disgraced ex baseball star mark mcgwire said on monday he used steroids during
his record breaking home run season in dealing another blow to the drug
tainted image of america national past time
the year old former oakland athletic and st louis cardinals star expressed
regret and confirmed long held suspicions that he used performance enhancing
drugs for nearly decade
wish had never touched steroids it was foolish and it was mistake
truly apologize looking back wish had never played during the steroid
era mcgwire said in statement on the cardinals website
mcgwire had consistently declined to comment on drug use in baseball and in
refused to answer questions after being ordered to appear before congressional
hearing on steroid use in the sport
commissioner bug selig on monday welcomed mcgwire admission and claimed
steroids have been almost wiped out of the big leagues
am please that mark mcgwire has confronted his use of performance enhancing
substances selig said this will make mark re entry into the game much
smoother
the use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today players has greatly
subsided and is virtually non existent as our testing results have shown
the so called steroid era is clearly thing of the past
the burly slugger captured the imagination of american sports fans in after
becoming involved in gripping head to head battle with the chicago cubs sammy
sosa to break roger maris coveted single season home run record
maris mark of had stood since but was obliterated by mcgwire who
finished the campaign with home runs sosa who has denied using
performance enhancing drugs finished with runs
however question marks have swirled about the legitimacy of mcgwire record
breaking season for years which the shamed baseball star admitted on monday was
fueled by illegal drugs
mcgwire said he had decided to come clean after being appointed the cardinals
new hitting coach two months ago
never knew when but always knew this day would come mcgwire said it
time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected
used steroids during my playing career and apologize
remember trying steroids very briefly in the off season and then
after was injured in used steroids again used them on occasion
throughout the nineties including during the season
cardinals manager tony la russa told espn on monday that his club ran an honest
programme but he also suspected something might be going on outside of his
organization
knew the programme we ran in st louis was percent legit la russa said
became aware of what was happening during the times everybody was trying to
get the competitive edge
when pressed by the interviewer whether or not he was saying he was aware of
steroid use la russa said no didn know anything except we ran
legitimate programme for example you have prescribed hgh
mcgwire said he had been drawn to steroids after becoming convinced they would
help him recover from series of injuries
during the mid went on the dl seven times and missed games over five
years
it was definitely miserable bunch of years and told myself that steroids
could help me recover faster
mcgwire acknowledged that his hitting feats would forever be questioned
following his admission of steroid use but insisted that he had enjoyed good
years when he had been clean
sure people will wonder if could have hit all those home runs had never
taken steroids he said
but no matter what shouldn have done it and for that truly sorry
mcgwire insists he did steroids for nearly decade to recover and not to try
and cheat
you don know that you ll ever have to talk about the skeleton in your closet
on national level he said did this for health purposes there no way
did this for any type of strength use
mcgwire did not hold news conference on monday but rather chose to make his
admission in an online statement and to select news organizations
the home run chase revitalized the baseball world but now mcgwire
admission has given the sport another black eye
his comments follow similar admission by new york yankees star alex rodriguez
months ago
major league baseball home run king barry bonds pitcher roger clemens and
slugger david ortiz have also come under suspicion for using performance
enhancing drugs but have denied knowingly doing so
bonds has been indicted on us federal charges he made false statements to
grand jury and obstructed justice
grand jury is probing clemens to determine if he lied to congressional
committee
in more than five percent of american baseball players tested positive for
performance enhancing drug use
the san francisco chronicle previously reported that bonds has admitted taking
steroids but says he did not know what they were
on march mcgwire and sosa were among several current and former
players who testified in front of the house government reform committee probing
drug use in baseball
mexico rights body warns of growing threat to journalists
mexico city jan afp
mexico human rights commission said monday that authorities should do more to
protect media workers after the latest such killing in one of the most
dangerous countries for journalists
police last week found the body of valentin valdes espinosa one of two
recently abducted journalists in saltillo northern mexico week after the
abduction of crime reporter jose luis romero in los mochis in northwest
mexico
journalists in mexico are increasingly victims of illegal detentions threats
intimidation persecution attacks and forced disappearances the rights
commission said in statement
the commission said that journalists have been killed and nine have
disappeared in mexico since
daimler expects to gain market share this year
detroit michigan jan afp
daimler expects to gain market share this year in global automobile market
