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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Crisis-laden Italy has a long list of problems

By ANDREW DAMPF

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 2:08 p.m. ET June 5, 2012

KRAKOW, Poland (AP) -From match-fixing to injuries and poor preparation, crisis-laden Italy was carrying a long list of problems to its European Championship training base Tuesday.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has had his banking records examined on suspicion he made large bets, Leonardo Bonucci is reportedly under investigation for match-fixing, fellow center back Andrea Barzagli may miss the tournament with a calf injury and standout striker Mario Balotelli is also hurting.

The betting and match-fixing scandal has created a climate close to the one before Italy won the 1982 and 2006 World Cups after similar problems, but Italy coach Cesare Prandelli wasn't interested in comparisons.

"I don't like this game," Prandelli said. "We would have liked to come here with a different mood, but we've got great spirit and we won't be discouraged."

Beyond all that, the Azzurri have lost their last three friendlies by a combined score of 5-0.

With fresh memories of its first-round elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Italy has only five days to restore order ahead of its opener against defending champion Spain.

Italy was eliminated from Euro 2008 by Spain on penalties in the quarterfinals.

"(Spain) plays great football but we shouldn't be afraid of anyone," Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio said. "We've got to work hard in this final week, but we're not worried."

Also in Group C, Italy will face eighth-ranked Croatia and Ireland, which is coached by Giovanni Trapattoni.

Reports surfaced last week over large payments from Buffon to the owner of a tobacco shop that is also a betting parlor. Buffon has not been placed under investigation and is not accused of any wrongdoing, but the revelations still shook the Azzurri camp.

As for Bonucci, his inclusion on the squad has been in the spotlight since another defender, Domenico Criscito, was cut from the team after police showed up at the Azzurri's Coverciano training complex last week to hand him a notification that he was under investigation for match-fixing.

However, the Italian football federation insists that Bonucci's case is different, and that he is not under investigation, despite news reports that say otherwise.

Marchisio teamed with Buffon and Bonucci to help Juventus win the Serie A title last season.

"Bonucci and Buffon are the first people to give us serenity," Marchisio said. "They've always trained with tranquility."

Another Juventus player, Barzagli, strained his left calf in a 3-0 friendly loss to Russia on Friday and could be sidelined for 20 days. He's one of only four holdovers from the squad that won the 2006 World Cup, along with Buffon and midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi.

"We're going to try and hold onto (Barzagli) up until last minute if we can," Prandelli said. "We realize it won't be easy but he's a key player."

Meanwhile, Balotelli is still recuperating from a right thigh muscle problem and worked out only mildly in the squad's final training session Tuesday before flying to Poland.

However, Prandelli said Balotelli "absolutely" has a chance of playing the opener.

While Italy has won four World Cup titles, the team has won the European Championship only once, back in 1968. If recent performances are any indication, the Azzurri don't look poised to end their 44-year winless streak.

Against Russia, all Italy could produce were a few chances from Balotelli, and Prandelli has already indicated he will likely switch from a traditional four-man defense to a three-man backline against Spain, possible featuring Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi at center back

"I want a squad that can change formations many times during match," Prandelli said.

The Azzurri's other pre-tournament friendly against Luxembourg - slated for Parma last week - was canceled to due to an earthquake in central Italy.

Italy lost its two previous friendlies at home, first falling 1-0 to Uruguay in November then getting beat 1-0 by the United States in February.

The Azzurri's last victory came in Poland, a 2-0 win over the tournament co-hosts in November that featured Balotelli's first goal for the national team and another strike from Giampaolo Pazzini, who is now off the squad.

Based in Krakow, Italy will pay tribute to Holocaust victims by visiting the Auschwitz death camp Wednesday.

"I'm convinced it should be mandatory to go, for many reasons," Prandelli said. "First to not forget what happened, secondly to bear witness and make the new generations understand how little it takes at times to create a human disaster."

