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Friday, February 19, 2010 DENVER: President Barack Obama marvelled at flamboyant US snowboarder Shaun White on Thursday, and the rest of the US Winter Olympics team, saying he stayed glued to his BlackBerry to track results. "How do you start doing that?" Obama asked a crowd during a rally in Denver, Colorado, a center of the US winter sports industry. "How do you get up the guts the first time to start practicing doing that," Obama said, referring to White's spectacular gold medal winning performance in the men's halfpipe on Wednesday. Obama also praised champion downhill racer Lindsey Vonn who won gold and silver medal winning Nordic Combined skier Johnny Spillane. "I know this state is a training ground for a few winter Olympians," Obama said. "I just want all of our Olympians to know the USA is proud of you... I am checking my BlackBerry every half hour to see how things turn out."

Friday, February 19, 2010 PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Tiger Woods told family and friends on Friday he was "deeply sorry" for irresponsible and selfish behavior as he broke his self-imposed silence on the sex scandal that engulfed him last year. The 14-time major champion said he did not know when he would return to golf, but didn't rule out that it would be this year, in an emotion filled nationally televised address where he repeatedly apologized to family and his legion of fans. First however, he planned to return to therapy, after already spending 45 days receiving treatment as an in-patient. Woods had not spoken in public since a mysterious car crash on November 27 triggered revelations about marital infidelity. Woods spoke from the clubhouse at the TPC Sawgrass, home of the US PGA Tour. About 40 people were in the room, including his mother, Kultilda. His wife, Elin, was not obviously present.

Friday, February 19, 2010 KABUL: NATO reported Friday the deaths of two more troops in a major offensive in southern Afghanistan, bringing to six the total killed in one day's fighting. The nationalities of the two soldiers were not given, according to policy, in a brief statement by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "Two ISAF service members died yesterday during Operation Mushtarak in southern Afghanistan," it said, referring to a showcase offensive in a poppy-growing region of Helmand province that began a week ago. "One service member was killed by small-arms fire and another died following a separate small-arms fire incident," it said. An ISAF spokesman, Sergeant Jeff Loftin, confirmed the total number of NATO solders killed on Thursday was six. ISAF reported late Thursday the deaths of four foreign soldiers during the day -- three by mines, huge numbers of which have been planted by the insurgents in the target area, and o...

Friday, February 19, 2010 WASHINGTON: The White House said the crash of a small plane in the Texas state capital Austin on Thursday did not appear to be terrorism and that President Barack Obama had been briefed about the incident. The Homeland Security Department is looking at investigating all angles of the incident, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on board Air Force One before leaving on a trip to Colorado. "It does not appear" to be terrorism, Gibbs said.

Friday, February 19, 2010 DUBAI: Interpol has issued arrest warrants for 11 suspects accused of killing a senior Hamas official in Dubai last month. The warrants were issued after Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim called on Interpol to issue "a red notice against the head of Mossad… as a killer in case Mossad is proved to be behind the crime, which is likely now." According to Tamim, investigations have revealed that the Israeli spy agency Mossad was behind the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. “It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent certain that Mossad is behind the murder," he told the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National on Thursday. On Monday, Dubai authorities launched an international manhunt for 11 suspects in the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in his hotel room on January 19, hours after he arrived in Dubai from Syria. The Dubai police identified 11 people, 10 men and a woman, suspected of killing the top Hamas official who had surv...

WHISTLER, Canada — Swiss triple Olympic champion ski jumper Simon Ammann on Friday prepared for a record fourth crown after shrugging off a row over his boot bindings, which officials decided were within the rules. Ammann, going for a second normal-hill, large-hill double after the Salt Lake Games in 2002, out-jumped main Austrian rival Gregor Schlierenzauer in the individual qualification round at Whistler Olympic Park ahead of Saturday's medal event. "Everything is in order," insisted the 28-year-old after the International Ski Federation ruled his new, improved bindings were legal, frustrating Austrian attempts to have him switch back to conventional bindings. "I never doubted my material was in line with the regulations and I just concentrated on what I had to do," added Ammann. "I am Olympic champion because I am the best jumper not because I have this equipment. "Everybody's body is a little bit different so we try to adjust from time...

Whistler’s crash-plagued sliding track this morning scuttled the Olympic dreams of gold-medal bobsled favourite Beat Hefti of Switzerland, whose failure to complete two training runs prior to competition in the wake of a bad spill Wednesday night forced him to withdraw. That Hefti, who is reigning World Cup champion in the sport, will not race due to a crash raises more questions about the Whistler Sliding Centre track, where Hefti’s Swiss teammate, two-man pilot Daniel Schmid, suffered yet another ugly rollover this morning. Schmid now appears to be fine and the FIBT last night provided more training time in light of the crashes (though the number of spills here is in keeping with training periods elsewhere—at the Park City track during the Salt Lake City games in 2002, 17 training runs ended in crashes). Perhaps only five or six of the pilots are solid bets to complete the track without crashing in the two-man tomorrow and Sunday—the Canadians, the Germans and the Swiss. The ot...

