Bethenny Frankel and husband of 2 years separating

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bethenny Frankel and husband Jason Hoppy are separating.

The 42-year-old TV personality, chef, author and entrepreneur told The Associated Press Sunday that the split brings her “great sadness.”

“This was an extremely difficult decision that as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family,” Frankel said. “We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority. This is an immensely painful and heartbreaking time for us.”

Frankel and Hoppy were married in 2010 and have a daughter, Bryn, who was born that same year. The couple’s courtship and marriage were documented in two reality series, “Bethenny Getting Married?” and “Bethenny Ever After…” Frankel gained fame as a star of “The Real Housewives of New York City.” Since her stint on the Bravo show, she has written four books, released a fitness video and founded her Skinnygirl line of cocktails, shapewear and nutritional supplements.

She launched a talk show, “Bethenny,” over the summer that is set to air nationally on Fox stations in 2013.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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For a Great Stocking Stuffer, Give a Kid a Vaccine

If you are looking for the perfect present to give kids this holiday season, what about immunity from a range of deadly communicable diseases? It is cheap and widely available at any good pediatricians’ office or vaccination clinic. Even so, this wonderful present is spurned by a growing number of parents in America and Europe.

A big reason that more children than ever will be around to enjoy the holiday season worldwide this year is because vaccination rates for a range of diseases have shot up over the last few decades. In the case of measles, the World Health Organization suggests 16 percent of infants were vaccinated against the disease in 1980 compared with 85 percent in 2010. The results speak for themselves: In 1980, measles killed 2.6 million people a year; that number was down to 139,000 in 2010. And that’s thanks not least to the efforts of the Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunizations, which buys vaccines at bulk and sells them on to developing countries using a sliding price scale that depends on the country’s income. GAVI has helped improve vaccination rates significantly even in some of the world’s most challenging countries. Yemen, for example, started a rotavarius vaccination campaign with GAVI support in 2012.

But for all that Western aid has helped in increasing global coverage, vaccination rates are going the opposite direction in the West itself. Amanda Glassman and colleagues at the Center for Global Development developed a measure of global performance looking at the sustained level of vaccination against diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus (the DPT shot) over the 1980-2010 period. On that ranking, the U.S. came in No. 24 behind countries that include Slovakia, Hungary, and Albania. France ranked No. 31, and the U.K. No. 91—behind Gambia and Eritrea.

Unvaccinated kids are concentrated within those countries, which considerably increases the risk of outbreaks. A lot of rich Californians with kids in private schools have managed to clump together with enough like-minded fellow thinkers to create large reservoirs of unvaccinated kids. The opt-out rate in private schools in the state doubled from 2004 to 2011. There are now 110 private schools across California where more than half of the kids skipped some or all vaccinations, and 247 private schools saw vaccination rates below 90 percent, the threshold critical to minimizing the potential for disease outbreak.

Declining vaccination rates have had the inevitable result. In 2011, according to health economist Victoria Fan, France had more than 14,000 cases of measles—the highest since 2000 and considerably more than the total number of cases in all of the Americas that year. Latin America eliminated measles in 2002, but because of dropping vaccination coverage in the North, the U.S. is importing measles cases from Europe and threatens to reexport them to South America. The U.S. has also seen outbreaks of meningitis despite the availability of an infant vaccine since 1987. And in the first nine months of 2012, the U.S. suffered more cases of whooping cough than it had in decades, with 25,000 cases and 13 deaths.

Parents who don’t vaccinate risk their own children’s lives—but also those of newborns too young for vaccination, kids of other vaccine-deniers, and older people for whom vaccines have proven ineffective. And they slow efforts to wipe out diseases completely, so that no one has to go to the bother and expense of getting the vaccines that these selfish, misguided, or ignorant parents are already leaving on the shelf. Think smallpox—it killed 300 million-plus people last century, but no one is vaccinated against it today because a global campaign succeeded in wiping it out.

Insanely, in a country that mandates car seats for all kids, parents in 20 states, including California, are allowed to opt out of vaccination programs for “philosophical reasons.” And the situation is the same across much of Europe.  Whereas a child out of a car seat who gets involved in a crash is only a danger to herself, an unvaccinated kid is a danger to others. The public policy case for mandating vaccination is far stronger than that for car seats.

