11 teammates testified in case against Armstrong

Lance Armstrong challenged the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to name names and show what it had on him. On Wednesday, it did. The anti-doping group released a report on its case against Armstrong — a point-by-point roadmap of the lengths it says Armstrong went to in winning seven Tour de France titles USADA has ordered taken away.

In more than 150 pages filled with allegations, USADA names 11 former teammates — George Hincapie, Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis among them — as key witnesses. It details the way those men and others say drugs were delivered and administered to Armstrong's teams. It discusses Armstrong's continuing relationship with and payments to a doctor, Michele Ferrari, years after Ferrari has been sanctioned in Italy and Armstrong claimed to have broken ties with him.

It presents as matter-of-fact reality that winning and doping went hand in hand in cycling and that Armstrong's teams were the best at getting it done without getting caught. He won the Tour as leader of the U.S. Postal Service team from 1999-2004 and again in 2005 with the Discovery Channel as the primary sponsor. The report also uses Armstrong's own words against him.

"We had one goal and one ambition and that was to win the greatest bike race in the world and not just to win it once, but to keep winning it," the report reads, quoting from testimony Armstrong gave in an earlier legal proceeding. But, USADA said, the path Armstrong chose to pursue his goals "ran far outside the rules." It accuses him of depending on performance-enhancing drugs to fuel his victories and "more ruthlessly, to expect and to require that his teammates" do the same.

Armstrong did not fight the USADA charges, but insists he never cheated. His attorney, Tim Herman, called the report "a one-sided hatchet job — a taxpayer funded tabloid piece rehashing old, disproved, unreliable allegations based largely on axe-grinders, serial perjurers, coerced testimony, sweetheart deals and threat-induced stories." Aware of the criticism his agency has faced from Armstrong and his legion of followers, USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart insisted USADA handled this case under the same rules as any other. He pointed out that Armstrong was given the chance to take his case to arbitration and he declined, choosing in August to accept the sanctions instead.

"We focused solely on finding the truth without being influenced by celebrity or non-celebrity, threats, personal attacks or political pressure because that is what clean athletes deserve and demand," Tygart said. Some of the newest information — never spelled out in detail before Wednesday — includes USADA's depiction of Armstrong's continuing relationship with Ferrari, who, like Armstrong, has received a lifetime ban from USADA. Ferrari, long thought of as the mastermind of Armstrong's alleged doping plan, was investigated in Italy and Armstrong claimed he had cut ties with him after a 2004 conviction. USADA cites financial records that show payments of at least $210,000 in the two years after Ferrari's conviction.

1) Write a summary of the article

2) Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

UN warns of rising food costs after year's extreme weather Warning comes as shops struggle to fill shelves and farmers' union reports wheat yields are at lowest level since 1980s

 

Barley is checked in a field south of Moscow. This summer, Russia banned grain exports after a severe drought reduced harvest estimates. 

 

The UN has warned of increasing meat and dairy prices in the wake of extreme weather in the United States and across large parts of Europe and other centres of global food production.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome, global wheat production is expected to fall 5.2% in 2012 and yields from many other crops grown to feed animals could be 10% down on last year.

"Populations are growing but production is not keeping up with consumption. Prices for wheat have already risen 25% in 2012, maize 13% and dairy prices rose 7% just last month. Food reserves, [held to provide a buffer against rising prices] are at a critical low level
"It means that food supplies are tight across the board and there is very little room for unexpected events," said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist with the FAO.

"The decrease in cereal production this year will result in a significant reduction in world reserves by the close of seasons in 2013, even with world demand sliding as a result of high prices," he said.
The warning of further food prices came as some British supermarkets said they were struggling to keep shelves stocked with fresh produce and the National Farmers Union (NFU) reported that UK wheat yields have been the lowest since the late 1980s as a result of abnormal rain fall.

The NFU president, Peter Kendall, said: "There are many farmers who are down 25% to 30% on the wheat crop. In some cases you looked from the outside and you thought, this crop will do over four tonnes to the acre – and it's been struggling to do three and some cases two tonnes to the acre."
"It's been soul-destroying for the farmers growing the crops," he said.

Kendall added that the increase in the global price of wheat over the past year was also putting pressures on pig and poultry farmers, who rely on grain to feed their livestock.

