Oregon governor says Nike plans expansion

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Nike wants to expand its Oregon operations and hire hundreds of workers but is asking the government to promise it won't change the state tax code.
Gov. John Kitzhaber (KIHTS'-hah-bur) says he'll call the Legislature into session Friday to create a law to give Nike its wish.
The company has not specified its expansion plans except to say it would create at least 500 jobs and $150 million in capital investment over five years.
Nike Inc. has its headquarters in Beaverton, outside Portland. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
It employs 44,000 people globally, including 8,000 in Washington County.
Nike has been selling off brands and making other moves to focus on its most profitable businesses, which include its namesake Nike brand, Jordan, Converse and Hurley.

Read More..

Report: Most Pakistani lawmakers do not file taxes

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The majority of Pakistani lawmakers do not file tax returns despite a legal requirement to do, a report said Wednesday, reinforcing concerns about the low level of tax revenue in the country.
Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP rates in the world because payment is not well enforced, and major areas of the economy, such as the agriculture sector, are either taxed at very low rates or not at all.
Around two-thirds of the country's 446 lawmakers failed to file tax returns in 2011, the latest data available, said the report, co-published by the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan and the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives.
A similar percentage of the government's 55 Cabinet members also failed to file returns, said the report, titled "Representation Without Taxation." Among those politicians who failed to file a return was Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Even lawmakers who filed returns often paid very low amounts of tax on outside income. The lowest-paying lawmaker who filed a return, Senator Mushahid Hussain, paid less than $1 in taxes, said the report.
The figures do not take into account the tax paid by lawmakers on their official salaries, which is automatically deducted. It instead focuses on declarations of supplemental income from land, businesses and other sources of revenue.
Analysts have said that the country's effective tax rate is so low because a small elite, comprised of the military, land owners and the rising urban upper and middle classes is reluctant to give up any of its wealth. These groups either put pressure on lawmakers or are the lawmakers themselves.
"End result is the erosion of public trust in the government that is frequently blamed for serving the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and low-income groups," the report said.

Read More..

Pennies over patriotism: Look at tax-averse stars

PARIS (AP) — France's Socialist government is introducing a 75-percent income tax on those earning over €1 million ($1.3 million), forcing some of the country's rich and famous to set up residency in less fiscally-demanding countries.
Here's a look at some big stars in France and elsewhere who have, over the years, put their pennies above their patriotism.
DEPARTING DEPARDIEU
The French prime minister has accused actor Gerard Depardieu of being "pathetic" and "unpatriotic" for setting up residence in a small village just across the border in neighboring Belgium to avoid paying taxes in France.
The office of the mayor in Depardieu's new haunts at Nechin, also known as the "millionaire's village" for its appeal to high-earning Frenchmen, said that for people with high income, like Depardieu, the Belgian tax system, capped at 50 percent, is more attractive.
Depardieu, who has played in more than 100 films, including "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac," has not commented publicly on the matter.
BEATLE TAX
In 2005, the Beatles' Ringo Starr took up residency in Monaco, where he gets to keep a higher percentage of royalties than he would in Britain or Los Angeles. France's tiny neighbor Monaco, with zero percent income tax for most people, has obvious appeal for the 72-year-old drummer and his estimated $240 million fortune.
The Beatles' resentment of high taxes goes back to their 1960s song "Taxman." George Harrison penned it in protest of the British government's 95 percent supertax on the rich, evoked by the lyrics: "There's one for you, nineteen for me."
Harrison reportedly said later, "'Taxman' was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes."
LICENSE TO DODGE
Former "James Bond" star Sean Connery left the U.K. in the 1970s, reportedly for tax exile in Spain, and then the Bahamas — another spot with zero income tax and one of the richest countries per capita in the Americas. His successor to the 007 mantle, Roger Moore, also opted for exile in the 1970s — this time in Monaco — ensuring his millions were neither shaken nor stirred.
EXILE ON MAIN ST.
In 1972, The Rolling Stones controversially moved to the south of France to escape onerous British taxes. Though it caused a stink at the time, it spawned one of the group's most seminal albums, "Exile on Main St." The title is a reference to their tax-dodging. In 2006, British media branded them the "Stingy Stones" with reports that they'd paid just 1.6 percent tax on their earnings of $389 million over the previous two decades.
FISCAL HEALING
In 1980, U.S. singer Marvin Gaye moved to Hawaii from L.A. to avoid problems with the Internal Revenue Service, the American tax agency. Later that year, Gaye relocated to London after a tour in Europe. Gaye, whose hits include "Sexual Healing" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" settled in Belgium in 1981. He was shot to death in 1984.