Meanwhile, no child whose parents have shown the practical love of turning up at the clinic and no vaccine worker who has braved the struggle to set up that clinic should be thwarted for lack of a few dollars to finance the vaccines. (For an example of that bravery, look no further than the eight polio vaccination workers murdered last week in Pakistan, where the Taliban has opposed the campaign.)

So if you’ve already got your kids vaccinated, why not help a kid in another country get his or her full set? Donate to child vaccination efforts through Unicef or such groups as the Lions and Rotary clubs that have been longtime supporters of global vaccination efforts. Meanwhile, if you haven’t got your own kids vaccinated, here’s hoping an elf repeatedly whacks you with the lump of coal in your stocking until you repent.

Kenny is a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the New America Foundation.

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Water Fountains Give Vogue Look to Space Decoration

CAMAS, WA–(Marketwire – Dec 24, 2012) – Water Fountains revolutionize interior and professional spaces into a reassuring setting reverberating with the sounds of cascading water. Water Fountain Pros’ water features come in a stunning selection of styles, so one can rest assured that there’s an option that will feel like it was designed especially for them.

Water Fountain Pros have a vast collection to choose from. Depending on taste, need and interior/exterior decoration, one can select a fountain from:

• Indoor Fountains – The idea of indoor water fountains can help make the ambiance more relaxing. This enhances the design and aura of a room as it provides an atmosphere of recreation and tranquility.


• Outdoor Fountains – The classic and traditional kind of fountains, adding natural beauty to any exterior — backyard, garden or porch — serving as a focal point of attraction.


• Wall fountains – The impressive thing about wall fountains is that they don’t take up any ground space and are undemanding to mount on most walls. They are excellent in adding character to any space and tying up the overall look of the place.


• Floor fountains – They are a great way to add a decorative touch to one’s home, garden or patio and also serve great functional purpose of drowning out unwanted ambient noise outside.


• Tabletop fountains – They may be small, but they are powerful and relatively inexpensive — a much better choice for relaxation in key areas such as a busy work desk or on a nightstand next to the bed.


• Custom fountains – Water Fountain Pros also gives the flexibility to custom design water fountains depending on user requirements.

About Water Fountain Pros:
Water Fountain Pros offer a wide variety of fountains — indoor, outdoor, wall, floor, tabletop and custom. One can browse through their stunning collection and order online. Free shipping combined with their policy of “NO tax on all orders” (except for Washington users), makes Water Fountain Pros an obvious choice for those who love the sound and serenity of water features.

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World shares, dollar steady in holiday lull

LONDON (Reuters) - World stock, commodity and currency markets were steady on Monday, as the holiday lull set in across markets and offset tensions over the U.S. budget dispute.

With only UK, French, Dutch and Spanish stock markets open in Europe and trading shortened ahead of Christmas celebrations, the FTSEurofirst300 <.fteu3> opened almost flat at 1138.35 points to leave the MSCI index of global stocks <.miwd00000pus> virtually unchanged at 339.87.

Activity in other assets was also subdued, with spot gold steadying as investors took to the sidelines, while Brent oil eased 0.3 percent to $108.63.

Financial markets are also in limbo over $600 billion of U.S. spending cuts and tax hikes that kick in next month and threaten to hurt the economy. Lawmakers and President Barack Obama have abandoned talks to prevent this "fiscal cliff" until after Christmas.

"It's all about the U.S. fiscal cliff issue," said Victor Shum, managing director at IHS Purvin & Gertz.

"The chances are that we will get a deal between the White House and the Republicans, but the fact that (House of Representatives speaker John) Boehner failed to get members to support his plan is worrying."

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> inched up 0.1 percent in thin trading after falling to a near two-week low on Friday.

Japanese financial markets are closed for a public holiday and will resume trading on Tuesday. Most European bond markets were also shut.

In the currency market, the dollar eased 0.1 percent versus a basket of major currencies, while the euro was steady at around $1.3196.

The yen, however, neared a 20-month low versus the dollar after incoming premier Shinzo Abe renewed pressure over the weekend on the Bank of Japan to adopt a 2 percent inflation target.

(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano and Manash Goswami in Singapore; Editing by Anna Willard)

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Falcons top Lions 31-18 for home-field advantage

DETROIT (AP) — Matt Ryan got what he wanted.

Calvin Johnson was forced to settle for what he could get.

Ryan matched a career high with four touchdown passes, two to Roddy White, to help the Atlanta Falcons beat the Detroit Lions 31-18 Saturday night and earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

"It's great," Ryan said. "Our confidence is high and our experience — good and bad — has helped us. The key is to keep the focus where it's been."

