Football: Inter Milan held by Genoa, nine points behind Juve

ROME: Inter Milan fell further behind Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday after being held 1-1 at home to struggling Genoa.Inter, nine points behind the defending champions who beat Cagliari 3-1 on Friday, had to rely on a goal from Argentinian veteran Esteban Cambiasso five minutes from time to rescue a point.Genoa's Ciro Immobile had given the visitors the lead in the 77th minute with...

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Govt mulling over amendment to rape law

NEW DELHI: Forced on the back foot by unprecedented public fury over the savage gang rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus last Sunday, the government on Saturday announced its intent to immediately amend the law to provide for death penalty in "rarest of rare" rape cases. Simultaneously, five police personnel found responsible for lapses that led to the gang rape going undetected despite the...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether...

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Obama recalls Inouye’s ‘dignity and grace’ during emotional service

President Obama delivered an emotional address Friday to political leaders and diplomats gathered for a memorial service celebrating the life of Sen. Daniel Inouye, a fellow Hawaii native who in the president’s admiring words “would probably be wondering what all the fuss was about.” Those imagined sentiments did not stop Obama from making a fuss over the long-serving Democratic senator...

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Moments of silence, bells mark US school shooting

NEWTOWN: Mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, stood in silence under heavy rain while church bells rang to honour the 20 young children and six staff massacred in a school shooting a week ago.The sombre scene at 9:30 am local time, the moment a week earlier when a deranged local man armed with semiautomatic weapons burst into the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was echoed around the country...

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'Seven out of ten women sexually harassed'

Of these 90% don't register a police complaint because they think it's of no use, reveals TOI surveyAn overwhelming majority of women (90%) who experience sexual harassment do not register a police complaint. Majority of them do not do so as they do not think it would serve any purpose revealing abysmal faith in law enforcement agencies.This was revealed in an online survey conducted by the Times...

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Winter Solstice 2012: Facts on the Shortest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21.Some predicted that today would also mark Earth's doomsday, thanks to a longstanding rumor that the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012. But earlier this year, National Geographic grantee William...

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Amid Protest, NRA Calls for Armed Guards in Schools

The National Rifle Association stood its ground today in arguing that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, while blaming the media and violent entertainment and video games for recent deadly shootings."The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre...

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An ambassador’s holiday card like no other

(Greetings from our man in Finland. ) There are traditional holiday cards and then there are non-traditional cards. There surely are none more non-traditional than the one sent out by our man in Finland, Ambassador Bruce Oreck.Oreck, a lawyer and son of famed vacuum cleaner manufacturer David Oreck, was a major Obama bundler and Democratic contributor before getting the appointment...

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