Football: Michu brace drops Arsenal down to 10th

LONDON: Swansea piled on the misery for Arsenal as Michu scored twice in the closing minutes to clinch a shock 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Spanish forward Michu underlined his growing reputation as the bargain buy of the season with a pair of clinical finishes on the counter attack, prompting Arsenal's fans to unleash a torrent of abuse at manager Arsene Wenger and his players at full-time.

Arsenal have now won just one of their last six Premier League matches and this defeat dropped the Gunners to 10th place in the table.

The north London club are now five points off the top four and to add insult to injury in-form Swansea climbed above them into seventh spot.

There was an early scare for Arsenal when they struggled to deal with Jonathan de Guzman's free-kick into the box and the ball fell to Swansea captain Ashley Williams in front of goal but a defender was in the way of the shot that followed.

Arsenal replied with a wayward effort from Carl Jenkinson but were soon back under pressure and needed goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to make a double save to deny Angel Rangel.

The full-back arrived at the back post to cap a superb passing movement that had seen almost every outfield player involved and Arsenal chasing shadows.

Arsenal moved Lukas Podolski from the left flank to the central striking position and the Germany forward saw a shot blocked by a defender before Santi Cazorla headed straight at goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel from Jenkinson's cross.

Seconds later, Swansea came even closer to taking the lead after Michu's header sent Nathan Dyer sprinting for goal, only for Thomas Vermaelen to slide in and block just as the winger unleashed his shot.

The half ended with Gervinho putting a free header so wide that Theo Walcott had to retrieve it from near the corner flag, and the home fans booed Arsenal off as soon as the whistle went.

The second half saw Jack Wilshere set Cazorla up for a low drive that Tremmel was able to block and referee Mark Clattenburg was not interested in awarding a penalty when Chico Flores body-checked Gervinho.

Swansea soaked up the pressure and replied with a shot from Itay Shechter that was deflected behind, before Rangel hit the side-netting after Cazorla had appeared guilty of a dive in the box at the other end.

Wenger made a double change in the 67th minute, with Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replacing Gervinho and Lukas Podolski.

Giroud went down straight away as Flores challenged but referee Clattenberg ruled the defender had got the ball.

Arsenal were applying strong pressure but Tremmel was behind Cazorla's volley.

Yet Swansea had not given up hope of snatching a winner and again Arsenal had Szczesny to thank for a smart save to deny Dwight Tiendalli after the substitute had moved into a shooting position on the right of the box.

Tremmel kept out Vermaelen's header at the other end and Swansea took full advantage of that escape as Michu netted with just two minutes remaining.

The Spaniard played a one-two with substitute Luke Moore which was deflected back into his path and he slotted calmly past Szczesny.

Swansea sealed the win in stoppage-time when Dyer caught Jenkinson in possession to send Michu away and again he made no mistake with only Szczesny to beat.

The final whistle was greeted by loud jeers from the home support as the away supporters celebrated a famous and fully deserved victory.

- AFP/fa

Read More..

FDI in retail to safeguard international market mafias' interest: BJP

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said retail reform is a step taken by the Congress led-federal government to safeguard the interests of the international market mafias at the cost of national interest.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working for international interests.

"The government feels that their responsibility is to safeguard the interest of international market mafias instead of national interest and for saving the interest of international market mafias, the government is ready to compromise with national interests. Now, the parliament will decide as to who is in support of international market mafias and who are supporting national interests," said Naqvi.

The government's decision to allow foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart had triggered protest not only from opposition parties but also from some of its allies.

BJP had sought debate on the issue of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector, under the rule that entails voting after discussions.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister Office (PMO), V Narayanaswamy said the government would answer all the queries raised by the opposition parties in the parliament and will explain the benefits of allowing FDI in retail sector.

The lower house of parliament has set December 04 and 05 as the date to vote and debate on FDI. The dates for the upper house are yet to be decided.

Narayanaswamy said the government is confident of becoming victorious in the debate.

Read More..

KC Chiefs Player Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

A Kansas City Chiefs football player committed suicide today in front of his coaches and police outside of the team's stadium, just as officers investigating the shooting of the player's girlfriend arrived on the scene, police said.

The name of the 25-year-old player has not yet been released.

Kansas City Police were first alerted something was wrong by the girlfriend's mother.

"The individual that called, the mother of the victim, stated that her daughter's boyfriend is the one who shot her and he is a Chiefs player," Kansas City Police spokesman Darin Snapp told ABC News Radio.

Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images

Idaho Teacher Accused of Locking Boy, 5, in Dark Closet Watch Video

Shortly thereafter, Snapp said the player drove to Arrowhead Stadium and police were called.

