Football: Evergreen Totti cheers Romans

ROME: A double strike from Francesco Totti helped push AS Roma into the top four in Serie A on Saturday, proving instrumental in an entertaining 4-2 home win over Fiorentina, who missed the chance to leapfrog Inter Milan into third.

Brazilian defender Leandro Castan gave Roma a seventh-minute lead but it was the sterling efforts of 36-year-old skipper Totti which had the home fans singing his praises as Roma moved onto 29 points, the same tally as Saturday's opponents as well as city rivals Lazio.

Juventus and Napoli may be setting the title pace but Roma proved they can aspire at least to be in the mix after their ninth win of the campaign while they handed Fiorentina a third loss.

Greek star Panagiotis Tachtsidis did the spadework for the opener in heading on a Totti freekick with Castan only having to walk the ball in.

Totti then provided the fireworks for the "Giallorossi," who have now netted a league-leading 38 goals in 16 games.

Facundo Roncaglia briefly levelled for the visitors from Florence in beating the offside trap on 14 minutes but five minutes after that Totti pounced following a superb interchange with Mattia Destro and then completed his brace in first half injury time with a shot from 20 metres for his 219th Serie A goal.

Mounir El Hamdaoui put the visitors back in the hunt a minute after the restart, the Moroccan substitute heading in a Borja Valero cross.

But Osvaldo made the points safe on 89 minutes - Totti providing another assist - as Fiorentina went down to their first league loss since the end of September.

Earlier, Atalanta thanked first-half goals from Denis and Peluso to edge out Parma 2-1.

On Sunday, Juve travel to Palermo with Napoli in for a tough test at Inter while AC Milan are away to Torino.

Lazio for their part are at Bologna on Monday.

- AFP/fa

Read More..

India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced by a mix of ignorance, cautious optimism about partnerships and a whole lot of misguided paranoia. "Don't demonise the Chinese, please," Guha finally said in response to a question.

"China has existed in our imaginations," observed Sunil Khilnani, professor of politics and author of The Idea Of India. "There's been very little sustained engagement with the reality of China and very little of our own produced knowledge about China." It was after the events of 1962 ('war' in the popular imagination, 'skirmish' to the scholars participating in the discussion), explained Khilnani, that a miffed India "withdrew". It's the 50th anniversary of that exchange this year, and "what we haven't been able to do is learn from the defeat", observed Khilnani. Both could have benefited from greater engagement. "China has had a very clear focus on primary education and achieved high levels of literacy before its economic rise. It has also addressed the issue of land reform," said Khilnani. Guha added that China could learn from the "religious, cultural and linguistic pluralism" in India.

But China and India weren't always so out of sync with each other. Srinath Raghavan, a scholar of military history, got both Guha and Khilnani to talk about pre-1962 relations between the two when the picture was rosier. Tagore was interested in China and so was Gandhi. Both were very large countries with large populations and shared what Guha calls a "lack of cultural inferiority". "They were both," he continued, "also heavily dependent on peasant communities." Nehru was appreciative of China's will to modernize and industrialize and its adoption of technology to achieve those ends. In turn, Chinese politicians argued for Indian independence.

Things soured more, feel both Khilnani and Guha, after the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. "He was welcomed here as a spiritual leader but the intensification of the conflict dates to the Dalai Lama's flight," said Guha. Both Guha and Khilnani argued that Nehru's decision to not react aggressively to China's occupation of Tibet was, in the long run, the right one and prevented further "militarization" of the region. An audience member wondered if that didn't make India "China's puppet". Guha disagreed. "If there's a Tibetan culture alive today," he said, "it's not because of Richard Gere. Don't believe in the hypocrisy of the Western countries. Will they give them land, employment, dignified refuge? The Tibetans is one of the few cases in which our record is honorable."

But the difference in levels of development and the lopsided trade relations between the two countries have only fuelled the suspicions many Indians seem to harbour about China. People were worried, said Guha, even about cricket balls made in China. Audience questions reflected those worries. A member asked about China's "strategy to conquer the world" and its likely impact on India. Guha cautioned against stereotypes; Khilnani explained, "History is littered with the debris of states that have tried to dominate the world. What we're doing may be more long-lasting."

Read More..

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")

Since the flowers were orbiting some 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth at the time, the NASA-funded experiment suggests that plants still retain an earthy instinct when they don't have gravity as a guide.

