Gang rape protesters clash with Indian police

Police in India's capital used tear gas and water cannons for a second day Sunday in a high-security zone to break up protests by thousands of people demonstrating against the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus.
Police chased angry protesters with batons some of whom fought pitched battles with steel rods and rocks as they tried to get past steel barricades and a wall created by hundreds of policemen to reach the president's mansion to present their demands. "We want justice," they shouted.
Television footage showed that some protesters were injured in the clashes.
The protesters made bonfires and damaged cars and police vehicles.
Police blamed the violence on hooligans. "A peaceful protest by people has been taken over by hooligans," Dharmendra Kumar, a senior police officer, told reporters. He urged people to go home to help police deal with the trouble makers.
The demonstrations continued Sunday despite Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promising to consider their main demand for death penalties for all six suspects who have been arrested by police following the Dec. 16 attack.
Shinde said Saturday night that the government was taking steps to better ensure the safety of women.
A group of protesters met Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, and her son and lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday and demanded a speedy trial of the suspects.
Popular yoga guru Babar Ramdev stood on the roof of a bus and pledged support to the protesters. "The government must set up fast-track courts to punish the offenders in rape attacks," he said.
The attack one week ago has sparked days of protests across the country. The victim is recovering from injuries in a New Delhi government hospital but is still in critical condition.
After battling the protesters throughout the day on Saturday, authorities early on Sunday banned their entry into the high-security zone, which also houses the offices of the prime minister and defense, home and external affairs ministries. Police evicted dozens of protesters who had spent the night there.
However, as groups of protesters marched through the streets of New Delhi and began converging on the high-security area on Sunday, authorities withdrew the ban on the assembly of more than five people there. But it set up barricades to keep them away from the president's residence.
Protesters tried to break the police cordon repeatedly by hurling stones and water bottles and pressing against the steel barricades. Policemen responded by firing tear gas and using water cannons against them. The battle continued throughout the day.

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In Afghan Taliban birthplace, US troops step back

