Two a penny

.World road cycling champion Cadel Evans is confident a combination of his rainbow jersey and several high-profile team-mates will be enough to earn his new BMC Racing Team a wildcard to next year’s Tour de France.
Evans, who today confirmed he will compete at next January’s Tour Down Under, shocked the racing fraternity earlier this week when he quit powerhouse Belgian outfit Silence-Lotto to join second-tier US team BMC.
But the 32-year-old says the move will better his chances of future success on the Tour and says Tour de France organisers should give his team a wildcard to next year’s race.

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Meal and rest breaks from work will become more flexible if legislation introduced into Parliament today is passed, Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson says.

The Employment Relations (Rest Breaks and Meal Breaks) Amendment Bill was introduced today by Ms Wilkinson.

Ms Wilkinson said the new amendment would provide “greater flexibility” and give employers and employees the opportunity to develop breaks at a time best suited to individual requirements.

It seeks to alter legislation passed by the previous Labour government which set aside specific breaks and time for breastfeeding, depending on the length of a work day.”

The bill still has a requirement for breaks but allows for “compensatory measures” – such as earlier or later start times or time off in lieu, she said.

“Everyone needs to take breaks during their hours of work – but the law as it stands is too rigid and makes life difficult for a number of occupations and industries.

“These changes remove the absolutely fundamental right to minimum breaks at reasonably spaced periods during a working day.

Council of Trade Unions (CTU) president Helen Kelly said the amendment was unnecessary.

“The changes provided today will enable employers to determine whether or not a worker should have a break and then how long and when it should occur,” Ms Kelly said.”

Labour’s legislation only came into effect this year and ensured minimum requirements for workers in unorganised workplaces, she said.”

Ms Kelly said it was an example of the Government “pandering unnecessarily” to employers’ interests. .

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BREAKING NEWS:
A man who shot his friend dead at a dinner party has been found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Sobbing and screaming was heard in theHigh Court at Aucklandwhen the jury found Alan Christopher Paul Gundry, 30,not guilty of the murder or manslaughter of Gene Patrick Atkins, 28.

Earlier, the jury heardthat Gundry,terrified for his young family, had only seconds to decide whether to shoot his friend with a pig-hunting rifle.

The jury had acceptedGundry’s defence that he killed Atkins in self-defence.

Both men had been friends for years and had spent January 12 this year eating and drinking at Gundry’s home.

Atkinshad goneberserk atGundry’s home after a fight with his girlfriend, Sarah Jane Dean, the court heard. They had gone home and he had thrown her belongings out of his house.

But during the evening Mr Atkins had become upset with his girlfriend.

Gundry’s lawyer, Graeme Newell, told the High Court at Auckland his client had been forced to shoot Mr Atkins in an act of self-defence. She then fled to Gundry’s, and Mr Atkins followed, intending to confront her.

One partygoer had been left semi-conscious in a pool of blood after being assaulted by Mr Atkins, while Gundry’s partner, Nicole MacDonald, was held over the top of a set of stairs.

Mr Newell said five people, including Gundry’s partner, had been attacked in the accused’s house that night, all in a short space of time.

“Should a person who has been attacked or seen others attacked wait until they too are the victim of a serious assault?

“If he wasn’t acting defensively, why would he let off two rounds in his own home when his nine-month-old, his five-year-old and his partner were upstairs?

“He didn’t want to do that, he didn’t want to fire shots into his own house.

Gundry was confronted by a dire threat and had to take “instant and decisive” action to protect himself and his family, Mr Newell said.

The court was told Mr Atkins had a history of violence, including several assaults on his girlfriend and a road-rage incident.”

Gundry was a peaceful man with no history of violence and no reason to kill his friend, Mr Newell said. The charge came after Mr Atkins allegedly glassed a man in the face at an Auckland nightclub.

Mr Newell told the court that at the time of his death Mr Atkins had also been awaiting trial on a charge of grievous bodily harm.

But Crown prosecutor Kevin Glubb said Gundry’s decision to shoot Mr Atkins was unacceptable and completely excessive. The injuries were so severe the man lost sight in one eye.

