Tokyo’s hopes of hosting the 2016 Olympics were shattered Friday as the Japanese capital was eliminated in the second round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.

Rio de Janeiro was named the winner of rights to stage the 2016 Games, beating Madrid in the final round of voting to become the first South American Olympic host. Rio had 66 votes to Madrid’s 32.

Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting before Tokyo’s exit left the race down to the Rio and Madrid. Tokyo had 22 votes in the first round and 20 in the second.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama released a statement Saturday congratulating the Brazilian people on Rio de Janeiro’s win in a bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

‘‘I want to offer my heartfelt appreciation for the citizens of Tokyo and athletes,’’ said Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara. ‘‘Let’s use this precious experience, while tackling environmental issues and contribute to the development of world cities. I pray for the success of the Games in Rio de Janeiro.’’

Under host city voting procedures, the city with the fewest number of votes in each successive round of balloting is eliminated until one city has reached a majority of the valid votes cast.

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Beautiful, charitable and talented, Ana Ivanovic has battled the pretty tennis player stereotype and proved her critics wrong.
But as this 21-year-old is finding out, staying at the top can be harder than getting there.

It is in a karaoke booth that Ana Ivanovic proves she is flawed. Wearing tracksuit pants and a blue singlet top, coloured lights spinning, she twirls and waves one hand goofily in the air as she dances to a Diana Ross tune.
“Upside down you’re turning me,” Ivanovic sings out of key. “You’re giving love instinctively”.

She moves awkwardly, theatrically pulling the microphone back, as she points her finger at the camera.

She descends into giggles and resorts to miming parts of the song. Singing is something Ivanovic can’t do well. But what does it matter? This is the woman who calls up UNICEF to volunteer her services, studies economics and takes exams between grand slams. The woman who says the roguish Andrew Symonds is her favourite Australian sportsman and often decorates magazine pages like a supermodel.

She’s a sports beauty devoid of pretension, and one who has won a grand slam title. But when asked about her imperfections she insists there are many things she can’t do. “I mean I can’t sing,” Ivanovic admits through a torrent of giggles. That’s an understatement; she couldn’t hold a note in a bucket. The incriminating YouTube footage is proof.

Ana Ivanovic

“But obviously I appreciate what I have and I feel very fortunate to have what I have at a young age,” Ivanovic, 21, says. “I think it’s normal as human beings that we want more and more and more. You think: ‘Have I got everything? Can I have more?’ There’s always something. But you’ve got to appreciate, realise: ‘Hey, I’ve got so many things in my life so I should just appreciate it’. Obviously I have goals, and something more that I want to achieve, but I have to take life as it comes. I don’t need to have everything right here, right now.”

Ivanovic has graced the pages of US Vogue and models expensive watches. She has the most visited website of any sportswoman in the world, which is unsurprising as she is often voted “sexiest”, “most beautiful” and as having the “most beautiful body in sport” by various polls.
“She has everything,” her long-time manager, Dan Holzmann, says. “And she is natural. Some people are made. But with Ana we didn’t have to do anything. She is smart, has a good heart – a pretty girl who’s very competitive and fights for every ball.”

Oh yes, let’s not forget she can play. Ivanovic has won eight WTA singles titles but, of course, the highlight is her French Open win last year. During that perfect French spring Ivanovic also collected the No.1 world ranking.
She had everything. But since she cried tears of joy on clay nearly a year ago, Ivanovic has wobbled under the weight of having it all, with her ranking dropping to seven. She injured her thumb between the French Open and Wimbledon and was bundled out in the third round at the All England Club. Following that, Ivanovic failed to win back-to-back matches in her next five events including an early second round exit at the US Open. During this time she admitted being No.1 was a cross to bear. After her 12-week reign at the top she wondered how Roger Federer had survived as No.1 in the men’s game for so long.

When she bowed out of the Australian Open this year in the third round, the critics again questioned her heart and talent. Would she just be a one-slam wonder?

Ivanovic says she knew the magnitude of her French Open success last year. Her Roland Garros win relieved the burden that comes with being a beautiful and talented sportswoman. The parallels once drawn between her and Anna Kournikova were quickly dismissed.

