Suicide bomber kills three in Pakistan: police

Three people were killed and more than 20 injured on Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed a van packed with explosives into a police station in northwest Pakistan, police said.

"The attacker detonated his pick-up van at the gate of the main police station in Karak town" of North West Frontier Province, local police chief Sajid Mohmand told AFP. "Two policemen and one civilian were killed."

At least 26 people were wounded, including 21 policemen, he added.

Local hospital doctor Nazrul Islam said some of the wounded were in a serious condition.

The bombing badly damaged the building while two police vehicles were also damaged, police officer Imtiaz Ahmed said.

Karak is located 150 kilometres (94 miles) southeast of Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, which has been plagued by militant violence including bomb attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The bombing took place as Muslims across Pakistan staged rallies to celebrate the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad.

It follows a clash in the nearby garrison city of Kohat on Friday in which Pakistan security forces killed 17 militants, officials said.

Pakistan's military has launched a number of offensives against Islamist militants in the tribal belt where the United States says Al-Qaeda has carved out its headquarters in the most dangerous terrain on Earth.

Pakistan is under increasing US pressure to do more to act against militants who stage cross border attacks in Afghanistan against NATO and US forces fighting an eight-year war against the Taliban.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan since July 2007 in a deadly campaign blamed on Islamist militants opposed to the government's alliance with the United States.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was sedated before being suffocated, Dubai police say

The Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was injected with a strong sedative before being suffocated in his hotel room by suspected Mossad agents, Dubai police have revealed.

The results of a toxicology report released today show that the Hamas commander was paralysed by an injection of succinylcholine, a fast-acting muscle relaxant. He was then suffocated with a pillow.

Succinylcholine is used in intensive care to assist the insertion of a tracheal tube in emergency treatment of conditions such as stroke, burns and drowning.

The drug does not induce loss of consciousness or anaesthesia, meaning that al-Mabhouh would have been conscious but unable to struggle as he was suffocated.

Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, deputy commander of Dubai police, said that the drug would have caused “immediate and temporary paralysis” of the victim.

"The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural. There were no signs of resistance shown by the victim," he said.

Al-Mabhouh was murdered in his room at the Al Bustan Rotana hotel on January 19. His body was not found by staff until the following day.

Dubai police also said that they would soon name a new suspect in the case, bringing the total number of named agents to 27. Police revealed last week that 12 of these were carrying British passports. Several UK citizens living in Israel had their identities stolen by the killers.

Three Palestinians are also being held in Dubai in connection with the killing.

UK agents are to meet six of the dual British-Israeli nationals whose passports were used, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said.

The genuine British passport-holders will be interviewed at the UK Embassy in Tel Aviv as potential witnesses to a crime. Officers will meet the other six in the near future.

A Soca spokesman said: “We are arranging to speak to the six genuine passport holders who are resident in Israel as potential witnesses to a crime. Those meetings will take place in the British Embassy.”

He said the Israeli authorities had been informed and had “no issue” with the meetings taking place.

Dubai police say they are almost certain that Israel’s spy agency Mossad was behind the assassination. Israel has declined to comment.

Administered in sufficient quantities, succinylcholine is fatal. The drug has occasionally been used for executions by lethal injection, but is no longer favoured. However, it has been used in a number of murders.

Dubai police said it was not clear how much of the drug had been administered to al-Mabhouh, but it was not the cause of death.

Police enter Jerusalem holy site

Police say they went into the compound to disperse some 20 masked protesters throwing stones at foreign tourists.

The Islamic body which oversees administration of the area disputes the police account of events.

This is the latest in a series of clashes amid high tensions over religious sites in the past week.

The Jerusalem compound also contains the Western Wall, a sacred site for Jews.

Clashes broke out in the West Bank town of Hebron on Friday over Israel's decision to list two disputed shrines as heritage sites.

Contested site

A Palestinian official said a group of youths had spent the night in the al-Aqsa mosque to prevent what they believed to be Jewish extremists from praying at the sensitive site.

Palestinians and Israelis were injured and several Palestinians were arrested in the brief confrontation on Sunday, police say.

An Israeli police spokesman said calm had been restored to the compound and visits resumed.

The spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said Muslim men under the age of 50 had been barred from the site, while older men, women of all ages and children had been permitted to enter.

Rescue workers in Chile were battling today to find survivors trapped in rubble a day after a giant earthquake that has claimed at least 400 lives and

A roadside bomb has claimed the lives of 11 civilians in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, according to local government officials.

Daud Ahmadi, the governor's spokesman, told journalists on Sunday that "a civilian car struck a roadside bomb in Nawzad district" in the north of the province.

Blaming the Taliban for the attack, Ahmadi said the dead included two children and two women.

Thousands of US, NATO and Afghan troops have been pursuing a major offensive against the Taliban in Helmand's Marjah and Nad Ali areas since February 13.

Helmand is the most troubled region in Afghanistan with the highest level of activity by insurgents, mostly remnants of the Taliban ousted from the government by US-led forces in late 2001.

The current operation, called Moshtarak (Dari for "together"), is aimed at driving the Taliban from their strongholds and is part of Washington's new war strategy for Afghanistan announced late last year.

The town of Marjah continues to see sporadic resistance.

Over a dozen foreign soldiers and at least two of their Afghan counterparts have been killed during Moshtarak. Dozens of Taliban fighters have also died although the authorities have yet to give a precise figure.

At least 15 civilians have also been killed in the offensive, 12 of them by a rocket fired by US forces and intended to hit Taliban resistance.

Operations are set to expand to other Taliban strongholds, particularly in the neighbouring province of Kandahar, where the Taliban maintain a large presence.

About 121,000 international troops, mainly from the United States and NATO, are stationed in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.

Rescue workers in dash to find Chile quake survivors

Rescue workers in Chile were battling today to find survivors trapped in rubble a day after a giant earthquake that has claimed at least 400 lives and sent a tsunami barrelling across the Pacific.

Thousands of fearful Chileans were camped in tents and makeshift shelters as powerful aftershocks battered the South American country in the wake of an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that shattered airports, mangled highways and toppled buildings when it hit in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In Concepcion, the worst-hit city with more than 100 killed, rescue workers were picking through the wreckage of a collapsed 15-storey apartment building in the hope of finding survivors among more than 60 people thought to be trapped inside.

Firefighters used thermal detectors to search for signs of life in the building, which was destroyed by the first tremors. One resident, Fernando Abarzua, marvelled that he had escaped with no major injuries. "I was on the eighth floor and all of a sudden I was down here," he said.

Twenty-four hours later, 16 people had been pulled out alive, and six bodies had been recovered.

"We spent the whole night working, smashing through walls to find survivors. The biggest problem is fuel, we need fuel for our machinery and water for our people," Commander Marcelo Plaza said.