Read More..

South Africa complete innings victory

Africa in Cape Town, January 4, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa completed an innings victory over New Zealand on Friday in a result which was never in doubt after the visitors collapsed to 45 all out before lunch on the opening day of the first test.
Dean Brownlie's maiden test century helped New Zealand to 232 for five at lunch on the third day after South Africa had declared their first innings closed at 347 for eight on Thursday.
However five wickets fell for 23 runs in a lower order collapse in the second session and the New Zealanders ended up 27 runs short of making the world number one side bat again.
Brownlie, who had been brought into the team as a replacement for Ross Taylor who opted out of the tour after he was replaced as captain by Brendon McCullum, resumed on day three with wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was on 10.
The duo were resolute in the morning session and a frustrated Proteas' outfit were forced to watch as Brownlie reached his century with a big six over long-off from the bowling of Robin Peterson.
South Africa eventually got their man in the penultimate over before lunch as Brownlie cut a Morne Morkel delivery straight to Alviro Petersen on the point boundary having made 109.
Watling and James Franklin continued to frustrate the Proteas in the first hour following the break as they looked to avoid an innings defeat.
Three dropped catches had marred the hosts fielding display on day two and Franklin was next to be given a reprieve as ro Petersen grassed his second chance of the innings at gully.
A double-strike by Vernon Philander shortly before the drinks break crippled the New Zealand innings though, as Watling edged to first slip and was out for 42.
Doug Bracewell was caught at gully for a duck to reduce the Black Caps to 252 for seven and Jeetan Patel (8) was clearly rattled by the fearsome pace of Dale Steyn before eventually chopping on to his stumps.
The final two wickets fell in quick succession, as Franklin too played onto his stumps for 22 having lasted 103 minutes to leave New Zealand on the brink at 274 for nine.
The test match ended in a fittingly shambolic fashion for the Black Caps when Chris Martin was run out one delivery later without having faced a ball after being sent back by Trent Boult.
Philander won the man-of-the-match award for his match figures of 7-83, which included five for seven in the first innings.

Read More..

UPDATE 2-Cricket-South Africa complete innings victory

(Updates with quotes)
CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa completed an innings victory over New Zealand within three days on Friday in a result which was never in doubt after the visitors collapsed to 45 all out before lunch on the opening day of the first test.
Dean Brownlie's maiden test century helped New Zealand to 232 for five at lunch on the third day after South Africa had declared their first innings closed at 347 for eight on Thursday.
However five wickets fell for 23 runs in a lower order collapse in the second session and the New Zealanders ended up 27 runs short of making the world number one side bat again.
Brownlie, who had been brought into the team as a replacement for Ross Taylor who opted out of the tour after he was replaced as captain by Brendon McCullum, resumed on day three with wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was on 10.
The duo were resolute in the morning session and a frustrated Proteas' outfit were forced to watch as Brownlie reached his century with a big six over long-off from the bowling of Robin Peterson.
South Africa eventually got their man in the penultimate over before lunch as Brownlie cut a Morne Morkel delivery straight to Alviro Petersen on the point boundary having made 109.
Watling and James Franklin continued to frustrate the Proteas in the first hour following the break as they looked to avoid an innings defeat.
Three dropped catches had marred the hosts fielding display on day two and Franklin was next to be given a reprieve as ro Petersen grassed his second chance of the innings at gully.
A double-strike by Vernon Philander shortly before the drinks break crippled the New Zealand innings though, as Watling edged to first slip and was out for 42.
SPECIAL ATTACK
Doug Bracewell was caught at gully for a duck to reduce the Black Caps to 252 for seven and Jeetan Patel (8) was clearly rattled by the fearsome pace of Dale Steyn before eventually chopping on to his stumps.
The final two wickets fell in quick succession, as Franklin too played on to his stumps for 22 having lasted 103 minutes to leave New Zealand on the brink at 274 for nine.
The test match ended in a fittingly shambolic fashion for the Black Caps when Chris Martin was run out one delivery later without having faced a ball after being sent back by Trent Boult.
Philander won the man-of-the-match award for his match figures of 7-83, which included five for seven in the first innings. He has now captured 74 wickets in 13 tests at 17.40 runs each since making his debut in November 2011.
"I think it's a special attack, it's a special place. This unit, and the way we operate, having each guy know his role," he told a news conference.
"There's days where he (Steyn) attacks and I do a holding job, and then vice versa. I think as a unit, we understand each other well and that's the way we operate.
"I think with the intensity of our bowling lineup we're going to exploit the weaknesses somewhere along the line. I think Brownlie played exceptionally well, but giving his wicket away there just opened up the whole tail to our bowlers."
McCullum also praised the qusality of the South African pace bowling.
"The Australian attack of a few years ago was pretty relentless as well and it's no surprise that they were the number one in the world at that stage as well with the ability to take 20 wickets," he said.
"This South African team posseses that too and they keep coming hard at you and constantly put you under pressure. Their seam attack is right up there in terms of the best attacks and is certainly the number one attack in the world at the moment.