RICHMOND — Maybe it's the girl-next-door mien or maybe it's the slightly goofy grin but, like a number of her sisters on the Canadian Olympic team, Christine Nesbitt doesn't exactly fit the archetypal image of a cold-eyed killer. But Thursday afternoon, the 24-year-old speed skater from London, Ont., stepped on the ice at the Richmond Oval for the women's 1,000, slipped in her first two strides, cursed to herself as she crossed the finish line and still did enough to win Canada's third gold medal of the Winter Games. In so doing, she continued a pattern which is emerging as a storyline in these Olympics: Of the seven medals won by Canadians thus far, five have been won by women, including two of the three golds. You can discuss among yourselves the significance of those numbers. But, for the Canadian Olympic Committee, it means any thought of owning the podium is inexorably tied up with the XX-chromosome set. "They're fierce competitors," said...

The Slovaks pulled off the first upset of the 2010 men’s tournament with a 2-1 shootout win over Russia in Group B action at Canada Hockey Place Thursday. It was Slovakia’s second game in as many nights to start the tournament. Despite some lapses in the middle frame, the Slovaks showed no signs of fatigue and stole a valuable point away from the Russians. After getting outshot by Slovakia 10-8 in a scoreless first, Kontinental League star Alexei Morozov let a rocket go from the top of the circle that beat Slovak keeper Jaroslav Halak over his shoulder at 5:32 of the second to give Russia a 1-0 lead. On the wings of some steadfast goaltending from Halak, the underdogs were able to stay within striking distance of the robust Russians despite getting outshot 16-5 in the middle stanza. Slovakia had a glorious chance to knot things up with a 5-on-3 opportunity to start the third, but couldn’t capitalize with the two-man advantage. However, the failure to convert on the power play...

BAKURIAINI — Every day since the death of a Georgian luger at the Vancouver Olympics, his mentors and colleagues gather at the yard of his parents' house fuming and fulminating about the safety of the track where he died. Nodar Kumaritashvili died last Friday during a training run when he lost control of his sled, shot off the course and slammed into a trackside steel pole at nearly 145 km/h, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Games. An investigation by Olympic and luge officials reported that the accident resulted from human error, not track deficiencies. The investigation found that the 21-year-old Kumaritashvili, who had completed only 26 runs on the Whistler course, was late in coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate. "How dare they blame it on the athlete who perished so tragically?" said Kakhaber Vakhtangishvili, a robust 40-year old multiple Soviet luge champion. He added that Kumaritashvili's death was "no...

METRO VANCOUVER — Australian snowboarder Torah Bright expected her parents to be watching on television. They surprised her by being at the bottom of the hill. "I had no idea my parents were here and I'm dying to get up there," said Bright, who won the women's Olympic halfpipe title Thursday at Cypress Mountain. "I thought they were back home in Australia. I told them not to come [but] I love it ... I told them I'd prefer them at my wedding than this." Marian and Peter Bright couldn't wait for those nuptials, scheduled for June. They watched their daughter execute a difficult switchback 720 during her do-or-die second run in the final. She was rewarded with 45 of a possible 50 points from the judges. That mark held up for gold and two former Olympic champions from the United States had to settle for the leftover medals. Hannah Teter, who won this event four years ago in Turin, picked up silver, while Kelly Clark earned bronze to go with her gol...

WHISTLER, B.C. - The hard work and training is done, so too are the first two runs. Tonight at the Whistler Sliding Centre, Jon Montgomery is in position and ready to go for gold in men’s skeleton. With women’s teammate Melissa Hollingsworth also in the medal hunt, it could be a big night on Blackcomb Mountain. Montgomery, a Russell, Man. native, is in second place, only .26 of a second behind favourite Martin Dukurs of Latvia heading into tonight’s final two runs. “I am really pleased with the way I am sliding,” Montgomery said. “I had two good consistent runs.” “I can’t ask for a faster start time. I came out today and matched my (personal best). If I can do that again (tonight), I will be a happy boy.” Hollingsworth, who came here a solid gold-medal favourite, sits third in the women’s event but has room for improvement. With glitches in each of her first two runs, Hollingsworth has some ground to make up on leader Amy Williams of Great Britain, who has a .39-second lead o...

WHISTLER, B.C.–Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen defeated the greatest biathlete of them all to win the Olympic gold medal Thursday, then paid tribute to his silver-winning teammate Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. "I don't think I would be here if it weren't for Bjoerndalen. I train with him every day and I try to copy everything he does," Svendsen said after taking the 20-km individual event in 48 minutes, 22.5 seconds. "I owe him a great deal of thanks. I'm very humble to be on the same team with him." Bjoerndalen reaffirmed his position as the greatest biathlete in history, becoming the first in the sport to win a medal in the same event at three consecutive Olympics. The 36-year-old veteran tied for the silver with Sergey Novikov of Belarus for his 10th Winter Games medal. Among men, he trails only the great Norwegian cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie, who won 12 medals. "The most important thing for me is to be satisfied with my race, not if I get ...