“Yes, before definitely people were [distracted by my looks],” Ivanovic says. “I’d played disappointingly before that French Open win. People were saying: ‘Can she do it?’ It was great to make that happen. It’s one thing getting into the final, it’s another altogether winning it. That gave me a lot of confidence.” However, since winning her first grand slam title she admits she has struggled to maintain that confidence. But if anything, Ivanovic has proved that adversity is a fuel for her.

She grew up scheduling her training sessions according to when the bombs would be most likely to drop on Belgrade. She remembers as a 12-year-old she had to practise between seven and nine in the morning because from midday the bombing would start. Those dark days during NATO’s 78-day bombardment of the city amid the Kosovo crisis of 1999 were harrowing times for Ivanovic. The grief of that period aside, the tennis facilities were unconventional. In the winter Ivanovic crafted her game in an abandoned Olympic-sized swimming pool that had been drained of water, carpeted and converted into an indoor court. In trying financial circumstances her parents, Dragana, a lawyer, and Miroslav, a businessman, still managed to support her tennis dream. “My family was in a very tough situation, my country was in a very bad place,” Ivanovic says. “They were some very hard years [but] my parents always supported me.
I was just this kid who wanted to play and people were finding it hard to survive.”

During the spring of 1999, Ivanovic spent four months sheltering from the air raids. She remembers her crippling fear as she heard the bombs and felt the building shake. Despite the bombardment her family refused to tuck themselves away in the cellar. They filled the house with “positive” people and made an effort to remain emotionally resilient. Ivanovic now wears her positivity like an armour.

While many sports stars may sour with success, Ivanovic has not changed. She’s a walking Disneyland. Ivanovic bubbles through press conferences and even the most inane questions don’t trouble her cheery demeanour. “Yeah, I always have been like this,” Ivanovic says. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve always thought it very important to be happy inside. There’s a lot of bad things happening in the world, but it’s important to try to stay happy and appreciate what you’ve got and don’t look externally for the happiness.”

Her parents have been the key to her attitude and success, says Holzmann. “If you met her parents you’d know she’s their daughter,” he says. “I have met many tennis parents on the tour and some of them are so crazy and manipulative.”

Everything changed for Ivanovic when, as a 14-year-old, she met Holzmann, a Swiss businessman with a passion for tennis. His tennis coach told him about Ivanovic, whose sponsor was facing bankruptcy, so the teenager and her mother flew to Switzerland for a visit.

In their first meeting, Holzmann remembers Ivanovic having “warm eyes” but a steely determination. “She knew what she wanted,” Holzmann says. “She said to me: ‘I want to be No.1.’ And I believed her.
I believed this 14-year-old girl.”

Holzmann, who had made his riches from the vitamin drink Juice Plus, decided to finance and manage Ivanovic’s career. However, her first match with Holzmann on her side was a disaster. She lost. This led to tears and a locker room lock in. He had travelled to Milan to watch Ivanovic and she was devastated that she had failed. She sobbed for hours. “She wanted to prove she was great,” Holzmann says. “She thought I was going to cancel her contract.”

During the next few years Holzmann spent $500,000 on Ivanovic’s career. Within two years of becoming a pro, she had repaid his investment. Today, the pair have a sturdy friendship. He is kept busy helping manage her multi-million-dollar empire, seeking the right endorsement opportunities. Selling Ivanovic requires little effort. Her image is faultless and she has remained an unchanged “modest girl” since he met her seven years ago. “She’s not Little Miss Perfect but the nice thing about Ana is she is very natural. She is very different to, say, Jelena Jankovic, the Williams sisters. You look at Maria Sharapova, these people, they are thinking: ‘What can I do to be loved, to be more respected by my fans today?’
“Ana has a life outside tennis. If she didn’t play tennis she would be a doctor.”

The attention lately has also been on Ivanovic’s love life. In the past she has dated Spanish player Fernando Verdasco and she was recently linked to Australian golfer Adam Scott. The pair are both brand ambassadors for Rolex and are said to have “hooked up” in the last Australian summer. Her management states the pair are “friends”. For now there is no significant other. The only man Ivanovic has recently brought into her life is American coach Craig Kardon. It’s the first time in two years she has employed a full-time coach. In her first tournament in February under Kardon’s tuition she defeated Alisa Kleybanova, the Russian who had rubbed her out of the 2009 Australian Open. “We have a firm view of how my game should develop,” she says.

