will stick to a prudent monetary policy next year and keep consumer prices stable, its outgoing central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said on Monday, in fresh sign that Beijing won't be changing direction when the new government takes over in 2013.Reiterating China's long-stated vow to reduce the level of central planning in its economy and make room for more market forces, Zhou also...

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