Rescue operations were complicated by powerful aftershocks, of which there were more than 60 across the country in the 24 hours following the earthquake

Concepcion, a city of 670,000 people, was strewn with overturned cars, concrete blocks and lampposts, while the Bio Bio bridge folded like a line of dominoes.

Thousands spent Saturday and Sunday nights sleeping in temporary shelters scrambled together from bedsheets or cardboard boxes, and residents were still without water or electricity, while fuel supplies were dwindling rapidly.

As desperation set in, police were deployed to prevent looters from raiding supermarkets for food. "People have gone days without eating," one looter, Orlando Salazar, said. "The only option is to come here and get stuff for ourselves."

Few parts of the country were untouched by the earthquake, with an estimated 2 million people affected and 1.5 million homes and buildings destroyed or badly damaged.

President Michele Bachelet – who has just ten days left in office – said that she found it hard to spell out the magnitude of the disaster, which would take officials several days to assess.

Saudi Arabia a reliable partner: Manmohan

Lauding Saudi Arabia’s valuable role as a “reliable partner” in meeting India’s energy needs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said conditions were ripe for moving beyond the traditional buyer-seller relationship to a comprehensive energy partnership.

“Indian companies are well-equipped to participate in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector projects in Saudi Arabia. We should also establish new partnerships in the area of new and renewable energy through sharing of clean technologies and joint collaborations,” Dr. Singh said. He was addressing the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry on the second day of his visit to the oil-rich kingdom. Saudi Arabian Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Ali Reza and members of the council were present during Dr. Singh’s address.

Pointing out that the robust growth of Indian and Saudi Arabian economies offer immense opportunities for business communities from both sides, Dr. Singh noted that bilateral trade had reached almost $25 billion in 2008-09.

“Indian investments into the Kingdom have risen considerably and today stand at more than $2 billion covering over 500 joint ventures,” he told the Council and top business leaders here. Dr. Singh said Indian public sector company RITES recently won a contract to participate in the north-south Railways project, but added that there was potential for doing much more.

Acknowledging India’s vast needs for high quality modern infrastructure, the Prime Minister said India opened its doors to foreign investment and extended an invitation to Saudi investors and entrepreneurs to explore investment opportunities. He specifically referred to the construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, health, agriculture, energy, telecom, tourism and other service sectors, where Saudi investments in India could flow in. Since 1990, he said, the Saudi Arabian economy had quadrupled in size and undergone substantial diversification with the strengthening of the non-oil sector. He said theambitious economic cities that are proposed to be set up have the potential to further transform the Saudi economy and enhance the weight of its economy globally.

The Prime Minister said both India and Saudi Arabia should also look at new areas of cooperation. “Education and skill development are of primary importance to both ourcountries. India has a proven track record in the field of knowledge-based industries, which have great potential for improving the skill set of the work force,” he said.

While showcasing India’s strengths in knowledge-based sectors, Dr. Singh said India would be happy to share its experience with Saudi Arabia in the area of human resource development. “Cooperation in the areas of science and technology and space technology are other areas for future cooperation.”

Dr. Singh said the integration of “our economies with the rest of the world has [not only] created new opportunities but also brought [about] new challenges.”

He told the business leaders that global financial crisis had thrown up a broad agenda for global action and reforms, and the role of emerging economies such as India and Saudi Arabia within the G-20 framework and otherwise would be crucial to the restructuring of the global economic and financial architecture.

He said that India viewed its economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the wider context of its interactions with the entire Gulf region. “This is an area with which we have deep and historical ties. The Gulf countries are our natural partners in every sense of the term. Indians are the largest expatriate community in every country of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” Dr. Singh said. He expressed confidence that such interactions would bring vitality and dynamism in the cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia. He said India saw Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner for promoting peace, stability and economic development that would bring benefits not only to the two countries but to the region and the world at large.

'Battlestar' actress Grace Park to hit beaches of 'Hawaii Five-O'

Battlestar Galactica's Grace Park is trading in her sci-fi show gear for surf gear as she has been cast to join the upcoming CBS update of Hawaii Five-O.

Park will play Kona Kalakua, niece of squad member Chin Ho Kelly, who will be played by Lost's Daniel Dae Kim, according to Park's character is a champion surfer in the police academy who is recruited to join the police unit run by Steve McGarrett, who will be played by Three Rivers'

Anemia, meds left Murphy vulnerable

Severe anemia left actress Brittany Murphy weakened and vulnerable to pneumonia and the prescription medications she was using to treat it, according to an autopsy report released Thursday.

The report stated Murphy's menstrual period contributed to her anemia and left her in a weakened state and vulnerable to infection. It also contributed the effects that a host of drugs, including hydrocodone and acetaminophen, had on the 32-year-old actress, according to the report.

Coroner's officials had already concluded Murphy's death was accidental, but likely preventable. She died after collapsing in her Hollywood Hills home on Dec. 20.

The report notes that the medications found in Murphy's system were consistent with treatment of a cold or respiratory infection. Murphy's mother and husband had reported the actress was ill with flu-like symptoms in the days before her death.

An autopsy found no evidence that Murphy abused drugs. Investigators found numerous prescription medications in the actress' home, which she shared with her mother, Sharon, and husband, Simon Monjack.

The actress was taking anti-seizure medications and hydrocodone, the report said.

Murphy had been complaining of severe abdominal pain for seven to 10 days before her death. The report states her family thought it was a result of her menstrual period, which they told investigators was often severe.

The "Clueless" and "8 Mile" star had a doctor's appointment scheduled, but died before her appointment, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has said.

Attempts to reach Monjack or Sharon Murphy on Thursday were unsuccessful.

The autopsy report noted Murphy suffered from diabetes and had to go to the hospital for treatment in Oregon in April 2009. The report found her to be otherwise healthy.

Monjack said in an interview in January that he and Murphy were planning a family and contemplating a move to New York before her death. He said his wife had been taking anti-seizure medications after a health episode she experienced while filming "8 Mile."

Her big screen roles diminished after 2005's "Sin City," but Murphy had been juggling several movie projects in the months before her death.

Scorsese's "Shutter Island" top film at box office

"Shutter Island" earned $22.2 million during the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day haul to $75.1 million, distributor Paramount Pictures said.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who has collaborated previously with Scorsese, stars in the picture as a federal marshal stranded at a prison hospital for the criminally insane off the coast of Massachusetts in 1954.

"Cop Out," which stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as a pair of New York City cops, opened at No. 2 with $18.6 million in ticket sales, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.

Overture Films' zombie conspiracy thriller, "The Crazies," an update of a 1973 George Romero picture, followed at No. 3 with $16.5 million.

Both films had been targeting openings in the low- to mid-teen millions.

Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc. Overture is a unit of Liberty Media Corp.

Marie Osmond's son dies in reported suicide

Officers responded to an apparent suicide jump in the area, but the victim was not identified Saturday, Los Angeles police officer Gregory Baek said.