In yet another loss, Johnson had a record-breaking night.

Johnson broke Jerry Rice's NFL single-season yards receiving mark of 1,848. After making the record-breaking catch in the fourth quarter, Johnson jogged over to the sideline and handed the football to his father.

"That was a very special moment," he said.

Johnson also became the only player with 100 yards receiving in eight straight games and the first with 10 receptions in four games in a row in league history. He had 11 receptions for 225 yards, giving him 1,892 this season.

"I've been an NFL fan my whole life, dating back to watching Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry as a kid, and I've coached in this league for 19 years," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. "I've seen a lot of Hall of Famers, but I've never seen a better player than Calvin Johnson.

"He just broke a record set by Jerry Rice, who is arguably the best player in this history of this league."

The Falcons (13-2) pulled away with Ryan's fourth TD pass to wide-open tight end Michael Palmer in the fourth quarter and Matt Bryant's 20-yard field goal with 3:05 left that gave them a 15-point lead.

Ryan was 25 of 32 for 279 yards without a turnover.

The Falcons hope playing at home, potentially throughout the conference playoffs, helps them more than it did after the 2010 and 1980 seasons. The Falcons failed to win a game in either postseason, getting routed by Green Bay two years ago and blowing a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead to Dallas three decades ago.

Atlanta advanced to its only Super Bowl with a win at Minnesota after winning a franchise-record 14 games during the 1998 season.

The Falcons won't have much incentive to match that mark next week at home against Tampa Bay, when they'll have nothing to gain and something to lose if a key player or more gets hurt.

Detroit (4-11) has been relegated to playing for pride this month and that hasn't been going very well.

The Lions, whose seven-game losing streak is the longest skid in the league, haven't struggled this much since the laughingstock of a franchise became the league's first to go 0-16 in 2008.

The Falcons led 21-3 at halftime before letting the Lions pull within five points early in the fourth quarter.

Ryan dashed Detroit's comeback hopes.

Facing intense pressure, he converted a third down in Atlanta territory with a pass to White, picked on rookie cornerback Jonte Green by throwing to Jones to pick up more first downs and found Tony Gonzalez open to convert another third down to set up his fourth TD pass.

"We didn't play well in the third quarter," Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. "Matt made some big throws on that drive."

Stafford was clearly trying to get the ball to Johnson on the next drive and cornerback Asante Samuel figured that out, stepping in front of the receiver for an interception to set up Bryant's field goal.

Atlanta running back Michael Turner was tackled in the end zone, after Detroit turned the ball over on downs, to give the Lions two meaningless points.

Ryan went deep to White for the first score, connecting with him on a 44-yard TD strike with 5:50 left in the first quarter. Ryan threw a short pass to him early in the second quarter and the standout receiver did the rest on a 39-yard sprint down the sideline.

Ryan put his third TD pass where only Julio Jones could catch it a corner of the end zone, and he did on a 16-yard reception that put Atlanta up 21-3.

Detroit didn't give up, a game after being accused of doing just that in a 38-10 loss at Arizona.

Jason Hanson kicked a second field goal late in the first half to make it 21-6.

After Atlanta opened the second half with a three-and-out drive, Mikel Leshoure scored on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter to pull the Lions with eight points.

Hanson's third field goal made it 21-16.

Stafford finished 37 of 56 for 443 yards with an interception and the Lions say he set an NFL record for the most yards passing in a game without throwing a TD pass.

Detroit dug a big hole because the Falcons scored two TDs off turnovers in the first half.

Defensive end Kroy Biermann forced running Leshoure to fumble, giving the Falcons the ball at their 31 and they took advantage. Ryan's perfectly lofted pass to White's fingertips converted a third-and-1 in a big way, putting the Falcons ahead.

The Lions responded with another drive into Atlanta territory, but stalled and had to settle for Hanson's 34-yard field goal in the final minute of the opening quarter to pull within four points.

Atlanta earned a double-digit lead on the ensuing drive.

Ryan threw a screen pass to his left to White, who got a great block from tight end Gonzalez, and the receiver raced untouched for a score that put the Falcons ahead 14-3.

White finished with eight receptions for 153 yards and two TDs. Jones had seven receptions for 71 yards and a score.