Holzmann says Kardon could be just the man she needs, reflecting on her slump after the French Open. “It was tough,” Holzmann says. “A lot happened to her; she became No.1, won a grand slam tournament. Once you get there it is even more difficult to stay at the top.” And she has 10 million people in Serbia watching her. Ivanovic is feted in her home country. The President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, attended her 20th birthday party.

She admits it can be hard constantly having people approach her in the street, but, Ivanovic finds good in this, saying it’s nice to be a role model. “Wherever I go many people come up to talk to me and give me advice on my shots, on my game – on everything,” Ivanovic says and then descends into another heap of giggles.

“I understand it’s how it is,” she says. “If I make a change to a young kid to play any sport, not only tennis, instead of spending time in front of the TV or computer, that is good. I want to give them a good example: ‘Hey, go out and play and see the world’.”

Although the tennis road may have been bumpy, Ivanovic says, in her optimistic way, that things will get better. “I want to win more grand slams. I think I’ve got the ability to achieve that, I know that I’ve got to work very hard for it. Yes, I think I’ve the game and talent to do that.”

source: www.watoday.com.au

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Uefa president Michel Platini reacts to the racist abuse of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli by revealing plans to stop play or abandon matches if fans make racist chants.
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DETROIT (Reuters) – It is the moment of truth this weekend for U.S. President Barack Obama and millions of other American basketball fans when they find out if their pick to win the NCAA Tournament was the right one.

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The United States Olympic Committee reached a temporary compromise Friday with the International Olympic Committee in their heated dispute over revenue sharing.

Officials from both organizations met in Denver and agreed to wait until 2013 to discuss the issue. At that time, they will restart talks about redistributing the revenue from global sponsorship partners and television contracts. Any changes to the agreement would be instituted after 2020.

The U.S.O.C. now receives 20 percent of that sponsorship money and 12.75 percent of the TV money, but a group of angry I.O.C. and international sports federation officials had complained that the United States was receiving too much.

The groups were at loggerheads over the issue just as Chicago is trying to win votes to host the 2016 Olympics.

Bob Ctvrtlik, one of the main negotiators for the U.S.O.C., said he never thought the revenue-sharing dispute would affect Chicago’s chances. An I.O.C. evaluation committee is set to visit Chicago next week. The vote over which city — Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo — will win the Games is scheduled for Oct. 2.

“We never felt there was strong linkage,” Ctvrtlik said Friday, according to The Associated Press. “But in a room where one or two votes can make a difference, we’d rather have this issue behind us.”

But for the U.S.O.C., putting the revenue-sharing negotiations on hold comes at a cost: the I.O.C. said Friday that the U.S.O.C. has agreed to pay more of the fees related to the running of the Games, including fees related to doping programs and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Right now, the cost of the Olympics is sliced into thirds, with the I.O.C., the 35 Olympic federations and the 205 national Olympic committees paying the bill.

Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C.’s president, said he was not sure how much more the U.S.O.C. would have to pay, but said that it would be more than what he termed “rank and file” Olympic committees. He said the dollar amount would be discussed in the future.

Earlier this week, Hein Verbruggen, an honorary I.O.C. member and former president of the International Cycling Union, said the U.S.O.C. was greedy. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday urging the end of the U.S.O.C.’s current open-ended contract with the I.O.C. The association wanted to negotiate a new contract.

On Friday, Verbruggen was pleased.

“We’ve always said we just wanted to get them to the table, talking seriously,” he said, according to the A.P. “We’ve said ‘We need you guys at the table. It takes some heat off Chicago.’ ”