"My family and I are devastated and in deep shock by the tragic loss of our dear Michael and ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time," Osmond said in the statement.

Blosil reportedly left a note that referred to a lifelong battle with depression. In 2007, Osmond said Michael was treated at a rehabilitation facility, but she didn't disclose the nature of his problem.

Donny Osmond, Blosil's uncle, told Entertainment Tonight: "Please pray for my sister and her family."

Michael was one of Osmond's five adopted children. She also has three other children from two marriages. She divorced Brian Blosil in 2007 after two decades of marriage. She and her first husband Stephen Craig divorced in 1985.

Osmond earned fame at age 13 with the hit song Paper Roses and starred with her brother, Donny, on television's Donny and Marie Show during the 1970s.

They perform a musical variety show regularly at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The hotel said Saturday's performance was cancelled.

Toyota head to brief in China on quality issues

Akio Toyoda will brief the media at 6:00 p.m. in Beijing (5 a.m. EST) on Monday, with the aim of explaining to the public about its recent quality issues, Hitoshi Yokoyama, a spokesman for a China unit of Toyota said.

The briefing will follow Toyoda's appearance last week in Washington, where he was grilled by U.S. lawmakers for a series of recalls that have tarnished the carmaker's brand and reputation for quality.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million cars globally for unintended acceleration and braking problems, in a widening safety crisis that broke about a month ago. The bulk of the recalls are in the United States.

Toyota said last month that it had submitted an application to recall more than 75,000 of the RAV4 sport utility vehicle in China, the world's largest auto market in 2009.

The cars were made at Toyota's joint venture plant with China's FAW in Tianjin.

Chile quake halts refineries, copper mines

The 8.8-magnitude quake forced state mining company Codelco to halt operations at its El Teniente and Andina mines, and Mining Minister Santiago Gonzalez said it could take two days for production to resume. Other Codelco operations were unaffected.

Gonzalez said Codelco had enough stocks to be able to meet its export commitments, and a union leader said the key copper ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones were operating normally, although the smaller copper port of San Antonio was closed.

"Export commitments are going to be honored," Gonzalez told Reuters, adding that Codelco's Caletones smelter had also been halted.

Anglo-American's (AAL.L) Los Bronces and El Soldado mines, which together produce about 280,000 metric tons of copper annually, also halted operations, but other major mines were running as usual.

Most of Chile's key mining industry is based in the north of the country. The quake, which killed at least 147 people, struck in central Chile, 70 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion.

REFINERIES

The earthquake, which tore up highways and bridges, also damaged two oil refineries run by state oil company ENAP, and one official said diesel imports were being stepped up to ensure there were no shortages.

ENAP's Aconcagua and Bio Bio refineries have a combined refining capacity of about 220,000 barrels a day.

ENAP general manager Rodrigo Azocar said the refineries had energy supply problems and structural damage that "had together forced production to be paralyzed."

He added that the company had sufficient gasoline stocks to last for two weeks and enough diesel for 10 days.

"There won't be any diesel supply problems for two weeks," he told a local radio station.

Gonzalez said it was still too early to assess the level of the damage to Bio Bio, the biggest of ENAP's three oil refineries, but the situation should be clear on Sunday.

El Teniente and Andina are Codelco's second- and third-largest mines by production, with combined annual output last year of 614,000 metric tons.

The mines suffered power outages after the temblor, but there was no serious damage.

A Codelco spokeswoman played down concerns that copper from the two mines would not be able to reach exporting ports. She said most of the damage to infrastructure had been south of the mines, so transport routes should not be affected.

"The real concern now is energy supply," she added, referring to power blackouts caused by the tremor.

Snedeker leads Piercy at PGA

Brandt Snedeker rolled in his sixth birdie of the day on No. 17 and finished at 14-under 199 for a one-shot lead over Scott Piercy going into Sunday's final round of the Phoenix Open.

Snedeker, 29, shot a 66 while Piercy had a pair of eagles en route to a 65 in the third round on Saturday amid a loud, rowdy crowd estimated at just over 121,000. Many were on hand for the party as much, or more than, for the golf tournament.

Rickie Fowler and Matt Every were two back at 12-under going into Sunday's final round. Camilo Villegas, who shared the lead with Mark Wilson after two rounds, birdied the last two holes to finish even for the day and minus-11 for the tournament.

Wilson, Mark Calcavecchia and Lee Janzen were among nine at 203.

The 49-year-old Calcavecchia has won the Phoenix Open three times, in 1989, 1992 and 2001. The last of his 13 PGA tour victories came in 2007.

The sky was overcast with a threat of rain at TPC Scottsdale, and the wind kicked up late in the day. Perhaps that's why the crowd was more than 40,000 shy of the estimated 164,000 who attended on Saturday a year ago. The record is 170,000 in 2008.

But the scene was as wild as usual at the notorious 16th hole, where bleachers surround the par 3 and fans have special chants for virtually every golfer. The good shots draw lusty cheers, the bad ones loud boos.

“It was crazy,” Snedeker said. “You've got to take it with a grain of salt and realize golf needs that. We need people out here having fun, being excited about being at a golf tournament. If you can't take it for one hole, good God, get over yourself and have some fun.”

The same could be said of Snedeker's young career.

He was the 2007 PGA Tour rookie of the year, but his victory at the Wyndham Championship that season remains his lone win.

He struggled early last year, missing the cut 12 of 26 times and was sidelined eight weeks by a rib injury.

“You just listen to your hype,” Snedeker said. “You hear people talking about how good you are and how much you could be the next big thing, you should be winning each week. And the minute you think that you should be winning the golf tournament each week, you're completely out of bounds.”

The turnaround, he said, came last July at the AT&T National, where he tied for fifth.

“Literally like a flipped switch,” Snedeker said, “and I said, 'I'm sick and tired of this.' I don't care if I have to quit playing golf, I'm not going to keep playing the way I've been playing. And ever since then I've been playing good.”

He tied for second Jan. 31 at Torrey Pines, one shot behind winner Ben Crane.

Snedeker's only bogey Saturday, on the par-4 14th, was the most critical hole of the round, he said.

He pulled his second shot into the left bunker. He failed to clear the bunker with his third shot and, with a bad lie, knocked his fourth shot 32 feet past the pin. Then he nailed the putt.

“That says a lot about where my head is right now,” Snedeker said. “... It completely changed the way I walked on the 15th tee, feeling excited, confident, everything still going good.”

Snedeker has led after three rounds only once before, at the 2007 Buick Open.

Piercy, in search of his first victory on the tour, will be in the final group at Phoenix for the second year in a row. He was a shot off the lead going into the last round a year ago and finished tied for sixth.

Piercy said he learned watching eventual winner Kenny Perry play that final round.

“He made a ton of pars. He didn't make any bogeys, or very few bogeys, and then when he made a birdie, that birdie was so huge,” Piercy said.