Ryan completed his first 12 attempts and, after his first incomplete pass, he converted a third-and-10 with an 11-yard toss to Jacquizz Rodgers. Two plays later, Ryan matched a season high with a third TD pass on the connection with Jones. Prior to the game, Ryan hadn't started a game with more than 10 consecutive completions, according to STATS LLC. He started 10 for 10 last month against Tampa Bay.

Johnson had three receptions for 70 yards in the first quarter, breaking Herman Moore's single-season franchise record for yards receiving.

By halftime, Johnson had 117 yards receiving. He had 100 yards receiving for an eighth straight game, breaking a record set by Charley Hennigan in 1961 and matched by Michael Irvin in 1995. It was Johnson's 11th game with 100 yards receiving this season, tying Irvin's NFL mark.

"Calvin is one of the best players in the game and I think everybody is a big fan of his," Ryan said. "He's one of the most genuinely nice people you could meet."

Stafford connected with Johnson on a short crossing route and the receiver did the rest, outrunning Falcons on a 49-yard gain. Fittingly, the Lions turned the ball over on the next snap in the latest lowlight in a season full of them.

The Lions, Falcons and fans at Ford Field in Detroit honored the victims of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School before the game. Players had memorial decals on their helmets that read "S.H.E.S." in white on a black background, and Detroit's coaches wore pins with a similar design. There was also a moment of silence before the national anthem while the names and ages of each victim were shown on the videoboards. Twenty children and six adults were killed in the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza killed his mother, shot students and staff, then killed himself.

NOTES: Stafford, in his fourth season, has 1,090 career completions to surpass Bobby Layne's franchise record of 1,074. Stafford is seven attempts away from surpassing the NFL's single-season mark of 691 set by Drew Bledsoe with New England in 1994. ... Backup Falcons CB Christopher Owens had a hamstring injury.

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Senators slam movie's torture scenes

In the new film "Zero Dark Thirty," Jessica Chastain plays a CIA analyst who is part of the team hunting Osama bin Laden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sens. Feinstein, McCain, Levin send letter calling new film "grossly inaccurate"


• Letter adds to controversy over depiction of torture as a key to finding bin Laden, Bergen says


• Senate committee has approved 6,000-page classified report on CIA interrogations program


• Bergen says as much as possible of that report should be released to the public

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is a CNN national security analyst and author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad."

(CNN) -- On Wednesday, three senior U.S. senators sent Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures, a letter about "Zero Dark Thirty," the much-discussed new movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which described the film as "grossly inaccurate and misleading."

In the letter, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, expressed their "deep disappointment" in the movie's depiction of CIA officers torturing prisoners, which "credits these detainees with providing critical lead information" about the courier who led the CIA to bin Laden's hiding place in northern Pakistan.

The senators point out that the filmmakers of "Zero Dark Thirty" open the movie with the words that it is "based on first-hand accounts of actual events." The film then goes on, the senators say, to give the clear implication "that the CIA's coercive interrogation techniques were effective in eliciting important information related to a courier for Usama Bin Laden."

Review: 'Zero Dark Thirty' is utterly gripping

Peter Bergen

The senators write that this is not supported by the facts: "We have reviewed CIA records and know that this is incorrect."

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to sign off on the findings of its three-year study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program, during the course of which the committee's staff reviewed more than 6 million pages of records about the program.

Based on the findings of that review, Sens. Feinstein and Levin had released a statement eight months ago that said, "The CIA did not first learn about the existence of the Usama Bin Laden courier from CIA detainees subjected to coercive interrogation techniques. Nor did the CIA discover the courier's identity from detainees subjected to coercive techniques. ... Instead, the CIA learned of the existence of the courier, his true name and location through means unrelated to the CIA detention and interrogation program."

In their letter to Sony, the three senators write, "(W)ith the release of Zero Dark Thirty, the filmmakers and your production studio are perpetuating the myth that torture is effective. ... We believe that you have an obligation to state that the role of torture in the hunt for Usama Bin Laden is not based on the facts."

Requests from Sony Pictures for comment on the senators' letter yielded a response referring to a statement that the film's director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal had released last week:

"This was a 10-year intelligence operation brought to the screen in a two-and-a-half-hour film. We depicted a variety of controversial practices and intelligence methods that were used in the name of finding bin Laden. The film shows that no single method was necessarily responsible for solving the manhunt, nor can any single scene taken in isolation fairly capture the totality of efforts the film dramatizes. One thing is clear: the single greatest factor in finding the world's most dangerous man was the hard work and dedication of the intelligence professionals who spent years working on this global effort. We encourage people to see the film before characterizing it."