growing by as much as four percent the head of the german carmaker said monday
dieter zetsche chairman of the board of management of daimler acknowledged the
challenging year in for the industry as well as his company
we used the time to do our homework and get very promising base for he
told reporters at the north american auto show being held in detroit the home
of the big three us automakers
the ceo said there was strong momentum for daimler brands including mercedes
during the fourth quarter of that gave the company lot of confidence
heading into
that why with cautiously optimistic market growth forecast of three to
four percent worldwide we are more optimistic for the development of mercedes
in he said
we expect to gain some market share in
zetsche said that markets in emerging economies would continue to grow in
particularly china but at slower pace than in while european markets
wuld shrink between three and four percent
us court urged to dismiss guantanamo case
new york jan afp
lawyers for the first detainee transferred from guantanamo to civilian trial in
the united states urged court monday to drop charges because he was tortured
and blocked from fair trial
lawyers for ahmed khalfan ghailani tanzanian accused of helping to plot
bloody attacks on us embassies in kenya and tanzania argued that his
constitutional rights were violated because he was denied speedy trial
they also said he was tortured in secret cia black site
for the first two months in the black site he literally did not know
whether the next morning he be taken out and shot attorney peter quijano
told federal judge lewis kaplan
the treatment reduced him to state of helplessness where he was physically
emotionally and psychologically unable to resist
quijano said that ghailani right under us law to quick trial after
indictment was willfully denied during the five years he spent either in cia
custody or in the controversial facility at guantanamo bay where he was
transferred in
the government ignored and was indifferent to that constitutional mandate and
his rights
prosecutors say that ghailani underwent enhanced interrogation because he knew
critical intelligence about al qaeda that investigators needed in order to save
american lives
they also argue that he never made formal request for fast track trial and
therefore has no right to demand his case be dismissed
there was strategic utility to him to waiting and after it was no longer
useful he started waving his hands federal prosecutor said
ghailani allegedly former cook and bodyguard to osama bin laden pleaded not
guilty to federal conspiracy charges in june in new york
the us embassy attacks killed people and injured more than
his case is test of president barack obama decision to close guantanamo and
end years of shadowy legal procedures against terrorism suspects
new york is due to host the trial of five men accused of plotting the september
attacks against the world trade center in new york and the pentagon
outside washington
football tevez treble guides city into fourth place
manchester england jan afp
carlos tevez scored his first manchester city hat trick as they went fourth in
the english premier league table with win over blackburn rovers at
eastlands here on monday
victory meant city maintained their perfect record under italian manager roberto
mancini with their fourth straight success even if they did concede their first
goal under the former inter milan boss when morten gamst pedersen scored for
rovers to make it
but the match belonged to argentina tevez who was in brilliant form as he made
it goals in his last nine games
the former manchester united striker opened the scoring in the seventh minute
and after micah richards superb second tevez struck two expert curling
shots the second in stoppage time to seal city win
city are now just seven points behind leaders chelsea and the big spenders
backed by their billionaire abu dhabi based owner sheikh mansour could yet have
big influence on the destiny of this season title
by contrast defeat left rovers just three points above the relegation zone with
all the teams below them having games in hand
mancini while pleased with the victory was angry at seeing city concede
sloppy goal which came from poor first touch by vincent kompany after
goalkeeper shay given cleared back pass
it was good night for us the players played very well in this match
mancini told espn
carlos tevez played very very well all the team concentrated for minutes
but angry because we conceded goal our gift think it most important
we stay focussed all the time
we must continue to play well and not concede one goal
meanwhile mancini tried to keep city victory in perspective by insisting we
don watch the table we watch the table in two months
now it is not important
there are games to the end now it important that we continue this way we
continue to play well and we continue to improve
as new city signing patrick vieira the former arsenal midfielder who signed
from serie champions inter milan last week watched on from the stands the
hosts wasted little time in taking the lead
rovers and england keeper paul robinson poor punch from martin petrov corner
fell to city striker benjani mwaruwari and the zimbabwean mishit shot went
into the net off tevez thigh
rovers looked as if they might go in at half time just goal behind until six
minutes before the break richards started and finished fine move with benjani
again involved in the build up
richards ran some yards from the heart of city defence beating several
retreating rovers players before passing to benjani inside the box
benjani shot hit the post but richards who continued his run slotted home
the rebound