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.Adelaide 18-year-old Sam Willoughby has been crowned this year’s overall season winner in BMX Supercross racing.
Willoughby became the youngest ever person, and the first Australian, to win a BMX Supercross World Cup series overnight in France.
“I don’t know what to say, I’m over the moon,” he said.
He said the win left him speechless.”
He lauded his competition and said it was a tough ride for the finish.
“It was a bit of a rough start to the day but I dug deep and I learnt a lot about myself today, to come back and get that.
“I learnt a lot today.
“The pressure was on but I managed to pull my head back in and refocus on the job at hand,” he said.
“For the final I wanted the inside lane and used that to my advantage. Our approach for this year was to focus on the World Cup events and the World Championships and that worked out.
“It is a privilege to race against such formidable competition. I fought it out on the first straight and it was a drag race to the finish.”
Willoughby’s father Colin says his son fought valiantly for the title. [It was] great to win here and to be the 2009 overall season winner.
“To the point that it’s determination that if something goes wrong, he just grits his teeth and fights back to make sure he atones for it.
“He’s just got that bit of attitude but it’s a good attitude,” he said. .”
Fellow Australian Khalen Young finished seventh.

.Arsene Wenger has become the longest-serving manager in Arsenal’s history but neither that milestone nor the fact that he turns 60 next month have triggered any thoughts of retirement.
Wenger, whose arrival at Highbury in the autumn of 1996 was famously greeted with an “Arsene Who?” headline, eclipsed the reign of George Allison in the 1930s and 1940s by spending 4,749 days at the helm.
The Frenchman can look back with pride on 13 years which have transformed the ‘boring, boring Arsenal’ of old into a club synonymous with his own unique brand of pass-and-move football. .
Along the way, Wenger has delivered three Premier League titles, including the unbeaten campaign of his 2003/2004 Invincibles, four FA Cups and a place in the 2006 Champions League final.
But he readily admits that setbacks such as the defeat by Barcelona in Paris three years ago and lasts season’s Champions League semi-final loss to Manchester United still rankle and provide him with all the motivation he needs to carry on.
The Frenchman takes pride in those achievements, as he does in the fostering of young talents such as Cesc Fabregas and in the astute transfer market judgement that have helped put the club on such a sound financial footing.
“Losing the semi-final of the Champions League to Manchester United last year was the lowest point, because we did not play at our level,” he recalled.
“I have never had a day when I think I could live without football,” he said.
Asked if thoughts of retirement had entered his head, Wenger responded with a dismissive snort.
“You will know if you are not hungry enough any more, but other people will tell you if you are not good enough any more.
“I know one day it will happen, but you should not live every day knowing you are going to die – you live knowing that you want to live.
But none of them will dispute that he has earned the right to have a bronze statue of himself standing outside the Emirates, alongside one of Herbert Chapman, one of his legendary predecessors.”
Wenger is not without his critics among Arsenal fans, many of whom see his apparent reluctance to spend more freely as the reason why the club have not claimed any significant silverware since the 2005 FA Cup.
For Wenger himself, the achievement that gives the most satisfaction is the 2003/04 season, when Arsenal went through the entire Premier League campaign unbeaten.
For Wenger himself, the achievement that gives the most satisfaction is the 2003/04 season, when Arsenal went through the entire Premier League campaign unbeaten.
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&raquo Special Report on France&#039s trial of the decade
&raquo Who&#039s who in the trial
&raquo How a finance trial turned into a major political scandal
&raquo A glossary of terms in the Clearstream saga
&raquo From Ben Barka to Elf, justice turns a blind eye to political elites
A key defendant in the Clearstream affair trial, Imad Lahoud, will take the stand in the Paris criminal court this Tuesday after he was granted a one-day leave to attend the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur. .

In last week hearing, the two defendants traded accusations about the list falsification.

Although the list appears to have transited on Lahoud computer, it remains unclear whether he forged it on his own initiative or at the request of Gergorin. Lahoud said he was only acting on behalf of his former employer, while Jean-Louis Gergorin claimed he was misled by the computer expert.

Dubbed France trial of the decade, the Clearstream affair has been cast as a showdown between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique de Villepin, a former prime minister, who stands accused of plotting to discredit Sarkozy in the build-up to the 2007 presidential election.

After examining the origins of the list, the criminal court is set to hear the libellous accusation case.

On Monday, de Villepin fired the latest volley in an increasingly acrimonious dispute by filing a lawsuit against the French president for allegedly violating his right to the presumption of innocence.