Read More..

Odd Mammal Thought Long Extinct in Australia May Still Live

A critically endangered mammal thought to be extinct in Australia since the last ice age may still exist there, a new study suggests.
That speculation comes from the discovery that at least one long-beaked echidna, an egg-laying mammal thought to exist only in New Guinea, was found in Australia in 1901 and that native Aborigine populations reported seeing the animal more recently. The 1901 specimen, described in the Dec. 28 issue of the journal Zookeys, had been shot and stuffed and was lying in a drawer, long forgotten, in the Natural History Museum in London.
"What's amazing about this study is it all hinges on a single specimen, and it's a very well-documented specimen that was collected in 1901 in Australia," said study co-author Kristofer Helgen, a zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "It's taken until 2013 for myself and the team to really unbury the specimen from the cabinets of the Natural History Museum of London."
Primitive mammal
Monotremes, which include bizarre little mammals like the duckbill platypus, lay eggs like reptiles but feed their babies milk. They may have diverged from all other mammals as far back as the Triassic Period, which lasted from about 248 million to 206 million years ago. [Image Gallery: Photos of Bizarre Monotremes]
While short-beaked echidnas and duckbill platypuses still live in Australia, the long-beaked echidna, the largest monotreme in the world, was thought to live only in rainforests of New Guinea. The secretive creature, which can weigh up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms), is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Forgotten in a drawer
Scientists knew the spiny, nocturnal creatures once inhabited Australia but thought it died out after the last ice age, between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Australia were one continent, Helgen said.
Helgen said he was visiting the Natural History Museum in London to look at its collections when he happened upon a skinned long-beaked echidna that was neatly tagged with the species name and where it was discovered.
It turns out that in 1901, an Australian naturalist named John Tunney shot the echidna on Mount Anderson, a mountain in a vast, arid and sparsely populated region of northwest Australia, while on an expedition for a British collector. Tunney, who was trained in taxidermy, stuffed and delivered the specimen, which was later bequeathed to the Natural History Museum. There it lay forgotten for a century.
Once they realized the echidna had been spotted in recent history, the team went back to aboriginal communities in the West Kimberley region. Some of the women remembered watching their parents hunt long-beaked echidnas.
"They remembered that there used to be an echidna in the area that was much larger, and they pointed to pictures of the modern long-beaked echidna from New Guinea," Helgen told LiveScience.
Still out there?
The new findings raise the possibility that the long-beaked echidna is still out there in Australia, and scientists should lead an expedition to find it, Helgen said. But the elusive, critically endangered creatures are difficult to spot even in New Guinea. They venture out at night, avoid humans and curl up into a spiky, unidentifiable ball at the first sign of danger, he said.
The discovery not only points to the importance of maintaining museum collections, it radically changes the picture of long-beaked echidnas, said Christopher Norris, a museums specialist at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. The New Guinea rain forest where long-beaked echidnas are normally seen is dramatically different from the rocky, arid scrubland of the Kimberley, Norris told LiveScience.

Read More..