from: nytimes.com

Female ski jumpers continue to fight an uphill battle in their quest to compete in the Winter Olympic Games.
In an attempt to advance their cause, two elite jumpers — Katie Willis of Calgary and 2009 world champion Lindsey Van of Park City, Utah — appeared at a Wednesday media conference in Denver to urge International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge to meet with them.
“It was definitely frustrating,” Van said. “We didn’t get to meet with Rogge, but we got our idea across to the media that we want to meet and don’t really want to go ahead with a lawsuit, but that’s where we’re headed.”
Van and Willis are among 15 plaintiffs in a lawsuit that is to be heard April 20 in B.C. Supreme Court. The lawsuit was filed in May by female ski jumpers who maintain that they should be able to compete at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Male ski jumpers have been in the Olympics since the inaugural winter Games in 1924.
Rogge is in Denver for IOC executive board meetings, which began Wednesday and are to continue until Friday. The plaintiffs sent Rogge a registered letter last week, but he did not respond to their request for a meeting.
“That’s just how they work,” Van said. “The top guy in IOC is not going to make an appearance for some athletes that he doesn’t want to be in his Games, anyway.”
The International Ski Federation gave a resounding endorsement of female ski jumpers in 2006, voting 114-1 in favor of their inclusion in the 2010 Olympics. The IOC was not swayed, however, maintaining that ski jumping at the women’s level had not developed to the point where it was of Olympic caliber.
The lawsuit has been filed against the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee. The suit contends that the exclusion of women is discriminatory and in opposition to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The reason it’s not (filed against) the IOC is very simple: Nobody has any authority over the IOC,” Women’s Ski Jumping USA president Deedee Corradini said Wednesday. “They can do whatever they want, so we had to look for another way to get this done.
“As our lawyers took a look at what our options were, VANOC, we feel, is the right place.
Our belief is VANOC can control whether the women jump or not. If this goes our way, VANOC is just going to have to tell the IOC, ‘The women have to jump. You can’t break the laws of Canada and we are subject to those laws.’ ”
Vancouver organizing officials contend they should not be the defendant because the IOC dictates the composition of the Winter Olympics. The IOC has not budged.
“If you have three medals, with 80 athletes competing on a regular basis internationally, the percentage of medal winners is extremely high,” Rogge told reporters on Feb. 28, 2008. “In any other sport, you are speaking about hundreds of thousands, if not tens of millions, of athletes at a very high level, competing for one single medal.
“We do not want the medals to be diluted and watered down. That is the bottom line.”
Corradini said there are close to 100 women from 18 countries competing at the elite level. A total of 166 women are registered as active jumpers with the International Ski Federation.
Since 1991 the IOC has demanded gender equity from any sport it adds.
However, ski jumping has been grandfathered, or “grandmothered” in this case. Ski jumping and Nordic combined (which includes ski jumping and cross-country skiing) are the only male-exclusive sports in the Winter Olympics.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Willis, 17. “We’re doing whatever we can. We’ve gone through all the steps. This is the last step so hopefully this will be the thing we want.”
The first women’s ski jumping world championship was held Feb. 20 in Liberec, Czech Republic, with Van winning the gold medal.
The IOC has said it is amenable to adding women’s ski jumping for the 2014 Winter Olympics, earmarked for Sochi, Russia, providing its criteria can be met. Van is not prepared to wait that long.
“I need to get out and move on with my life if this isn’t going to happen,” the 24-year-old Van said. “I’m not going to wait for a bunch of old guys to decide my future when I can take it into my own hands and move on from ski jumping if it doesn’t happen now.”
For 2010, the women are asking for one event to be held on the normal hill in Whistler, B.C. The men’s event includes competition on the normal hill and large hill, as well as a team event.
Corradini — a former mayor of Salt Lake City — cannot understand why the IOC members are not open to that request.
“They would be heroes,” she said. “Everybody would shine. The lawsuit goes away. Why don’t they do something so simple?”

