SPORTS News:

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"In the wake of the [Jack] Abramoff scandal, there's a greater-than-ever hesitancy among golfers to admit they play. [Republican lobbyist Jack] Abramoff is the former high-powered lobbyist who pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges involving fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. Luxury golf junkets to Scotland were among the things that got him in trouble." ... "For now, mum's the word among many D.C. golfers. Even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a longtime player whose 14.5 Index hasn't been updated since 2000, declined to approximate his handicap, saying he hasn't been playing enough to have one. Same for [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore. [Republican-Oregon]) and [Arizona Democratic Representative] Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz. [Democratic-Arizona]). Freshman [Nevada Republican Representative] Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev. [Republican-Nevada]), a member of the Republican "Ryder Cup" team, also declined to reveal a handicap. [former Georgia Republican Representative] Newt Gingrich, a proud 47-handicapper as a new golfer in 2005, doesn't admit to playing, either."

China - Sports - Industry - People - Environment - Politics - "Olympics water diversion threatens millions." ... "The diversion of water to Beijing [China] for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in China’s north-western provinces, according to a senior Chinese government official." ... "In an interview with the Financial Times, An Qiyuan, a member and former chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee for Shaanxi province and former Communist party chief of Shaanxi, warned of an impending social and environmental disaster because of overuse of scarce water resources." ... "Beijing will need an estimated 300m cubic metres of additional water just to flush out the polluted and stagnant rivers, canals and lakes in its central areas to put on a clean, environmentally-friendly face for Olympic visitors, according to municipal officials." -By Jamil Anderlini -FT.com

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China - Sudan - Sports - Politics - US - Entertainer - Human - Human Rights - Oil - Military - "China loses Spielberg over Darfur." ... "Scott Jagow: Steven Spielberg will have nothing to do with the Summer Olympics in Beijing [China]. Yesterday, Spielberg withdrew as an artistic advisor for the opening and closing ceremonies. The director says he can't be associated with China's policies toward an African nation in conflict." ... "Bill Marcus: China's a big oil customer of Sudan. China also supplies Sudan with weapons. That's why Spielberg says he quit. He said China should do more to help end the human suffering in Sudan's Darfur region." ... "Human rights activists say Spielberg's move sets a moral standard." -By Scott Jagow and Bill Marcus -Marketplace via -PublicRadio.org

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Illegal - Sports - Drugs - Business - Politics - Maine - "A Debt of Gratitude Owed to Tom Davis." ... "On Tuesday morning before a standing-room only crowd in Room 2154 of the Sam Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, former Senate Majority Leader [Maine Democratic Senator] George Mitchell, D-Maine — a man who almost single-handedly could give politics a good name — speaking in cogent and complete paragraphs commanded the entire room's attention." ... "Mitchell, the author of a 409-page report on the illegal use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs by 86 Major League Baseball players was the leadoff witness on hearings on that subject called by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform." ... "George Mitchell, who brokered peace in war-torn Northern Ireland, and who, if the gods were just, would have been either president or chief justice, or both, wears no man's collar. His indictment spared nobody in a position of influence: "Everybody involved in baseball over the past two decades — commissioners, club officials, the players' association and players — shares to some extent the responsibility for the steroids era."-Mark Shields -Creators.com 

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Germany - China - Human Rights - Journalists - Religious - Sports - Global - "Germany's Merkel prods China on rights." ... "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pressed China to improve human rights and take on greater international responsibilities as its global influence grows." ... "China has been criticised by many in the West for its treatment of journalists, minority and religious groups, a subject that has gained weight in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games next year." -Reuters via -Guardian.co.uk

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China - Environmental - Health - Politics - Air - Land - Water - Coal - Weather - Science - Industrial - History - International - South Korea - Japan - USA - California - Los Angeles - EU - Sports - Children - "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes." ... "No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo." ... "But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut." ... "Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water." ... "Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union. Beijing [China's capital] is frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics." ... "Environmental woes that might be considered catastrophic in some countries can seem commonplace in China: industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life." ... "China is choking on its own success. The economy is on a historic run, posting a succession of double-digit growth rates. But the growth derives, now more than at any time in the recent past, from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source." ... "China’s problem has become the world’s problem. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea [capital], and Tokyo [Japan's capital]. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles [California, USA] originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -By Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley -NYTimes 