"The role of gravity in plant growth and development in terrestrial environments is well understood," said plant geneticist and study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul, with the University of Florida in Gainesville. "What is less well understood is how plants respond when you remove gravity." (See a video about plant growth.)

The new study revealed that "features of plant growth we thought were a result of gravity acting on plant cells and organs do not actually require gravity," she added.

Paul and her collaborator Robert Ferl, a plant biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, monitored their plants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using images sent from the space station every six hours.

Root Growth

Grown on a nutrient-rich gel in clear petri plates, the space flowers showed familiar root growth patterns such as "skewing," where roots slant progressively as they branch out.

"When we saw the first pictures come back from orbit and saw that we had most of the skewing phenomenon we were quite surprised," Paul said.

Researchers have always thought that skewing was the result of gravity's effects on how the root tip interacts with the surfaces it encounters as it grows, she added. But Paul and Ferl suspect that in the absence of gravity, other cues take over that enable the plant to direct its roots away from the seed and light-seeking shoot. Those cues could include moisture, nutrients, and light avoidance.

"Bottom line is that although plants 'know' that they are in a novel environment, they ultimately do just fine," Paul said.

The finding further boosts the prospect of cultivating food plants in space and, eventually, on other planets.

"There's really no impediment to growing plants in microgravity, such as on a long-term mission to Mars, or in reduced-gravity environments such as in specialized greenhouses on Mars or the moon," Paul said. (Related: "Alien Trees Would Bloom Black on Worlds With Double Stars.")

The study findings appear in the latest issue of the journal BMC Plant Biology.

Read More..

Dallas Cowboys Player Arrested in Teammate's Death

Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Joshua Price-Brent was arrested on an intoxication manslaughter charge today after a single vehicle roll-over killed his passenger, Jerry Brown Jr., who had been a linebacker on the team's practice squad and his former teammate at the University of Illinois.

Price-Brent, 24, was allegedly speeding "well above" the posted 45 mph speed limit at about 2:21 a.m. when he hit a curb, causing his vehicle to flip at least one time before landing in the middle of a service road, Irving Police Department spokesman John Argumaniz said.

Authorities were alerted to the accident by several 911 callers, Argumaniz said. When police arrived, they found Price-Brent pulling Brown from his 2007 Mercedes, which had caught fire.

Brown, 25, was unresponsive and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Argumaniz said.

It was not known where the men were coming from or where they were going, but Argumaniz said officers suspected alcohol may have been a factor in the crash and asked Price-Brent to perform field sobriety tests.

Kansas City Chiefs Player Jovan Belcher's Murder-Suicide Watch Video

"Based on the results of the tests, along with the officer's observations and conversations with Price-Brent, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated," Argumaniz said.

This is the second week in a row an NFL player has been accused of being involved in another person's death. Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs killed his girlfriend early Dec. 1, then committed suicide while talking to team officials in the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium.

Jovan Belcher: Police Release Dash-Cam Videos of NFL Star's Final Hours

Price-Brent was taken to a hospital for a mandatory blood draw where he was treated for minor scrapes, Argumaniz said. He was then booked on an intoxication manslaughter charge after it was learned Brown had died of injuries suffered in the crash.

It is expected that results from the blood draw could take several weeks, the police spokesman said.

Price-Brent is scheduled to be arraigned Sunday at 10 a.m., when bond will be set, police said.

The second-degree felony intoxication manslaughter charge carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It was not yet known whether Price-Brent had retained an attorney.

The 6-foot-2, 320-pound nose tackle left the University of Illinois as a junior for a career in the NFL. He was picked up by the Cowboys during the 2010 NFL supplemental draft and has played three seasons with the team.

The Cowboys are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio on Sunday.

Read More..

US expects oil boom from oil shale extraction

WASHINGTON: The United States is set to become the largest producer of crude oil by 2030, according to a recent forecast by the United Nations (UN).

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the US will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia in production amid a boom in unconventional drilling.

In Colorado, and other western US states, oil shale is one of the resources that could help make the US a net energy exporter in the foreseeable future.

According to the oil industry, the rock found in Colorado's Piceance Basin could hold the key to America's energy future.

Glenn Vawker, who heads the National Oil Shale Association, said: "There are estimates by our federal government that we could be producing up to one million barrels a day in twenty to thirty years."