YEARENDER-Tennis-Golden year for Murray, regrets for Nadal

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - For Andy Murray 2012 marked a golden milestone, for Novak Djokovic the year was an emphatic reminder of his status as the world's best male player, and for Roger Federer and his army of fans it was proof that the old master's magic still sparkles.
Serena Williams used the second half of the year to demonstrate that she continues to be head and shoulders above her rivals in the women's game, whatever the rankings suggest.
Of the sport's marquee names, only Rafa Nadal will reflect on the past year with regret after six months out with a knee injury, and all eyes will be studying the 11-times grand-slam winner's form once the new season swings into action.
Nadal, one of four different winners of the men's grand-slam titles this year, has not played a match since a shock Wimbledon defeat by Lukas Rosol.
He hopes to return at the Australian Open although he has sensibly lowered expectations of an immediate impact.
In any other era the absence of a player of Nadal's calibre would be an impossible void to fill yet such is the quality at the top of the men's game that the Mallorcan's extended lay-off merely took a little gloss off what was otherwise a vintage year.
Murray began it with a new coach in Ivan Lendl but still without a grand-slam title on his CV having lost in his first three major finals without taking a set.
The Scot became Britain's first male Wimbledon singles finalist since Bunny Austin in 1938 but Federer's grasscourt brilliance deprived Murray of the title.
Three weeks later Murray returned to the All England Club lawns like a man on a mission and he rode a wave of national euphoria to thrash Federer in the Olympic singles final.
Fuelled with belief, Murray then strode into New York and when a fifth shot at a grand-slam final duly arrived he rose to the occasion to beat Djokovic in a five-set epic.
It was a setback for Djokovic but the Serbian, who began the year by beating Nadal to retain the Australian Open title in the longest-ever men's grand-slam final, finished it off as year-end world number one for the second season running.
"Considering the circumstances that I had to face on and off the court, expectations, all these things, I believe that this year has been even more successful for me," Djokovic, who won three major titles in 2011, said after beating Federer to win the ATP Tour Finals at London's 02 Arena.
TOP SPOT
Though Federer's year ended in defeat, the 31-year-old Swiss will look back on 2012 with pride.
A record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title took his grand-slam haul to 17 and propelled him back to the top of the world rankings long enough to surpass Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks as number one.
The father-of-two is expected to scale back his schedule in 2013 but will still be a force to be reckoned with when the big prizes are up for grabs.
"I think it's been a fantastic season to be part of," Federer said. "Four different grand-slam champs. Then having the Olympics, as well, was obviously very unique."
Fellow 31-year-old Serena Williams had a relatively slow start to the year but after losing in the first round of the French Open to Virginie Razzano she was unstoppable.
The American won a fifth Wimbledon title, completing a golden slam by winning the Olympic singles gold in London, as well as the doubles with sister Venus, and a fourth U.S. Open title and capped the year by not dropping a set at the WTA finals in Istanbul.
Belarus's Victoria Azarenka ended the year as a worthy number one having captured the Australian Open and five other titles, while Maria Sharapova completed a career grand slam at the French Open but Williams was rightly named WTA Player of the Year.
After her battles with serious injury and health problems in recent years, Williams appears as hungry as ever and will be the woman to beat when the new season begins at the end of December.
"It's amazing that I'm still considered like one of the top players to beat. For me it's the ultimate honour and the ultimate compliment," Williams said in Istanbul before suggesting that the best might still be to come.
"I definitely think I can improve," said the 15-times major winner. "The day I feel that I can't improve, I think that's the day I should probably hang up my racquet."
Should Nadal return to his full force in 2013 the top four of the men's game looks set in stone, although several players have shown in 2012 that they can shake up the top order.
Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed an injury-free year and got back to the form that saw him win the 2009 U.S. Open final while Canada's Milos Raonic, Japan's Kei Nishikori and Poland's Jerzy Janowicz will be worth watching.
On the women's side, 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova looks the most likely to threaten the leading trio, although consistency remains her undoing.
In team tennis the Czech Republic dominated.
Their men beat Spain to win the Davis Cup for the first time as an independent nation - reward for Tomas Berdych, one of the most consistent performers on the tour throughout the year - while the women retained the Fed Cup, beating Serbia.

Read More..

