Shepherd gets tough with Owen

Freddy Shepherd has threatened striker Michael Owen with a few home truths about his Newcastle career - and says he has to 'prove himself'. The Magpies chairman is furious at reports linking the club's record £17million signing with a move away from St James' Park and has urged him to publicly declare his commitment to the cause.
The injury-plagued England hitman has played just 13 senior games for Newcastle since his 2005 transfer and Shepherd believes he owes them some loyalty.
The St James' Park supremo has warned those who purport to speak on behalf of the 27-year-old to stop trying to "flog Owen from under our feet".
Responding to reports he could be available for as little as £9million, Shepherd said in the Daily Express: "These suggestions will not impress our fans after what has happened in the last couple of years.
"This report was a very thinly-disguised attempt to flog Owen from under our feet, sourced very close to the player or those who look after him. The information must have come from there, not from our club."
Shepherd issued Owen with an ultimatum, in which he claims none of the Premiership's 'big four' would want to buy him.
He said: "I'm telling Michael he has two choices: he either comes out and tells our fans, who have taken him to their hearts, that he is happy here - or I tell him that not one of the big four clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool are interested in him. Because that's the case.
"The loyalty this club has shown him over the last two years, when he had injury problems in his first season and had missed virtually all of this season, deserves something in return. "He has to prove to everyone, himself and Newcastle United included, that he is fully recovered and not about to break down again."
Shepherd also played down suggestions Sven-Goran Eriksson is a candidate for the Newcastle manager's vacancy.
Eriksson's agent Athole Still has claimed the former England boss had the support of 51% of Geordies.
Shepherd said: "Where he gets that figure from, I can't imagine. I think 51% of Geordies might like the idea of Sven's girlfriend Nancy Dell'Olio on the Newcastle Quayside."
© 2007 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved

Brazilians Win First Career Team Title

Marcelo Melo & Andre Sa

Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa claimed their first career ATP team title with a 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 (Match TB) win over Argentine duo Martin Garcia and Sebastian Prieto in one hour and 12 minutes.
Garcia and Prieto cruised through the first set with three breaks of serve in 27 minutes, but Melo and Sa responded quickly opening a 4-0 lead that helped them to the second set.
The Brazilians opened up a 4-1 lead in the Match Tie-break and sealed the championship on their third point.
The 23-year-old Marcelo and Sa, who celebrated his 30th birthday today, were playing in their fifth ATP-level tournament as a pair.
They have an 8-5 career record together, since making their debut at Vina del Mar in February.
Sa improves to 2-6 in ATP finals, having captured his first career title in 2001 at Hong Kong (w/ Braasch). The victory gives Melo his maiden doubles crown.
The pair has also enjoyed success on the ATP Challenger Circuit, winning their fourth title in Bermuda three weeks ago.
Garcia and Prieto, who won the Buenos Aires title in February (d. Montanes-Ramirez Hidalgo), fall to 7-8 this year. They first made their team debut at Prague in 1999.
Garcia has a 7-11 record in ATP doubles finals, while Prieto falls to an 8-13 mark.

©2006 ATP Tour inc.

Deflated Chelsea reluctant party hosts

LONDON (Reuters) - Deflated and leg-weary, Chelsea host Premier League champions Manchester United on Wednesday in a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final on May 19.
Chelsea's hopes of securing a third successive league title ended at the weekend, their pursuit of Alex Ferguson's side brought to a halt by London rivals Arsenal.
Jose Mourinho's team celebrated last season's title after crushing United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge but it will be the visiting fans in party mood this time.
The Portuguese has promised that United, like his own side received two years ago, will be given a guard of honour.
"It is obvious we will give them a guard of honour on Wednesday, as they did with us at Old Trafford," Mourinho told reporters.
But Mourinho, unaccustomed to being a runner-up, could not bring himself to say the new champions were the better side, choosing instead to describe his own team as "heroes".
"They are the team with more points, for me that is enough. I see football in a very pragmatic way," he said of United's triumph.
Mourinho motioned to Chelsea's fans to "keep their chins up" after the 1-1 draw at Arsenal and is already looking to the 2007-08 campaign.
"Next season we will be ready," he said. "We have still the FA Cup final to play but July 9 (in training), we will start again and this game gives, in terms of spirit, the standard for what we have to do."
With the league done and dusted, both sides will hope to sign off the season with more silverware at the new Wembley.
"We're certainly looking forward to the cup final," said Ferguson.
"When people were saying they hoped Wembley would be ready for May, I was hoping we would get there. If we'd got knocked out then I was praying it wouldn't be finished."
Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! UK Limited. All rights reserved