source: vancouversun.com

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Pressure on the United States Olympic Committee to renegotiate its existing revenue-sharing agreement with the International Olympic Committee rose to another level when an angry group of Olympic leaders voted to terminate the contract and renegotiate a new one.
The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations passed a non-binding resolution on Tuesday to end the U.S.O.C.’s current open-ended contract that agreement gives the United States 20 percent of the I.O.C.’s global sponsorship revenue — the same amount as all the other Olympic committees, combined — and 12.75 percent of the television revenue.
“The greed of this organization is unlimited. Totally unlimited,” Hein Verbruggen, the former chief of the International Cycling Union and an honorary I.O.C. member, said to The Associated Press. “It infuriates everybody and especially me.”
The international federations are meeting this week in Denver at a gathering called Sportaccord. Verbruggen is its chairman.
“The way they treat us, there’s no respect, no respect at all,” Verbruggen said. “It’s infuriating. I have no other words.”
The U.S.O.C., however, has emphasized that the United States generates a big chunk of the I.O.C. revenues and that U.S.-based companies provide most of the sponsorship money. The United States television contract is also far more lucrative than in any other country. To televise last year’s Beijing Games, NBC paid about $894 million. The European Broadcasting Union paid about $443.5 million. Chinese television networks paid about $7 million.
“We’re looking for a long-term solution, and it’s probably not best to do it in an emotional or pressure environment,” Bob Ctvrtlik, the U.S.O.C.’s vice chairman for international relations, told The Associated Press. “It’s not easy. It is complicated. I think we need to do that in a nice, calm manner.”
The impassioned debate comes at a delicate time for the U.S.O.C., with the bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago in 2016 ramping up. The vote on which city will host those Games is scheduled for October.
An I.O.C. evaluation commission will visit Chicago in early April. It will also visit the other three cities vying for the Games, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Both sides in the revenue-sharing tiff deny that the Chicago bid would be affected by the revenue disagreement, which is not expected to be resolved this week.
Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan said that the disagreement has nothing to do with the bid.
Even so, Verbruggen said: “I like the guys in Chicago. I really like Pat Ryan. I’d think they might be embarrassed with this whole thing.”

Female Ski Jumpers Ask to Meet With I.O.C. President
A group of international female ski jumpers have asked the I.O.C. president, Jacques Rogge, to meet with their representatives in Denver this week, in hopes of convincing the committee to allow female ski jumpers into the 2010 Games. In a 2006 decision, the I.O.C. barred women from participating in the sport at the Vancouver Olympics.
The athletes said that participation in their sport was growing quickly, outpacing several other Winter Games sports.
“We’re ready,” Lindsey Van, a world champion and American national team member, said in a statement. “Our sport has developed incredibly in the three years since that decision, and we would really appreciate the opportunity to tell our story to him personally.”
Fifteen female ski jumpers, including Van, have brought a lawsuit against the Vancouver Olympics organizing committee, citing gender discrimination. A hearing is scheduled for April 20 in British Columbia Supreme Court.

source: nytimes.com

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All Formula One’s car manufacturers and current teams are prepared to commit to the sport until the end of 2012, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said on Thursday.
“All the teams and car manufacturers are prepared to commit to enter in the new Concorde Agreement until the end of 2012,” he told the first news conference held by the new Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA).
Montezemolo, who chairs the organisation and is also head of Italian carmaker FIAT, said the teams had agreed proposals that would halve the cost of competing in Formula One by next year compared to 2008.
The measures, some yet to be fully approved by the governing FIA, included slashing the costs of engines and gearboxes and making some parts, such as the controversial new KERS energy recovery system, standard from 2010 while “preserving the sport’s DNA“.
There would also be a further reduction in testing and personnel attending races.
Formula One carmakers have been hard hit by the global credit crunch, with Honda already announcing in December that they were pulling out and concern about the commitment of Toyota and Renault.

Montezemolo - Formula One Teams' Association

FINANCIAL CRISIS
However, Montezemolo, offering the teams’ blueprint for the future of the sport, said the global financial crisis could also be a positive.
“The crisis represents a huge opportunity to improve Formula One, in terms of cost, competition and to really look ahead,” he said.
He said the teams were now in legal discussions about signing up to a new version of the confidential Concorde Agreement which governs the commercial side of the sport.
“We hope and we think that we can be in a condition to sign the Concorde Agreement before the start of the season,” Montezemolo added.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said the teams had proposed various measures to improve the sport on the track, including a new points structure from this season that would offer a greater reward for winning races.
Under the proposal, to be put to the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) later this month, the current scoring of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 would be changed to 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1.
Constructors’ points could also be awarded for the fastest pitstop during the race from 2010, with another proposal to reduce race distances to 250km or a maximum of one hour and 40 minutes.

