Syria

Thousands mourn victims in twin tombs

Thousands of people in the Damascus are taking part in funerals for the 44 people killed in twin suicide bombings that struck the capital.

Mourners carried coffins draped in Syrian flags into the eighth-century Omayyad Mosque in downtown Damascus on Saturday. Many of them shouted in support of embattled President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian government has blamed the al-Qaida terrorist network for Friday's bombings, in which suicide attackers used car bombs to target the heavily guarded compounds of Syria's intelligence agencies.

Egypt

Egypt's Islamists sweep seats

Egypt's Islamists won almost 90 percent of seats in a parliamentary election runoff, bringing them closer to dominating the first elected body since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, State media reported.

The leading Islamist Freedom and Justice Party won 40 of the 60 seats in the runoff for the second round of the three-stage elections, according to both the party and the official Al-Ahram newspaper.

The ultra-conservative Salafi Al-Nur party won 13 seats, Al-Ahram reported.

Japan

Japan budget spending to hit record-high

Disaster-struck Japan is headed to a record budget spending of 96 trillion yen ($1.2 trillion) as the nation tackles the costs of recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami.

The Cabinet approved the draft budget for the fiscal year starting April 2012 on Saturday, covering massive costs for disaster reconstruction in northeastern Japan as well as decontamination efforts for radiation leaks at a tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant.

News watch

Thousands of Russians gathered in Moscow on Saturday to protest against alleged vote fraud in the State Duma elections.

Up to 50,000 people are expected to attend the protest at downtown Sakharov Avenue, according to the organizers, who had promised the demonstration would be "safe and calm".

Xinhua - AP

(China Daily 12/25/2011 page2)