Colorado's oil shale is often described as one of the richest hydrocarbon deposits in the world. The problem is that it takes a lot of money and resources to get the oil out of the rock.

Oil companies have set up multi-million-dollar pilot programs here, trying to figure out how to turn a profit.

To extract the oil, the companies have to cool the rock - a process the latest technologies do deep underground.

Roger Day, who is vice president of operations at American Shale Oil Corporation, said: "We're working on what you call in-situ technology, which would heat the oil in the ground and produce the oil without bringing the rock to the surface. And our project - it will take about another five years to perfect this technology."

China, Brazil and Estonia are also researching technologies to develop oil shale potential.

China is currently the largest producer in the world, with huge resources primarily in Fushun and Maoming but scientists said the US is in a position to take over that top spot.

Jeremy Boak, director at the Centre for Oil Shale Technology and Research, said: "We have the largest single resource in the world here. China has a very large resource and it is moving aggressively. It is currently, as far as I can tell, the largest single producer of oil from oil shale. But the total amount in still very tiny - about 30,000 barrels a day or so. Nevertheless, it's being produced and they are ramping up."

Industry insiders predict a shale boom in Colorado that would be immensely profitable for the state and help the US become energy independent. But some people are worried about the possible environmental impact of such a boom in the industry."

Environmental advocates said the oil shale industry uses water that's in short supply in the drought stricken western US.

David Abelson, who is an oil shale policy advisor at Western Resource Advocates, said: "Large-scale oil shale is predicted to consume vast quantities of water. The high-end estimates would be roughly 45 per cent more than Denver water supplies to its 1.3 million customers every year."

This part of Colorado was producing large volumes of oil from shale during the 1970s fuel crisis, but industry was largely shutdown during the early 1980s.

But that earlier exploration involved what is now outdated technology. Figuring out how to tap into the rock in the most efficient AND environmentally-responsible way is the challenge currently facing America's oil shale industry..

Read More..

Maldives must rein in quarters harming bilateral ties, India says

NEW DELHI: Amid a diplomatic row over cancellation of the GMR contract, India on Friday asked Maldives to control any quarters which may be trying to harm bilateral relations saying the issue should not put a "question mark" on the ties between the two sides.

"If they have to take a decision in interest of their society and country and if that decision is taken properly as per laws there, what objections can anyone have there. We would want that whatever is the decision, it should not put any question marks on our friendly relations," external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said. The minister was asked to comment on the developments in the GMR issue outside Parliament house complex.

"If any quarters there (in Maldives) want that our relations should be harmed, then they should be controlled. I think Maldives and its people know this thing properly and I am sure that they will do the same thing," Khurshid said. Asked if the Indian Government would "intervene" in the issue, the minister said, "For commercial enterprises no one intervenes, but we have been assured about the security and safety of our citizens and interests there.

To that extent, it is our right and we have also told them about this right." "On the commercial discussions, we don't have the right and there is no justification for it. Try to understand the issue in right context and I think there is nothing to worry about," he said.

In a surprise move on November 27, Maldives terminated the over $500 million contract awarded to GMR during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed to upgrade its Male airport and to build a new terminal. pti

Govt allows Maldives airline to fly via India

This is as ironic as it gets. While Maldives has terminated its contract with Bangalore-based infra major GMR to run the Male airport, its national airline's international plans bank solely on India. Maldivian Airline, the national carrier of Maldives, had recently announced flights to Mumbai and Chennai from mid-November. Not only that, India had allowed it to fly to Bangladesh by extending the India sector of the flight. "It will be the first long haul flight of the airline and will operate (Airbus) A-320 aircraft as Q2-550 (Male-Chennai-Dhaka)," Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem, chairman of island aviation services that owns Maldivian, had recently told TOI. "Saarc members allow their airlines to fly from one country to another (while referring to the Male-Chennai-Dhaka flight)," he said.

Now it remains to be seen if India retaliates by relooking at this permission. The aviation ministry says it will act as per the stand taken by the ministry of external affairs. "The cancellation of the $511-million Male airport contract with Male has come as a setback in our ties. If asked by MEA, we will take the required steps about Maldivian's clearance," said a senior official. The airport company of Maldives is set to take over the Male airport from GMR on Friday midnight.

Read More..