rovers manager sam allardyce sent on strikers david hoilett and nikola kalinic
at half time but it was city who scored next just four minutes into the second
half
tevez started the move from inside the city half before finding benjani
rejuvenated figure under mancini who pulled the ball back to his onrushing
fellow striker who unleashed magnificent yard curling shot past robinson
tevez might have had hat trick in the th minute but his header from eight
yards out was narrowly off target
rovers pulled goal back minutes from time when pedersen made the most of
kompany mistake to score from yards
city fans then had to endure few nervous moments but importantly their
defence held firm for the remainder of the match and then in the first minute
of injury time tevez wrapped things up with sublime finish
us welcomes josipovic croatia presidency win
washington jan afp
the united states on monday welcomed social democrat ivo josipovic victory in
the croatian presidential election underscoring the importance of negotiations
for croatia to gain eu membership
the left wing law professor ran on promise to fight corruption one of the
conditions for entry into the european bloc which croatia is aiming to achieve
by january
we look forward to working with president elect josipovic on issues of common
interest as croatia heads into the final stage of accession to the european
union state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
in that dialogue between croatia and the eu obviously effective governance is
an important element fighting corruption cooperating with the international
tribunal for yugoslavia
josipovic won the second round of croatia presidential election on sunday
with over percent of the votes and vowed to transform the nation into
star of europe
snooker murphy defeats hendry as williams masters mcleod
london jan afp
shaun murphy beat six times champion stephen hendry in an engrossing first
round tie at the masters snooker tournament at wembley arena here on monday
hendry struck the first century of this year event when the scot break of
levelled the best of frames match at
after fellow former world champion murphy had established lead hendry cut
the deficit to one frame with break of only for his english opponent to
reply in the next with break of
murphy had the chance to win the match but lost control when ahead in
the ninth frame and hendry made him pay
in what turned out to be the final frame hendry needed snookers and murphy
missed the blue after the scottish snooker great had put the white ball tight in
behind the black
but hendry conceded when murphy attempting safety potted the blue
murphy will now play the winner of the match between ali carter and mark
williams
earlier on monday former champion williams proved too strong for qualifier rory
mcleod as the welshman won in the preliminary round
williams won the first frame only for mcleod making his masters debut at the
age of to level in the next
however williams was up by the interval after break of in the fourth
frame before missed pink allowed mcleod to close the gap to just solitary
frame
but in the sixth frame mcleod who needed snookers got two but on williams
third miss turned down the option of using the black as free ball
instead few shots later the englishman failed with an outlandish pot on the
yellow and williams took the frame to go up
williams was happy to have made it to london never mind win after being snowed
in at his home in cwm wales but sponsor provided him with car that
allowed him to drive up to wembley
my sponsor gave me to allow me to get to practise and get over here
wembley williams told worldsnooker com it awful back at home even now
there over two foot of snow
williams who won the last of his masters titles in added it was scrappy
all round
it looked straight forward black to me in the sixth frame it was strange
that he turned it down ran back to the table before he changed his mind then
he took on the craziest yellow after that
monday final match saw scotland stephen maguire defeat englishman mark king
who had played tournament villain on sunday when he ousted crowd favourite and
six time world finalist jimmy white in the preliminary round
argentine president dealt fresh blow in central bank row
buenos aires jan afp
argentine president cristina kirchner suffered fresh political blow monday as
court blocked her bid to sack the head of the country central bank
federal court suspended kirchner moves to dismiss martin redrado for
refusing the government access to billions of dollars to pay down the national
debt
the dispute has plunged the country into institutional crisis with kirchner
congress and the courts at odds over who has the power to remove the country
top banker
federal judge maria jose sarmiento left redrado in his job for now by extending
legal deadlines
redrado en route to his office at the bank earlier told reporters have the
calm and the technical and professional tools that are going to make it
possible for people in argentina to have monetary stability and financial
predictability
kirchner moved to dismiss redrado who has held the post since on thursday
when he refused to release more than billion dollars in central bank
reserves to pay down debt due this year
the government hoped the move would clear the way for argentina return to
international credit markets
the government has to pay out billion dollars in debt servicing in
it is tremendously important for argentina to get out of default so it can get
cheaper capital kirchner said monday argentina has got to get back into
capital markets and secure more reasonable interest rates she said
the central bank chief in argentina does not serve at the pleasure of the