President Barak Obama will decide in the coming weeks how many American troops to send home from Afghanistan next year. A major factor in his decision will be the question of how successful U.S. troops have been in preparing the Afghans to secure their country at bases like this one, located in one of the country's most violent areas — the birthplace of the Taliban.
There have been calls in Congress for Obama to increase the size of a planned drawdown of U.S. forces before the end of summer 2013, when the Afghan military is supposed to take the lead in security across the country. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as well, has suggested he wants the drawdown accelerated.
"We are working to make this transition of security happen sooner. We want all the foreign forces to come out of the villages and go to their bases so the Afghan forces can carry out security," Karzai said last week.
But too large a pullout too soon could undermine the fight against the Taliban insurgency if Afghan forces are not fully prepared. It is widely thought that Gen. John Allen, the top military commander in Afghanistan, and his senior staff want to keep a large force in place for the summer fighting season, before international forces move into an entirely back-up and training role behind the Afghan forces by the start of autumn — an event known as "Milestone 13."
Obama is expected to decide on the size of the withdrawal after meeting with Karzai in Washington in early January. Their talks will also be key on determining what the U.S. military's role will be in Afghanistan after December 2014, when the foreign combat mission is set to end and almost all international troops are scheduled to leave. The U.S. currently has 66,000 thousand troops in Afghanistan out of an international force totaling about 102,000.
The work of training Afghan army units being done at this dusty base in the Zhari district of Kandahar province and at other bases scattered around the country will help shape Obama's decision.
U.S. and Afghan officers here say the district is a success story: Violence has not gone up more than two months after the American presence here was brought down from around 3,500 troops to around 300, with Afghan forces taking the lead in more areas.
But the situation remains tenuous. Residents say Taliban fighters remain in control of large parts of the district.
Zhari is where Taliban leader Mullah Omar was born, where he founded the movement that ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s and has battled U.S. and Afghan forces for the past 11 years. Three years ago, Taliban forces controlled the district, and it has been one of the three most violent areas of Kandahar, the province that is the Taliban's traditional heartland.
U.S soldiers had a hard fight in Zhari when they moved into the south in large force as part of the surge in American troops early in the Obama administration. The district has rich farmland that produces pomegranates and grapes used for raisins, and the fields, covered in dirt mounds, formed natural trenches the Taliban could fight from. Food, which was abundant, was easily coerced by the Taliban from villagers.
Lt. Col. Tim Davis, commander of Combined Task Force Buffalo, said, "the density of mines was impressive" when his task force arrived and that it required "an entire combat operation just to put a road in."
The commander of international forces in Kandahar and three other southern provinces, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams, told reporters recently that progress in Zhari had been "astounding." Afghan forces are already in the lead of security duties in many parts of the district, he said. Across the south, the Afghans carry out 400 to 500 daily patrols without coalition assistance.
Afghan military officers in Zhari contend they can now handle the fight without much help from the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force.
"Zhari is about 70 percent safe now," said Col. Abdul Rahimi, operations officer of the Afghan army's 3rd Brigade 205th Corps at Pasab base, though he acknowledged neighboring Maiwand district remains a problem. The number of Taliban fighters was down to around 100 in Zhari and Maiwand, compared to some 900 two years ago, he said.
"The enemy is not able right now to fight against the government, nor can it take over if ISAF leaves," Rahimi said.
Residents in Zhari, however, give a different picture. Some said the government has control of the main highway but not much else.
"Government claims that they control most of the area are just a dream not related to any reality," Allahnoor Taraki, a 38-year-old farmer, said.
Mohammed Salim Danghar, a taxi driver, said the province remains hotly contested. While the government has improved its position, he said, "we all know that most of the area is controlled by the Taliban."
The American drawdown in Zhari is a model of plans for the pullback elsewhere.
Here, large American combat units have been replaced by smaller teams made up of about 18 soldiers each. The teams are embedded with Afghan units, advising them on tactics, leadership and strategy — but not fighting.
In Zhari, attacks "have not only decreased, but significantly decreased," said Davis.
"The challenge is when we start pulling back," he said. The key to a successful transition will be "to see if the local security forces can take up the slack."
The U.S. military plans to repeat that process elsewhere in the south and east by creating 400 such teams. At the same time, eight of the 14 U.S. brigades in Afghanistan will be reduced in size to 1,400-1,900 personnel, down from 3,500, to act as support for the teams. That role change alone will mean a reduction of between 13,000 to 17,000 NATO troops.
The U.S. military has not made public its recommendations to Obama about the size or timing of next year's drawdown. Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said recently that NATO and the Afghan government intend to begin the final phase of transition by the mid to latter part of 2013 — suggesting he prefers a later start to the drawdown, as opposed to earlier in 2013.
The top contender for Panetta's job, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, is thought to support a more rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has already announced that about 3,800 of his country's troops will leave by the end of 2013, leaving 5,000 to stay into 2014.
The Afghan army now numbers about 350,000 and has taken the lead on security in areas that are home to 76 percent of Afghanistan's population of 30 million. Still, despite their progress, only one of Afghanistan's 23 brigades around the country can operate on its own without coalition help of some kind, the U.S. Defense Department said in its most recent semi-annual report to Congress.
Attacks by insurgents around the country have not decreased, but the violence has been pushed out of most population centers, the report said. Civilian and NATO casualties have fallen. But Afghan forces are taking an increasing toll. More than 300 Afghan soldiers and policemen are dying each month, according to Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, who said that represented an increase, though he did not provide comparative figures.
"We still face challenges in southern Afghanistan," Abrams acknowledged in his headquarters at Kandahar Air Field.