Piercy had a two eagles, the second one a tap-in on the par-4, 390-yard 10th hole, when his tee shot came to rest 10 inches from the pin.

Razzoli claims slalom gold

Razzoli had just over half a second in hand over his rivals after the first run and the 25-year-old held his nerve to clock a combined total of 1min 39.32 seconds, 0.16sec ahead of Kostelic with Myhrer a further 0.28sec adrift.

It meant further disappointment for defending champion Benjamin Raich, who finished in fourth place ensuring Austria's powerful men's team would leave Vancouver without a medal.

"It's a dream because I've been training a lot for this day. It's incredible," said Razzoli.

"It's been a long time coming, the last time Italy had a medal in the slalom was in 1992, and now in 2010, it's fantastic."

Kostelic was winning his second silver medal after he finished second in the super-combined.

"I really like to ski in these conditions," he said. "It's spring snow, but we always train in this kind of weather.

"This result means, realistically speaking, that I had two chances for medal in the super-combined and slalom and I took both."

There was drama on the first run as 10 of the top-30 skiers crashed out in difficult conditions including Bode Miller, who was searching for a fourth medal of the Olympics.

The American straddled the fifth gate to end his hopes of adding to his super-combined gold, super-G silver and downhill bronze.

"I just hooked a tip and it's obviously disappointing when you're fired up and you're skiing well and everything's there," Miller said. "You go out of the gate with the intention of absolutely maximizing every turn.

"It was over before I even had much chance to know what my skis were doing on that snow. I wasn't pivoting. I wasn't sliding the ski at all. That's a little bit indicative of my lack of time on slalom skiing because I might have known that my skis would do that if I'd had more training."

Inter Milan wins 3-2 at Udinese in Serie A

Inter Milan scored three first half goals to beat Udinese 3-2 away on Sunday and maintain its four point lead at the top of Serie A.

Mario Balotelli, Maicon and Diego Milito scored after Simone Pepe had given Udinese an early lead. Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty shortly after the restart, but Jose Mourinho’s team held on for the win.

Inter leads Serie A with 58 points, four ahead of AC Milan. AS Roma is third with 51 points.

Picking the top quarterback won't be a snap

The top two quarterbacks at the NFL scouting combine both have something to prove.

Oklahoma's Sam Bradford wants to show his shoulder can handle the rigors of pro football.

Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen wants to prove he can shoulder the responsibility of being a leader -- and shrug off his reputation for being arrogant and smug.

"Some people say I'm cocky, I'm arrogant, I'm not a good leader, I'm not a good teammate," Westlake Village's Clausen said Saturday. "I think the people who are out there saying those things really don't know me as a person. I'm a humble kid who loves having fun with my teammates."

While acknowledging NFL scouts are focused on his ability to lead, Clausen writes off the negative perceptions of him as a byproduct of playing at a high-profile school.

"That comes with the territory of being the quarterback at Notre Dame," he said. "That's just the way it is. I'd like for them to get to know me as a person, one on one. At Notre Dame, the quarterback and the head coach get all the credit when things go right and get a lot of blame when things go wrong. It's a tough situation being in the fish bowl at Notre Dame."

Randolph (31 points, 25 boards) overwhelms Knicks

Zach Randolph had 31 points and a career-high 25 rebounds against his former team, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New York Knicks 120-109 on Saturday night to tie a franchise record with their fourth straight road victory.

Marc Gasol added 25 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Grizzlies overwhelmed the Knicks' frontcourt. Rudy Gay scored 27 points for Memphis, which outrebounded New York 52-32.

Randolph made the tiebreaking free throws with 3:45 remaining, starting a decisive 9-0 spurt in which he seized control of the game with his scoring and rebounding. His basket with a minute left essentially put it away at 116-107.

Al Harrington scored 31 points for the Knicks, who got only 15 minutes from Tracy McGrady because of a sore left knee. David Lee added 21 points.

Randolph could have been the inside presence the Knicks lack, but they traded him and Jamal Crawford on the same day early last season, moves that jump-started New York's plan to free salary cap space for this summer's free agency class.

The Knicks started 6-3 that season, and Randolph said before the game he believed a lineup with he, Crawford and Lee would be tough, especially in the Eastern Conference. He also said he thinks New York has a shot to land LeBron James, which would make the trades worthwhile, even though the Knicks have struggled since.

New York picked up McGrady last week in another move that was salary driven, and he is still playing his way back into shape after microfracture knee surgery last February. He went 25 minutes Friday night in a win at Washington, and coach Mike D'Antoni said before the game he hoped McGrady could go that long again, but would leave it up to the player.

Instead, McGrady didn't play in the second half, going scoreless and missing all three shots.

Memphis last won four straight road games in January 2005, and the timing of this streak couldn't be better, because the Grizzlies suddenly can't win at home. They have dropped six straight in their own building after reeling off a franchise-record 11 straight home wins in December and January.

Gay scored 10 points in the first 3 minutes of the fourth, and the Grizzlies opened an eight-point lead midway through the period. New York ran off eight straight to tie it at 107 on Danilo Gallinari's 3-pointer with 4:04 to play.

That's when Randolph took over, preventing the Grizzlies (30-29) from falling below .500 for the first time since they were 15-16 to end 2009.

Memphis scored the first six points and twice led by 14 in the first quarter, the second time when Randolph's tip made it 23-9 with 4:20 remaining in the period. Randolph had 12 rebounds in the first 12 minutes, helping Memphis open a 31-23 lead.

New York quickly tightened it up in the second and it was close for the final nine minutes of the half before Memphis took a 56-52 lead into the break.

Harrington replaced McGrady in the lineup to start the second half and scored 14 points in the third quarter. There were eight ties and seven lead changes in the back-and-fourth period, with the Knicks scoring the final seven points to take an 88-85 edge to the fourth.

NOTES: Asked before the game his strategy on whether to foul when up by three points in the closing seconds, D'Antoni said, "Everybody who's never lost a game says foul. Well, it's not that easy." The Knicks have been forced to overtime twice in the last week after a tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation. D'Antoni said he believes in giving his players the option to foul, but did say he'd foul every time when the clock gets below 5 seconds. ... The Knicks are 2-12 in the second game when playing back-to-back nights.

Rex Ryan won’t talk about Adalius Thomas, will talk about other funny things…

Many of us assume linebacker Adalius Thomas will go running to the New York Jets, and reunite with Rex Ryan should the Patriots opt to release him March 5.

Want to know Ryan’s perspective? Just to know what he thinks happened to Thomas after leaving Baltimore and arriving on Bill Belichick’s doorstop? Sorry, Rex didn’t bite. Not this time.

Ryan refused to talk about Thomas, and all other players under contract with other teams. You might say he’s gun-shy, perhaps having tiptoed around the tampering block.