president congress could dismiss him but currently is out on summer recess
in addition to possible loss in the courts kirchner could also face
political defeat as the usually divided opposition unites against the move
some observers have already warned of new reversal in congress similar to the
protracted conflict with farmers in that led to drop for kirchner in the
polls and contributed to the bloodshed in last year elections
kirchner bid to use central bank reserves has precedent her husband former
president nestor kirchner relied on those monies to reimburse all of the
country debt billion dollars with the international monetary fund in
at the time redrado went along with it but only after insuring that the
reserves would only be used to pay international institutions
this time the opposition fears the president will use the reserves to reimburse
private debt and that private creditors who rejected debt swap will take
advantage of the situation to demand the use of all the bank reserves
the crisis is headache for buenos aires as it prepares to offer private
creditors an exchange of bonds to the private creditors
argentine bonds sank on friday as the crisis deepened and local investors sought
better returns for increased risk raising the cost of borrowing
markets remained shaken by the turmoil on monday as the benchmark merval stock
index skidded percent down to points
the country economy latin america third largest is still struggling to
recover from massive default in which left argentina finances
decimated and choked access to international credit markets
dollar drops after robust chinese data spurs risk taking
new york jan afp
the dollar dropped monday after robust chinese economic data sparked an appetite
for risk that strengthened other major currencies
the euro rose to dollars at gmt from dollars late friday in
new york
the single european currency jumped to dollars in intraday trade its
best showing since december
the dollar fell to yen down from yen friday
the us dollar fell sharply during the asian trading session and never recovered
during us trade following news that china exports rose percent in
december marking the first increase in months said terri belkas currency
strategist at forex capital markets
while the shift will put greater pressure on china to allow their currency to
appreciate the news also adds to evidence of global recovery she said
belkas noted that chinese imports surged by percent during the same period
suggesting that inflation could become an issue
the shared european unit which is seen as higher risk currency than the
dollar and tends to rise with investor confidence won ground after the chinese
government reported sunday the chinese trade numbers confirming the asian
power new status as the world biggest exporter
exports hit billion dollars during the month as global trade perked up
bringing china full year export figure to trillion dollars according to
figures from the general administration of customs
data out of germany last week showed that china had overtaken europe biggest
economy in november to become the world top exporting nation
china trade surplus hit billion dollars for the month of december while
the full year surplus posted rare fall to billion dollars the customs
bureau said
the trade surplus was down percent from it said
the dollar also remained on the backfoot monday as the foreign exchange market
continued to digest downbeat us jobs report
data from the us labor department released friday showed loss of jobs
in december dampening hopes for return to positive job growth that could lead
to hike in us interest rates and support the greenback
the labor department report on nonfarm payrolls was far worse than the consensus
expectation for no change in overall employment levels
the unemployment rate held at percent but also reflected large number of
people dropping out of the workforce
while the november data had caused an appreciation trend for the dollar
markets now reacted with inevitable greenback losses noted analysts from
commerzbank
added jane foley of forex com friday us payrolls data proved that the market
had got too far ahead of itself with respect to optimism on the us economy
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs down from
friday
the pound rose to dollars from
militant killed in gaza accident blast hamas
gaza city jan afp
palestinian militant was killed on monday in an accidental bomb explosion in
the northern gaza strip hamas said
three members of the armed wing of gaza ruling hamas movement were also
injured in the blast which occurred as result of mishandling of explosives
the group said in statement
hamas had initially said the explosion was caused by israeli shelling but an
israeli army spokeswoman denied any involvement in the blast
tensions along the gaza israel border have risen in recent days as both sides
renewed tit for tat exchanges of fire after nearly year of relative calm in
the wake of israel offensive in the coastal enclave
snooker masters results
london jan afp
result from the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on monday
preliminary round best of frames
mark williams wal bt rory mcleod eng
st rd best of frames
shaun murphy eng bt stephen hendry sco
stephen maguire sco bt mark king eng
playing tuesday
st rd
ronnie sullivan eng neil robertson aus
allister carter eng mark williams wal
playing wednesday
st rd
john higgins sco mark allen nir
ryan day wal joe perry eng
played sunday
st rd
mark selby eng bt ding junhui chn
peter ebdon eng bt marco fu hkg
preliminary round
mark king eng bt jimmy white eng
new zealand and fiji agree to improve relations nz minister
wellington jan afp
the government of new zealand and fiji military regime have agreed to improve