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Queen's Jubilee: Rock concert at Buckingham Palace

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip leave from Chelsea Harbour in London on a launch on the first part of their journey in the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant Sunday June 3, 2012 . More than 1,000 boats will sail down the River Thames on Sunday in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne that organizers are calling the biggest pageant on the river for 350 years. (AP Photo/Eddie Mulholland, Pool)

The Royal Barge is seen passing the Houses of Parliament during the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in London, Sunday, June 3, 2012. More than 1,000 boats were to sail down the Thames on Sunday in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne that organizers are calling the biggest gathering on the river for 350 years. Despite cool, drizzly weather, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the riverbanks in London, feting the British monarch whose longevity has given her the status of the nation's favorite grandmother. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)

Sue Ridley waits on Westminster Bridge for the Royal Barge to pass the House of Commons and the Big Ben clocktower during the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in London, Sunday, June 3, 2012. More than 1,000 boats were to sail down the Thames on Sunday in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne that organizers are calling the biggest gathering on the river for 350 years. Despite cool, drizzly weather, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the riverbanks in London, feting the British monarch whose longevity has given her the status of the nation's favorite grandmother. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles during the river pageant commemorating her Diamond Jubilee, on the River Thames in London, Sunday June 3, 2012. (AP Photo / Dylan Martinez, pool)

Hundreds of boats make their way down the River Thames past for British Royal Navy cruiser HMS Belfast towards Tower Bridge as they take part in the Thames River Pageant for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London,Sunday, June 3, 2012. More than 1,000 boats were to sail down the Thames on Sunday in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne that organizers are calling the biggest gathering on the river for 350 years. Despite cool, drizzly weather, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the riverbanks in London, feting the British monarch whose longevity has given her the status of the nation's favourite grandmother. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) ? The celebration of the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II is ready to rock 'n' roll.

A gala concert kicks off at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening with Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard and Sir Tom Jones heading the line-up, along with younger artists.

Will the queen enjoy it? Her musical tastes are a mystery, and the Press Association news agency reported that she brought a pair of earplugs with her to a similar concert a decade ago. According to The Guardian newspaper, the only song the queen has ever been known to request is "Some Enchanted Evening" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific."

"It may not be that pop or rock is her favorite music, but she has certainly supported us over the years and in return of course we have supported her," said Cliff Richard, who had his first hit in 1959. "I think she'd probably rather go and see an opera."

The small Pacific island nation of Tonga claimed the honor of lighting the first of more than 4,200 beacons to be set alight in Britain and abroad to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. The queen will light the final beacon following the concert.

One beacon will be lit in Kenya at the Treetops Hotel, where Elizabeth was informed of her father's death in 1952, making her the queen.

"We set out to have 2,012 beacons, which would have been the most ever for this type of occasion," said Bruno Peek, pageant master of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee beacons.

"To have reached double that figure reflects the national and worldwide respect and affection for the queen and the desire to celebrate her 60-year reign."

After a drizzly, gray start, the weather looked better Monday morning, with a forecast of some sunshine by the time the concert starts. Despite threatening weather, more than 1 million people estimated to have turned out Sunday to watch the queen's barge lead a 1,000-boat flotilla down the Thames endured heavy downpours at time.

Six participants in the pageant were treated in hospitals for exposure to the cold and wet, and medics attended to about 40 spectators along the river.

Exercising her royal prerogative, the queen is expected to attend only part of the concert. Ten years ago at a similar concert celebrating 50 years of rule, the monarch reportedly came prepared with a pair of earplugs.

Elton John is set to perform "Your Song," ''I'm Still Standing" and "Crocodile Rock." Tom Jones will pose the question, "Why? Why? Why?" in the song "Delilah," while Annie Lennox will sing "There Must Be An Angel."

Kylie Minogue and Stevie Wonder will play a medley of greatest hits, and Paul McCartney will play "Live and Let Die," his James Bond theme. American soprano Renee Fleming will perform with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The 262 residents of the remote island of Tristan de Cunha, a British territory 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from any other land, are combining their Jubilee beacon with some environmentally conscious gardening. They are lighting their fire with invasive species including the New Zealand Christmas Tree, loganberry and other alien plants.

"You don't get more patriotic than saving U.K. wildlife on the queen's Jubilee, so we decided to make the occasion by lighting a beacon made from all the plants we remove," chief islander Ian Laverollo said.

Associated Press

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How To Get The Perfect Auto Insurance Plan

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You ever hear the quote ?you get what you pay for?? Many companies out there advertise that they can save you money on car insurance. Well, make them prove it. Shop around for quotes and remember that you have to make sure the coverage levels are the same. Ask for discounts because some companies provide more discounts than others.