'Zero Dark Thirty' puts U.S. interrogation back in the spotlight

"Zero Dark Thirty" does indeed show many scenes of the various forms of sleuthing at the CIA that were necessary to track down al Qaeda's leader.

But the statement from the filmmakers does not address the fact that eight months ago, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee had publicly said that based on an exhaustive investigation, there was no evidence that coercive interrogations helped lead to bin Laden's courier -- which is clearly what the film suggests, no matter what retrospective gloss the filmmakers now wish to apply to the issue.

Nor does the statement indicate if Sony plans to put a disclaimer at the beginning of "Zero Dark Thirty" explaining that the role of coercive interrogations in tracking down bin Laden that is shown in the film is not supported by the facts.

As I outlined in a piece on CNN.com 10 days ago assessing the role that coercive interrogations might have played in the hunt for bin Laden, about half an hour of the start of "Zero Dark Thirty" consists of scenes of a bloodied al Qaeda detainee strung to the ceiling with ropes who is beaten; forced to wear a dog collar while crawling around attached to a leash; stripped naked in the presence of a female CIA officer; blasted with heavy metal music so he is deprived of sleep; forced to endure multiple crude waterboardings; and locked into a coffin-like wooden crate.

These are the scenes that will linger with filmgoers, far more than the scene in the movie where two CIA analysts discuss what will prove to be a key lead to bin Laden that surfaces in an old file. Brutal interrogations, of course, make for a better movie than a discussion at the office.

It is only after systematic abuse by his CIA interrogators in "Zero Dark Thirty" that the al Qaeda detainee is tricked into believing that he has already given up key information, and he starts cooperating and tells them about a man known as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who ultimately proves to be bin Laden's courier.

Acting CIA director Michael Morell, in a letter to CIA employees on Friday, took strong exception to this portrayal of how bin Laden was found:

"The film creates the strong impression that the enhanced interrogation techniques that were part of our former detention and interrogation program were the key to finding Bin Ladin. That impression is false. As we have said before, the truth is that multiple streams of intelligence led CIA analysts to conclude that Bin Ladin was hiding in Abbottabad. Some came from detainees subjected to enhanced techniques, but there were many other sources as well. "

"Zero Dark Thirty" opened Wednesday in New York and Los Angeles and will open nationwide in the second week in January.

Let's hope that the attention that "Zero Dark Thirty" has directed to the issue of what kind of intelligence was derived from the CIA's coercive interrogations will help to put pressure on the White House and the CIA to release to the public as much as possible of the presently classified 6,000-page report by the Senate Intelligence Committee that examines this issue.

_____________

Full disclosure: Along with other national security experts, as an unpaid adviser I screened an early cut of "Zero Dark Thirty." We advised that al Qaeda detainees held at secret CIA prison sites overseas were certainly abused, but they were not beaten to a pulp, as was presented in this early cut. Screenwriter Mark Boal told CNN as a result of this critique, some of the bloodier scenes were "toned down" in the final cut. I also saw this final cut of the film. Finally, HBO is making a theatrical release documentary which will be out in 2013 based on my book about the hunt for bin Laden entitled "Manhunt."

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Country singer Tate Stevens wins Fox’s ‘X Factor’

NEW YORK (AP) — Tate Stevens, who was mentored by music exec L.A. Reid on the second season of “The X Factor,” has won the Fox singing competition.

The 37-year-old country singer from Belton, Mo., beat runner-up Carly Rose Sonenclar, a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Westchester, N.Y., and teenage girl group Fifth Harmony on the finale that aired live Thursday night.

Stevens wins a $ 5 million recording contract.

More than 35 million votes were cast by viewers after Wednesday’s performance show.

Besides Reid, judges this season included Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and series creator Simon Cowell.

Thursday’s show was also the grand finale for Reid. Earlier this month, he said he wouldn’t be returning to “The X Factor” next year. No replacement has been announced.

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Hurting Spaniards celebrate Christmas lottery wins

MADRID (AP) — Winners of Spain‘s cherished Christmas lottery — the world’s richest — celebrated Saturday in more than a dozen locations where the top lucky tickets were sold, a moment of uplift for a country enduring another brutal year of economic hardship.