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Flights of fancy at Day 2 of London Fashion Week

A catwalk of faux grass and barefoot, denim-clad models took audiences to 1960s America. Sweet dungarees and clogs conjured up a fisherman's tale at one show, while at another the fashion crowd feasted their eyes on a concoction of pastel ruffles as delectable as roses in full bloom.
Newcomers and established designers alike took audiences on flights of fancy on Day 2 of London Fashion Week Saturday, which showcased an eclectic range of women's wear creations from the elegant to the whimsical, from the eminently wearable to structured works of art.
Britons Jasper Conran and John Rocha, two of the fashion week's most established names, both showed Saturday, with the former delivering a surprisingly fun and youthful collection and the latter wowing the crowd with the sheer technique that went into his sculptural creations.
Also featured Saturday was Kinder Aggugini, former designer at Versace; Huishan Zhang, a Chinese-born talent who delivered a refined debut show of reworked Chinese motifs; and Moschino Cheap and Chic, the Italian brand's diffusion line.
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JASPER CONRAN
Conran's signature look is pared-down British elegance, but for next spring he offered up a playful selection on a retro Americana theme: Psychedelic flowers, blue jeans, stars and stripes, Woodstock and multi-colored patchwork.
Models walked on a catwalk made of a bed of faux grass to the tunes of Carole King, and the look was part cool cowgirl, part folksy flower children. There were denim vests, shorts and straight cut jeans, some embroidered with flowers and doves, others adorned by a silver sequined hem. Later models wore crochet, patchwork or kaleidoscope print dresses.
Prints were childlike and irreverent (think huge print of a cherry on a white shirt) and the palette was as cheerful as it gets: Bubblegum pink, coral, mustard, lime, and a tangerine that Conran called "Fanta orange."
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JOHN ROCHA
Voluminous hooped skirts, ruffles and layers of sheer organza dominated the catwalk at Ireland-based John Rocha's show, which resembled a beautiful English garden of sculpted flowers.
A red strapless dress with an exaggerated tulip shape opened the show, its large organza ruffles imitating the frail petals of a flower.
The hooped, textured skirt then appeared layered over trousers and under sheer organza jackets. It was also repeated to great effect in a host of pastel colors: Pale lavender, mint, lemon, before appearing in gun metal, champagne, black and white. Models all wore large matching hats made of folds of organza that sat like tinted clouds on their heads.
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MOSCHINO CHEAP & CHIC
Conran wasn't the only one who got the fun retro vibe: At Moschino Cheap and Chic there were low-slung flare trousers, flirty party dresses and a riot of bold colors.
Saturday night's show, which came complete with a live band and disco lights, featured party pieces like a candy-colored bomber jacket, an orange pant suit with jeweled lapels, and a mint pleated skirt with oversized flower sequins.
Lime, which is emerging as a popular spring color, was paired with magenta, burgundy, and orange. A standout print of blue and lime pineapples was seen on hot shorts, crop tops and capri pants, and many in the fashion crowd were left lusting after the playful pineapple handbags.
Cheap and Chic is the Italian label's diffusion line. Moschino's main line shows at Milan Fashion Week.
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KINDER AGGUGINI
Former Versace designer Kinder Aggugini began the day with a show inspired by fishermen and the freedom of being at sea. His spring collection was themed around the traditional naval palette - blue, red and white - but he washed out the colors for a faded, carefree look to fit his "gone fishing" theme.
Gingham and prints of island life added girlish charm to the relaxed shapes, which included pieces like pinafores, low-slung shorts and men's style shirts. Hand-painted clogs pulled the looks together.
Aggugini cleverly sneaked in the ocean theme in several standout pieces: A navy blazer had a white-dyed hem to imitate the sea's waves, and a black velvet gown had a design of octopus tentacles that reached to the floor.
"It was all very fresh and sweet, very well made, very cute. It all worked," said Hilary Alexander, a veteran British fashion editor who attended the show at London Fashion Week.
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HUISHAN ZHANG
Newcomer Huishan Zhang delivered a sophisticated debut collection Saturday that impressed the crowd with his fresh take on traditional Chinese motifs.
The tailored Chinese silk dress, the cheongsam, was updated with detachable, crystal-embellished collars, subtle prints and a refreshing palette of mint, sage, sea green and violets.
Dresses had high necklines and modest hemlines, but the way the silk hugged the body oozed sensual femininity. Prints of sparrows, pagodas and mahjong tiles lent playfulness to the elegant clothes. Silhouettes were clean and unfussy, adorned sometimes with sheer, wispy capes.
Zhang, who recently graduated from London's Central St. Martins college, spent a year working at Christian Dior before setting up his own label. His first season collection has been picked up by two retailers.
"He's delivered clothes that are appropriate for all age groups, and that's something that's quite difficult to do for a young designer," said Anne Tyrrell, a London-based design consultant. "He's one to watch, definitely.