Check crash test ratings for any new car you plan on buying. This will have a substantial impact on your insurance rates. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issues a list each year with about 60 of its top picks for the safest cars in each class. These cars will cost you much less in auto insurance.

To save money on car insurance, consider raising your deductible. Youll need to be able to pay for some repairs out of pocket, but if youre comfortable doing so, you can see significant savings by raising your deductible from $250 to $500, and even more if you go to a $1000 deductible.

If you own a car and live in an apartment, get renters insurance. Renters insurance from your car insurance company, if they offer it, can knock quite a bit of money off the cost of your car insurance when combined. Renters insurance is often quite affordable and can help you save money on your car insurance as well.

Select liability limits appropriate to your needs and personal financial situation. Most states require relatively low minimum limits. However, if you are found at fault for an accident, you could be liable for damages beyond your insurance limits. Carrying higher limits based on your personal asset situation may make more sense to provide adequate protection in case of an at-fault claim.

If you are aiming to get affordable auto insurance, you should know your financing requirements. If you finance your vehicle, you may have more requirements set by the financing company that you have to maintain. This will likely affect the amount of your deductible, so you should know these requirements before raising your deductible.

When considering auto insurance for a young driver, be sure to consider building up his or her credit, prior to shopping for insurance. This will not only assist with the new driver being able to get a possible better rate, but will also help when the young person may need other large purchases or loans in the future.

Not only is auto insurance mandatory, but valuable. Purchasing insurance for your vehicle is a daunting task, as there are lots of options to explore. You want to shop around, perhaps by calling around using the listings in your phone book or by using the internet. Once you find a comfortable price and coverage plan for your automobile then you can be sure if you are in an accident or pulled over by the police youre protected.

If available in your state, request a copy of your driving history before shopping for car insurance. Information can be inaccurate on it which may be causing your quotes to be higher. Make sure you know what is on your report and if you find discrepancies have them corrected as soon as possible.

Maintain a great credit rating because auto insurance companies will check. Auto insurers give better rates to customers who have high ratings. If your credit history is poor, they feel that you have not made payments on time at some point, and you are a higher risk to the insurance company.

When it comes to selecting a new auto insurance carrier, do some research into the companys history of rate increases. Each state has an insurance oversight group, or Department of Insurance. This group can provide historical information on the frequency and amount of rate increases by a particular carrier. While a company may offer initially low prices, if they frequently increase rates, you may not save over time.

If youre getting rates and premiums higher than normal, then you should go check your driving record. You might not be aware of your driving record, but insurance companies use this to calculate your risk factor. Make sure you know whats on your driving record and that the insurance companies are using the right information.

There are a lot of factors that determine the cost of your automobile insurance. Your age, sex, marital status and location all play a factor. While you cant change most of those, and few people would move or get married to save money on car insurance, you can control the type of car you drive, which also plays a role. Choose cars with lots of safety options and anti theft systems in place.

As explained earlier in the article, auto insurance is a mandatory requirement in order to own and drive a car. But you need to know what the minimum limits are where you live and what types of insurance are needed and which are optional. By using the information in this article, you can find the right coverage at the right cost.

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Best Home Improvement Loans | Carpet Cleaning in Wheaton

If you are willing to do a little renovation in your home and don?t have the finance for it right now, you should be looking for the best home improvement loans. By comparing these loans you can find out which company is offering the best interest rates and the most affordable loan.

When trying to renovate such rooms as the kitchen or the bathroom the appliances alone take a lot of money. The work that needs to be done is usually beneath the skills that most of us have and that is why it is a good idea to finance your remodelling using a home improvement loan. These are unsecured or secured loans that have a fairly low interest rate and a short loan time.

All this means that you can expect to be paying back the full amount with interests in five to ten years maximum. Depending on the amount you need, this will usually come up with an interest rate of 5-7% which is the lowest end you can find for home improvement finance.

Since home improvement loans are so popular there is quite a lot of competition between the lenders, and you can easily haggle off one or two percent of interests.