”I get myself in enough trouble,” Ryan said. ”I don’t need you to help me.”

But while he clammed up about Thomas, that didn’t prevent Ryan from dropping his usual array of funny lines. He joked about his abs, his overall girth, and the Miami Dolphins (I know Miami will be ticked because I don’t put them on top (of the division), but I don’t care.”

* Sport * Tennis Novak Djokovic beats rain and Mikhail Youzhny to win Dubai Open

Neither a racket-bending tantrum or a day's rain break could prevent the world No2, Novak Djokovic, from retaining the Dubai Open title today. Djokovic beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

A rainstorm had stopped play on Saturday with Djokovic a set and a break up. He started Sunday strongly, going three games ahead, before Youzhny – the runner-up in 2007 – levelled at 3-3. Neither player could then take charge, and they exchanged further breaks. Djokovic destroyed his racket after he double-faulted to put his opponent 5-4 up.

Djokovic surged to a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and although Youzhny broke to level at 3-3, this time the second seed responded. The Russian made an error to allow Djokovic to serve out the match and drop to his knees in triumph.

In Kuala Lumpur, Alisa Kleybanova beat the top seed, Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-2 in a rain-disrupted all-Russian final of the Malaysian Open. The 20-year-old world No29, playing her first tour final, served powerfully.

Winter Olympics 2010: Bode Miller fails to make alpine skiing history with fourth medal

Miller, already winner of the full set of gold, silver and bronze here, missed a gate near the start of his first run of the final event, the slalom, and he was far from alone as terrible visibility, a wet snowfall and a tough course saw nearly half the field fail to finish.

Miller said: “It’s the Olympics and we knew it was going to be challenging and tough with everyone skiing 100 per cent. You have to go out of the gate willing to take risks, you don’t start taking risks halfway down – you go out of the gate with the intention of maximising every single turn and unfortunately my ski climbed up on the inside of that rut.”

But there were no regrets for the American. “It was an awesome Games for me,” the super-combined champion said. “I couldn’t be more happy than I am. I leave here feeling I really accomplished something.”

Asked whether this would mark the end of his glittering career, the 32 year-old said: “I pushed it hard to get here. Now I’m going to take a little break and then make a decision.

Last to go in the 102-strong field, was Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the Milton Keynes-based one-man Ghana ski team who has captured Vancouver’s imagination.

Nkrumah-Acheampong tentatively made it down to lie 53rd of the 54 who successfully negotiated the first run, some 21 seconds behind the intermediate leader.

Offered the biggest cheer of the day, the 'Snow Leopard’ broke into a broad grin and said: “It’s been wonderful and crazy. I’m waiting for my Canadian passport."

Meanwhile, Canada were enjoying a storming penultimate day, adding two more golds in the space of a few minutes, from their men’s speed skating pursuit team and slalom snowboarder Jasey Jay Anderson, to lead the medal table.

The makings of a gold-medal team

You could see the signs, building in the subtle but unmistakable way that a low-pressure system gathers and roils before bringing the end of a drought -- in this case, 62 years without Olympic gold in the four-man bobsled. It ended Saturday, in spectacular fashion, to the clanging of cowbells omnipresent at such races, as Steven Holcomb drove team Night Train -- as USA 1 is known -- to the gold medal.

Some of the signs came long ago, those first winds foreshadowing the storm. Like the start of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project in 1992, when NASCAR legend Geoff Bodine watched the U.S. flailing at the Albertville Games and decided he no longer wanted American athletes to have to raise their own money just to buy the sleds that Germans used and discarded.

Bodine's friend and chassis builder Bob Cuneo was head engineer back then and now, eighteen years later, the U.S. team has a sled garage in Lake Placid, N.Y., that houses 17 American-made sleds with proprietary American technology. The most obvious sign of the drought's impending terminus came adjacent to that garage, on the Lake Placid sliding course last year when the Night Train won the first world championship title for the U.S. in 50 years.

Even the ominous thunderheads that rolled in were ultimately pierced by sunlight. In 2001, Holcomb was diagnosed with keratoconus, a degenerative eye condition that causes the corneas to bulge outward. By '07, and at first unbeknownst to his teammates, he was essentially driving blind, with vision that had deteriorated to 20/500. Holcomb's four-man team had finished second in the World Cup that year, which earned them a funding infusion that paid for training time at the track in Calgary in late summer. But, one day, Holcomb didn't show for practice. When Brian Shimer, the head U.S. bobsled coach sought him out and asked why, "He said, 'Well, I've got bigger fish to fry'," Shimer recalls. "I thought, it took me five Olympic Games to reach that level when I could win a [bronze] medal [in '02], so when he said that, I'm thinking, what could possibly be more important than prepping for a great season when you just came off a great season?" The fish was Holcomb's impending blindness.

Contact lenses didn't come that strong, so Holcomb was, surely and not so slowly, watching the world fade away. "If I looked at trees," he said, "I would just see a bunch of green. I couldn't see leaves." But Shimer would not let his blue-chip talent walk away, so he consulted with a former bobsledder turned doctor who mentioned a progressive surgery. The next year, Holcomb had an operation to fix his vision in which lenses made of a special polymer were implanted behind his irises. By that time, though, necessity had taught him to consider the sled an extension of his body, and to drive by feeling the pressure exerted by the course in his arms, legs, and back, as opposed to waiting to process visual cues, which slows down a driver's reaction time. "Other drivers ask me how to steer a certain curve," Holcomb says, "and I can't really tell them. You have to feel it." On Whistler's tricky curve 11-12-13 sequence that bedeviled the world's top drivers at this Olympics, Holcomb felt his way through.

Argentine baby survives three days with bullet wound in chest

A seven-month-old baby in Argentina has survived alone for three days with a bullet wound in the chest, next to the bodies of its parents who allegedly committed suicide over fears of global warming, a media report said.

The incident took place in Goya city in northeastern Corrientes province, where Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti, 22, lived with their two small children, Clarin daily reported Saturday.

According to sources, cited by the newspaper, the couple’s neighbours smelled a strong odour coming from Lotero’s house. Police entered the house and found the bodies of the couple, each shot in the chest, and their two-year-old son, who had been shot in the back.

In another room, police found a seven-month-old baby alive but covered in blood from a bullet wound in the chest. The baby was rushed to a hospital where its condition is currently stable.

Police found a letter on the table alluding to the couple’s worry about global warming and their anger at the government’s lack of interest in the matter.

Singapore tech prodigy rides mobile apps boom

As 10-year-old Lim Ding Wei blasts alien space ships on a computer screen in his living room, his father Lim Thye Chean looks over his shoulder proudly.

"This is way beyond me already, because I do not know how to do 3D programming. I can't teach him any more," he said proudly as his son zips around in outer space fully rendered in 3D.