Djokovic Wins Youngest-Ever Estoril Open Final

Djokovic, Gasquet

ATP World No. 5 Novak Djokovic of Serbia captured his third ATP title of the year at the Estoril Open on Sunday.
Third-seeded Djokovic defeated No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet of France 7-6(7), 0-6, 6-1 in two hours and 12 minutes on Court Central at the Estadio Nacional.
It was the youngest final in the 18-year history of the tournament.
The 19-year-old Djokovic leads the ATP circuit with a 31-6 match record this year, which includes a 6-1 record on clay courts.
He has already won titles in Adelaide (d. Guccione) and ATP Masters Series Miami (d. Canas). Djokovic was also runner-up at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells (l. to Nadal).
He improves to 5-2 in ATP finals.
Gasquet held the upper hand in the opening set of the final, holding two set points on the Djokovic serve at 5-5 and one further set point at 6-5.
The 20-year-old Frenchman also squandered three set points in the tie-break at 6-4 and on serve at 7-6.
Djokovic wrapped up the first set in one hour and 16 minutes.
But Gasquet, who is projected to rise to No. 13 in the ATP Rankings on Monday, regained his composure and ran through the second set in just 23 minutes for the loss of seven points.
Djokovic won all seven points on serve, while Gasquet converted three of five break point opportunities.
Gasquet won just 11 of 36 points in the final set, as Djokovic broke serve in the second and fifth games to secure his first Estoril Open title on debut.
Gasquet, who was appearing in his first ATP final since winning the Lyon title in October 2006, falls to 22-9 this season.
He notched his 100th ATP-level victory over Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the second round on Tuesday.
Djokovic improved to 2-0 in career meeting with Gasquet. The pair first met in the ATP Masters Series Madrid second round in October 2006.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Djokovic: “I would like to congratulate Richard for reaching the final. On the court he is a great player and you can really expect a lot from him in the future. I knew it would be a very difficult match against him especially on this surface.
“He produces very high spins, which produces a lot of ‘Allez’ effects on this surface. I knew I would have to work really hard from the start and stay focused to the end if I wanted to beat him.
“We played a really close first set and I think he was supposed to win the first set, but I fought hard. He had a lot of set points, but that is tennis – it can change at any time.
“In the second set it was inexplicable for me. I started to play really bad. I didn’t give him any pressure and he was playing a solid game.
“After I was probably saving my energy for the third set, which I managed to do. I was really happy to start the set with a break, which was my goal to break early. I was playing aggressive, but with a lot of patience. He had a little lack of physical strength. We had a long week - especially myself, with difficult matches in the first round and in the quarterfinals.
“I’m really happy to win another title in a very close match. I hope the crowd enjoyed it because there was a really nice atmosphere.”
Gasquet: “I don’t know it was a strange match because there are three matches in one. I can tell because in the first set, I am playing good, he is playing good too and it’s a great match.
“I think I am not lucky because I had 5 or 6 set points maybe I don’t know, every point was bad for me, because he touched the line or was not far from the line, so it was not easy for me.
“He won 9-7 in the tie-break so no, I wasn’t lucky in the first. He did maybe the best choice but me I tried to be aggressive on set point but I think I had no chances, I am not lucky on this set.After, I don’t know what happened with him, he didn’t play the second set I don’t know why, maybe he was a little bit tired or he was really nervous after the first set maybe and I won 6-0 in ten minutes.
“In the third set he is playing great and I have to be more aggressive to win this match, it’s my game and I played good but I need to be more aggressive to win this final, this type of match against a great player, I have to play more and more aggressive with my backhand, to serve better and go more to the net.
“I didn’t do that and after that he played wonderful. That’s never easy with him, because he served great, but I think if I can win the first set, I think I can win the match after.”

FERGUSON: TITLE GREAT FOR FLEDGLINGS

Posted 07/05/07 07:44

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney can become even better players with the experience of winning their first Premiership title.
Ferguson admitted he was "in agony" watching the end of Chelsea's 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Sunday which confirmed United as Premiership champions for the ninth time.
United have a seven-point lead over second-placed Chelsea with two games remaining after they beat Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday and Jose Mourinho's side could only draw in north London.
It means Ferguson can take his team to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night having already reclaimed the title from the Blues, who had won it for the last two seasons.
After the title triumph was confirmed Ferguson told MUTV: "For Cristiano, Wayne and the lads who have not won a championship medal before, it is fantastic for them and hopefully it develops and moves them on a bit."
The Scot hopes to continue at the helm for some time yet, admitting his aborted retirement several years ago was a mistake.
"It's easy to retire. It was a quick decision. I did it years ago and regretted it within days.
"I feel invigorated by the young players at the club and players like Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes turning out every week for me. It gives me the right vibes.
"I don't know how long I'll last now but I'm enjoying it."
Ferguson admits the domestic league is now United's priority whereas the Champions League had been more important years ago.
"The Premiership is such a competitive league with the pressure on big clubs to do well, and that means it is a priority for us," he said.
"Some years ago I had an obsession with winning in Europe but I think that's been overtaken by winning the Premier League. To win it is a big achievement.
"It's the priority but I do wish we'd got to the (Champions League) final in Athens."
Regarding the title race, Ferguson added: "It's not easy to keep a lead for six months or something knowing Chelsea are on your coat-tails.
"The crucial part was the resilience of the players when we started getting all those injuries. Credit to the players who dug in every week for us. It's been a fantastic effort by them."
Asked how the triumph rates with the previous eight, Ferguson said: "All of them were good.
"Maybe the fact that for two years Chelsea dominated the Premier League and we had a big job to do to catch them (makes this one special).
"The key was a good start to the season and we did that very well. It gave us momentum and from that moment on we did not lose it."