Normally even the best home improvement loans are taken as unsecured loans, but you can also use your home equity to finance your remodelling. This means using the real market value of your house and deducting the amount that you still have a mortgage on. The amount that remains is your equity and that is the amount you can take a new loan against. Usually with home equity loans your interest rates are going to be much lower than with unsecured loans. You can be lucky and go as low as 2-3% interest.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Animal cruelty at its worst

IMAGE: A Kangaroo

A 20 year old man who killed a kangaroo and its joey in Wodonga earlier this year has been handed a six month suspended jail sentence.

Nigel Franks pleaded guilty before Wodonga Magistrates' Court this morning for aggravated animal cruelty.

The court heard he deliberately ran over the kangaroo with his car, tied its carcass to the back of his vehicle and dragged it 11.5km through the outskirts of Wodonga.?

There were also reports that he removed a joey from the Mother's pouch and threw it into an empty paddock on the side of the road, despite protests from others in the car.

Franks was apparently confronted by animal rights protestors in front of the Wodonga court.

Magistrate Stella Stuthridge described the offenses as 'appalling.'

Sheep rain down as truck tips

Sheep FREEWAY CRASH: Up to 60 sheep have had to be put down following a horrific crash at Laverton North. A B-Double truck was carrying about 400 of the animals when it rolled on the Western Ring Road off ramp around 9 o'clock last night. GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING

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Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov: We scored a goal but the referee didn?t see it

Uzbekistan boss Vadim Abramov says his side scored a legitimate goal which wasn't counted by referee Yuichi Nishimura but was more concerned about conceding an against-the-run-of-play late winner in Sunday's 1-0 final round 2014 World Cup qualifier defeat to Iran in Tashkent.

Odil Akhemdov appeared to have scored from close range on 72 minutes when he scrambled the ball across the line only for the lunging Sayed Jalal Hosseini to block the effort. However television replays seemed to show the ball had crossed the line before the Iranian defender's block.

Uzbekistan protested the decision and would live to regret it, when Mohammed Reza Khalatbari stole in for a 93rd-minute winner for the visitors who had struggled throughout the match.

?We scored a goal in the second half, but the referees didn?t see it. Iran had two chances and won it,? Abramov told reporters after the game.

However, the White Wolves coach was more concerned with his side's play in the dying minutes before conceding the disastrous late goal, although he insisted the result wasn't a "tragedy".

?I don?t know what did happen with us in the last minutes, sometimes we concede goals at the end of the match," he said. ?We lost the game, but it is not tragedy. We have seven matches in the group and the hope will not die until the last moment.

?I changed the position of Akhmedov in the second half because we wanted to win, but you can?t always win. It is football. We are looking forward to the next games. I hope we will change our situation as our aim is to go to World Cup.?

Meanwhile, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz revelled in glory, claiming his side had adopted different tactics late in the game which ultimately proved decisive.

?Uzbekistan had several chances. After this we changed our style and we battled more against them and reached our target. I knew Uzbekistan would go forward in the last minutes, that?s why we changed our tactics and tried to score from counterattacks. We did it and our changes brought us three points.

?But it is just beginning and we have more matches. I think all matches in the group will be very tough.?

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Must See HDTV (June 4th - 10th)

Franklin & Bash
We're not sure who decided putting Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer a legal comedy / drama was a good idea but we're kinda glad they did. Jared Franklin & Peter Bash bring a lighter take to what are usually very serious procedurals, a good match for our laid back summer viewing schedule. Season two kicks off this week and if you haven't seen it, just assuming their characters from Saved By the Bell and Road Trip grew up to be lawyers pretty much covers it.
(June 5th, TNT, 10PM)

Playoffs
As the NBA conference playoff battles continue on, the New Jersey Devils will have to find a way to fight back this week against the LA Kings. They're down 2-0, but as the Thunder and Celtics have shown, that can quickly be turned on its head. The only bad news? The next two games are at LA. Ouch.

E3
Well, at least while the Devils are in LA they can stop by E3 and check out some new videogames. While we're covering all the action here, and video has spread to multiple platforms, if you prefer leaning back and observing all the HD trailers on your TV, Spike TV and G4 are both blowing out their coverage all week with feeds from the show floor during the day and in prime time.

Continue reading Must See HDTV (June 4th - 10th)

Must See HDTV (June 4th - 10th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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