Olympics sparkle at height of magical British summer

LONDON (Reuters) - London defied Britain's wettest summer for 100 years, potential transport and security chaos and a depressed economy to stage a marvelous 2012 Olympics during a magical year for British sport.
Over the past century Britons have become resigned to watching the rest of the world beat them at games they had either invented or codified at the height of the island nation's imperial splendor.
This year, to their fans' surprise and delight, British teams and athletes surpassed themselves across a range of sports, including third place in the Olympic medals' table behind the world's two great economic powers the United States and China.
Englishman Bradley Wiggins, who looks like a throwback to the English beat groups of the swinging sixties with his mop of hair and straggling sideburns, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France prior to taking a fourth Olympic gold medal.
After finishing runner-up in four grand slam finals during a vintage era for men's tennis, Scotland's Andy Murray finally made the breakthrough as the first British male in 76 years to win one of the big four titles with victory over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open.
And Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, winner of four PGA titles including the PGA championship by a record eight strokes, was awarded the annual Jack Nicklaus award for player-of-the-year. At the age of 23 he was the youngest recipient since Tiger Woods in 1997.
At the heart of the year's sporting action, London staged the summer Olympics for the third time to unanimous acclaim throughout the world.
Under the assured stewardship of organizing committee chairman Seb Coe, as adroit in the convoluted realm of sports politics as he had been on the track while winning two Olympic 1,500 meters titles, the London organization was impeccable.
Transport, one of the biggest worries in a cramped and crowded city, worked smoothly with enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds flocking to venues sprinkled among some of London's more celebrated landmarks.
Rain fell nearly every day during the early part of a gloomy summer before an overdue burst of hot sunshine in the week leading up to the Games in late July. Thereafter the weather reverted to a more familiar English blend of the good, the bad and the indifferent without causing any serious disruptions.
Even the admission by a private security firm a fortnight before the 16-day festival that it could not supply enough guards proved an unexpected bonus.
Thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen stepped into the breach and their disciplined professionalism and unfailing good humor further boosted the feel good factor.
The day after a quirky but compelling opening ceremony fusing historical and cultural glories with quintessentially British eccentricity, Michael Phelps took to the pool.
Winner of a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps faltered initially, finishing fourth in the 400 meters individual medley behind fellow-American Ryan Lochte.
By the end of the opening week, the American through sheer willpower was back to his best, finishing his competitive career with 18 gold medals from four Games. They included four golds in London and 22 medals overall to make him the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history ahead of former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who collected 18.
FINEST HOUR
While Phelps was gracing an Olympic pool for the last time on the middle Saturday of the Games, the nearby Olympic stadium erupted during Britain's finest Olympic hour.
Reflecting the face of modern multi-cultural Britain, Somali immigrant Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters and the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother Jessica Ennis finished first in the heptathlon. Greg Rutherford, the great-grandson of an England soccer international, won the long jump.
Usain Bolt, who had made a mockery of the world 100 and 200 meters records in Beijing, shrugged off doubts about his form, fitness and the threat of training partner Yohan Blake, who had beaten him twice at the Jamaican trials, to become the first man to retain both Olympic titles.
Jamaica swept the 200 medals and Bolt finished a triumphant week for his tiny Caribbean nation by anchoring the 4x100 relay team to a world record and establish beyond any doubt that he is the greatest sprinter to step on to a track.
Kenya's David Rudisha provided the most spectacular individual performance on the track, spread-eagling the field to break his own world 800 meters record without the benefit of pacemakers.
Chelsea kicked off the British sporting summer with an unexpected triumph in the Champions League final, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena to win the European club title for the first time.
After the west London club had eliminated favorites Barcelona in the semi-finals with a scrupulously disciplined defensive display, Didier Drogba leveled the scores in the 88th minute of the final with a header before converting the final spot kick in the penalty shootout.
ARMSTRONG SCANDAL
