Minardi changes name for 2002 season
Minardi changes name for 2002 season
KUALA LUMPUR: Italian-based Formula One team Minardi has changed its name to KL Minardi Asiatech for the 2002 season to strengthen links to Malaysia, Bernama news agency reported on Saturday.
Minardi principal Paul Stoddart said the team's new image would be unveiled in Kuala Lumpur next month while its new F1 car for next season would be launched here in February.
Stoddart, together with Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, had a 10-minute meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at his office on Saturday.
At a news conference later, the Australian aviation magnate confirmed that Malaysia's first F1 driver Alex Yoong would have a full season with the team next year. -- Reuters
;AFP; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-Judo-Spa-Guzman Ex-European champion gunned down in Spain JP/12/BRIEF
Former champion shot in Spain
MADRID: Former Spanish judo champion Jesus Somolinos Guzman was shot dead by police after becoming involved in a fracas in a supermarket here.
Police chief Leonardo Lafuente said that the 45-year-old judoka, who had suffered a series of psychiatric problems in recent years, became embroiled in an argument in a shop in the Madrid suburb of Alcobendas.
He threatened customers and attacked two policemen with a sharp metal instrument.
As a result, Somolinos was shot in the side and in the leg and died from his wounds despite attempts by paramedics to resuscitate him. -- AFP
;AFP; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-Tennis-Seles Seles slightly hurt in traffic accident JP/10/BRIEF
Seles slightly hurt in traffic accident
MIAMI, Florida: Tennis star Monica Seles and her mother Ester were slightly hurt in a traffic accident near Sarasota in western Florida, police said here Friday.
The accident happened overnight Wednesday when the 28-year- old, four-time Australian Open champion Seles' vehicle was in a collision with another car driven by a woman whom police named as Cynthia Baumman, who was detained on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Yugoslav-born Seles, a naturalized American, lives near Sarasota. She and her mother had hospital treatment for slight injuries. -- AFP
;REUTERS; ANPAs..r.. Putbrief-soccer-UEFA No seedings for UEFA Cup quarterfinals JP/10/BRIEF
No seedings for UEFA Cup quarterfinals
NYON, Switzerland: The draw for the fourth round and quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup will take place on Wednesday Dec. 12, UEFA said on Friday.
The remaining 16 clubs have been split into two groups of eight with the eight seeded teams guaranteed to face unseeded opposition in the fourth round.
The quarterfinals draw, which will be a "free draw", will take place immediately afterwards when the seedings will be scrapped.
The eight seeded teams are Italian trio AC and Inter Milan and Parma, last season's Champions League runners-up Valencia, Leeds United, Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord and Olympique Lyon. -- Reuters
;REUTERS; ANPAs..u.. SPORT-OLYMPICS-GERMANY-BERLIN Olympics-Berlin parties agree to back 2012 Olympic bid JP/10/BRIEF
Parties agree to back 2012 Olympic bid
BERLIN: Germany's Social Democrats and the former communists, who are set to share power in the city-state of Berlin, agreed on Friday to back a bid by the city to stage the 2012 Summer Olympics.
A spokeswoman for the local Social Democrat (SPD) party said both the SPD and the Party of Democrat Socialists (PDS), heirs to the East German communist party, wanted to carry on with the bid.
The two left-wing parties have started coalition talks and hope to form a government for the reunited German capital by mid- January.
The German Olympic Committee (NOK) voted unanimously last month in favor of a German candidacy for 2012. Five other German cities -- Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Stuttgart -- are expected to bid. -- Reuters