Copyright © TEAMtalk Media Group 2006

Unseeded Bondarenko to face Henin in Warsaw

WARSAW, May 5 (Reuters) - Unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 7-6 on Saturday to set up a final against world number one Justine Henin in the Warsaw Cup.
Russian third seed Kuznetsova never looked comfortable against her aggressive opponent, winning just one of six break points and finishing the match with 46 unforced errors.
Bondarenko broke in the opening game and again for 5-2. She began the second set in style by breaking for 1-0.
Kuznetsova had an opportunity to level at 3-3 but netted a forehand return on break point. She finally managed to break as Bondarenko served for victory at 5-4 but the Ukrainian took the tie break with a winning forehand.
Bondarenko has only one title to her name, in Luxembourg last year.
"I surprised myself," she told reporters. "I just tried to play my game and concentrate on every point and not think about the last point or her game."
Kuznetsova said: "The first rule of tennis is you've got to play against your opponent and I was playing against myself so it was pretty tough out there.
"I think I almost turned it around in the second set. I tried but it seemed to be so hard today," added the Russian, who lost the last three finals here.
STRONG CHALLENGE
Henin withstood a strong challenge from Serbian Jelena Jankovic to win 7-5 2-6 6-4 and reach her fourth final of the year.
The Belgian, winner in Dubai and Doha, could have claimed victory more easily after sweeping to a 4-0 lead in the first set and then holding points to lead 2-0 in the second.
Instead, fourth seed Jankovic held, broke to lead 2-1 and went on to secure the set with a further break for 5-2.
Henin again let her advantage slip in the deciding set. She went 3-1 up but Jankovic broke her in the next game, and when Henin held a break point to lead 5-3 she dumped a weak return into the net.
As the set seemed destined for a tiebreak, Jankovic made two forehand errors to drop her serve at 5-4.
"I was expecting a tough match because she gave me a lot of trouble in the past," said Henin.
"I started the match pretty well, I was very aggressive and she made a couple of mistakes, but tactically it was pretty perfect what I was doing.
"Then I lost my intensity but finally I could finish the first set -- not the way I wanted, but I won it. I didn't play well at all in the second set ... and then in the third set it was a good fight," she added.

Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved

Rafa Clinches Barcelona Hat-trick!

Top seed Rafael Nadal claimed his 20th ATP title and 12th consecutive clay court crown when he defeated Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Open Seat 2007 Sunday.Nadal, 20, became just the second player (Mats Wilander 1982-84) in the 55-year history of the Barcelona tournament to win a hat-trick of titles and in doing so extended his Open era winning streak on clay to 72 matches.Nadal improved his perfect record in clay court finals to 15-0 and his record in all ATP finals to 20-3, giving him an even better finals winning percentage (.869) than Roger Federer (.770). Nadal's 15 clay court titles puts him in a tie with Gustavo Kuerten for fourth place on the list of most career clay court titles.
Canas took the fight to Nadal from the outset and forced the top seed to fend off two break points in the first game of the match. The Argentine was determined to not be the only player scurrying side to side and had Nadal chasing balls in all corners of the court. It was clear both players were in for a grueling afternoon as the first four game of the match spanned 23 minutes.
But Nadal would not face another break point after his first service game and ultimately overpowered 29-year-old Canas with his lethal forehand, breaking the Argentine once in both the first and second sets. Canas did not go down without a fight, saving a match point on his serve at 3-5, and two match points when Nadal led 40/0 on serve in the final game of the match.
By winning Sunday's final Nadal breaks a tie with Novak Djokovic for most ATP match wins in 2007: 27 victories. It was just last month that Nadal snapped an eight-month title drought at the ATP Masters Series event in Indian Wells, but he has now won three of his past four tournaments.In the space of two weeks Nadal has seen off the two players considered most likely to threaten his quest to win a third consecutive Roland Garros title, beating Roger Federer in the Masters Series Monte-Carlo final for the second straight year and Canas in the Barcelona title match. He has not dropped a set during the clay court swing.A Spaniard has captured the Barcelona trophy in each of the past five years. Beside Nadal’s three titles, Tommy Robredo won in 2004, and Carlos Moya in 2003. The last non-Spaniard to win the title was Argentine Gaston Gaudio in 2002 (d. Costa).Nadal receives 300 ATP Ranking points and 130,200 Euros, while Canas collects 210 points and 68,500 Euros. Nadal improved to 3-0 in career meetings with Canas. Nadal’s 72-match clay court streak began after a quarterfinal loss to Igor Andreev on Apr. 8, 2005 in Valencia. Nadal has a 16-1 record in Barcelona, with his only loss coming to countryman Alex Corretja in the second round in 2003.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Nadal: "To win another final, in Barcelona, at my home club, it's a great feeling. The first time I won it was like a dream, so what can I say, to win it for a third time, to win my 20th title here, it is an amazing feeling." On Canas: "He has been working very hard and his comeback this season is really impressive and I am very happy for him. It shows he is mentally very strong."
Canas: "I think my level was good today, the only difference was a few points. I had the luck to beat Roger (Federer) twice on hard courts – maybe I didn't have the luck to beat Rafa today. But I am very happy with the way I played this week, to reach another final. I know I need to improve a few things, but I am not that far away."