source: reuters.com

The top U.S. military official said Sunday that Iran has sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon, declaring it would be a “very, very bad outcome” should Tehran move forward with a bomb.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered the assessment when questioned in a broadcast interview about a recent report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog on the state of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which can create nuclear fuel and may be sufficiently advanced to produce the core of warheads.
Mullen was asked if Iran now had enough fissile material to make a bomb. He responded, “We think they do, quite frankly. And Iran having a nuclear weapon I’ve believed for a long time is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world.”
State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Sunday that it was not possible say how much fissile material Iran has accumulated.
“There are differing view not only outside government but also inside the government” on how far Iran has gone, Wood said. He added that while he was not suggesting Mullen was incorrect, “We just don’t know” exactly how much fissile material Iran now holds.
“We are concerned they are getting close” to having enough to build a nuclear weapon, he added. Wood spoke to reporters traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Egypt.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has processed 2,222 pounds (1,010 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium. But the report left unclear whether Iran is now capable, even if it wanted, of further processing that material into a sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium to arm one weapon.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who like Mullen appeared on the Sunday talk shows, did not go as far as Mullen. The Iranians, Gates said, are “not close to a weapon at this point and so there is some time” for continued diplomatic efforts.

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Softball will seek to rejoin the Olympics alone after its governing body on Friday rejected baseball’s proposal to make a joint pitch for inclusion.
Softball and baseball were dropped from the Olympics after last year’s Beijing Games but are among seven sports targeting the 2016 event when two sports will be added to the lineup.
In lobbying efforts, the International Softball Federation (ISF) has attempted to distance itself from baseball, which has been criticised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Major League Baseball’s failure to tackle doping issues and for not freeing top players to participate in the Games.
Golf, squash, rugby, karate and rollersports are the others sports hoping to join the Olympics.
“The ISF recently received a proposal from the International Baseball Federation for a combined approach for Olympic Games programme status,” ISF president Don Porter said in a statement.
“However, having looked at all the factors involved, the ISF has decided that softball will not combine with any other sport and stands by the current proposals to the International Olympic Committee submitted in our recent response to their questionnaire.
“We have offered the IOC a doping-free, universal team sport that reflects Olympic values all over the world.
“Softball is also a stand-alone sport with its own rules, values, and philosophy.”
Since softball was voted out of the Olympics in 2005, the ISF has launched a vigorous campaign for reinstatement.
Softball has attempted to address the IOC’s two biggest concerns that the sport is not played at the highest level in enough countries and is dominated by the U.S..
The ISF has introduced several new competitions around the world and pointed to Japan’s upset win over the U.S. in the gold medal final in Beijing as a sign the sport is growing.

The IOC will vote on the inclusion of up to two new sports during its congress in Copenhagen in October.

source: reuters.com

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama charted a dramatic new course for the nation Thursday with a bold but contentious budget proposing higher taxes for the wealthy and the first steps toward guaranteed health care for all — accompanied by an astonishing $1.75 trillion federal deficit that would be nearly four times the highest in history.
Denouncing what he called the “dishonest accounting” of recent federal budgets, Obama unveiled his own $3.6 trillion blueprint for next year, a bold proposal that would transfer wealth from rich taxpayers to the middle class and the poor.
Congressional approval without major change is anything but sure. The plan is filled with political land mines including an initiative to combat global warming that would hit consumers with considerably higher utility bills. Other proposals would take on entrenched interests such as big farming, insurance companies and drug makers.
Obama blamed the expected federal deficit explosion on a “deep and destructive” recession and recent efforts to battle it including the Wall Street bailout and the just-passed $787 billion stimulus plan. The $1.75 trillion deficit estimate for this year is $250 billion more than projected just days ago because of proposed new spending for a fresh bailout for banks and other financial institutions.
As the nation digs out of the most serious economic crisis in decades, Obama said, “We will, each and every one of us, have to compromise on certain things we care about but which we simply cannot afford right now.”
Signaling budget battles to come, Republicans were skeptical Obama was doing without much at all.
“We can’t tax and spend our way to prosperity,” said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio. “The era of big government is back, and Democrats are asking you to pay for it.”
Obama plans to move aggressively toward rebalancing the tax system, extending a $400 tax credit for most workers — $800 for couples — while letting expire President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for couples making more than $250,000 a year. That would raise the top income tax bracket from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for those taxpayers and raise their capital gains rate from 15 to 20 percent as well.
Thursday’s 134-page budget submission, a nonbinding recommendation to Congress, says the plan would close the deficit to a a more reasonable — but still eye-popping — $533 billion after five years. That would still be higher than last year’s record $455 billion deficit.
And the national debt would more than double by the end of the upcoming decade, raising worries that so much federal borrowing could drive up interest rates and erode the value of the dollar.
Also, to narrow the budget gap, Obama relies on rosier predictions of economic growth — including a 3.2 percent boost in the economy next year — than most private sector economists foresee.

