A Linda Pavoa

Albatrellus subrubescens is a species of polypore fungus in the family Albatrellaceae. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus have whitish to pale buff-colored caps that can reach up to 14.5 cm (5.7 in) in diameter, and stems up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long and 2 cm (0.8 in) thick. On the underside of the caps are tiny light yellow to pale greenish-yellow pores, the site of spore production. When the fruit bodies are fresh, the cap and pores stain yellow where exposed, handled, or bruised. The species is found in Asia, Europe, and North America, where it grows on the ground in deciduous or mixed woods, usually in association with pine trees. It is closely related, and physically similar, to the more common Albatrellus ovinus, from which it may be distinguished macroscopically by differences in the color when bruised, and microscopically by the amyloid (staining bluish-black to black with Melzer's reagent) walls of the spores. The fruit bodies of A. subrubescens contain scutigeral, a bioactive chemical that has antibiotic activity. A. subrubescens mushrooms are mildly poisonousn the news

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III successfully completes its first flight, carrying the crew vehicle demonstrator CARE.

The United States and Cuba move to resume diplomatic relations as U.S. aid worker Alan Gross is released at the same time as three members of the Cuban Five.

In an effort to curtail the rapid decline of the ruble, the Central Bank of Russia raises interest rates to 17%.

At least 141 people are killed as Taliban gunmen storm a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Gunman Man Haron Monis and two hostages are killed when a siege ends at a café in Sydney.

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito coalition secures a two-thirds majority following a snap general election.

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Recent deaths

On this day...

December 20

Cardiff City Hall

1860 – South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.

1955 – Cardiff (Cardiff City Hall pictured) was proclaimed as the capital of Wales.

1987 – The deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history occurred when the MV Doña Paz sank after colliding with an oil tanker on the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, resulting in an estimated 4,000 deaths.

1989 – American forces invaded Panama to overthrow the government of Manuel Noriega.

2007 – Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art.

More anniversaries: December 19 – December 20 – December 21

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