From being the teacher, Thye Chean, 40, a chief technology officer at a local firm, has now become the student of his son, whom local media reports fete as Singapore's youngest programmer of mobile applications.

The game is the latest in Ding Wei's repertoire of mobile applications, which include the hit Invader Wars 1 as well as art scrawler Doodle Kids that has registered more than half a million downloads since it was posted on the iPhone App Store last year.

Fifth-grader Ding Wei is just one of a growing number of local programme developers jumping on the bandwagon as analysts predict a boom in global mobile applications, or 'mobile apps', industry this year.

"I plan to be a software programmer," said the boy, whose favourite subject in school is mathematics.

Mobile applications come with mobile phones and other hand-held devices, allowing users to access a wide array of Internet services while on the go, including finding one's way in a shopping mall or playing games online.

Information technology research firm Gartner forecasts that revenue from mobile phone applications worldwide will hit 6.8 billion US US dollars in 2010, up 60 percent over last year.

Downloads from the massively-popular Apple App Store also accounted for at least 99.4 percent of the 2.516 billion downloads of the mini-programs last year, Gartner said.

The recently-released iPad tablet computer, which has already stoked interest among tech aficionados, can also run iPhone applications from the App Store, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has said.

In addition to the upbeat figures, local developers have been heartened by local telecom firms Starhub and Mobile One breaking incumbent Singtel's stranglehold on iPhone sales.

"With the other two telcos coming in, there is definitely a boom in the number of (iPhone) handsets going out," said Sunny Koh, president of local game developer Personae Studios.

There is "huge potential" for the mobile application market to grow this year, he added.

"Singapore's market is growing and it is a good time for us to emerge as a publisher," Koh said.

Aside from games and quirky localised programmes like cash machine locators and mall directories, developers are also creating applications for schools to aid students in subjects like creative writing and chemistry.

Education application developer Elchemi Education said demand was growing as more students and teachers got hold of the latest smartphone and gained access to mobile application platforms.

"A lot of teachers are exploring mobile devices and a lot of students have iPods and iPhones... so with the kids having these existing devices, the school would also want to tap on using them," said director Joanne Chia.

The developer has rolled out applications in collaboration with schools and students.

One programme called S!Plot consists of virtual wheels which can be spun to generate random scenarios for students to practise their creative writing skills.

"A lot of kids like the graphic interface, so we use the iPhone or iPod Touch to wow them," Chia said.

In addition, the company has set up a club in conjunction with five secondary schools specialising in creating iPhone applications for their primary-level counterparts.

"The students can take their creativity and skills, like photo-editing, creating websites and all. Now they use those skills in iPhone (applications) development," said Chia.

But 10-year-old Ding Wei is looking at home, rather than school, for his next project: an open-ended simulation game centred around the management of a condominium, and modelled after his favourite game series, The Sims.

Seals tend to sleep as they sink in the sea

In a new research, scientists have found that seals can sleep as they are sinking in the sea.

When northern elephant seals migrate between their breeding and foraging grounds, they spend as long as eight months at a time at sea.

They’re almost always underwater, devoting only a few minutes to breathing at the surface between dives-hardly long enough for a nap.

After a sip of air, they often sink quickly to 500 feet, then drift farther down in a shallow descent. ome experts have suggested that the drift is when the seals catch their Zs.

To find out, a team led by Yoko Mitani of Hokkaido University in Japan fitted six juvenile elephant seals with satellite transmitters and newfangled data loggers capable of recording such information as body position, flipper strokes, and the 3-D path of movement.

They tracked the seals for up to eight days off the California coast.

The resulting data revealed that drifting seals usually rolled over on their backs, stopped stroking, and spiraled peacefully down for a dozen minutes or so.

The belly-up position is consistent with slumber: ventral blubber tends to flip an unresponsive seal’s body.

What’s more, a few animals that drifted in shallow areas hit the seafloor without reacting.

Mitani’s team points out that the initial rapid descent is important.

It takes the seals below the usual cruising depths of their main predators, killer whales and white sharks.

Their slow sinking thereafter makes for a relatively short ascent for air once they awake.

Bachchans boycott the Filmfare Awards

The furious Bachchan family had threatened the prestigious Filmfare Awards on Saturday evening unless the Mumbai Mirror published a formal apology for spreading 'false' news about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's health.

The Mumbai Mirror and Filmfare both belong to the Times Group. Aishwarya, who was supposed to perform at the event, also pulled out. The Bachchans had also sent a legal notice to the editor of Mumbai Mirror, seeking a retraction and apology.

"We have informed Filmfare that neither will Aishwarya be performing at the event, for which all preparations had been made and neither shall any of us be attending," Amitabh Bachchan posted on his blog, bigb.bigadda.com.

The family was angry that the paper has not published a formal apology for the article stating that Aishwarya is suffering from stomach tuberculosis and cannot conceive, a news branded as 'completely false' by father-in-law Amitabh.

"Suffice to say for the moment that despite a few personal apologies from management and owners, no public apology has taken place. You cannot abuse me in public and then come and say sorry to me in private. So, even though we have great relations with the family in ownership and despite the fact that we have continuously responded to their needs whenever desired, unstintingly - the lawyers notice has been delivered to the editor of Mumbai Mirror, seeking on a legal plane retraction and apology," he added.

The Bachchans were not alone in their stand. Director R Balakrishnan, who helmed the Amitabh and Abhishek-starrer Paa, has also decided to stay away from the event to show his support to Big B. "Balki, the director of the film, even when Paa has been nominated in five categories for the evening, (is not attending). No coercion, just a voluntary decision of solidarity. Thank you Balki," said Amitabh.

The Filmfare awards was held in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

Home » Bollywood » Big B, Vidya claim top honours at 55th Filmfare Awards Big B, Vidya claim top honours at 55th Filmfare Awards

Bachchan won the award for his role in Paa, while Vidya Balan claimed the trophy for her role in the same movie. As Bachchan was not present in the ceremony, Vidya Balan took the award on his behalf.

Hosting the gala night were Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan, whose one liners had the audience in splits. Their on-stage chemistry was much appreciated by the Bollywood stars present at the ceremony at the Yash Raj Studios.

3 Idiots was declared the best film, while Rajkumar Hirani claimed the best director award for the movie.

A.R. Rahman won the best music director for Delhi 6.

Mohit Chauhan won the award for the best male playback singer for the song masakali from the movie Delhi 6, while the female playback singer honours were shared by Kavita Seth and Rekha Bhardwaj.

While Kavita was awarded for the song Ik tara from the movie Wake Up Sid, Rekha won the trophy for the song "Genda phool" from the movie Delhi 6.

Among the other highlights of the evening was a tribute to legendary pop singer Michael Jackson by Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor, who charmed the audience with his perfect dance moves.

Insurance company AIG has said it lost $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter, due to lack of general insurance business. While the fourth-quarter resul

Despite the imposition of section 144 following yesterday’s clashes, a religious outfit held rally in Faisalabad on Sunday.