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US - Afghanistan - Saudi Arabia - Political - Sports - Military - "'Blasphemous' U.S. Soccer Balls Anger Afghans: U.S. Official Claims Misunderstanding, Saying, 'We Do Not Want to Offend'." ... "A demonstration has been held in south-east Afghanistan accusing U.S. troops of insulting Islam after they distributed soccer balls bearing the name of Allah." ... "The balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag, which features the Koranic declaration of faith." ... "The U.S. military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offense." ... "Afghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: "To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world."" -By Alastair Leithead -BBCNews via -ABCNEWS.com

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Don Imus - Racism - Money - Radio - Media - Job - Civil Rights - Sports - Women - Politics - "Don Imus Sued by Rutgers Basketball Player." ... "Don Imus is facing his first lawsuit from a player on the Rutgers Women's Basketball team for derogatory comments that cost him his job as a radio host in April, ABC News has learned." ... "Of the networks that aired "Imus in the Morning," the lawsuit alleges that they "wrongfully, intentionally, willfully ... created, tolerated and maintained an atmosphere in which the making of outrageous statements and comments was acceptable, encouraged, and/or rewarded for many years prior to this occurrence and/or overtly encouraged the statements made."" ... "The lawsuit alleges that use of the slanderous terms was intentional and motivated by greed and financial gain: In using insults against otherwise innocent people, Imus would get higher ratings, making more money for him and his employers. Among other infractions, the suit alleges that Imus violated the players' civil rights." ... "Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that Imus had reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with former employer CBS over his firing. ABC News has learned that Imus could be back to broadcasting as early as January, and is being courted by major media outlets. That settlement, said [attorney Richard] Ancowitz, rewards Imus while leaving little justice for the women of the Rutgers basketball team." (1, 2) -By Lara Setrakian with contributions by Michelle Ruiz and Lauren Pearle -ABCNEWS.com

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China - Sudan - US - 2008 Election - Oil - Military - Manufacturing - Journalists - Human Rights - Sports - Illinois - New Mexico - "China Is Becoming an Issue in 2008 Race." ... "When [2008 election] Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said in a recent debate that ``the center of gravity in this world is shifting to Asia,'' he had one nation clearly in mind." ... "``China is rising and it's not going away,'' said the senator from Illinois. ``They're neither our enemy nor our friend. They're competitors.''" ... "More than a year before the 2008 election, China - occasionally as partner, more often as adversary and potential vote-getter - is also rising as an issue among the candidates for president." ... "Many of the comments, however, have been complaints, as candidates work to connect with voters increasingly worried about China's huge military buildup, its flood of goods into the U.S., its ability to influence violence in Sudan's Darfur region, its repression of minorities, dissidents and journalists." ... "A recurring theme has been that China must do more to use its oil-buying leverage with Sudan to end rape and murder in Darfur." ... "In a June debate, [2008 election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, suggested that if China does not put more pressure on Sudan, ``we say to them, maybe we won't go to the Olympics.''" -By Foster Klug -AP via -Guardian.co.uk 

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Sports - Drug - Law - San Francisco - California - "Bonds Sets Baseball's Home Run Record: Giants Slugger Passes Aaron With No. 756." ... "Seven fifty-five, the most cherished number in baseball if not all of American sports, lived a good, long, noble life. Spawned from the powerful bat of an aging slugger named Hank Aaron on July 20, 1976, it grew in stature over the years, surviving the occasional challenge and ruling over the record book even as other, lesser records fell. But on a cool Tuesday night near the shores of San Francisco Bay [San Francisco, California], 755 finally perished at the hands of a relentless, controversial invader from the west named Barry Lamar Bonds. Seven fifty-five is gone. Behold, 756." ... "Only three players in the last 86 years have held the sport's signature mark. Babe Ruth first captured it in 1921, then surrendered it posthumously to Aaron in 1974. And now, for better or worse, it belongs to Bonds." ... "Across the land, baseball fans, including many who play and run the game, are unsure what to make of 756 because of the player who struck it. Bonds is alleged to have used steroids beginning in the late 1990s, fueling a late-career explosion in offensive production that is unparalleled in baseball history. Even as Bonds took aim at Aaron's record this summer, a grand jury continued to investigate him for possible perjury and tax evasion charges stemming from his involvement with an alleged steroids ring." ... ""This record is not tainted," Bonds said in his postgame news conference. "It's not tainted at all. At all. Period. You guys [in the media] can say whatever you want."" -By Dave Sheinin -WashingtonPost

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US - Afghanistan - California - Arizona - Sports - Pat Tillman - Military -