Pictures: Timbuktu Under al Qaeda

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Timbuktu

  Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

  Since the 12th century, when Tuareg tribes founded Timbuktu as a seasonal camp on the southern edge of the Sahara, the city has seen waves of conquerors come and go. In April, Tuareg rebels and Islamist factions affiliated with al Qaeda seized control of northern Mali, including Timbuktu.

  (Read more about Timbuktu's change of power.)

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Sankore Mosque

  Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

  Men greet each other outside the 14th-century Sankore Mosque. At the height of its wealth during the Middle Ages, Timbuktu leaders built several elaborate mosques, attracting Islamic scholars throughout the region and establishing the city as an important religious and academic center.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Mourning a Death

  Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

  In a moment of unity prior to the current conflict, members of Timbuktu's three major ethnic groups—the Tuareg, Songhai, and Berbiche—gathered to mourn the death of a prominent city official’s wife. Each group has ruled the city during its long history, and relations among them are often fractious.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Forbidden Fashion

  Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

  Before the Islamist takeover, students often dressed in Western fashions to attend Timbuktu's public high school. But the Islamists have implemented a strict Taliban-style interpretation of Islamic law, requiring all women to wear burkas and forbidding girls from attending school.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Ansar Dine Fighters

  Photograph by AP

  Fighters from Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist factions controlling Timbuktu, stand watch over the city’s downtown. After allying with Tuareg rebels to conquer Mali’s key northern cities, the Islamists ousted Tuareg fighters who refused to embrace their Islamist agenda.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Bearing Witness

  Photograph from AP

  A crowd gathers in Timbuktu to witness Ansar Dine amputate the hand of a young man found guilty of stealing rice. Human rights groups have reported several amputations meted out by Islamists occupying northern Mali towns and villages.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Ancient Shrine Destroyed

  Photograph from AFP/Getty Images

  Ansar Dine fighters tear down an ancient shrine to one of Timbuktu’s venerated saints. So far the group has destroyed several of the city’s tombs and other historic landmarks, calling them idolatrous. UNESCO has declared the city an endangered World Heritage site.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Child Soldiers

  Photograph from AFP/Getty Images

  Timbuktu residents have reported that Ansar Dine has recruited boys as young as 12 for military training. The International Criminal Court has warned that such acts constitute war crimes.

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Hostage Handover

  Photograph from AP

  Islamist fighters man an antiaircraft gun in northern Mali during the handover of a Swiss hostage for transport to Burkina Faso by helicopter. For the last several years, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has reportedly reaped tens of millions of dollars by kidnapping foreigners and holding them for ransom. Security analysts say the group has used the money to acquire heavy weapons from looted Libyan stockpiles.

  (Read more about how Timbuktu has changed.)

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic

  Published December 7, 2012

  
  

');

---

 $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_saleprice_t +'';
} else {
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
}
html += '

';

$("#ecom_43331 ul.ecommerce_all_img").append(html);




o.totItems++;

}// end for loop
} // end if data.response.numFound != 0

if(o.totItems != o.maxItems){
if(o.defaultItems.length > 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage && !o.searchComplete){
o.doSearchPage();
} else if(!o.searchComplete) {
o.byID = false;
o.doSearch();
}
}// end if
}// end parseResults function

o.trim = function(str) {
return str.replace(/^\s\s*/, '').replace(/\s\s*$/, '');
}

o.doSearchPage = function(){
o.byID = false;

var tempSearch = window.location.search;
var searchTerms ="default";
var temp;

if( tempSearch.substr(0,7) == "?search"){
temp = tempSearch.substr(7).split("&");
searchTerms = temp[0];
} else {
temp = tempSearch.split("&");
for(var j=0;j 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage){
o.doSearchPage();
} else {
o.doSearch();
}

}// end init function

}// end ecommerce object

var store_43331 = new ecommerce_43331();





store_43331.init();

Read More..

Supreme Court to Take Up Gay Marriage Cases

The Supreme Court today decided to take up two major cases regarding gay marriage, one of which could ultimately lead the court to decide whether there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage.

The justices announced that the court would hear a challenge to Proposition 8, the controversial California ballot initiative that passed in 2008 that restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples, as well as a challenge to a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Check Out Same-Sex Marriage Status in the U.S. State By State

A divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down "Prop 8" in February, ruling that it "serves no purpose , and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California and to officially reclassify their relationship and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples."

