JAGUARS AND MONKEYS TO BE CLONED IN BRAZIL

Scientists in Brazil are to clone wild animals, including the jaguar and breeds of monkey, wolf and deer, to try to save them from extinction.

Experts at Brasilia Zoo, who have already successfully cloned cows and horses, are hoping to start creating their first copy of a wild animal next month.
The eight at-risk species chosen are the jaguar, the maned wolf, the black lion tamarin monkey, the bush dog, the collared anteater, the gray brocket deer, the Brazilian aardvark and the bison.

Ossobuco or osso buco is Italian for "bone with a hole"

Ingredients: 10 pieces beef shank (approx 200 grams each), 1/4 cup olive oil, 8 pieces chopped onions, 2 pieces chopped carrots, 2 stalks chopped celery, 1 head of chopped garlic, 1/4 cup fresh basil, 1 tbsp dried thyme, 4 pieces bay leaves, 4 cups red wine, 1/2 cup beef broth, 3 litres water, 4 cups tomato sauce, and 1 cup butter.

Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. In a large pot, sear shanks until these are light brown.

Set beef shanks aside. In the same pan add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.

Saute over medium heat until all the water has evaporated and mixture turns into a rich brown colour. Add beef. Add wine, beef broth, water, tomato sauce and butter.

Cover pan and place in oven for about three hours. Baste beef shanks every 30 minutes to prevent these from drying out. Remove shanks from sauce and place in serving platter.

Puree the rest of the sauce until smooth. Pour sauce over shanks. Serve with pasta or rice.

Third boat out of Vendee Globe

French sailor Louis Burton, whose boat Bureau Vallee was hit by a trawler this week, on Friday, Nov.16, 2012 became the third participant to abandon the round-the-world race the Vendee Globe, organisers said.

The 27-year-old pulled out as he tried to head back to the western French port of Les Sable d'Olonne to undergo repairs on a damaged shroud -- rigging that holds up the mast -- following the collision overnight Tuesday-Wednesday.

The collision happened about 400 nautical miles (460 miles, 741 kilometres) off the coast of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, but wind conditions were such that he instead had to go to Corunna in northwest Spain and abandon, organisers said.

Twenty skippers set off from Les Sables d'Olonne last Saturday but two, including Burton, have pulled out following collisions with trawlers, while one of the favourites, Marc Guillemot, also quit after the keel of his boat was badly damaged.

The only woman in the race, British sailor Samantha Davies, dismasted on Thursday evening but was unhurt. The incident happened in strong winds about 130 nautical miles northeast of Madeira. (AFP)

"An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it." - Laurence J Peter