© 2004 Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 All Rights Reserved

World's oldest person dies at age 115

Barely a month after becoming the world's oldest person, Emiliano Mercado del Toro died Wednesday at his home in the seaside town of Isabela on the northern coast of Puerto Rico . Grandniece Dolores Martinez informed The Associated Press of his death at age 115."He died like a little angel," Martinez said.Mercado del Toro was born Aug. 21, 1891,in Cabo Rojo on the southwest tip of the island when Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony. He never married and had no children. In an Associated Press interview in August on his 115th birthday, he attributed his longevity to eating right and abstaining from alcohol. He smoked for 76 years, kicking the habit at age 90. "I never thought I would last so long," he said. Dr. Stephen Coles, whose Gerontology Research Group at UCLA studies people older than 110, said these so-called supercentenarians have avoided the traditional ailments that remove ordinary people from the population, the top three being, in order, heart disease, cancer and stroke. "These people who live a long time and have escaped regular diseases usually have a strong and vital life," he said Wednesday. Mercado del Toro joined the U.S. Army in October 1918 and trained in Panama for a month before World War I ended Nov. 11. He was discharged the next month and at age 27 returned to the sugar fields of Puerto Rico, where he worked until he was 80. Blind for the last five years and increasingly hard of hearing, Mercado del Toro became the oldest known person in the world last month when 116-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bolden died at a nursing home in Tennessee. A 114-year-old Connecticut woman, Emma Faust Tillman, is now believed to be the oldest living person. She was born Nov. 22, 1892. According to the Gerontology Research Group's website, there are 36 women older than the oldest man in the world, Tomoji Tanabe of Japan, who was born Sept. 18, 1895. Coles said researchers "honestly don't know" why there are more women than men older than 110.

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Sport in brief 25/1

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is expected to host 2,000 competitors, coaches and referees at the World Youth Chess Championship next September.
Setup for the tournament comes with a bill of about US$800,000, half of which will be split between the Viet Nam Committee of Sports and Physical Culture and the Viet Nam Chess Federation, while the World Chess Federation (FIDE) stated it would locate donors to make up the rest.
FIDE will also assist organisers by providing the necessary equipment and technical experts.
Server Hieu booted from squad
The national sepak takraw men's team was summoned early this month to begin training, but without server Nguyen Trung Hieu.
Hieu, who used to be considered a top player, has lost his touch recently, and had a disappointing performance at the Asian Games in Doha last December. Some of his coaches cite his priority with academia as the reason for his sub-par play.
Hieu's teammate Pham Viet Thanh is also off the team.
At present, the team consists of 14 members - most of whom are young players with little to no international experiences. They will represent Vietnam in the world championship, the King's Cup, and December's 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Student tourney to kick off
The widely popular National Student Football Championship, which sees the largest number of young talents coming out to play, will be held nationwide in early February.
The organising board divided 100 football teams into eight groups playing in Hanoi, Hai Phong, HCM City, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong and Can Tho. The qualifying round will run from February to mid-March.
The 12 teams who secure the most wins will enter the final round in Hanoi from March 26 to April 5. The championship is held under the Viet Nam Student Association, the Viet Nam Fund for Young Talent and the Viet Nam Football Federation.
Long helps VN in Greatest Race
Vietnam remain in third place among Southeast Asian nations after runner Nguyen Van Long finished the third leg of the Greatest Race on Earth in Mumbai, India, on Sunday.
Long, the youngest member of the Vietnam team, completed the race after 2 hours and 48.43 minutes to rank 18 out of 29 competitors after an injury slotted him down 13km from the finish line.
With Long's result, Vietnam are still behind Indonesia and Thailand in the Southeast Asian region and rank 15 of 26 national teams.
The leg's winner was Vincent Kiplagat from Kenya, who finished in 2:15.08.
Long's teammate Hoang Van Bau will complete the Vietnamese quartet in the men's national team category in Hong Kong on March 4.
Two other members, Nguyen Chi Dong and Nguyen Dang Duc Bao, competed in the two previous legs in Nairobi and Singapore.
The total prize pool of Standard Chartered Greatest Race on Earth 2006-07 offers US$1.5mil, one of the largest prizes in the world of athletics.
In last year's Greatest Race on Earth, Vietnam took third place in the region and earned $2,500.
New football awards launched
The Bong Da (Football) newspaper launched awards of Best Coach, Best Male Player and Best Female Player to honour footballers and coaches for their contributions to the sport.
The organisers listed six coaches, 10 male and five female players for the awards. The coach and male football winner will receive a bonus of VND25mil (US$1,500), while the female footballer will earn VND20,000 ($1,200). Apart from professional skills, the nominees must have made significant contribution to their respective national teams.
The winners will be selected based on the text message votes from fans, who can send their pick by dialing 8278.
The deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper Vu Manh Hai said he intends to make the awards an annual event.

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Fosters aids beer powered fuel cells

By Iain Thomson, 4 May 2007 11:05 AEST

Scientists at the University of Queensland have hooked up with Foster's brewery to build a fuel cell powered by brewery waste.The power source mixes by-products of the brewing process with special bacteria that feed on the leftover starch, alcohol and sugar. The device produces power, clean water and carbon dioxide."Energy and water supply are among the biggest challenges we will face in the coming decades," said Dr Korneel Rabaey from Queensland University."Therefore, we must learn how to diversify our portfolio of fuels, and we must learn to reduce our energy and water usage." The 10-litre prototype battery has been operating successfully for three months and a much larger unit is planned at brewer's plant in Brisbane later in the year. This 660-gallon battery will be capable of producing 2kW of energy. The team has won a US$140,000 grant from the Queensland government's Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund and is backed by a $1.3m Australian Research Council Discovery grant in addition to onsite and financial support from Foster's."Technology that can do this should be supported, so the decision by the Queensland government is a very important signal to universities and the industry," said Professor Jurg Keller of Queensland University.

