Soccer-Motta sent off as leaders PSG draw rare blank

PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Ten-man Paris St Germain failed to score in a Ligue 1 game for the first time since August as the leaders were held to a 0-0 home draw by lowly Ajaccio on Friday.PSG wasted numerous goal chances after having Thiago Motta sent off on the stroke of halftime for a dangerous tackle on Frederic Sammaritano.Carlo Ancelotti's men were also hindered when captain Thiago Silva had...

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Soccer-Rayo beat Bilbao to move into European places in La Liga

MADRID, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Tiny Rayo Vallecano won 2-1 at Athletic Bilbao on Friday to move into sixth spot in La Liga, level on points with fourth-placed Malaga in the Champions League qualification slots.Lass Bangoura and Piti, with a penalty, put Rayo two goals up in the second half and they held on despite Bilbao pulling one back through Mikel San Jose near the end and a late red card for visiting...

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FACTBOX-Soccer-African Nations Cup finalists Tunisia

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Tunisia ahead of this year's tournament in South Africa from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10:Previous appearances in African Nations Cup finals: 15Best performances: Winners in 2004; Runners-up in 1965 and 1996FIFA world ranking Dec 2012: 45Coach:Sami Trabelsi was a long-standing fullback for the Tunisia side, playing at three Nations Cup finals between...

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Whew! Huge Asteroid Apophis Won't Hit Earth in 2036

The Earth is safe from the giant asteroid Apophis when it flies extremely close to our planet in 2029, then returns for seconds in 2036, NASA scientists announced today (Jan. 10). The chances of an impact in 2036 are less than one in a million, they added.Asteroid Apophis — which is the size of three and a half football fields — was discovered in June 2004 and gained infamy after a preliminary study...

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CES 2013: Shhh, don’t tell, but Las Vegas likes secrets, even at a trade show

LAS VEGAS—In a leather banquette in a sparkling Las Vegas club, a knockout blonde discreetly kicked the Louis Vuitton bag at her feet.“It’s in there,” she whispered to me, conspiratorially. I followed this dame’s fishnet-clad legs down to her shoe’s pointed toe. Beautiful bag. “I call it the football,” she said. “I’m not going to bring it out yet.”Leslie Bradshaw’s honey-colored Cali perfection brings...

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White House petition: ‘Save the Lewpty-Lew!’

The good people of America are petitioning the White House to let Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, use his incoherent, loopy signature on the nation's currency if he is confirmed. From the official White House Petition site: Save the Lewpty-Lew! When Tim Geithner became Treasury Secretary, he changed his loopy signature to be more legible on the...

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Swiss lender ZKB says three charged by U.S. authorities

(Reuters) - Swiss lender Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) said two of its bankers and one former employee had been charged by U.S. authorities, which had accused them of helping U.S. clients avoid taxes.The three were indicted over changes of conspiring with American clients to hide more than $420 million from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan had said on Wednesday.The...

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Existing home sales rise to fastest pace in three years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose sharply in November to their fastest pace in three years, a sign the recovery in the housing market is gaining steam.The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that existing home sales climbed 5.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million units.That was the fastest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit for...

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House Republicans eye limited fiscal cliff bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With time running short before a Dec. 31 deadline, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner will begin work on legislation that simply would extend current low income tax rates for all families with incomes below $1 million a year, according to an aide.Negotiations will continue with the White House on a broader tax and spending deal, the Boehner aide said.Boehner is presenting...

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D'Antoni says Lakers need better starts, tighter defense

(Reuters) - Faster starts and a much improved defense are sorely needed by the Los Angeles Lakers if the 16-time NBA champions are to resurrect a bitterly disappointing campaign, according to their head coach Mike D'Antoni.Lakers fans had lofty expectations for 2012-13 after Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were joined by fellow All-Stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash during the off-season but the once mighty...

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UPDATE 1-NBA-Spurs smack Sixers to ride high in the West

* Spurs win 10th straight game at home* Stay in contention for top spot in the West (adds quotes, detail)Jan 5 (Reuters) - Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs maintained course with a swagger in their bid for supremacy in the hotly contested Western Conference with a 109-86 rout of the road-weary Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.Four-times All-Star guard Parker recorded 20 points and five assists...

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Spurs smack Sixers to ride high in the West

(Reuters) - Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs maintained course with a swagger in their bid for supremacy in the hotly contested Western Conference with a 109-86 rout of the road-weary Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.Four-times All-Star guard Parker recorded 20 points and five assists while Manu Ginobili added 19 points and Tim Duncan 16 as the Spurs improved their record to 27-9 with a commanding...

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Future of state estate taxes hangs on U.S. "fiscal cliff"

(Reuters) - Falling off the "fiscal cliff" is a bad thing, right?Not necessarily for some state governments that could begin collecting more in estate taxes on wealth left to heirs if the United States goes over the "cliff," allowing sharp tax increases and federal spending cuts to take effect in January.In an example of federal and state tax law interaction that gets little notice on Capitol Hill,...

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Exclusive: Profits up, but Britain gets less tax from big firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Big companies in Britain now pay less tax than they did 12 years ago despite a big jump in profitability, a Reuters analysis of official data shows. Tax campaigners say the trend is the clearest signal yet that tax avoidance has blossomed under a more business-friendly strategy at the UK tax authority Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).Large companies' payments of corporation...

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House sets Sunday session as "fiscal cliff" deadline nears

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives will return to Washington on Sunday night, just over a day before income tax rates are set to spike higher, in a last-ditch chance to avert the year-end "fiscal cliff."Senior Republican aides confirmed that House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday told members to be back in Washington in time for a 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT) legislative session on Sunday.The...

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Indian police charge 5 in New Delhi gang rape

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities filed rape and murder charges Thursday against five men accused of the gang rape of a 23-year-old university student on a New Delhi bus, a crime that horrified Indians and provoked a national debate about the treatment of women.Police said they plan to push for the death penalty in the case, as government officials promised new measures to protect women in the nation's...

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Authorities charge 5 in New Delhi gang rape

NEW DELHI (AP) — Five men accused of raping a university student for hours on a bus as it drove through India's capital were charged Thursday with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty.The attack on the 23-year-old woman, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, provoked a fierce debate across India about the routine mistreatment of females and triggered...

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US drones kill senior Taliban figure in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American drone strike in Pakistan has killed a top Taliban commander who sent money and fighters to battle the U.S. in Afghanistan but had a truce with the Pakistani military, officials said Thursday.While the death of Maulvi Nazir was likely to be seen in Washington as affirmation of the necessity of the controversial U.S. drone program, it could cause more friction in already...

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Pettersson: Golf on 'witch hunt' of long putters

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Carl Pettersson says the proposed rule to ban the anchored stroke for long putters feels like a "witch hunt," and that golf's governing bodies were only reacting to three of the last five major champions using a belly putter."It seems silly to ban something that's been around for 40 years," Pettersson said in his first comments since the U.S. Golf Association and Royal &...

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INTERVIEW-Golf-Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Still feeling a little giddy after a barn-storming finish to his 2012 campaign, Ian Poulter is itching to plug the only hole in his otherwise glittering career resume by winning a major championship.The fashion-conscious Englishman, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, has achieved virtually everything else in professional golf and says landing one of the four...

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Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle

Still feeling a little giddy after a barn-storming finish to his 2012 campaign, Ian Poulter is itching to plug the only hole in his otherwise glittering career resume by winning a major championship.The fashion-conscious Englishman, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, has achieved virtually everything else in professional golf and says landing one of the four majors would fulfill...

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