The lottery sprinkled a treasure chest of €2.5 billion ($ 3.3 billion) in prize money around the country. Champagne corks popped and festive cheer broke out in 15 towns or cities where tickets yielding the maximum prize of €400,000 ($ 530,000), known as “El Gordo” (“The Fat One,)” had been bought.

A total of €520 million ($ 687 million) was won in the eastern Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares alone. Among the top-prize winners were 50 former workers at metal parts factory Cametal who had formed a pool to buy tickets. Their company had filed for bankruptcy and ceased paying wages five months ago.

“I’m bursting with joy, I haven’t fully taken it in yet,” said local resident Josefina Ortega. “When others win you think to yourself it’ll never happen to you, but it has.”

Unlike lotteries that generate a few big winners, Spain’s version — now celebrating its 200th anniversary — has always shared the wealth more evenly instead of concentrating on vast jackpots, so thousands of tickets yield some kind of return.

Almost all of Spain’s 46 million inhabitants traditionally watch at least some part of the live TV coverage showing school children singing out winning numbers for the lottery

It is so popular that frequently three €20 ($ 26) tickets are sold for every Spaniard and many consider lottery day as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday season.

Before Spain’s property-led economic boom collapsed in 2008 ticket buyers often yearned to win so they could buy a small apartment by the beach or a new car. Now people said they needed money just to get by, or to avoid being evicted from their homes.

Though ticket sales were down 8.3 percent on last year, according to the National Lottery, in the days preceding the draw hundreds of people lined up to buy tickets outside outlets that have sold winning tickets before.

Dolores Perez and Teresa Palacio, two lottery outlet workers in north Madrid who sold a top-prize ticket celebrated with sparkling wine as curious neighbors gathered. The fortunate winner had yet to make an appearance.

“I had never sold a Christmas ‘Gordo’ before; I almost thought it didn’t exist,” said Perez, smiling broadly. “I’m so happy, I’ve worked here for 30 years and never before sold a ‘Gordo,’ until now.”

Since so many people chip in to buy tickets in groups, top prizes frequently end up being handed out in the same small town or in one city neighborhood.

Last year’s top winning number hit for 1,800 tickets in the northern town of Granen, population 2,000. Townspeople shared about €700 million ($ 925 million), and the rest of the €1.8 billion ($ 2.4 billion) was doled out in smaller prizes around Spain.

Spain holds another big lottery Jan. 6 to mark the Feast of the Epiphany. It is known as “El Nino” (The Child), in reference to the baby Jesus.

But the crisis will hit El Nino and all lotteries going forward. Until now, lottery winnings have been free from taxation, but now prizes above €2,000 ($ 2,640) will be liable to a 20 percent tax in 2013.

The government has imposed stinging austerity measures this year in a bid to prevent Spain from asking for a full-blown bailout like those granted to Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus. Spain’s unemployment stands at 25 percent and its economy is sinking into a double-dip recession.

___

Associated Press correspondent Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.

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Ho Ho Holy Discount: Vatican tax-free store busy

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Anyone left on your Christmas list just aching for a 65-inch Samsung 3D flat-screen television? Just your luck. The Vatican’s duty-free department store has one on sale for €2,899 ($ 3,840) — a nifty savings over the €3,799 ($ 5,032) it costs at Italy’s main electronics chain Euronics.

Or how about some new luggage for the holidays? The Vatican shop stocks a variety of Samsonite Cordoba Duo carry-ons for €123, a nice markdown from the €135 on the Samsonite website. But if a last-minute shopping splurge is in order, the Vatican can also oblige: Take this leather-bound travelling trunk from Florence’s “The Bridge” leatherworks, with its five drawers, plaid interior, six wooden hangars and shiny brass buckles.

At €5,900, it comes with a matching leather golf club bag, just what every monsignor needs under his Christmas tree.

There’s a little-known open secret in the Vatican gardens, a few paces behind St. Peter’s Basilica and tucked inside the Vatican’s old train station: a sprawling, three-story tax-free department store that rivals any airport duty free or military PX, stocking everything from Church’s custom grade shoes (€483 a pair) to Baume et Mercier watches (ladies €1,585, men’s Capeland €5,000).

There’s a hitch, however. It’s not open to the public, only to Vatican citizens, employees and their dependents, diplomats accredited to the Holy See and (unofficially) their lucky friends who, after stocking up on holiday must-haves, proceed to the checkout with their Vatican connection and the ID card that entitles them to shop there.