Copyright © 2007 vnunet.com

TI drives high-definition VoIP

Addition of super wideband codec to VoIP portfolio brings new levels of sound quality to voice over IP

BANGALORE: Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today announced technology enhancements that redefines its extensive Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions portfolio, driving voice applications even closer to a high-definition (HD) experience.
TI said in a statement that it would license the Low Delay AAC super wideband codec from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS. Headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, Fraunhofer, IIS is the home of MP3 and co-inventor of AAC audio coding.
Powered by TI's high-performance digital signal processors (DSPs), the MPEG-4 AAC-LD super-wideband codec offers benefits compared to earlier wideband audio technology, and has the performance capabilities to make ubiquitous HD voice a reality in global IP networks, TI said in a statement.
With this new super-wideband technology, TI's VoIP solutions can deliver CD-quality sound on both ends of a VoIP-enabled phone call, while supporting a full range of voice and music capabilities, including fidelity comparable to MP3 audio. Leveraging DaVinci technology processing performance and TI's field-proven VoIP platforms, the AAC LD super-wideband codec can support real-time IP applications including multimedia integration, HD audio and rich, robust sound quality, the statement added.
"TI is one of the few companies to see beyond the sound quality of today's IP networks and embrace the benefits high definition can bring to VoIP," said Harald Popp, head of the Multimedia Realtime Systems department at Fraunhofer IIS. "The bandwidth capabilities of our super-wideband codec MPEG-4 AAC Low Delay coupled with TI's powerful voice processing platforms will allow service providers to support HD voice on their IP networks and offer their customers a richer audio experience than ever imagined."
HD radio enhances the daily commutes for millions of people each day. HD voice will deliver a crisp and clear communications experience. It will also be a critical enabling technology for a host of exciting applications in the future, such as improved speech recognition, real-time language translation, and appliance voice control, a TI statement said.

© CyberMedia News

Nokia unveils thin Barracuda

The Barracuda, or Nokia 2630, is slightly below 10 millimetres thick, comparable with most rival thin phones.
By Tarmo Virki

HELSINKI: Top world cell phone maker Nokia Oyj unveiled a thin 'Barracuda' phone and six other handsets priced under 100 euros on Thursday, including its cheapest 1200 model expected to sell for 35 euros ($48).
The Finnish firm, which sells more than a third of all phones across the world, has a strong position in emerging markets, but in developed markets Motorola and Samsung have attacked it with popular thin phones.
The Barracuda, or Nokia 2630, is slightly below 10 millimetres thick, comparable with most rival thin phones.
The handset will hit the shelves next quarter, with an estimated retail price of 85 euros, excluding operator subsidies and taxes.
"At these prices, the largest volumes are sold -- on both developed and emerging markets. Of course we expect to see very high volumes from Barracuda," Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia's mobile phones unit, told Reuters.
Oistamo displayed the Barracuda at an investor event last November, in a gesture that calmed many investors' fears concerning Nokia's answer to thin phones.
"It was a sign of change in the overall thinking .... It's the whole new approach to marketing and communications as a whole, clearly less conservative and somewhat more aggressive and forward-looking than earlier," Oistamo said.
Analysts welcomed the long-awaited phone, which has a camera on the back and also incorporates Bluetooth technology, which is widely used in mid- and high-end phones and enables the phone to connect to a headset or laptop without wires.
"It's thin, it's light and it has quite appealing features," said Handelsbanken analyst Karri Rinta.
One of the keys to Nokia's success in the lower end of the market has been its wider product offering than those of rivals, who have competed for the space with one cheap phone hear or there.
Nokia also is benefiting from its early entry into fast-growing emerging markets, such as India, where it often has more than a 50 percent market share.
All seven new phones, which were unveiled in India, are priced below 100 euros and are set to appear in the shops this quarter or next.
"The company wants to show it is offering a wide portfolio and not ride just on one product," said Handelsbanken's Rinta.
Shares in Nokia were 1.1 percent lower at 18.78 euros by 1031 GMT, in line with softer DJ Stoxx European technology index.

Copyright © CyberMedia India Online Ltd.