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5 Digital Highlights From New York Fashion Week

Designers didn't just bring new clothes to Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week -- several introduced new uses for digital technology as well.
[More from Mashable: 5 Runway Fashions Chosen by Fans]
Diane von Furstenberg led the pack, surprising in-person and online attendees by showcasing Google Glass -- the futuristic eyewear device Google is building -- down the runway. Photos were taken backstage using the device, and shared to DVF's Google+ Page ahead of and during the show.
A short film compiled from video taken with glasses worn by models, Furstenberg and members of her team was released three days later. Tweets about the DVF show were up 160% from last season, making her the third most talked-about designer on Twitter during Fashion Week, according to third-party data from social media agency, Whispr Group.
[More from Mashable: Reporters Turn to Mobile Video, Viddy for Fashion Week Coverage]
Beyond DVF's show, New York Fashion Week, which ended last Thursday, witnessed the appearance of stylish gadgets from the likes of HTC and Rebecca Minkoff. Reporters used short-form mobile video for new kinds of coverage, and several emerging designers teamed up with startup CutOnYourBias to let fans shape their collections. Live streams continued to grow in popularity, with new twists from Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta. For a full roundup, check out the gallery below.
1. Google Glass at DVF
Google Glass, the futuristic, augmented reality-enhanced eyewear device the tech giant is developing, made its first appearance at Diane von Furstenberg's S/S 2013 show. Photos were taken with the device backstage and shared to DVF's Google+ Page ahead of and during the show. A short film compiled from video taken with glasses worn by models, Furstenberg and members of her team was released three days afterward. Tweets about the DVF show were up 160% from last season, making her the third most-talked about designer on Twitter during Fashion Week, according to third-party data from Whispr Group.

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Mulberry, Illincic wrap up London Fashion Week