Wiggins, who had survived the worst life could throw at him, triumphed in the most brutal and demanding of the European road cycling classics.
Abandoned at the age of two by his alcoholic Australian father, himself a professional cyclist who was found dead of head injuries on a street in 2008, Wiggins fought his way out of a council estate with gritty determination and drive.
His victory in the Tour, possibly the greatest individual British sporting achievement of the year and followed by a fourth Olympic gold, was accompanied by unwelcome if not unexpected baggage.
Given the sport in general and the Tour in particular are notoriously drug-tainted, Wiggins was forced to endure a barrage of questions about doping during and after the race.
"If I doped I would potentially stand to lose everything," he responded. "My reputation, my livelihood, my marriage, my family, my house... my Olympic titles, my world titles."
The questions, to Wiggins and his rivals, will not go away soon.
Later in the year, American Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency published a report accusing him of being involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen". Armstrong continued to deny ever taking drugs but elected not to contest the charges, which the sporting authorities took as an effective admission of guilt.
Murray's breakthrough came after he avenged his Wimbledon final defeat to Roger Federer to beat the Swiss master in the Olympic final.
Serena Williams collected gold in the singles and doubles during a winning streak when she added the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to her trophy cabinet.
POULTER LEADS FIGHTBACK
McIlroy also played a full part in the year's most remarkable comeback. After confusion over a tee time, he needed a police escort in his haste to reach the Medinah course on the final day of the biennial Ryder Cup between Europe and the United States when the hosts needed only 4-1/2 points from 12 singles matches to win.
Instead, the Americans conceded 8-1/2 points to the Europeans who won 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. McIlroy prevailed over the previously undefeated Keegan Bradley and German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to secure the 14 points Europe needed to retain the trophy.
Englishman Ian Poulter, who like the late Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie before him reserves his best for the Ryder Cup, turned around Europe's fortunes by earning one of two points in the fourballs on Saturday. Poulter, possessor of one of the more startling wardrobes in a sport not noted for sartorial restraint, was one of eight players to win on Sunday to finish with a 4-0 record overall.
Although another Briton, Jenson Button, won the final Grand Prix of the season in Sao Paulo nobody could deny Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who at the age of 25 became Formula One's youngest triple world champion.
The German was last on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix but fought back in a damaged car to finish sixth.
One arena where a British national team performed much as it always does at major tournaments was in the national game of soccer.
For once, under a new coach Roy Hodgson, expectations were not exaggeratedly high for England before the European championships jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland and losing on penalties to Italy in the quarter-finals was greeted with a resigned shrug rather than outraged indignation.
Spain, the country who took 44 years to win a major tournament, became the first to win three in a row, retaining the European title after triumphing in the 2010 World Cup.
They destroyed Italy 4-0 in the final and their endlessly inventive midfielder Andres Iniesta was named player of the tournament.
Iniesta's Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi was carried off in a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper in a Champions League group match on December 5.
Four days later the Argentine scored both goals in a 2-1 La Liga win over Real Betis to overhaul German Gerd Mueller's previous record of 85 goals in a calendar year set in 1972. Both goals were set up by Iniesta.
Pele's record of 75 scored in 1958 was already well behind him and, at the age of 25, Messi is in exalted company.
"Leo is supernatural. He doesn't have limits," marveled Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Britain's golden year lingered into December, with yet further cause for celebration through sports developed in Victorian public schools whose passion for organized games inspired Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.
England, 12/1 outsiders before the match, thrashed world rugby union champions New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham to bring an abrupt halt to increasingly fevered speculation that the current All Blacks team are the best side ever to play the game.
Then the England cricket side, humiliated in the first test of a four-match series in India, bounced back with captain Alastair Cook leading by example to win the next two by convincing margins.
The last test was drawn and England sealed the series 2-1, their first test series victory in India since 1985 and India's first home series defeat in eight years.

