News Headlines - 30 December 2013

▽Abenomics drives Nikkei to highest yearly gain since 1972 - Telegraph

Japan's main bourse has posted its steepest annual rise in more than 40 years following 12 months of "Abenomics", the new Japanese premier's suite of measures to catapult the economy out of a decades-long slump. The Nikkei rose for a ninth consecutive session to close 0.7pc higher on its final trading day of the year, bringing its full-year climb to 57pc, the highest since 1972.

▽Second deadly bomb blast hits Russia, raising security fears ahead of Olympics - The Globe and Mail

A bomb ripped apart a bus in Volgograd on Monday, killing 14 people in the second deadly attack blamed on suicide bombers in the southern Russian city in 24 hours and raising fears of Islamist attacks on the Winter Olympics. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his prestige on February’s Sochi Games and dismissed threats from Chechen and other Islamist militants in the nearby North Caucasus, ordered tighter security nationwide after the morning rush-hour blast.

▽Chinese police kill eight Uighurs in Xinjiang clash - latimes.com

Police in China’s far western Xinjiang region killed eight people Monday when a group wielding knives and throwing explosives attacked a police station, local authorities said. The official Xinhua news agency referred to the incident in Yarkand county as a “terrorist attack,” and the incident comes just two weeks after 16 people were reported killed in a clash between police and ethnic Uighurs near the city of Kashgar, in the same vicinity.

▽France's 75% 'millionaire tax' to become law - Dec. 30, 2013

France's controversial "millionaire tax" is set to become law, allowing the government to levy a 75% tax on companies that pay salaries in excess of €1 million. The tax was approved by France's constitutional council on Sunday after an earlier version was deemed unconstitutional last year.

▽Evacuation in El Salvador as Chaparrastique volcano spits ash and gas — RT In motion

Authorities in El Salvador evacuated an area around the Chaparrastique volcano after it shot a cloud of gas and ash into the air on Sunday. The country's civil defense said a yellow alert had been issued and investigators had been sent to the area to look for signs of fresh lava, but added that none had been detected so far.