The models have packed up, the temporary runways taken down. London Fashion Week on Tuesday wrapped up five hectic days of women's wear shows, a whirlwind display of new colors and textures for next spring from big name designers and newcomers alike.
London hosts a more eclectic collection of designers and labels than fashion weeks in New York, Milan and Paris, and the latest crop of spring and summer designs seen this week has been a big mish-mash: Futuristic metallic leathers at Burberry, sweet '50s pastels at Temperley, '70s disco fever at Jonathan Saunders, and '90s minimalism at quite a few other shows.
While there was no overriding theme, there were micro-trends set to make their way to high street stores come spring. All-white and monochrome outfits were seen everywhere, as were pretty confectionery shades of mint and lemon.
Futuristic, shiny materials like plastic or fabrics with a foil-like, iridescent or even holographic sheen were popular, as was the use of sheer, feminine layers in organza, chiffon or mesh.
On Tuesday, things kicked off with '70s-inspired florals, wide-leg trousers and mannish suits at luxury label Mulberry, best-known for its leather handbags. The collection, delivered with a humorous British flair, nodded to several of the season's popular trends: Sleek trouser suits, all-season leather, metallic jacquard, and head-to-toe ice-cream pastel shades.
Model-turned-designer Roksanda Illincic followed with a collection of dresses with simple feminine shapes and minimal detailing, leaving her use of beautiful color combinations and glossy fabrics to do the talking.
Day Five also saw collections by a handful of younger and adventurous designers. Simone Rocha, the daughter of British fashion institution John Rocha, deftly combined schoolgirl innocence and tough attitude, while maverick duo Meadham Kirchoff sent the party home with a spectacularly whimsical show of Marie Antoinette fashion gone mad.
Tuesday's shows ended a week that saw models and celebrities like Kate Moss and One Direction's Harry Styles flocking to the catwalks' front row. Lady Gaga stole the limelight Sunday with a starring turn at milliner Philip Treacy's comeback show.
The fashion brigade moves on to Milan for more shows that begin Wednesday. Paris Fashion Week begins next Tuesday.
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MULBERRY
Luxury brand Mulberry has ditched most of the playfulness in its recent seasons, showcasing a spring collection that's still quirky but definitely grown-up.
Mulberry's show at London's swanky Claridge's hotel was decorated with dozens of garden gnomes and fake geckos crawling on rose bushes - a typically wacky atmosphere of pretty English garden meets exotic creatures.
But appearances were deceptive, and the clothes themselves were more sophisticated than the setting suggested.
Creative director Emma Hill sent models down the catwalk in oversized leather biker jackets and mannish tuxedos in navy, black and white. The 1970s-inspired collection had floral embroidery, floor-length skirts, flower buttons and high-waisted wide legs, updated with metallic jacquard printed with mini-flowers and geckos.
Leather separates and trouser suits balanced flirty pleated skirts. There were muted brown ensembles along with head-to-toe sweet pastels in mint and peach - including pastel-colored shoes and handbags, the brand's bestselling item.
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ROKSANDA ILLINCIC
Taking her inspiration from artists, Roksanda Illincic's catwalk show had plenty of ensembles for the woman who wants to look stylish without trying too hard. Simple, streamlined shapes like tailored shifts and breezy A-line dresses came in high-impact color combinations that really popped: Tangerine with cobalt, mango, dirty pink or white.
Sometimes all the colors came together on one dress, like a modern abstract painting.
Models cradled oversized satin clutch bags and wore patent courts with multi-colored block heels.
The show, staged in the Savoy Hotel's glamorous ballroom, ended with a series of ensembles made in a glossy, laminated organza.
Illincic counts U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Britain's Kate Middleton among fans of her sleek style. Her show had many of her popular signature elements: Beautiful colors, high-waisted silhouettes, feminine bell sleeves and modest mid-calf or ankle-grazing hemlines.
But this season the designer said she wanted to shake up the elegance with casual wear - like taking an evening dress shape and making it out of T-shirt or jersey materials.
"It gives an element of fun, something unexpected," she said.
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SIMONE ROCHA
Budding talent Simone Rocha has her designer dad's giant shoes to fill, but she seems to be taking it all in her stride.
The 26-year-old showcased her latest spring collection at London Fashion Week Tuesday, a collection of all-white outfits, sheer cut-out panels, neons and leather that mixed schoolgirl innocence with cool attitude.
The collection started with dazzling white button-up shirts and boyish shapes in Broderie Anglaise, but the prim look was soon undercut by thigh-revealing, irregular shaped sheer panels on the front or back of skirts.
High-collared, neat shapes in muted shades of butter and toffee followed, but soon things were shaken up with a pale sundress overlaid with a high-shine neon yellow PVC plastic, all-over metallic gold foil vests and skirts, and floral-crocheted skirts and oversized jackets in fluorescent yellow and neon coral.
Models wore mannish brogues with clear plastic soles and heels, a design that has been worn by celebrities including Rihanna and proved to be Rocha's best-selling product.
Rocha debuted at London Fashion Week in 2010.
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MEADHAM KIRCHOFF
English-French design duo Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff are known for staging riotously fun and different shows, and this season they met expectations with a collection piled high with over-the-top, Marie Antoinette style corsets, bodices, bows and frills.
Although the invitation and the opening track told of a humorous "damsel in distress" theme, the models were more like fairy godmothers with an enchanted wardrobe.
Acting sleepy or deep in thought in their theatrical outfits, models drifted around stands set up on the catwalk and plucking roses and cupcakes from them.
There were big puffy sleeves, thigh-high boots, feather gloves and big skirts layered over skinny trousers, all embellished with lashings of bows and jewels. Not very practical, but certainly shows the fun and entertaining face of London fashion.