Read More..

Asia delights in Olympic success but big names flop

Another shower of gold at the Olympics confirmed China's status as the powerhouse of Asian sport but there were few standout performances away from London for the continent's top sporting talents to crow about in 2012.
The likes of Sachin Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team, Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and Chinese tennis player Li Na had years ranging from the mediocre to the downright awful.
There was better news in geopolitical terms when India decided to resume cricketing ties with neighbors Pakistan, while the sporting sphere avoided any serious repercussions from China's bitter territorial dispute with Japan.
Brilliant performances from swimmers Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen led the way as China won 38 golds in London to finish second on the medals table, but there was controversy as well as glory for the Chinese.
China was furious at suspicions of doping leveled at Ye, shamed by the scandal involving their badminton team and stunned by the second successive Olympic failure of hurdler Liu Xiang.
South Korea's heavy investment in Olympic success also paid healthy dividends with 13 golds and a best ever finish of fifth on the medals table, pushing them ahead of traditional middle-ranking powers Germany, France, Australia and Japan.
While the Chinese remained Olympic pacesetters, in soccer they continued their long pattern of underachievement despite the presence of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in their domestic league.
Instead, it was their Japanese and Korean neighbors who again shared Asian bragging rights in the world's most popular sport.
Japan were in a class of their own on the international stage with a number of eye-catching performances as they moved to the brink of being the first team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Alberto Zaccheroni's side made a major breakthrough by beating France 1-0 in a friendly in Paris and Shinji Kagawa moved to Manchester United in June.
Ulsan Hyundai became the third K-League club in four years to win the Asian Champions League, going unbeaten through the continent's top club competition and clinching the title with a 3-0 win over Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia.
While Ulsan's triumph was a welcome turnaround after the Korean match-fixing scandal of 2011, controversy continued to dog Asian football.
The governing Asian Football Confederation spent the year trying to rid themselves of suspended president Mohamed Bin Hammam, long after the Qatari was first banned by FIFA for alleged bribery in May 2011.
Indonesian clubs remained stuck in the middle of a dispute over governance of the sport in the nation and Paraguayan striker Diego Mendieta was left to die in a hospital waiting on four months' wages owed by his former club.
Pacquiao, arguably the greatest ever pound-for-pound boxer, stood at a crossroads at the end of 2012 after a stunning knockout at the hands of Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in December handed him a second defeat of the year.
The 34-year-old Filipino, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions, may fight again but it was a signal that his illustrious career may be drawing to a close.
LOW EXPECTATIONS
India have rarely thrived at the Olympics and a reminder of their low expectations came when their unprecedented six-medal haul in London was hailed as a triumph.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) undermined even that moderate success when, despite several warnings, it was kicked out of the Olympic family after allowing government interference in its elections.
The country's cricketers can usually be relied upon to raise sporting spirits in the world's second most populous nation but the much vaunted India team lurched from one defeat to another.
The retirement of batting greats Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman deepened the gloom and even Tendulkar, who became the first cricketer to hit 100 international centuries this year, labored in the twilight of his career and quit one-dayers.
Sri Lanka won good reviews for its hosting of the Twenty20 World Cup but the hosts could not manage to provide Asia with a champion and succumbed to West Indies in the final.
Li won a WTA title at Cincinnati and reached three other finals to cement her position as a top 10 player but she never got past the fourth round at a grand slam in her attempts to back up her breakthrough 2011 French Open triumph.
Kei Nishikori finally gave Asian fans a men's tennis player to cheer when he crashed into the world top 20 and became the first local to win the Japan Open for his second ATP title.
Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish made a good start to his Major League baseball career with the Texas Rangers, being credited 16 wins in 29 starts and winning the club's Rookie of the Year award.
Millions of dollars continued to be pumped into golf in Asia but despite the many lucrative tournaments being played at sumptuous courses around the region, local success at the top level was rare.
India's Jeev Milkha Singh and Thai Thongchai Jaidee claimed titles on the European Tour but Hiroyuki Fujita's four wins on the Japan Tour were enough to make him Asia's top ranked golfer at world number 49.
There were signs that China might be on the verge of producing some promising talent when 14-year-old Guan Tianlang ensured he would become the youngest player to compete at the U.S. Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
Taiwan's Yani Tseng led the continued Asian dominance of women's golf by retaining the number one ranking throughout the year, while eight of the top 10 in the world are from the continent.
Perhaps the biggest development for the future of sport in Asia, and in particular for the continent's half a billion Muslim women, came when FIFA lifted its ban on the wearing of head scarves in competition and women athletes from Saudi Arabia and Qatar competed for the first time at the Olympics.
Teenager Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani became Saudi Arabia's first female Olympian with a brief appearance in the London judo competition.
"I advise all Saudi women to take part in sports," she said.

Read More..

Surname Racial Bias? Winners and Losers in 2012 Election

The first color a voter sees in studying the ballot might be the red or blue of the Republican or Democratic parties. But gender–and race–can be a significant factor in the power of choice and the ultimate composition of Congress.
Last month, 78 U.S. House contests pitted a white candidate against a person of color; 47 white lawmakers won, or 60 percent. (In 10 additional races, both candidates were minorities.)
“People tend to look at partisanship first,” explained Matt Baretto, a University of Washington political-science professor, “but there is additional evidence that … people do bring their racial bias to the voting process.”
Baretto researched (pdf)  voting bias in Washington state, where an appointed Latino judge ran to retain his Supreme Court seat. His opponent campaigned lightly, yet won in 30 of the 38 counties where racial tensions were high.  (The Seattle Times covered the outcome, and previously Baretto found evidence of “racially polarized voting” in more than 40 Los Angeles County elections since the mid-1990s; similarly, 2010 research conducted in Texas showed a propensity for Hispanic voters to back “Juan Martinez” over “John Morgan.”)
In the coming year, more and more ethnic-sounding surnames will appear on ballots, which is only one factor that partly defines candidates beyond party and gender. Below are visual representations of winners and losers in November races involving minority candidates, with red signifying Republicans, blue Democrats, and green independents.
See our full coverage of all minority candidates, with photos and winning margins, from the November election. Also learn more about our incoming lawmakers by reading their profiles.
This first visual representation is of the 10 minority winners of open seats, further evidence that the GOP fielded few successful minority candidates.