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Rosneft (ROSN.MM), Russia’s largest oil firm, pledged $180 million for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on Tuesday, becoming the games’ third sponsor after the government scaled back spending on the event by 15 percent.
Rosneft will also build over 150 new gasoline stations ahead of the games, half of which will be spread across parts of Russia serving major highways.
Sergei Bogdanchikov, the head of the indebted state-controlled company, told a briefing the firm’s support would “increase the profitability of our company.”

giappone blog

Last month state-controlled long-distance telephone company Rostelecom and MegaFon, the country’s third biggest mobile phone operator, pledged $260 million in sponsorship, plus a further $200 million to develop infrastructure in the region.
Rosneft’s pledge comes at a time when Russian natural resource firms are cash-strapped and cutting back production in response to the sharp drop in energy and commodity prices, Russia’s star assets.
“Even in a difficult economic situation, Russian businesses are not neglecting their social responsibility,” the head of Sochi 2014’s organising committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said in a statement.
Russia has pledged to spend $12 billion on developing the Olympics in Sochi, a resort on its Black Sea coast.
Winning the right to host the games is viewed by many as one of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s major achievements during his eight years as president.

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Sport’s long-term popularity will suffer badly if governments redirect funds away from its grassroots during the global credit crunch, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chiefs warned on Friday.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said top-tier events like the Olympic Games and soccer’s World Cup were not suffering too much from the worst economic downturn in almost 80 years, though sports at local level were struggling to cope.

“If the financial crisis continues any longer than we expect … the popularity of sport will be severely damaged in the long term as grassroots and local games find it harder to survive,” Rogge told reporters in Brussels.

“I think the main place for the crisis is at grassroots level, the small clubs, national federations, some national Olympic committees. They say it’s getting extremely difficult to find sponsorships.”

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With their venue plans now having received the necessary approvals from the 26 international sports federations, Chicago 2016 bid officials now can focus entirely on the issue that will have the greatest impact on their chances to win the Summer Games.

Money.

But the thorniest part of that issue is out of their hands.
It will be up to Chicago 2016 to do two things:

1.) Convince International Olympic Committee members that it has sufficient guarantees to cover operating expenses in case of possible shortfalls in projected revenues – especially if the recession drags on.

2.) Convince the same members, who will choose the 2016 host at an Oct. 2 vote in Denmark, that it can find developers willing to build a $1-billion Olympic Village just south of downtown Chicago.

Given the financial problems that have hit village plans for both the 2010 Winter Games and 2012 Summer Games, the IOC wants as much certainty as possible from all four candidates, despite – or because of – the global recession.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Olympic Committee must resolve the hot-button financial issue, the ongoing dispute over the USOC share of global sponsorship revenues and U.S. broadcast rights.
USOC chairman Larry Probst, who took over that position from Peter Ueberroth in October, traveled this week to Lausanne, Switzerland, to introduce himself personally to IOC president Jacques Rogge and officials of several international federations that also have headquarters in Lausanne.
The revenue issue apparently was not discussed during Probst’s trip, described as a “meet-and-greet” by someone familiar with its purpose.
Exactly what role Probst is playing in the interminable USOC-IOC negotiations on the matter is unclear.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Guerrillas in Lebanon rocketed northern Israel on Wednesday for the second time in a week, drawing Israeli artillery fire and threatening to drag the Jewish state into a second front as it battled Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The violence defied a new call from the U.N. chief to immediately end fighting in Gaza.
Israel showed no signs of slowing its bruising 19-day-old offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, striking some 60 targets in the strip bordering southern Israel. One airstrike hit an overcrowded cemetery, spreading body parts and rotting flesh over a wide area. The army said the airstrike targeted a weapons cache hidden near the graveyard.
The rocket fire from Lebanon caused no injuries, but sent residents scurrying to bomb shelters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group that fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006, denied involvement in last week’s attack, and speculation focused on small Palestinian groups.
Lebanese security officials said the Israeli army fired at least eight artillery shells on south Lebanon in response. There were no reports of Lebanese injuries from the retaliatory fire.
The Israeli military said it targeted the source of the rockets, and that it regarded the Lebanese government and military responsible for preventing attacks on Israel. The government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora condemned the attack.
Israel repeatedly has said it does not seek renewed fighting with Lebanon, but is prepared for hostilities along the northern border. The Muslim world has expressed outrage over Israel’s Gaza offensive, and in a new condemnation Wednesday, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to launch a holy war against Israel.