"When the officers arrived, when they were pulling up, they actually observed a black male who had a gun to his head and he was talking to a couple of coaches out in the parking lot," Snapp said. "As officers pulled up, and began to park, that's when they heard the gunshot and it appears the individual took his own life."

Kansas City is scheduled to host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It was not yet determined whether the game would be postponed.

In a statement issued to ESPN, the Kansas City Chiefs said they are "cooperating with authorities in their investigation."

Read More..

Boehner says ‘fiscal cliff’ talks at stalemate as Obama takes his case to the public

Hatfield, Pa. — House Speaker John A. Boehner declared Friday that talks to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” have reached a “stalemate,” as President Obama insisted that raising taxes on the wealthy is non-negotiable as part of a deal with Congress

In his first domestic trip since winning reelection, Obama demanded on Friday that tax rates on the wealthy must rise as part of a deal to resolve the fiscal cliff, coming here on his first domestic trip since reelection to build a public case for his policies.

Read More..

Strauss-Kahn, maid don't have deal yet: lawyers

NEW YORK: Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former IMF chief, shot down reports Friday that he was ready to pay $6 million to a Manhattan maid accusing him of sexual assault -- but confirmed that he was negotiating.

In a statement seeking to dampen media speculation over an out-of-court settlement of the maid's civil suit, the lawyers stressed that Strauss-Kahn was talking, but had yet to ink a deal.

"The parties have discussed a resolution but there has been no settlement. Mr Strauss-Kahn will continue to defend the charges if no resolution can be reached," attorneys William Taylor and Amit Mehta said in a brief statement.

The attorneys repeated an earlier denial of a report in French daily Le Monde specifying that Strauss-Kahn, once seen as France's likely next president, was prepared to pay off Sofitel room cleaning lady Nafissatou Diallo.

"Media reports that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has agreed to pay $6 million to settle the civil case are flatly false," Taylor and Mehta said.

According to Le Monde, Strauss-Kahn was to raise the money by borrowing $3 million from a bank and the rest from his estranged wife, Anne Sinclair, a well-known former newsreader who inherited a fortune from her art dealer father.

Diallo's legal team did not comment, but an earlier statement from Strauss-Kahn's legal team had already called the Le Monde report "imaginary and mistaken."

The latest statement did make official that Strauss-Kahn is negotiating with Diallo to end the sordid 18-month legal saga, a development first reported late Thursday by The New York Times, quoting unidentified sources.

Until now, Strauss-Kahn's lawyers repeatedly said they would not agree to a deal, while Diallo's legal team insisted she wanted her day in court to confront her alleged abuser.

Judge Douglas McKeon, who is presiding over the civil case in New York, told AFP "there may be a court session as early as next week," but declined to comment further.

Diallo's allegation of attempted rape in May 2011 triggered a stunning fall from grace for Strauss-Kahn, who had been seen as close to announcing he would run in an upcoming French presidential election.

Criminal charges were thrown out when Manhattan prosecutors said Diallo's testimony wouldn't stand up in court. She then filed her own civil lawsuit in a Bronx court, alleging that the 63-year-old leapt on her, naked, and forced her into oral sex.

Strauss-Kahn, who says a hurried but consensual sex act took place in his luxury room, returned immediately to France after the criminal case disintegrated.

However, by then Strauss-Kahn's career was in tatters, his marriage was on the rocks and he soon faced a string of other sex-related investigations by French authorities.

In France, Strauss-Kahn will learn December 19 if he is to face further investigation into pimping charges arising from allegations that he and associates arranged sex parties with prostitutes in the northern French city of Lille.

His lawyers have filed a request for the charges to be dismissed.

French prosecutors last month dropped an investigation into Strauss-Kahn's alleged participation in a gang rape after the woman involved said she had consented and was not pressing charges.

Strauss-Kahn has also been accused by 32-year-old author Tristane Banon of trying to rape her in 2002.

French investigating magistrates questioned Strauss-Kahn and his accuser and concluded that while there appeared to be evidence of a sexual assault, the alleged attack had occurred too long ago to be prosecuted.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

CBI chargesheets arms dealer Abhishek Verma, wife, firm & ex-IAF man in OS Act case

NEW DELHI: The CBI today chargesheeted arms dealer Abhishek Verma, his Romanian wife Anca Maria Neacsu, their company M/s Ganton India Pvt Ltd and a former Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force for allegedly possessing secret defence documents and supplying them to foreign nationals in violation of the Official Secrets Act.