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Robyn Lawley: First Plus-Size Ralph Lauren Model

Robyn Lawley is turning heads, not just for her beauty, but for her 6 foot 2 inch height and curvy size 12 shape. At age 23, the Australian model has embraced her figure, and mainstream fashion magazines are taking notice.
Gracing the covers of French Elle and Vogue Italia, she recently became the first plus-sized model ever to spearhead a campaign for high-end fashion designer Ralph Lauren. She is defying the odds with this unheard of move in an industry that glorifies being thin.
"Robyn is absolutely paving the way for fuller figured women to land these larger campaigns," People magazine's senior writer Jen Garcia said.
She began modeling at age 16, but struggled to keep up with the industry's skinny standards.
"I did unfortunately. I got a huge amount of pressure to diet. And my body, it was such a battle for me to do that because I'm such a big bone, and I'm tall and I'm broad. I really struggled to maintain that size," Lawley said on " Good Morning America" this morning.
Feeling a bit discouraged, she decided to take a break to move to France.
"I gave up trying to be a model. And then I moved to France and fell in love with food all over again, and came back much bigger than I was. And I saw plus- size models doing well. And I decided that I wanted that, I wanted to be in magazines," Lawley said.
She persevered and landed her first contract as a plus-size model for the legendary Wilhelmina Modeling Agency at age 19.
"She's happy in her own skin, and that's something a lot of girls can look up to. And I think she's setting a great example for the fashion industry as a whole," Garcia said.
Lawley kept a positive attitude when asked if she thought more plus-size models would be emerging in the fashion industry.
"I hope so. I hope, I'm sure we will see. You know there's so many plus-size models in New York doing so well in the moment, and it's only going to get better," said Lawley.

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C'est chic! Impressionism taken down the runway, as exhibit kick-starts Paris fashion week

 Paris fashion week will soon open in style, with an exhibit that puts impressionist art down the runway — literally.
The exhibit, "Impressionism and Fashion," opens Tuesday at the storied Musee d'Orsay and explores how the late 19th-century Impressionists made Parisian fashion one of the great painting themes.
The exhibit travels to the New York Metropolitan in February.
It's well known that Impressionist artists such as Renoir, Monet and Degas tried to capture passing moments or "impressions" through painting. Less known is that dramatic changes in 1860s Parisian fashion played into the Impressionists' hands.
Rigid crinolines — the metal undercages that fanned out skirts — were abandoned in favour of a freer-flowing silhouette with layers of different materials and soft textures.
"The Impressionists used these new flowing fashions to capture the fleeting impressions of modern life," said co-curator Philippe Thiebaut. "Not only were they living, moving women now, but also the fashion trends themselves were changeable. It was the ultimate Impressionist subject."
Indeed, the blurred woman in a flowing, textured black dress in Edouard Manet's 1975 masterpiece "The Parisienne" looks almost as lifelike and real as many of the 60 actual dresses that make up the exhibit.
"We wanted to show how lifelike and modern all the Impressionist fashions were," said Robert Carsen, the famed Canadian set designer who designed the exhibit.
The colorful and varied collection also features some 80 oil paintings, which sprawl across nine rooms of the museum, and a converted turn-of-the-century train station. The station's original foyer was opened up for this exhibit for the first time in the museum's history.
In a spectacular touch, in two rooms Carsen has recreated modern runways — with a small dash of artistic license. Instead of models on the mirrored catwalks, hang oil paintings by masters such as Manet and Monet.
"I wanted to link the fashions of then to the fashions of today. Not much has changed in some ways. I discovered that the same chairs used in Paris catwalks today are the one we see in the Impressionists' paintings."
With perfect attention to detail, all the chairs are labeled appropriately in the mood of the time. Each seat has a 19th-century figure such as poet Charles Baudelaire.
"It's over a century now," said Carsen. "But some things don't change. We're still as obsessed with fashion now as we were then.

