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Sport
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
‘fully fit’ Neck injury wrecks Lorenzo after summer break Schumacher comeback
Agence France Presse
BERLIN - Former world champion Michael Schumacher has abandoned plans to return to Formula One racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23 due to a neck injury, he announced on his website on Tuesday. The 40-year-old German, who won the world title seven times before retiring in 2006, had been primed to replace the injured Felipe Massa in the Ferrari team for the race in Spain and possibily for the rest of the season. But he injured his neck in a motorcycle accident in February and medical tests showed that he had yet to fully recover. “Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I’m not able to step in for Felipe,” Schumacher said on his website. “I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn’t work out. “Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello, even if medically or therapeutically we tried everything possible. The door for a sensational Schumacher comeback to the sport he dominated for so long was opened when Brazilian Massa sustained serious head injuries during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on July 25. That looked certain to rule him out for the rest of the season and the Italian team immediately turned toward their former top driver to step in. His planned comeback to racing added more spice to what has already been a dramatic season, but was not welcomed by all, especially Formula One rivals Williams, who invoked rules and regulations to block his testing Ferrari’s current car ahead of Valencia. That would have left him desparately short of practice for the race, but as it turned out it was physical more than mechanical reasons that spoiled his return. “The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike-accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe,” he said. “That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula 1 yet. I am disappointed to the core. “I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races.” Ferrari announced that the team’s test driver Luca Badoer would take the place of Schumacher replacing
Massa for the European Grand Prix. The 38-year-old Italian has competed in five Grands Prix during his career, the last being in 1999. Team boss Luca di Montezemolo said he was disappointed that Schumacher had been forced to pull out of the race in Valencia as he had already shown his enthusiasm and dedication to winning were intact.
Spain - Jorge Lorenzo says the three-week summer break has given him time to fully recover from the shoulder and foot injuries he has been carrying since Laguna Seca last month. The Yamaha rider finished on the podium at Laguna and the Sachsenring before crashing out of the lead at Donington Park last time out. But he says the time off has allowed his collar bone and foot to heal and expects to be 100 per cent fit for the Czech race at Brno this weekend. “I’m really excited about this race after what feels like a long time without one,” said Lorenzo. “It was good to have a bit of a break and I used the time to work on my fitness and to completely recover from the injuries I had after Laguna, in the gym and with my physiotherapist.
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Chavez warns of ‘war’ over Colombia-US deal
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
PAGE 3
“The result is that I feel much better than I did in Germany and England and I’m excited to be getting back on the bike. “I like Brno and I have had good results in the past there, including three wins. This time my aim is to fight hard and get back on the podium.”
Jorge Lorenzo BP/doc
Nusa Dua – The participants watching the pictures regarding HIV/AIDS in Asia Pacific Village Exhibition. The event was held during the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Nusa Dua on Monday, August 10th 2009. The congress is being held to discuss and spread the knowledge, programs, and policies in the global responds on HIV/ AIDS.
Most drug-resistant TB cases go untested PAGE 9
50 million Asian women at risk of HIV infection: UNAIDS ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana/Koz/nz/09
This is It’: Jackson film out in October PAGE 12
Agence France-Presse
NUSA DUA - More than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their husbands or boyfriends and 50 million more are at risk of infection, according to a report released Tuesday. The “HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia” report by UNAIDS said the women at risk are either married or in longterm relationships with men who engage in “high-risk sexual behaviours.” “That is, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, the clients of sex workers,” UNAIDS regional
AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, FILES
FILE — In this file photo taken Monday, Jan. 26, 2004, Ferrari Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany, right, and test driver Luca Badoer joke at a photo session, during the presentation of the new Formula 1 F2004 racing car in Maranello, Italy.
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director Prasada Rao said. “(It’s) a problem of great magnitude that the countries have largely ignored (and) a challenge that we may no longer ignore,” Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Continued on page 6
Strong quake hits central Japan, more than 100 injured Agence France-Presse
YAIZU - A strong earthquake rocked central Japan on Tuesday, injuring more than 100 people, triggering a landslide and shutting down a nuclear power plant and bullet trains, officials said. The magnitude 6.4 tremor shook buildings, threw objects from shelves and jolted people from their sleep in and around To-
kyo, the world’s largest urban area, at 5:07 am (2007 GMT Monday). The quake hit in Suruga Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) southwest of Tokyo, at a depth of 27 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. At least 101 people were injured, mostly by falling objects such as television sets, in the worst-hit pre-
fecture of Shizuoka, including three who were in serious condition, officials said. Seven more people were injured in Tokyo and in Kanagawa and Aichi prefectures, said the National Police Agency. “It was a huge tremble, like nothing I had experienced before,” said Tadao Negami, a 69-year-old resident of Mishima city in Shizuoka. The Hamaoka nuclear plant in the prefecture automatically shut
down two reactors when the quake hit, operator Chubu Electric Power Co. said. A company official said no radiation had leaked from the plant. The utility said the quake caused power failures in some 9,500 households. Central Japan Railway Co. suspended Shinkansen bullet trains in the quake-hit region but resumed the services several hours later. Continued on page 6