relations new zealand foreign minister murray mccully said tuesday
the decision follows talks between mccully and his fijian counterpart ratu inoke
kubuabola in fiji tourist centre nadi on friday and saturday last week
number of issues of bilateral interest to both countries were discussed in
positive and constructive atmosphere mccully said in statement
relations between new zealand and fiji have been at low ebb since fijian
military chief voreqe bainimarama toppled the elected government in december
coup
new zealand has been among the most strident critics of the military regime and
both countries expelled the heads of their respective diplomatic missions in
each other countries in november last year
mccully said the two governments have now agreed to appoint new counsellors in
their respective missions and decided in principle that new deputy mission heads
should be appointed
mccully said there had been ongoing communications with kubuabola in recent
months and the pair had agreed to keep in close contact and to meet as
necessary in future
wall street cautious as corporate earnings season begins
new york jan afp
wall street stocks traded mixed monday as investors paused at start of the
fourth quarter earnings period to study clues on the health of corporate
america
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to
clawing higher in the final hour of trading the blue chip index hit an intra
day high of its best price since october
the technology heavy nasdaq composite fell points percent to
while the broad market standard amp poor index added
points percent to after languishing in the red for most of the
day
all three key stock indexes opened on positive note after robust china trade
data at the weekend but shares turned mixed in choppy trading later on caution
ahead of the earnings reporting season
investors appeared to be playing their cards close to their vests ahead of the
fourth quarter earnings season analysts at charles schwab amp co said
expectations are that there would be plenty of upside surprises especially
from companies that are doing more business abroad said ed yardeni president
of yardeni research
we are expecting particularly strong results from technology companies he
said
top aluminum producer alcoa was the first blue chip company to report its
earning result after the market closed monday posting smaller fourth quarter
net loss of million dollars compared with loss of billion dollars in
the same period of when the economic downturn began
but its earnings excluding special items of one cent share was lower than the
seven cents expected by most analysts
alcoa ended percent higher at dollars before its result was
announced
other major companies set to announce their results this week are chip
manufacturer intel which was up percent to dollars and bank
jpmorgan chase down percent to dollars
this should give us good idea and preview of what may lie ahead in these
earnings reports said andrew fitzpatrick director of investments at hinsdale
associates
companies have done all they can to increase margins through cost cutting and
now wall street will be looking for some top line growth specifically meaning
revenue growth he said
top gainers was construction equipment manufacturer caterpillar jumping
percent to dollars amid signs that china will resume its rapid economic
growth
china exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak the government said on sunday
data out of germany last week showed that china overtook europe biggest
economy in november to become the world top exporting nation
auto giant ford gained percent to dollars after it won both car and
truck of the year awards at the north american international auto show monday
for its fusion hybrid and transit connect models
entertainment giant walt disney dropped percent to dollars after its
rating was downgraded by analysts at janney montgomery scott
the bond market also declined the yield on the year treasury bond rose to
percent from percent friday while that on the year bond climbed
to percent from percent bond yield and prices move in opposite
directions
gm still talking on saab despite wind down
detroit michigan jan afp
general motors is still talking to dutch sportscar maker spyker about the sale
of gm swedish car making unit saab after beginning wind down of operations
last week source familiar with the talks said monday
spyker is the only one with an attractive offer the source said adding
that additional information may be available later in the week
gm spokesman said there was no new information on saab after friday
announcement of an orderly wind down of its swedish unit
gm said at the time it would consider any late proposals for the brand even as
it began shutting down operations gm hired the consulting firm alixpartners to
supervise the orderly wind down of saab
the us auto giant in the process of massive restructuring after bankruptcy
last year said the process for saab is expected to take several months
union leaders in sweden blasted gm for moving to close the company at the same
time as it is evaluating bids for the loss making brand
saab employs people in sweden and is among the brands being shed by gm as
part of massive restructuring effort that began in and accelerated last
year when the largest us automaker went bankrupt
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost with saab closure
football tevez treble guides city into fourth place
manchester england jan afp
carlos tevez scored hat trick as manchester city moved up into fourth place in
the english premier league table with win over blackburn rovers at
eastlands here on monday
victory meant city maintained their perfect record under italian manager roberto
