Sarkozy rival Villepin launches political party

PARIS: Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin on Saturday launched a new political party, setting his sights on challenging long-time rival Nicolas Sarkozy for the presidency in 2012.

Supporters cried “Villepin, president” as the new centre right Republique Solidaire was launched in Paris in front of 3,000 supporters.

The ex-prime minister, who is one of Sarkozy”s fiercest critics, told the crowd “something new was rising again in France, something that would not cease to grow with the passing of the months,” adding that France”s social and economic system had run out of steam.

Villepin, 56, a member of Sarkozy”s UMP party, served alongside him under former president Jacques Chirac, but the pair fell out spectacularly over who should succeed him.

A patrician former career diplomat who speaks flawless English, he won global fame for leading the charge against the US invasion of Iraq at the United Nations in 2003.

Brigitte Girardin, president of de Villepin”s 15,000 strong support club, said Villepin stood for “defence of republican values, an institutional equilibrium, social justice and the independence of France in the world.”

“We are launching this great association because there is an expectation in our country of an alternative to the current politics which has not given the expected results,” she said.

Villepin, who also served as foreign and interior minister under Chirac, on Friday took aim at Sarkozy in an interview published in Le Monde.

Sarkozy”s government”s dominant trait, he said, “was that it was developing policies with pollsters who every day look at the surveys and ask what publicity stunt they can score.”

Polls show Villepin would pick up no more than 7 or 8 percent of the vote in 2012, but his approval ratings stand at 49 percent — higher than those registered by Sarkozy, which have hit rock-bottom over the past months.

dana white

Dana White Says Kimbo Slice Has Fought His Last Fight For The UFC
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre may not only be the most popular athlete in the sport today, he may be the person to help bridge the gap between mixed martial arts and the sports’ regulation in his home country of Canada.

The enigmatic and popular fighter made a trip to Ottawa this week where he spoke to members of the Canadian Parliament, and was received well by all those in attendance. St-Pierre has twice been voted Canadian Athlete of the Year over the likes of hockey star Sidney Crosby, and he’s becoming an important spokesperson for MMA everywhere.

UFC president Dana White recognizes the popularity surrounding St-Pierre, and also how he carries himself as a major influence on why he’s able to do the things he does.

“He was doing PR and he was out there talking to government officials for us,” White said about St-Pierre’s visit to Parliament. “Georges St-Pierre has become a very important figure in sports, not only here in Canada, but around the world.”
Koscheck controlled Daley with a suffocating wrestling attack for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision on Saturday.

As Koscheck walked away following the final horn that signaled the bout’s conclusion, Daley pursued him. Koscheck saw him out of the corner of his eye, and as he started to turn and raise his arms, Daley threw a left hook that landed directly on Koscheck’s chin and propelled him backward toward the fence.

red wings

Sharks eliminate Red Wings with 2-1 victory
The Red Wings reached their limit Saturday night at HP Pavilion, losing their last game of the playoffs in a manner emblematic of their regular season.
One of their top defensemen, Brad Stuart, played with a sprained MCL; one of their top role players, Patrick Eaves, was too hurt to play. After a season defined by injuries, the Wings were unable to patch together a second straight victory when they most needed it and fell, 2-1 to the Sharks five games into the second round.

“It’s been a different season with all the injuries that we’ve had to key players and being out of the playoffs most of the year and just sticking with it,” captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.

“We got ourselves into the fifth spot in the playoffs and I thought we did play well in the first round. We took Phoenix to seven games and beat them on the road.

“It’s disappointing when you fall short the way we did in this series. We felt we had a chance to win this game, we just didn’t get it done.”

The Wings haven’t lost this early since being bumped in the first round in 2006. They went to the Western Conference finals in 2007, won the Stanley Cup in 2008, and lost in Game 7 in the finals last year.
Three straight second-round losses were followed by a first-round defeat to Anaheim last season, raising questions about whether the core of Thornton, Marleau and Nabokov could lead the Sharks to the Stanley Cup.

San Jose is now halfway to that elusive title. The Sharks will play either Chicago or Vancouver in the conference finals. Marleau and Nabokov are the only players remaining from San Jose’s only previous trip to the conference finals when the Sharks lost to Calgary in six games.

koscheck daley

Koscheck accuses Daley of cheating; White discusses Kimbo Slice release
There was irony in Josh Koscheck’s UFC 113 win over Paul Daley on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, one that set up Koscheck for a title shot and cost Daley his job.

Koscheck was booed by the crowd of 17,647 fans, who wanted to see a grudge match end with wild punches and a knockout. Instead, they got what was almost a duplicate of the March 27 fight in Newark, N.J., where welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre won a decision over England’s Dan Hardy by using an effective but not particularly exciting style of ground control.

Like St. Pierre against Hardy, Koscheck (17-4) took Daley (23-9-2), perhaps the most explosive welterweight striker, down to the ground and controlled him for most of three straight rounds, winning a straight 30-27 decision. The win was by far the biggest of Koscheck’s career.

The fight was to not only determine who would coach against St. Pierre on the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, which starts filming in a few weeks, but also who would get the next crack at St. Pierre’s title in December.

After Saturday’s fight was over, Koscheck, booed as much as any UFC fighter in recent years with the exception of heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, told the crowd that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be beating the Montreal Canadiens in their NHL playoff series and that Montreal would lose twice since he was going to beat St. Pierre.

Koscheck, who grew up in Pennsylvania and was the 2001 NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Edinboro College, going 43-0-1, said the interview was done in response for the crowd’s reaction to him. He said he was not aware at the time that the Penguins had won the game that ended earlier that evening. He joked that he didn’t want the title fight in Montreal, but said he wanted it in Pittsburgh.

Miss World Kaiane Returns Home With Huge Reception

GIBRALTAR: Miss World Kaiane Returns Home With Huge Reception, The new Miss World, Kaiane Aldorino, was given a rapturous welcome on return to the Rock today. Several thousands people waving the red and white Gibraltar flag jam-packed the John Mackintosh square.

“I am thrilled,” she told the crowd from a balcony in the City Hall.

“I knew it would be a big welcome, but not that big,” she said.

Earlier, when driven through the main street to cheering crowds, she felt “on top of the world.”

A spokesman for the Miss World organisation, in Gibraltar for Kaiane’s homecoming, said: “We’ve never had a welcome like Gibraltar’s. It’s the most special home-coming ever.”

The reigning Miss World flew to Gibraltar on a private jet chartered by the Gibraltar Government. Their non-essential employees were allowed to leave early to take part in the celebrations. A fireworks display was organised for the late evening.

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Miss World Kaiane Returns Home With Huge Reception was first posted on December 18, 2009 at 4:02 pm.