Clearstream trial – Nicolas Sarkozy

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&raquo Special Report on France&#039s trial of the decade
&raquo Who&#039s who in the trial
&raquo How a finance trial turned into a major political scandal
&raquo A glossary of terms in the Clearstream saga
&raquo From Ben Barka to Elf, justice turns a blind eye to political elites
AFP – Former prime minister Dominique de Villepin filed suit Monday against Nicolas Sarkozy after the French president called him and other defendants in a smear trial guilty, a judicial official said. .

Under French law, the head of state enjoys immunity from legal action and the suit would in theory only be heard once Sarkozy is out of office.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy
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Villepin’s lawyers had on Thursday branded Sarkozy’s remarks as scandalous and immediately announced plans to launch legal action against the president

.Australian Ewen McKenzie and France’s Christophe Dominici have been sacked as coaches of struggling French rugby giants Stade Francais.
Stade owner Max Guazzini said former Waratahs coach McKenzie and former France winger Dominici would be replaced by Jacques Delmas and Didier Faugeron.
“We noticed that the coaches’ message was no longer really getting through and we decided to change, in mutual agreement with Ewen McKenzie and Christophe Dominici,” Guazzini said.
Dominici, however, will remain with Stade, although Guazzini offered no details on what his new post might be.
McKenzie, a former prop who won 51 caps for the Wallabies, arrived at Stade from New South Wales at the start of the 2008-09 season and will now sever all ties with the club.
The two defeats left Stade second from bottom of the Top 14 with just seven points garnered from five games. .
Newly-promoted Albi is rooted to the bottom of the table, winless after four games.
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The disastrous start to the season comes despite the Stade squad boasting an array of international players and having been boosted by the off-season signings of English duo James Haskell and Tom Palmer, France scrum half Julien Dupuy and Scotland full-back Hugo Southwell

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&raquo A glimmer of hope for French Socialists
&raquo Socialist leader backs US-style primaries
&raquo Divided Socialists brace for crucial convention
French Socialist Party head Martine Aubry had opened the summer university &ndash an annual conference held in the seaside town of La Rochelle &ndash by nailing down a calendar to discuss party strategy. In her closing speech, she detailed the Socialists’ platform to pull the nation out of financial crisis.

As she addressed an audience fired up by earlier speakers, a defiant Aubry expressed her delight in ushering in a new political season for the party and urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy to borrow a few ideas from the left. .

These included proposals to boost stagnant domestic consumption, such as a valued added tax rebate of 200 euros for the 16 million middle-income households that have not benefited from the government’s own tax rebates, which Socialists say favour the wealthy. Aubry here echoed her main party rival, and former presidential candidate, S&eacutegol&egravene Royal, who condemned the tax as absurd and unjust.

On the hot-button matter of the carbon emission tax, she expressed her fears that the revenue it generated would be misused by the government to reduce the budget deficit or to offset the lowering of business taxes.

The missing players

Following the latest show of unity in La Rochelle, France’s Socialists will hope to start the new political season in a climate that is less turbulent than last year’s.

Yet, it is unlikely that the seaside gathering will have put an end to the schisms that have plagued the party in recent years. At the very least, Aubry appears to have succeeded in raising the spirits of a rank and file sickened by bickering and backstabbing among party leaders.

French politics – Martine Aubry – Socialist Party
. While Paris mayor Bertrand Delano&euml and former justice minister Elisabeth Guigou were seated in the front row, along with the unpredictable Arnaud Montebourg, the list of senior absentees for Aubry’s final appearance was distinctly longer

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AFP – Search teams have found the second flight data recorder of the Yemenia jet that crashed off the Comoros islands on June 30, killing 152 people, the chief investigator said Saturday.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder had been located and operations were under way to retrieve it, Ali Abdou Mohamed said.

The two flight recorders. …

The causes of the crash of the plane, which was carrying mainly passengers of Comoran origin living in France, remain unknown. will be sent in the coming days to the Investigation and Analysis Bureau in Bourget (France) where they will be studied in the presence of the investigations team members, Mohamed said in a statement.

The passengers, who were travelling from France to the Comoros, had changed planes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and boarded the Airbus A310.

Some sources blamed the state of the plane, which did not satisfy European safety regulations, but the investigation has yet to establish this.

The sole survivor was Bahia Bakari, a 13-year-old girl who lost her mother in the crash and clung to a floating piece of debris for hours before being rescued. The plane plunged into the Indian Ocean as it was trying to land in Moroni.

The investigation team is made up of officials from the Comoros, Yemen and France and is headed by the Comoros authorities.

Airbus – Comoros crash