To be sure, Rome is no stranger to tax-free shopping. Embassies, nearby military bases and the U.N. food agencies all have commissaries for their employees, where imports of everything from American ice cream to French wine can be had minus the 21 percent sales tax included in list prices in Italy.

The Vatican has that and more, given that it’s its own sovereign state — the world’s smallest — operating in central Rome. At 44 hectares (110 acres), the Vatican city state is the physical home of the Holy See: the pope and governing structure and administration of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican Museum, with its main draw the Sistine Chapel, is the main profit-making enterprise of the Vatican city state, bringing in €91.3 million in revenue last year alone. But other smaller entrepreneurial endeavors boost the Vatican’s coffers as well, including the department store, the tax-free gas station, the stamp and coin collecting office, the Vatican pharmacy and its supermarket.

And in these days of austerity, their profits and bottom line are ever more important to the Vatican.

The Vatican is entitled to run such tax-free enterprises inside its walls based on the Lateran Treaty, the 1929 pact that regularized and regulates the Vatican’s relations with Italy. But those regulations also limit the Vatican’s customer base, lest all of Rome descend on the supermarket to stock up on Gordon’s Gin (€8.50 a liter compared to the €15 it can run in liquor stores) or Montecristo No. 3 Cuban cigars (box of 25 €84 ($ 110.95) compared to $ 164.95 on www.bestcigarprices.com). About 4,700 people are employed by the Holy See and the Vatican city state; the Vatican’s diplomatic corps — the Holy See has relations with 175 countries — adds another chunk to the customer base.

Few people outside Rome know the department store exists — there’s no evidence of it on any Vatican website, no photos of its wares, no advertising outside the Vatican walls. Those who do know it exists seem to want to pretend it doesn’t since the high-end luxury items on sale aren’t necessarily in tune with either the sobriety or the salaries of the Vatican rank-and-file.

In fact, on a recent Thursday morning, nary a collar nor religious habit was in sight as ordinary lay folk milled around the spacious store during December’s “extraordinary opening hours” — extended to accommodate bargain-hunting Christmas shoppers who were rewarded with a wine tasting in the central atrium and piles of Brooks Brothers non-iron shirts and Burbury backpacks to choose from.

“More than the prices, it’s the material,” said Luciano, a bulky Roman who refused to give his last name as he shopped for an overcoat with his wife and an obliging Vatican friend waiting at checkout. “This one I don’t like — I look like a priest,” he muttered as he put the navy blue trench coat back on a hangar.

Cardinal Edmund Szoka, the American who sought to bring some order into the Vatican’s finances as head of the Vatican city state, is credited with having made the department store what it is today, moving it into the Vatican’s underused train station, a miniature version of Washington’s Union station with a sweeping double staircase and glass-front window that frames the dome of St. Peter’s a few meters (yards) away.

Szoka said he moved it from the basement of the Vatican government building to the train station for more space, since the station wasn’t used anymore for passengers and provided the perfect, airy open space that a shop of its kind would require.

“Our principal motivation in changing the train station building into a department store was mainly for the convenience of our employees, as well as for those who could come into the Vatican and shop there,” he said in an email from his home in Michigan. “Naturally, we expected a profit, but that was not the primary motivation.”

Szoka retired in 2006, well before the global economic crisis hit. The current leadership of the “Governorato” as the city state administration is called, recently asked all department heads to come up with cost-saving or profit-making initiatives to help the Vatican get through the tough times.

“Any good administrator wants to save what can be saved,” said Monsignor Giuseppe Sciacca, the governorato’s No. 2. “It seems obvious, necessary.”

The Philatelic and Numismatic Office, for example, recently started selling a special limited-edition stamp to help pay for the €14 million restoration of the Bernini colonnade in St. Peter’s Square after corporate sponsorship dried up amid the recession.

Vatican Radio announced in July it would be saving “hundreds of thousands of euros” in energy costs by stopping short -and -medium-wave broadcasts to Europe and the Americas, using other technologies instead.

Perhaps even more than the department store, the Vatican supermarket is a much-sought after perk for Vatican employees, and a boost to the Vatican’s bottom line. And at Christmastime, it is as jammed as the department store, with lines snaking through the store and cars taking up valuable parking spaces inside Vatican City as shoppers pile their carts high with panettone, the traditional Italian Christmas cake which is the di riguer gift for Italian holiday parties. Panettone can run €25 a pop at Roman bakeries; in the Vatican supermarket, a high-end brand runs almost half that.