LucasArts tries to get back in the game

SAN FRANCISCO--If you've wondered what the future effects of massive global warming and science run amok might be, LucasArts has the answer.
At a press event Wednesday to unveil its new video game, Fracture, LucasArts--the video game arm of George Lucas' sprawling science fiction empire--explained that the long-term scenario, beyond terrifying earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and catastrophic floods, is an all-out war between east and west with an all-new kind of destructive weaponry.
The setting is the future, circa 2161. Players find themselves in a dried-out San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, in pitched battle between the so-called Atlantic Alliance--a consortium of eastern American states and several European nations--and the Republic of Pacifica, a teaming of western American states and several Asian nations.
The storyline is based on a central scientific disagreement over the future of the human race, said LucasArts President Jim Ward. In the very late 21st century, scientists at MIT and Harvard create the first genetically engineered humans--"Humanity 2.0"--but within a few years, the new humans come down with diseases. The scientists, in disgrace, leave the East Coast and headed west, where they're received enthusiastically.
Over the next few decades, as global warming gets worse and the Earth is plagued with an increasingly horrid series of natural disasters, relations between the eastern states and the western states deteriorate until the formation of the two alliances.
In 2161, the story goes, the United States, led by the eastern alliance, outlaws genetic engineering. But the Pacifica Alliance chafes at the decree and secedes. It is the first challenge to the authority of the United States since the Civil War, and the national government doesn't take kindly to it. It launches all out war on the Pacificans.
Fracture is expected to be released in 2008 for Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. There will be both single- and multiplayer options.
A whole new kind of weaponFor LucasArts and its development partner on Fracture, Day 1 Studios, the game is an opportunity to explore an entirely new genre of first-person-shooter, as defined by a new weapon system the game introduces: terrain deformation.
This is a kind of weapon that allows players to either raise small hills that can be used as protective berms or to gain a height advantage over the enemy, to create giant caverns, or even to raise giant monoliths. How players use them will be based on their strategic interests.
"There are really cool ways to kill people," Ward said.
For LucasArts, meanwhile, Fracture is an opportunity to build an all-new franchise after being known largely for its Star Wars titles. It did have a hit new franchise with Mercenaries two years ago, as well as a successful new children's franchise, Thrillville, last year.
But with Fracture, it seems, LucasArts is attempting to make a name for itself by creating a whole new category of weapon.
"At the end of the day, we want to be known for more than the Star Wars games," Ward said.
In addition, he and other LucasArts executives talked throughout the presentation about how the company is intent on making Fracture stand out for its well-developed story line.
"As George (Lucas) says, 'Technology by itself without a story is a pretty boring thing,'" said Peter Hirschmann, LucasArts vice president of product development.
The problem was that though LucasArts is talking a good game about creating a great storyline for Fracture, it didn't have much of that narrative to show off. The executives said they didn't want to spoil the fun for when the game is launched next year, but it felt, to some extent, as if the story wasn't very well fleshed out yet, and LucasArts and Day 1 Studios were hoping that its invention of the terrain deformation weapons would be enough to carry the day. That might well be, but with the presentation, LucasArts threw down the gauntlet for itself, setting a high standard that it will certainly be judged by.
Ward spelled out three major strategic goals for the company, including making sure its Star Wars games are as good as they can be and reinvigorating the Indiana Jones brand.
"Probably the most important is new (intellectual property) development," Ward said. "This company had quite a reputation in the mid-'90s around that, creating new IP, and we sort of lost it. And now we want to get back on that bandwagon."
To judge by the reaction of the presentation audience, most of whom were journalists for video game publication, LucasArts is off to a good start. But it has a long way to go to convince the world that it has created something lasting.
And with upcoming games like the much-anticipated Halo 3 from Microsoft's Bungie Studios, it's going to be an uphill battle for the hearts and minds of gamers.

Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved

Year Later, Barbaro’s Doctor Looks Back, and Moves On

Dr. Dean W. Richardson with Barbaro at University of Pennsylvania's New
Bolton Center in July 2006. (By JERÉ LONGMAN)

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., May 1 — A 3-year-old thoroughbred stood in the operating room Tuesday as Dr. Dean W. Richardson removed a bone chip from its lower left front leg. A nurse cradled the horse’s head and the surgical team members wore kneepads, as if laying carpet, as they knelt on the hard floor. The extricated bone fragment was the size of a fingernail clipping. In 15 minutes, the arthroscopic procedure was done.
“A typical, very minor racing injury,” Richardson said as he left the operating room here at the University of Pennsylvania’s George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. “This horse will be back training in six to eight weeks.”
The surgery was “extremely routine,” Richardson said. “The complete other end of the spectrum from Barbaro.”
It has been nearly a year since Richardson watched the Preakness on a six-inch television while performing veterinary surgery near West Palm Beach, Fla., only to see Barbaro take a dreadful, shattering misstep early in the race. In an interview Tuesday, Richardson reflected on his treatment of the colt here at the New Bolton Center; on Barbaro’s greatness and spirit; and on the public outpouring for the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, who was euthanized in January after a remarkable attempt to save his life.
“From a purely surgical perspective, it was extremely unsatisfying because he didn’t make it,” Richardson, 53, said of Barbaro. “Professionally, I think we did the best we could. I’m not at all embarrassed by anything that was done. Personally, I’m very sad that we didn’t save him. As a horseman, as someone who really wanted to save the horse, it’s extremely dissatisfying.”
On the other hand, he added: “Do I think we ended up doing some good things for the profession and the industry? Yes. The increased awareness of the issues of racetrack safety. People adopting horses. Even the awareness of a horse as an animal was increased. I think people became aware of the fact that sophisticated surgery can be done on horses. A lot of people knew that already; some didn’t.”
On Saturday, Richardson said, he will make every effort to watch the Kentucky Derby. He and his wife, Laura, own three thoroughbreds. Once, they participated in three-day equestrian events. Now, he said, they mostly ride for pleasure in the verdant, rolling countryside about 45 minutes southwest of Philadelphia.
“The whole reason I became a vet is because I love horses,” said Richardson, the son of a Navy captain who was a physician.
Last May 21, when Richardson flew back here from Florida to operate on Barbaro, he already knew from e-mailed radiographs that the colt’s right hind leg had splintered. The long pastern bone, also called the proximal phalanx and located between the fetlock and hoof, had broken into 20 pieces as if “someone put a bomb in it.” When he began surgery, Richardson was essentially confronted with a skeletal jigsaw puzzle.
“When you have a horse with bones in that many pieces, it’s kind of intimidating when you first start,” said Richardson, who can best be described as self-assured. “It doesn’t look like anything’s going to go back together.”
During five hours of surgery, 27 pins and a stainless steel plate were inserted to stabilize Barbaro’s right hind leg. Last July, veterinarians replaced the plate and some of the screws to treat an infection. The colt also developed laminitis in his left rear hoof, and eventually in both front feet. It is a painful, often fatal condition frequently caused by uneven weight distribution among a horse’s legs.
Any worthy surgeon regularly looks back and asks whether he could have done something differently at some juncture, Richardson said.
“Even if you don’t know for sure it would have made a difference, you better think about it, so next time you know where the potential pitfalls were,” Richardson said.
If confronted with a similarly complicated fracture, he said, he might do the original surgery in the pastern region slightly differently. This might involve extending the stainless steel plate farther in bracing the proximal phalanx to the middle phalanx bone, Richardson said.
Even so, he added, “I honestly don’t know if that would have made a difference,” and it could have exposed Barbaro to a greater chance of infection.
“No matter how you do it, there’s going to be a downside to the other way of doing it,” Richardson said.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Iran plays the Azerbaijan card