They were charge sheeted under section 3 of the OSA (for passing sensitive information) and also for criminal conspiracy and theft from a place for custody of property under the Indian Penal Code.

"From the investigation conducted in the case so far, it has come on record that Verma and Anca first came in contact with C Edmond Allen and persuaded him to do business through them. For this purpose they incorporated M/s Ganton Ltd, USA. It was an independent identity," the CBI said in the charge sheet filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Parkash.

"During period from 2009-11, they also got incorporated other companies namely M/s Ganton India Pvt Ltd and M/s Sig Sauer India Ltd. Verma and Anca and their associates in a clandestine manner and after hatching well planned conspiracy, obtained possession of these documents (secret documents) for any purpose prejudicial to safety and interest of India.

"They also communicated these documents and information to the persons who were neither authorised to receive them in any capacity nor Verma or Anca were having any kind of concern/ connection with the same," the charge sheet said.

The CBI also said the secret documents also contained a scanned copy of handwritten notes pertaining to revenue procurements of IAF and that was when Rao was called to join the investigation and his specimen handwriting was taken.

Read More..

Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL

Looking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.

The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.

This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.

"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.

(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")

—Brian Handwerk

Published November 29, 2012

Read More..

Mo. Couple Wins Half of Powerball Jackpot

The lucky winners of half of the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot have been identified as Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn, Mo., their working-class lives suddenly taking a turn to the financial stratosphere.

Cindy Hill, who with her husband has three adult sons and a 6-year-old daughter adopted from China, purchased the ticket at a Trex Mart gas station in Dearborn.

"I called my husband and told him, 'I think I am having a heart attack,'" Cindy Hill, 51, said, according to the Missouri Lottery. "I think we just won the lottery!"

Cindy, who worked as an office manager but was laid off in 2010, said that when she learned that a winning ticket was sold in Missouri, she dropped her daughter off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car, according to the Missouri State Lottery.

"I was just telling my daughter the night before, 'Honey, that probably never happens (people winning)," Cindy said. "It's really going to be nice to spend time – not have to work – and be able to take trips with our family."

Cindy did mention that her husband has mentioned one extravagance -- a red Camaro, but today he said that he plans on keeping his same old pick-up truck.

The winning ticket was one of five Cindy purchased, for a total of $10. She let the computer quick-pick choose the numbers, according to the Missouri Lottery. As soon as she saw that she had a winning ticket, Cindy had her mother-in-law and husband double check it.

"You know it's the Show Me State, so he said, 'Show me,'" she said.

Appearing at a press conference today in Dearborn along with their three sons, aged 28, 30, 31, and their 6-year-old daughter, the Hills appeared overjoyed.

"We were blessed before we ever won this," Cindy said. "We want to go back to China, Ireland of course -- we're Irish, and wherever the win takes us."

Cindy said that she bought the winning ticket Wednesday at about 4:45 p.m.

"I stuck it in my car, and it stayed there all night," she said. "Now that I know that it was a winner I wouldn't have done that!"

Powerball Winners: Did Missouri Man Play Baseball Jersey Numbers? Watch Video

Powerball Winners: Was Arizona Winner Caught on Surveillance? Watch Video

Powerball Winners: Video Out of Possible Winners Watch Video

The Hills will take home $193,750,000 in lump sum payout -- which works out to $396,000 for each person in Dearborn, a town of 496.

The couple say that they will remain in Dearborn, and plan on launching a scholarship at the local high school.

Speculation began running wild in the small town when 52-year-old Hill, a factory worker, updated his Facebook account late Thursday, writing, "We are truly blessed, we are lucky winners of the Powerball."

Within hours, his family began celebrating, telling ABC News Hill is one of the two big winners.

"Just shocked. I mean, I thought we were all going to have heart attacks," Hill's mother, Shirley, said Thursday.

Hill's mother says her son and his wife have been struggling financially. Hill works in a hot dog and deli packaging factory, but it was unclear whether he showed up for work Thursday night.

"I'm very happy for him. He's worked hard in his life; well, not anymore," Hill's son Jason said. "Well, I hope we all stay very grounded, stay humble and don't forget who we are."

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News Thursday that one of the winning tickets was purchased at a Trex Mart in Dearborn, about 30 miles north of Kansas City.

The winning numbers were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29; Powerball was 6.

Hill did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
Meanwhile, employees and customers at Marlboro Village Exxon in Upper Marlboro, Md., said a tall, black, bald man held the winning ticket purchased in Arizona, according to ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV.