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Oracle beats outlook, shrugs off fiscal debate

BOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Technology giant Oracle Corp said software sales growth will stay strong into the new year despite fears that there could be big tax hikes and U.S. government spending cuts that could cause a slump in spending by customers.
Shares of the world's No. 3 software maker rose 1.3 percent after it reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed Wall Street forecasts.
Oracle President Safra Catz told investors that businesses were still looking to spend money already allocated to 2012 technology budgets.
"Folks want to close deals," she told analysts on a conference call following the earnings release on Tuesday. There has been "no negative impact on pricing. Pricing remains very good for us."
Oracle said software sales would grow 3 to 13 percent this quarter, which runs through February. It expects fiscal third-quarter hardware products sales to be flat to down 10 percent from a year ago.
The company's software and hardware forecasts were roughly in line with Wall Street expectations, according to FBR Markets analyst Daniel Ives.
Oracle reported that software sales and cloud software subscriptions rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter ended November 30.
It had forecast that new software sales would climb 5 to 15 percent from a year earlier, when it last reported earnings on September 20.
"I would call it an early Christmas present," Ives said. "It's a positive sign for the overall technology sector."
Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.
Oracle posted a second-quarter profit, excluding items, of 64 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 61 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan said Oracle's results are encouraging for other makers of business software, many of which end their quarter on December 31.
OFF A CLIFF
Some investors have worried that corporations would postpone spending on technology projects because of uncertainty over the year-end deadline for Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama to reach a compromise to thwart an automatic rise in tax rates and government spending cuts.
Failing to reach a deal, economists say, could lead to another U.S. recession. Catz said Oracle's customers are still spending on software.
"What's going on in Washington - I don't know who it's necessarily influencing today. But I can tell you, our customers have been spending money with us even here in December."
On Tuesday, Oracle forecast earnings per share in the current fiscal third quarter of 64 to 68 cents, excluding items. That was about level with an average forecast for 66 cents.
"It tells you that there's still money being spent by enterprises on software. It's not like the world has ground to a halt," MacMillan said.
The picture was not so bright for Oracle's troubled hardware division, which it acquired with its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in January 2010. The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since it closed that deal.
Hardware systems product sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $734 million. Oracle had forecast that hardware sales would drop between 8 and 18 percent.
Chief Executive Larry Ellison told analysts he expected hardware systems revenue to start growing in the fiscal fourth quarter which begins March 1.

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BofA CEO: Fed wants bank to show consistent earnings