By Dmitry Shlapentokh

One might assume that studying US society and revealing its problems is easy because of the lack of censorship. This is absolutely wrong: often one cannot truly understand the US experience without having lived in Maoist China or Soviet Russia. Indeed, with all the intensity of the conflict between the left and right, they try to preserve decorum in their polemic. This is especially the case with the right; movies that openly attack the left and its sacred shibboleths do not exist. As in Maoist and Imperial China and Soviet Russia, historical allusions are employed. The recent movie 300 could serve as an example. Iranians, outraged by the images, declared that the movie was specifically designed to denigrate them; reputable critics stated that what was on the screen had nothing to do with Greeks and Persians of 500 BC. They both missed the mark: the goal of the movie was to attack not Iranians but Americans on the left with a Democratic majority in Congress. Xerxes, the Persian king, was shown decorated with piercings and rings, shaved, and with bizarre attire. He bore no resemblance to the real Persian king but could well be a parody of a leftist punk from New York or California. His sexual ambivalence clearly referred to students in women's and gay and lesbian studies, who proclaim that gender is just a "discursive construct". Today you are a boy, tomorrow a girl. And deformed Ephialtes, the traitor go-between, could be an allusion to leftists such as the flamboyant academic Ward Churchill, who proposed that some of those who perished on September 11, 2001, were in some way Nazis. A barb against the left could be seen even in the Persian messenger, the negative figure whom Leonidas pushes into the well. The messenger is black, a travesty for the left, for in most US movies today blacks are positive figures; there may be one negative black character, surrounded by positive black characters. Against these leftist traitors who worked for the enemy, the hardcore neo-conservatives, the patriotic Spartans of the White House, surrounded themselves with shields and fought desperately to save the ungrateful American hoi polloi from themselves. They fought hard, but as their positions deteriorated their approach changed. For the victorious leaders in previous movies on the West's confrontation with East, the brain is a luxury. Agile Achilles or indomitable Alexander could crush enemies by might or superb handling of weapons. Yet it became painfully clear with the approach of enemies from the rear (Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Ephialtes - Professor Churchill - the enemy helpers' "fifth column") that muscle in itself might not be sufficient. So the hard-pressed Spartans in the White House started to engage in sophisticated political games to unsettle the major enemy - Iran. It is well known that the divided nations formerly within the USSR and Yugoslavia can create permanent stress, as is the case with Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, the cause of a long war (1988-94) and ongoing tension. Much less known is Azerbaijan's split between Russia and Iran, which has created a potentially explosive situation in the event of conflict between Iran and the United States. Northern Azerbaijan was incorporated into the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century after Iran was defeated by Russia. For Russians, that war was mostly about acquiring new territory - a rather small and at the time unimportant place. If average Russians remember it, that is because of literature, not geopolitics. The man sent to Tehran after the peace treaty was Aleksandr Griboyedov, a classical Russian writer whose play Woe from Wit was included in the high-school curriculum. His death in Tehran at the hands of a mob resulted in the Iranian government giving the Shah Diamond to Czar Nicholas I as appeasement. The diamond is still in the Kremlin, one of the most important state treasures. Azerbaijan had not played much of a role in Russian history except as a source of oil and the violent clashes between Azeris and Armenians. After the Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917-21), Azerbaijan was incorporated into the USSR as a Soviet republic. It emerged as an important player after World War II when part of Iran was occupied by the Soviet army. The army did not leave, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin inspired the Iranian Azeris to rise against Tehran, planning to unify it with Soviet Azerbaijan as had been done with the parts of Poland populated by ethnic Ukrainians and Belorussians. There was a strong US response, and Stalin ended the attempt. After the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan engaged in a prolonged war with Armenia and a period of internal turmoil. It maneuvered between its much larger neighbors Russia and Iran, and, of course, among world players such as the US, to which it gravitated more and more - at least until recently. The US tried to use this connection to stir up ethnic Azeris in Iran, emboldening them to dream about unification with their brethren in the north. Their assertiveness became clear last year, when some delegates at the International Congress of Azerbaijan proposed that Azerbaijan constituted a divided people who should be united. This spring a leading Azerbaijani newspaper, Mirror, published an article with a strong anti-Iranian statement and the platform of the Party for National Independence of Azerbaijan, which attacks Iran for alleged mistreatment of Iranian Azeris. The statements led to a strong response by Iranian officials, who reminded Baku that it once belonged to Iran and could be returned. Iran also re-emphasized its good relationship with Armenia, which Azerbaijan regards as its historical enemy. Then suddenly the Iran-Azerbaijan relationship dramatically improved. Last month it was announced that the Iranian minister of transportation would visit Azerbaijan. Baku deported activists of the Movement for National Awakening of Southern Azerbaijan, and there are discussions about ending visa requirements for citizens of Azerbaijan and Iran who visit each other's country. At the same time, Azerbaijan unexpectedly lodged an official protest over the US approach to Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan regards as occupied by Armenia. One might wonder about the reason for these changes. Perhaps not only Americans but also some Azeri elite watch 300 Spartans and compare present-day Americans with 5th-century-BC Greeks. They might compare the poorly paid and treated American soldiers not to Spartans but to Athenians. In fact, influential New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested that shrewd Themistocles, not courageous but rather simple-minded Leonidas, is needed to save the country. Other columnists have suggested that Americans should compare themselves to democratic Athenians. In fact, the Spartans seem to them more like a bunch of Nazis. This comparison was quite possibly noted by the Azeri elite, who certainly recall the fate of Themistocles, who saved Athens. Ostracized and fearing for his life, he asked for asylum from the Persians against whom he had fought, and was treated well by them. And this was possibly why the Azeri elite - understanding that the Americans would easily sell them out over even minor problems - decided not to irritate Tehran, spoiling the US chance to use the Azebaijan card in the standoff with Iran.
Dmitry Shlapentokh, PhD, is associate professor of history, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Indiana University South Bend. He is author of East Against West: The First Encounter - The Life of Themistocles (2005).