Here is a mashup of the names of minority winners.

A collection of surnames of the losers in contests when one candidate was white and his or her opponent was a person of color.


Districts and gerrymandering have much to do with the success of a candidate, but some districts had hotly contested races of minority candidates;
Puerto Rican immigrant Jose Serrano easily retained his District 15 seat, representing New Yorkers in upper Manhattan and parts of Queens. He beat Frank Della Valle, 97 percent to 3 percent, in the widest margin among minority candidates.
Conversely, in another race where one candidate was a minority, Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy defeated incumbent Allen West, R-Fla., by the narrowest margin--a mere 1,907 votes--in ousting the black House member in District 18, which encompasses parts of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Here you can see the surnames of the winners and their parties.



And finally, take a look at an alphabetized list of winners by party; the names in italics are the minority candidates.
Barton beat Sanders 58-39
Osborne beat Bass 86-14
Beatty beat Long 68-27
Becerra beat Smith 85-15
Bentivollo beat Taj 57-44
Beutler beat Haugen 60-40
Blackburn beat Amouzouvik 71-24
Brooks beat Holley 65-35
Burgess beat Sanchez 68-29
Campbell beat Kang 59-41
Capps beatMaldonado55-45
Capuano beat Romano 84-16
Castor beatOtero 70-30
Chu beat Orswell 63-37
Clarke beat Cavanagh 87-12
Coble beat Foriest 61-39
Cole beat Bebo 61-39
Cuellar beat Hayward 68-30
DeLauro beatWinsley 75-25
Coble beat Foriest 61-39
Denham beat Hernandez 54-46
Duncan beat Doyle 67-33
Eshoo beat Chapman 70-30
Farenthold beat Harrison 57-39
Flores beat Easton 80-20
Forbes beatWard 57-43
Gerlach beat Trivedi 57-43
Gohmert beat McKellar 72-27
Gosar beat Robinson 67-28
Green beat Mueller 78-20
Grisham beat Arnold-Jones 59-41
Heck beat Oceguera 50-43
Hinojosa beat Brueggemann 61-37
Horsford beat Tarkanian 50-42
Huizenga beat German 61-34
Jeffries beat Bellone 90-9
Joyce beat Blanchard 54-39
Jackson Lee beat Seibert 75-23
Lujan beat Bryd 63-37
Lungren beat Bera 51-49
Matheson beatLove 49-48
McCaul beat Cadien 61-36
 McClintock beat Uppal 61-39
McCollum beatHernandez 62-32
McNerney beat Gil 55-45
Meng beat Halloran 68-31
Miller beat Fuller 69-31
Moore beat Sebring 72-25
Mullin beat Wallace 57-38
Murphy beat West 50-50
Nadler beat Chan 81-19
Napolitano beat Miller 65-35
O'Rourke beat Carrasco 66-33
Olson beat Rogers 64-32
Payne beat Kelemen 87-11
Pearce beat Ernard 59-41
Pompeo beat Tillman 62-31
Reed beat Shinagawa 52-48
Rice beat Tinubu 55-45
Rogers beat Harris 64-36
Royce beat Chen 59-41
Ruiz beat Bono Mack 52-48
Ryan beat Agana 72-28
Sanchez beat Hayden 62-38
Scalise beat Mendoza 67-21
Scott beat Rose 62-35
Serrano beat Della Valle 97-3
Sewell beat Chamberlain 76-24
Southerland beat Lawson 53-47
Takano beat Tavaglione 58-42
Terry beat Ewing 51-49
Thompson beat Dumas 63-37
Tiberi beat Reese 64-36
Vargas beat Crimmins 70-30
Velazquez beat Murray 94-12
Webster beat Demings 52-48
Yoho beat Gillot 65-32

Read More..