Reuters World News Highlights at 1005 GMT, Dec 26
Dec 26 (Reuters) - TOP STORIES
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TOKYO - New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a cabinet stacked with close allies on Wednesday, kicking off a second administration committed to battling deflation and coping with the challenge of a rising China.
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CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has signed into law a new Islamist-drafted constitution he says will help end political turmoil and allow him to focus on fixing the fragile economy.
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KHOST, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.
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DUBAI - Iran rejected accusations from Gulf Arab states that it was meddling in their affairs, saying those countries were "running away from reality", an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday.
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SEOUL - Unification of the two Koreas could cost the South up to 7 percent of annual GDP for a decade though the South would benefit in various ways such as cheap labour and the North's resources, South Korea's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
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MOBILE, Alabama - A major winter storm system swept through the southern United States on Tuesday, spawning tornadoes in several states and killing two people in weather-related road accidents.
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HONOLULU - President Barack Obama is cutting short his Hawaiian holiday to leave for Washington on Wednesday to address the unfinished "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Congress, the White House said on Tuesday.
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YANGON - Myanmar's president called on Wednesday for a shake-up in the running of his fast-changing country, which he said was still mired in corruption and inefficiency and lagging behind its international peers.
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BEIRUT - International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pursued mediation efforts in Damascus on Tuesday, but there was no pause in the bloodletting as Syrian Christians marked a bleak Christmas Day with prayers for peace.
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WASHINGTON - The Obama administration formally proposed a controversial sale of advanced spy drones to help South Korea bear more of its defense from any attack by the heavily armed North.
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JOHANNESBURG - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two weeks in hospital, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
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KABUL - When a Taliban suicide bomber killed two people on the edge of the Afghan capital this month, there was another casualty - a global fruit juice business optimistically called "Spring Wish" which provided work for thousands of farmers across the country.