“The Nutella is just better here,” said Maria Grazia Mancini, a Rome municipal worker who was doing a major pre-Christmas shop with her father, a Vatican employee. “The products here are for export — the same brands but for export, so it’s better quality.”

While Sciacca is only too pleased to see the Vatican saving money where it can be saved and making it where it can be made, he was adamant that there are no plans to expand the customer base of the Vatican’s little-known discount stores. Accords with Italy don’t allow it.

“We shouldn’t. And we can’t,” he said.

He spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of the Vatican’s 2012 nativity scene, being unveiled Monday night and donated for the first time. The Vatican happily accepted the donated creche from the Italian region of Basilicata after its €550 million Christmas setup in 2009 was exposed earlier this year during the scandal over leaked Vatican documents.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

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Wall Street Week Ahead: A lump of coal for "Fiscal Cliff-mas"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street traders are going to have to pack their tablets and work computers in their holiday luggage after all.

A traditionally quiet week could become hellish for traders as politicians in Washington are likely to fall short of an agreement to deal with $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in early next year. Many economists forecast that this "fiscal cliff" will push the economy into recession.

Thursday's debacle in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Speaker John Boehner failed to secure passage of his own bill that was meant to pressure President Obama and Senate Democrats, only added to worry that the protracted budget talks will stretch into 2013.

Still, the market remains resilient. Friday's decline on Wall Street, triggered by Boehner's fiasco, was not enough to prevent the S&P 500 from posting its best week in four.

"The markets have been sort of taking this in stride," said Sandy Lincoln, chief market strategist at BMO Asset Management U.S. in Chicago, which has about $38 billion in assets under management.

"The markets still basically believe that something will be done," he said.

If something happens next week, it will come in a short time frame. Markets will be open for a half-day on Christmas Eve, when Congress will not be in session, and will close on Tuesday for Christmas. Wall Street will resume regular stock trading on Wednesday, but volume is expected to be light throughout the rest of the week with scores of market participants away on a holiday break.

For the week, the three major U.S. stock indexes posted gains, with the Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> up 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 <.spx> up 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> up 1.7 percent.

Stocks also have booked solid gains for the year so far, with just five trading sessions left in 2012: The Dow has advanced 8 percent, while the S&P 500 has climbed 13.7 percent and the Nasdaq has jumped 16 percent.

IT COULD GET A LITTLE CRAZY

Equity volumes are expected to fall sharply next week. Last year, daily volume on each of the last five trading days dropped on average by about 49 percent, compared with the rest of 2011 - to just over 4 billion shares a day exchanging hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT in the final five sessions of the year from a 2011 daily average of 7.9 billion.

If the trend repeats, low volumes could generate a spike in volatility as traders keep track of any advance in the cliff talks in Washington.

"I'm guessing it's going to be a low volume week. There's not a whole lot other than the fiscal cliff that is going to continue to take the headlines," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research, in Cincinnati.

"A lot of people already have a foot out the door, and with the possibility of some market-moving news, you get the possibility of increased volatility."

Economic data would have to be way off the mark to move markets next week. But if the recent trend of better-than-expected economic data holds, stocks will have strong fundamental support that could prevent selling from getting overextended even as the fiscal cliff negotiations grind along.

Small and mid-cap stocks have outperformed their larger peers in the last couple of months, indicating a shift in investor sentiment toward the U.S. economy. The S&P MidCap 400 Index <.mid> overcame a technical level by confirming its close above 1,000 for a second week.

"We view the outperformance of the mid-caps and the break of that level as a strong sign for the overall market," Schaeffer's Bell said.

"Whenever you have flight to risk, it shows investors are beginning to have more of a risk appetite."

Evidence of that shift could be a spike in shares in the defense sector, expected to take a hit as defense spending is a key component of the budget talks.

The PHLX defense sector index <.dfx> hit a historic high on Thursday, and far outperformed the market on Friday with a dip of just 0.26 percent, while the three major U.S. stock indexes finished the day down about 1 percent.

Following a half-day on Wall Street on Monday ahead of the Christmas holiday, Wednesday will bring the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. It is expected to show a ninth-straight month of gains.

U.S. jobless claims on Thursday are seen roughly in line with the previous week's level, with the forecast at 360,000 new filings for unemployment insurance, compared with the previous week's 361,000.

(Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Questions or comments on this column can be emailed to: rodrigo.campos(at)thomsonreuters.com)

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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