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Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics logo

On Saturday January 10th, about three months delayed, The Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 logo was unveiled, and the results of the public logo competition were announced.
A new emblem is born. On Saturday, Singapore 2010 launched its official emblem for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games. “The emblem embodies the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and represents the blending of the IOC’s and Singapore Organising Committee’s vision to bring the youth of the world together,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in his message.

Colourful and vibrant
The emblem illustrates in a colourful and vibrant way the passion of sport with the champions in its centre. It will be a strong ambassador for Singapore 2010.

An event in itself
The emblem launching ceremony was accompanied by sports demonstrations based on the new disciplines of the 2010 Games sports programme (like basketball 3 on 3) and a 2010m run with many Singaporean youngsters participating.

Singapore 2010 Logo

Sport, Culture and Education
Some 3,594 athletes from all 205 National Olympic Committees will compete in Singapore in 26 sports comprising 201 events. Besides the sports competitions programme, the YOG will feature an extensive Cultural and Educational Programme (CEP), which aims to introduce, in a fun and festive spirit, the young athletes to Olympism and the Olympic values, and to raise awareness of important issues such as the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, the fight against doping and their role as sports ambassadors in their communities.

source: olympic.org

Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 logo

A new emblem is born. On Saturday, Singapore 2010 launched its official emblem for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games. “The emblem embodies the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and represents the blending of the IOC’s and Singapore Organising Committee’s vision to bring the youth of the world together,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in his message.

Colourful and vibrant
The emblem illustrates in a colourful and vibrant way the passion of sport with the champions in its centre. It will be a strong ambassador for Singapore 2010.

An event in itself
The emblem launching ceremony was accompanied by sports demonstrations based on the new disciplines of the 2010 Games sports programme (like basketball 3 on 3) and a 2010m run with many Singaporean youngsters participating.

Singapore 2010 Logo

Sport, Culture and Education
Some 3,594 athletes from all 205 National Olympic Committees will compete in Singapore in 26 sports comprising 201 events. Besides the sports competitions programme, the YOG will feature an extensive Cultural and Educational Programme (CEP), which aims to introduce, in a fun and festive spirit, the young athletes to Olympism and the Olympic values, and to raise awareness of important issues such as the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, the fight against doping and their role as sports ambassadors in their communities.

source: olympic.org

Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama’s nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February. But already it is plain that a set of serious fissures need to be bridged if the bill is to be completed within five weeks.
Obama urged Congress on Thursday to “act boldly and act now” to fix an economy growing perilously weaker, even as top Democrats said they dislike key provisions, especially the design of his tax cuts.
Democrats such as Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad complained openly that many of the incoming administration’s proposed tax cuts wouldn’t work. Republicans warned against excessive new spending, with both parties signaling the incoming president they intend to place their own stamp on the economic recovery effort.
Conrad, D-N.D., and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., also staked a firm position against using the economic recovery plan for permanent spending increases, opening a split with House Democrats hoping to use the plan to broaden eligibility for unemployment insurance and boost education spending.

galleria fotografica Giappone

“Doing things that would have a permanent effect when we face trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see is just unwise,” Conrad said.
A call for a $3,000 tax break for job creation drew particular criticism in a closed-door meeting, and numerous lawmakers said Obama had not ticketed enough of his tax proposal for energy.
But there was little or no dispute about the need for action, and Obama’s remarks coincided with a pair of government reports showing fresh weakness in an economy already in recession. An updated reading on unemployment was expected to bring even more bad news on Friday.
“If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years,” with unemployment reaching double digits, Obama said in a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. “A bad situation could become dramatically worse.”

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