It was a narrow ruling, specific to California and its history with Prop 8. The court did not reach the broader question of whether there was a fundamental right to gay marriage.

Supporters of Prop 8 are asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of that ruling. Gay marriages have been put on hold in California until the Supreme Court decides the issue. The cases will likely be argued in March.

David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Opponents of Prop 8 are represented by David Boies and Theodore Olson, two lawyers who argued on opposite sides in the historic Bush v. Gore case that resulted in Bush's election as president.

Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com

They contend in court briefs that the question about whether the states might discriminate against gay men and lesbians in the provision of marriage licenses could be the "defining civil rights issue of our time."

The court will also hear a challenge to a key section of a federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. At issue in this case is not whether there is a fundamental right to gay marriage, because the same-sex couples are legally married in states that allow gay marriage, but that the gay couples alone are denied federal benefits such as the Social Security survivor assistance.

There were eight DOMA petitions filed with the court. One involved Edith Windsor, who, in 2007, married Thea Spyer, her partner of more than 40 years. The couple were married in Canada, but resided in New York until Spyer died in 2009.

Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes. She applied for a refund believing she was entitled to a marital deduction, but she was denied the claim on the grounds that she was not a "spouse" within the meaning of DOMA.

In briefs filed with the court, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. writes, "Although Section 3 of DOMA does not purport to invalidate same-sex marriages in those States that permit them it excludes marriage from recognition for purposes of more than 1,000 federal statutes and programs whose administration turns in part on individuals' marital status."

Recent ABC News-Washington Post polls say that 51 percent of Americans support gay marriage, which is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia.

ABC News' Sarah Parnass contributed to this report.

Read More..

ECB forecast, rate hints send euro lower

NEW YORK: The euro only barely rebounded against the dollar in late trade Thursday, after plunging on the European Central Bank's sharp cut in its eurozone growth forecast for next year.

The euro lost more than one cent after the ECB forecast that the euro area economy will shrink by 0.3 percent in 2013, instead of growing by 0.5 percent as previously estimated.

Also pressing it lower were hints from the ECB that it might be moving toward cutting its benchmark rate, even as it held firm on Thursday.

"The ECB appears to have the door open for an interest rate cut, and we expect it to step through early in 2013," said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.

At 2200 GMT, the euro was at $1.2969, compared to $1.3064 late Wednesday. It hit a low of $1.2951 during the day.

There was nothing otherwise to budge the dollar, with trade mostly on hold for Friday's US jobs data for November, expected to be down due to Hurricane Sandy's impact on the economy of the northeast corridor.

If anything, the data will support expectations that the Federal Reserve will further extend its bond purchase stimulus program when it meets next week.

The yen picked up slightly, 10 days before national elections in Japan. It gained to 106.85 yen to the euro from 107.71, and 82.37 yen to the dollar from 82.42.

The dollar rose to 0.9325 Swiss francs, and the British pound slipped to $1.6050.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

'Time for India, Pak to stop blame game'

NEW DELHI: Pakistan senate chairman Syed Hussain Bokhari said here on Thursday that there was a wrong notion in India that relations with the neighbouring country improve only when a dictator is in power there.

Bukhari is leading a delegation of seven Pakistani senators—three of them Hindus—to India at the invitation of vice president Hamid Ansari on a goodwill visit aimed to "create better understanding" of each other.

"There is this misconception that only under a Pakistani dictator or military can relations improve with India," said Bokhari, shortly after his visit to both Houses of Parliament here. "It is under people's representatives accountable and answerable to the people that Pakistan and India have embarked on a reengagement process," he added.

"The democratic constitution of Pakistan had been polluted at times by dictators but the power now lies with Parliament and it shows the commitment of Pakistani leadership to strengthening parliamentary democracy," said Bokhari, adding that the civilian government is keen on having better ties with India.

Bokhari said that despite the "very unfortunate" Mumbai attacks; it was time for the two countries to stop making allegations and counter-allegations against each other to facilitate the ongoing process of reengagement between them.

"Allegations are not going to help; even in our country people talk about what India is doing in Balochistan or Kashmir or alleged violation of the Indus Water Treaty but it is not enough to merely agitate and not find solutions to issues," said Bokhari adding that Parliament in Pakistan had to "play the role of an oversight" in the functioning of the government.

Read More..