BofA CEO: Fed wants bank to show consistent earnings
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp needs to show the U.S. Federal Reserve it can produce consistent earnings as part of the annual process to gain permission to return more capital to shareholders, CEO Brian Moynihan said in an interview.
The second-largest U.S. bank is turning a profit in most of its main businesses, but it inherited costly legal problems when it acquired companies during the financial crisis, including subprime mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.
In the third quarter, Bank of America reported only a nominal profit after reaching a $2.4 billion settlement with investors to resolve claims it hid crucial information from shareholders when it bought investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co.
Moynihan declined to comment on whether the bank's capital plan, which is due to the Fed by January 7, will include any proposed share buybacks or increases in dividends. Moynihan suffered a major embarrassment in 2011 when the Fed rejected the bank's request to increase its quarterly dividend, which has been stuck at just one penny per share since the financial crisis.
The Fed has been evaluating capital plans as part of its supervision of bank holding companies and under provisions in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. It is unclear whether the Fed would approve any request for an increased dividend or share buybacks next year. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.
"The element that is sort of unique to us is the predictability of the earnings stream," Moynihan said in an interview in his Charlotte, North Carolina, office. "We are working to get through that."
Other banks have demonstrated their ability to earn money more consistently. JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly profit, for example, hasn't fallen below $3.7 billion in the past year, even as it has taken losses on disastrous credit derivative trades.
Investors and analysts are hopeful that Bank of America's legal problems will die down soon. Its stock price has more than doubled this year, partly on expectations that the bank will increase its dividend and buy back more stock after the Federal Reserve reviews its capital plans this spring.
Analysts at Atlantic Equities on Tuesday said they expect Bank of America to buy back $4 billion of its own shares in 2013 and $10 billion in 2014, which would be its first buybacks since 2007.
The bank has "made a lot of progress" on legal issues, Moynihan said, but he acknowledged that the company is still working through lawsuits and investor demands to buy back soured mortgages the bank sold off during the housing boom.
In recent weeks, the bank's dispute with insurer MBIA Inc over mortgage-related claims has heated up, with Bank of America filing a new lawsuit last week against the insurer. The legal tussle with MBIA has dragged on, even as Bank of America has worked out settlements with other insurers of mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide.
Moynihan said the bank will settle the MBIA dispute if it can reach an agreement that is reasonable for shareholders but otherwise it is ready to litigate the matter.
The bank's shares closed Tuesday at $11.35, up 3.2 percent for the day. The shares are the best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average this year, after falling the most in 2011.
HEALING
In an effort to improve earnings, Moynihan is aiming to cut costs by $8 billion annually by mid-2015 through a program called Project New BAC, including 30,000 layoffs that have been under way since September 2011. Bank of America had noninterest expenses of $76.5 billion in 2011.
In addition, Bank of America expects to eventually reduce costs in its unit that serves delinquent mortgage customers to about $500 million per quarter from about $3.4 billion in the third quarter. If delinquent mortgages continue to fall, that saving should be achieved in 2015, if not sooner, Moynihan said.

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Top UBS shareholder pins rebound hopes on private wealth

LONDON (Reuters) - UBS's wealth management business will help it bounce back from a $1.5 billion rap for rigging interest rates, one of its largest investors said, although fears of costly civil lawsuits could cast a pall over its shares for some time.
Paras Anand, European equities head at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said legal action sparked by the Libor scandal posed an unpredictable threat to the bank's near-term earnings, even if its core private banking franchise escaped permanent harm.
"The big unknown factor is the civil litigation that could follow on as a result of this...That is one thing at the back of our minds that we have to be cognizant of," Anand said in an interview with Reuters.
"The issue for shareholders is the challenge of pricing that risk in. The potential costs are too unquantifiable and indeed, it's unclear as to whether they will actually manifest or not."
Switzerland's largest bank was hit with the fine on Wednesday after admitting to fraud, paying bribes to brokers and "pervasive" manipulation of global benchmark interest rates by dozens of its staff.
UBS shares were trading 1.3 percent higher at 9:01 a.m. ET, as investors looked forward to the end of a scandal-filled chapter in the bank's history and a renewed focus on managing cash on behalf of rich clients, rather than so-called 'casino' investment banking.
"There's clearly been a backlash against big faceless financial entities but a private bank has big personal relationships with its customers ... These kinds of institutions are surprisingly resilient," Anand said.
"We have seen some awful scandals in businesses much weaker than UBS and they manage to survive," he added.
Fidelity owns around 45 million shares in UBS, equivalent to around 1.2 percent of the bank, and is its fifth largest institutional owner excluding sovereign wealth funds, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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