It is important to note that open display of weapons is banned under the section 144. However, the participants of the rally were openly showing the weapons.

Earlier, Commissioner Faisalabad Tahir Hussain called on an emergency meeting of ulema and traders after yesterday’s firing and blazing incidents. The ulema and business community demanded the administration to register a case against the culprits.

The administration registered three cases in this regard, while imposing section 144 to maintain law and order situation in the city.

Despite the fact that to hold rally and exhibit weapons is banned, a religious party completely ignored the law and carried out a rally.

AIG insurance in poor condition for fourth quarter

Insurance company AIG has said it lost $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter, due to lack of general insurance business.

While the fourth-quarter results were an improvement from the $61.7 billion AIG lost in the period, a year ago, they were worse than analysts expected and followed two straight profitable quarters.

The company said while general insurance had remained weak, AIG had also run up expenses from paying back government loans.

In its annual regulatory filing with the US government, AIG said it may need additional support from the government, for its insurance business to become stronger for the company to be independent from US government assistance.

Chengdu woos Indian firms to invest in China’s IT hub

Chengdu in Sichuan province of southwest China is wooing Indian firms to set up software development centres in that country’s IT hub and major outsourcing destination.

‘Chengdu is an excellent gateway to China for Indian companies with its huge talent base, low operating cost, government support and presence of large multinational IT and outsourcing firms,’ Chengdu mayor Ge Honglin told reporters here Sunday.

Ge flew in to India’s tech hub with a 50-member business delegation late Saturday by Air China’s first flight to Bangalore from Shanghai via Chengdu to promote investments in his capital city.

‘The four-day visit provides us an opportunity to meet Indian investors from IT and outsourcing industry and to highlight Chengdu as an attractive business destination. With a direct flight service between Bangalore and Chegdu, I foresee more business, cultural and educational exchanges between the two IT hubs,’ Ge said.

Showcasing Chengdu as a centre of science, commerce, finance and as the hub of transportation and communication, Ge said 130 of Fortune 500 firms had set up businesses in Chengdu, making it the most favoured destination in central and western China.

‘We have 42 universities and 660 professional technical schools producing about 100,000 graduates every year to build human capital,’ Ge said.

Beckoning Indian IT bellwethers Tata Consulting Services (TCS) and Infosys to set up operations in Chengdu, Ge said Wipro, which already has a research and development (R&D) centre in the city, had committed to expand its presence.

‘I have visited Wipro facility earlier in the day and discussed with its management its expansion plans in Chengdu. We hope more Indian software firms will follow suit to tap the business potential in China,’ Ge pointed out.

Asserting that Indian IT firms would not face language or cultural problems in Chengdu, Ge clarified that visas to Indian IT professionals would not be an issue as they were entitled to work permits and long-time stay.

‘As software development will be in English for the domestic market and exports, language will not be a problem for companies and their professionals. With a large number of expatriates living in the city, Chengdu has cultural appeal and social harmony,’ Ge said.

Inviting Indian firms to participate in the eighth China International Software Fair (ChinaSoft) being held from April 18-21 in Chengdu, Ge said the occasion would provide an ideal platform to showcase their strengths and service offerings, as the theme would be ‘Software Changes Life, Service Creates Value’.

‘The four-day mega event will highlight professional, international, innovative, interactive, industrial and realistic applications, with a focus on investment, marketing, technology, standardisation and talent,’ Ge added.

As a convergence of international and domestic software giants, IT elites, government agencies and industrial associations, the fair will strive to deepen industrial cooperation and discuss the strength and breadth of markets and industries.

Greece exceeds budget target revenues

Greece has given the EU some rare positive news about its net revenues, which rose at an annual rate of 16.6%, compared with a target of 10.8%.

The country has announced the rise was boosted by a one-off tax on big corporations and bond sales.

With Greece's deficit more than four times higher than that which the Eurozone allows, the country will now have to sell more bonds in the coming weeks to raise 20 billion euros in order to pay off maturing debt in April and May.

Greek government debt sales over the past six months have meant it is now much more expensive for the nation to borrow.

Some German banks have now told Greece’s government they will not take on more Greek government bonds, which will make it even harder for Greece to pay off its debts.

Tips To Improve Brainpower

Small modifications can assist you stay clever later in life and could keep your intelligence in best shape.

On "The Early Show Saturday Edition," Dr. Cynthia Green, Ph.D., has explicated a few tips for the same.

Green and the editors of Prevention magazine said, "Brainpower Game Plan: Sharpen Your Memory, Improve Your Concentration, and Age-Proof Your Mind in Just 4 Weeks."

Exercise: Go for a walk or jog, swim - anything to make yourself moving.

Look for new challenges: Search for some easy methods to push you out of your intellectual routine each day, like – brushing teeth with non-dominant hand, taking a new way to work.

Get your head in the game: Spend 10 to 20 minutes each day giving your daily intellectual skills a good exercise by playing games, which need you to play quickly. Play board games such as Boggle or Set.

British Columbia -- Teemu Selanne hugged every last Finn on the ice, reveling in each moment of his final Olympic medal ceremony. Saku Koivu high-fiv

Mouse pups whose mothers were exposed to a common but controversial chemical developed allergic asthma, new research has found.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical commonly found in polycarbonate plastic bottles and the aluminum lining of food and beverage cans. Production of the chemical started about 40 years ago, a timing that scientists note coincides with increasing asthma rates.

Various U.S. health agencies recently pledged $30 million toward short- and long-term research aimed at clarifying the health effects of BPA. It has caused problems in lab animals and in people who have had occupational exposure. On Thursday, Maryland became the third state to tackle the issue, when the state legislature passed a ban on BPA in cups and bottles used by children younger than age 4. Minnesota and Connecticut passed similar laws last year.

Although the newest study looked only at mice, several experts believed that the findings could be worrisome for humans.

"They're using what are probably going to be reasonable estimates of human neonatal exposure, and that seems to have an effect on the developing immune system or sensitivity to asthma," said Dr. Steve Georas, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine and director of the Mary Parkes Center for Asthma, Allergy and Pulmonary Care at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. "If you take it together with some epidemiologic studies, I would consider it cause for concern."

Dr. Erick Forno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine added that "the mice they used are very well-accepted models for asthma and allergies so it should be a very good model of what we would expect to happen in humans, although that is not always the case."

The findings were to be presented Sunday in New Orleans at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual meeting.

Previous studies by the same group had also suggested that pups born to mothers who had been exposed to BPA had an increased susceptibility to allergic asthma. The new study focused on which doses might tip the scale.

The researchers put 0.1, 1 or 10 micrograms per milliliter of BPA in the drinking water of female mice before, during and after pregnancy. Once born, their pups were injected with ovalbumin to make them susceptible to asthma.