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

Islands in the Beijing-Taipei storm

By Ian Williams

NEW YORK - This week the newly elected United Workers Party (UWP) government in St Lucia finally put truth to the rumors that have been spreading since it took office. It has reopened diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China has been blustering for several weeks in anticipation of the event, which was heralded by several high-level visits from Taipei. St Lucia had switched from Taiwan to China in 1997 when St Lucian Labour Party leader Anthony Kenny won the election. The Caribbean is rich in music, rums, beaches - and United Nations envoys. Most of the small islands are sovereign members of the UN, and each has the same vote as mighty China in the General Assembly. Indeed, each of them also has one more vote than medium-sized Taiwan, which has led to a war of attrition over several decades between Beijing and Taipei, with each wooing the governments of the small states for recognition. In fact, 12 of the 25 states recognizing Taiwan are Central American or Caribbean. The Caribbean states have few assets, and their sovereignty is one of them, which is why their votes are courted on such issues as the whaling ban - and China. Many of them also are prickly on their independence and have maintained strong stands on such issues as the International Criminal Court and relations with Cuba, despite heavy pressure from the United States. They can be bought, but they do not like bullying, which is why Beijing's blustering can be counterproductive. The competition benefits the Caribbean as a whole, since the chosen weapon of the two contending parties is aid: roads, conference centers, sports stadiums and gymnasiums. In the case of St Lucia, the People's Republic of China's current projects include a psychiatric hospital and schools. The massive International World Cricket Cup that climaxed with an Australian victory in Barbados last Saturday was played on several of the islands, in stadiums paid for with the fruits of competitive aid. But St Lucian External Affairs Minister Rufus Bousquet complained after a recent visit by his Taiwanese counterpart James Huang that "the Chinese have essentially given us very large and expensive buildings which are rather difficult to maintain. Thus far St Lucian citizens have asked themselves questions as to both the usability and viability of the stadium built by the Chinese. We as a government are grateful for the fact that the Chinese have shown a willingness to assist, but I think in terms of assisting, the general concept with which the UWP operates [is] one of sustainable development, an area in which the Taiwanese are very proficient." Sometimes there are echoes of the Cold War, in that the parties that were resolutely anti-communist such as the UWP of Sir John Compton, elected prime minister of St Lucia in December, recognized Taiwan while the more leftist, Third Worldist governments went with Beijing. But with the blurring of ideology from China, those influences are usually less crucial. For example, Kenny's close political friend Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines maintained the Taiwan connection when he took office in 2001, despite a youthful fling with Maoism. Taiwan is rebuilding the airport, essential to expanding tourism. The island nation of Dominica was facing bankruptcy and then was faced with an offer from Beijing that it could not refuse - more than US$100 million over six years. It switched from Taipei to Beijing in 2004. One of the few that have had to pay a price has been Haiti, where China, despite having personnel in the UN mission there, has often threatened to veto its continuation in protest at the continuing recognition of Taiwan by successive administrations in Port-au-Prince. It has so far bowed to diplomatic pressure from Latin American and Caribbean states not to do so. The new pro-independence government in Taiwan stopped the former policy of insisting that states recognize it as the sole government of all of China (indeed, the Kuomintang had insisted on including Mongolia as well) and, as now with St Lucia, encouraged countries to maintain relations with Beijing. Of course Beijing actually wants Taipei to claim the whole of China, rather than restrict its claims to the territory it actually claims. It is highly unlikely that China will continue relations with St Lucia past the few weeks or months it takes before it abandons its hopes of persuading the UWP government to reverse its stand yet again. On many issues, the Caribbean nations like to take a united stand. It is unlikely that they would on recognition of either Beijing or Taiwan. Whichever they recognize, it is to the advantage of all of them to be able to play off one against the other, so an occasional churning of envoys reminds both Taipei and Beijing that they should not take loyalties for granted.
Ian Williams is author of Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans and His Past, Nation Books, New York.

Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)