Surveillance cameras at the Upper Marlboro gas station captured the apparent winner walking into the store Thursday afternoon, digging into his chest pocket for his lottery tickets. After a few seconds of scanning the wad of tickets, the man began jumping up and down, pumping his arms.

The man gave the tickets to store manager Nagassi Ghebre, who says the six Powerball numbers were on the ticket, which the apparent winner said he bought in Arizona.

"And then he said, 'I got to get out of here,'" employee Freddie Lopez told WJLA.

But before leaving, the possible winner felt the need to check again to see whether he really had the ticket that millions of Americans dreamed of having.

"He says, 'Is this the right number? I don't know.' And I said, 'Yeah that's the numbers. You got them all,'" customer Paul Gaug told WJLA.

Employees and customers said the main stuck around for a few more seconds shouting, "I won," before leaving.

"He came back a minute later and said, 'I forgot to get my gas. What am I thinking?'" Lopez said.

The man drove out of the gas station in a black car and on a full tank of gas with a cash payout of $192.5 million coming his way.

"He said he lives in Maryland. I'm pretty sure," Gaug said.

The possible jackpot winner was wearing bright neon clothing and store employees told WJLA that he appeared to be a highway or construction worker.

Arizona lottery officials told WJLA that if the man does have the winning ticket, it needs to be redeemed within 180 days of the drawing in Arizona.

Read More..

Mitt Romney arrives at the White House for lunch with President Obama

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney arrived at the White House on Thursday for his lunch with President Obama, stepping out of the passenger side of a dark Lincoln Navigator and into the West Wing just before 12:30 p.m.

Romney, wearing a dark suit and tie, opened his own door and entered alone, according to pictures taken by photographers at the scene. He and Obama were scheduled to have a private, one-on-one lunch in the president’s private dining room.

Read More..

Long hard road for Spain in recession: OECD

MADRID: Spain is engulfed in a long recession with little hope of a quick recovery and its towering unemployment rate will soar further, the OECD club of industrialised nations said Thursday.

Spain must quickly fix its banks to avert the "substantial risk" of being cut off from external financing and plunging into an even deeper recession, the body warned in a report.

"The economy is undergoing a prolonged recession," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report, citing the 2008 global financial crisis and the bust of a Spanish housing boom.

"The prospect of an immediate recovery remains remote," the OECD said, noting that people and businesses were struggling to repay loans and the nation was stuck in a debt crisis.

OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria called for Spain's European partners to make a declaration that they would support Madrid in any bailout request, though it has staunchly resisted making such a call over recent months.

Addressing Spain's 25-percent unemployment rate, the OECD urged drastic labour market changes, on top of much-protested reforms already taken by conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that make it cheaper to fire staff.

It called for cutting compensation for unfair dismissal, considering abolishing an extension of industry-wide collective bargaining, and more training and job-search help for the young.

Gurria highlighted the level of youth unemployment -- more than 52 percent among 16 to 24-year-olds. The OECD forecast the overall jobless rate would reach 26.9 percent in 2013.

Spain's economy has been shrinking for 15 months, with output slumping 0.3 percent in the third quarter, according to official data, and the recession is expected to last right through 2013.

Spain's "immediate policy priority" is to restore trust in banks by fixing weak balance sheets, making orderly resolution of non-viable banks, and shifting bad assets into a new bad bank, the body said.

"In the short-term, there is a substantial risk that the economy, notably the banks, will remain cut off from external funding," it said.

"This would deepen the recession, especially if measures taken at the European level provide ineffective in easing tensions in interbank and sovereign markets."

Spain's banks are struggling with loans turned sour after the property crash.

Eurozone powers agreed in June to extend to Madrid an emergency rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros ($129 billion) to fix their balance sheets and reform the sector.

Now, Spain also is pondering whether to apply to the eurozone's bailout fund for a sovereign rescue, which would open the way for the European Central Bank to buy Spanish bonds and curb Madrid's borrowing costs.

"The thing we need now is to ask that Spain's European partners, given its performance, make an unequivocal declaration that in case Spain asks for support, that this support will be given," Gurria told a news conference.

The ECB's offer to make unlimited purchases of stricken states' bonds if they accept strict conditions has brought down Spain's interest rates even before Madrid decides whether to seek the help.

On another sensitive reform that has fuelled mass street protests, the OECD urged the Spanish government to broaden a hike in sales tax to more goods and services and increase tax on fuel.

The Madrid stock exchange strengthened Thursday, with the IBEX-35 index closing 1.74 higher as tensions eased over Greek debt. Banks' shares picked up after sharp losses Wednesday linked to their restructuring.

-AFP/ac

Read More..