Mice born to mothers who had been exposed to 10 micrograms of BPA developed airway problems, though that did not occur among mice born to mothers with lower or no exposure.

"It's an exciting finding, an initial finding," Forno said. "I think the next thing is going to have to be not only the level of exposure but also how much or how prolonged does the exposure have to be and if there are any other factors involved."

The study's senior author, Dr. Terumi Midoro-Horiuti, an associate professor of pediatrics and biochemistry and molecular biology in the Child Health Research Center at Children's Hospital, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said her group is now collecting cord blood in humans, grouping that according to BPA exposure and following offspring to see if they develop asthma.

A second study being presented at the meeting found that children whose mothers had high levels of folate, a B vitamin, during pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma by the age of 3.

Too little folate, or folic acid, can contribute to neural tube defects in babies.

"This goes along the lines of thinking if some is good, more is better, and we have seen certainly with vitamin supplements, especially with antioxidants, that more is not necessarily better and may be worse," Horovitz said. "Here we're seeing it again."

Data came from 507 mothers of children with asthma and 1,455 mothers of children without asthma, all part of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Golden Girl Yu-na Marketing

No one can escape Kim Yu-na in South Korea. The 19-year-old has just dominated the skating rink in Vancouver, and is now raising her share of the advertising market to another world-record level.

There was more than enough advertising and merchandise featuring the sensational figure skater even before her winning of the gold medal at the Winter Olympics; there was Yuna milk, Yuna bread, Yuna SUVs, Yuna air-conditioners, Yuna supermarkets, Yuna facial cream and Yuna teddy bears.

But now the competition for product endorsement is so high that firms are happily spending billions of won just to use her name.

Kookmin Bank (KB), which has been offering the "Figure Skating Queen Yuna Love" installment savings account, promised a 0.5-percentage point upgrade on interest rates to the account holders if Kim were to win gold in Vancouver.

Some 134,575 accounts will benefit from the rate hike, which will cost the bank some 1.3 billion won.

The bank had already raised the interest rate when Kim won first place at the World Championship in December.

But since the increase is applicable only once to each account holder no matter how many times Kim wins gold medals, the cost is not as much as outsiders may think, and surely less than the program's promotional effects. On a total of 934.6 billion won in deposits, there was an additional 4.8 billion won in yearly interest payments.

Meanwhile, KB has drawn 54 billion won in new deposits during the last seven working days of the Winter Games period.

There will be much more money to come over the counter before her next World Championship in Italy this month, the bank believes.

"The Yuna program will be the first installment savings account product to achieve 1 trillion won in deposits," KB said, saying the gamble between bank and customers on interest rates will continue in the future.

KB was one of first sponsors of Kim. They signed a contract in December 2006 when Kim was just a prodigy and not many Koreans were paying attention to the sport of figure skating, let alone believing she could win a medal.

This made Kim a symbol of the hard-working Korean. Her attractive appearance has also helped her become a favorite among advertisers.

The national attention was so great that even the stock market's trading volume halved while her performance was broadcast on TV.

After her near-perfect programs in Vancouver, KB, Samsung, Hyundai Motor and her other sponsors reacted fast to run new TV ads that stressed how they have sponsored Kim throughout her difficult career.

In some cases, "Yuna fever" has reached unreasonable levels. Some newspapers suggested Friday that her winning the gold medal caused share prices of a medical equipment firm to rise that day, because Kim's beautiful white teeth made people think of dental implant surgery. Other stock analysts also claimed that the producer of banana-flavored milk will benefit from Kim since she was once reported to have said she likes the drink.

More than 300 companies are known to have approached Kim with business opportunities.

Ironically, the unlikely loser on Friday was IB Sports, Kim's marketing agent. The company's stock price has risen from around 2,000 won in December to 4,460 won earlier this month, as Kim, "walking a board," had emerged as the likely winner of the gold medal.

But on Friday, the shares lost 14.42 percent as short-term investors cashed out on the good news.

South Korea's marketing community expects Kim's revenue from corporate commercial contracts alone to surpass at least 10 billion won this year.

Meanwhile, international firms are also likely to jump in on the bandwagon as well, including Risport of Italy, as IB Sports plans to expand the Yuna franchise overseas.

She is also an ambassador for her university, Korea University, though she rarely attends class there.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Novak Djokovic successfully defended his Dubai Championships title on Sunday, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-5, 5-7

Jamie Dwyer gave Australia the lead but Ashley Jackson soon levelled for England in the Pool B encounter.

James Tindall put England before half-time from a short corner variation.

Tindall followed up to score off a post and make it 3-1 and although Australia pulled one back through Dwyer with four minutes left, England held on.

Going into the game Australia had won 28 of the last 33 matches between the two sides, with five draws.

But England, whose previous win over their Ashes rivals came on grass in Melbourne in 1985, produced a superb defensive display to sink the pre-tournament favourites.

Manager Andy Halliday praised the efforts of Cannock goalkeeper James Fair and the penalty corner defence team, but admitted his side had been outplayed.

"It was a fantastic result but the performance could have been so much better," said Halliday.

"I think it's a measure of how much this team has progressed that we can play poorly and beat Australia.

"James Fair and the penalty corner defence were outstanding. We'll certainly not get carried away just because we have won game one."

England's next match is on Tuesday against South Africa, who started their World Cup campaign with a 4-2 defeat by Spain.

Following reports of threats against the World Cup from terrorists, New Delhi's Dhyan Chand Stadium was guarded by nearly 19,000 security personnel to protect players, officials and spectators within a three kilometre radius of the venue.

Paramilitary commandos and a bomb-disposal squad were part of the multiple security cordons inside and around the stadium.

Djokovic beats Youzhny to retain Dubai title

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Novak Djokovic successfully defended his Dubai Championships title on Sunday, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a rain-delayed final.

Leading 7-5, 2-0 before rain suspended play on Saturday, the second-seeded Serb won his 17th career title in a match lasting 3 hours, 21 minutes at the Aviation Club. There were seven breaks of serve in Sunday's 19 games.

Roger Federer is the only other player to win the Dubai title in successive years, winning three straight from 2003-05.

Djokovic was erratic on serve, winning 71 percent of points on first serve while also making 12 double faults.

"Honestly, I did not have the best tournament," Djokovic said. "I struggled for the most part and the only day I felt comfortable was yesterday, leading the first set and 2-0 when the rain came in. And when I came out today, I struggled again and Mikhail started playing really well."

Djokovic led 3-0 in the third set but Youzhny won the next three games and had two breakpoint chances to lead 4-3.

"I thought the key point was keeping my serve when we were 3-3 in the third set," Djokovic said.

Youzhny agreed that the seventh game was the turning point of the match.

"If I won that game, nobody knows how the match would have finished," he said.

Youzhny rallied from 2-0 down in the second set, taking it into a decider after breaking in the ninth and 11th games.