Confirmation of one of the worst global harvests in years will come on Thursday, when the US government is expected to announce that drought and heat damage to crops this year has reduced its wheat, maize and soy harvests by more than 10%.

Because the US is by far the world's biggest grower and exporter of grains, this is expected to have repercussions around the world.

Farmers are still harvesting their crops but the maize harvest is expected to be the lowest in nine years.

Nearly 40% of all US maize is now used in biofuels, further restricting exports and raising prices.
British supermarkets said they had not ruled out the prospect of price rises of staple foods, but they pledged to offer "competitive pricing" of essential food items in their value and economy ranges.
A spokeswoman for Waitrose said: "There's no doubt that this has been an exceptionally tough growing season for our farmers, who have been coping with very bad weather and rising costs for critical inputs such as fuel. We are working closely with all our growers to help them manage their costs and get as much of their crop on our shelves as possible through initiatives such as selling cosmetically imperfect but good-quality fruit and veg – something we have always done."
Sainsbury's said in a statement: "We continue to work with British farmers and growers to get the most out of the crop. We've taken the decision to radically change our approach to buying British fruit and vegetables as a result of this year's unseasonal weather."
The run of unpredictable weather this season has left farmers and growers with bumper crops of "ugly"-looking fruit and vegetables, with reported increases in blemishes and scarring, as well as shortages because of later crops. This week, Sainsbury's launched a trial of its Basics range of potatoes, which have visible cracks and blemishes, in more than 35 stores in the Midlands. Last month, the supermarket said it was relaxing its rules on the cosmetic appearance of fresh produce.
New research by the consumer group Which? found that the average cost of a shopping bill is now £76.83 a week – an increase of £5.66 in a year. Richard Lloyd, the group's executive director, said: "The rising price of food is one of consumers' top financial worries and is changing the way we shop. Recent Which? research found more of us are shopping at discount supermarkets and four in 10 people told us they planned to cut back on their food shopping. We want retailers to be clearer about food pricing and offer responsible price promotions that give the consumer the best possible value for money."

New figures from the charity FareShare – which fights hunger and food waste in the UK – shows that lower-income families have cut their consumption of fruit and vegetables by nearly a third in the wake of the recession and rising food prices, to just over half of the five-a-day portions recommended for a healthy diet.

The road to the White House leads through wild, wonderful and weird Florida

JUPITER, Fla.—Republicans do not mince words when discussing the importance of Florida. This is the state that could determine whether the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, moves into the White House in January or spends Inauguration Day contemplating What Could Have Been on the balcony of his beach home in Southern California.
"Florida's a must-win for Mitt Romney. This is it," said Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. "We have to win Florida."
It's not quite the same in Ohio, where GOP state operatives decline to use such dire language and where polls showed Romney struggling before last week's presidential debate. An Ohio loss would make matters difficult, yes, but Romney could lose the Buckeyes and still beat Obama.
But that's not the case here.
Arguably one of the most fascinating and (depending on whom you ask) frustrating hotbeds of American politics, Florida continues to live up to its reputation of mercurial voters and questionable electoral practices (hanging chads notwithstanding). The state swings and flips harder than a hammock left out in a hurricane, and this year should be no exception. Of all the hotly contested battleground states, Florida is the biggest get, offering 29 of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
The Sunshine State supported Richard Nixon in 1960, voted for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and then went back to Nixon in 1968 and 1972. Floridians handed Jimmy Carter its electoral votes four years later. The Republicans locked it down during an impressive stretch through the years of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, but then it reverted right back to blue when Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996. Four years later, the up-for-grabs swing state stole the spotlight. With some help from hanging chads and the Supreme Court, George W. Bush carried it by a nose and held on through his second election. In 2008, Obama won the state back for the Democrats.
As of this writing, before polls can reflect a possible debate bump, statewide surveys suggest a dead heat. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll conducted Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 shows Romney and Obama tied. The latest Florida state poll reflects a recent surge of support for Romney, who trailed by several points in surveys taken through September.
All politics is local
In the past few years, Floridians have veered decidedly Republican at the state and local level. The GOP currently controls the state Legislature, the state Senate and the governor's mansion. In 2010, voters here enthusiastically sent Republican Marco Rubio to the U.S. Senate, and 19 of the 25 House members in the Florida delegation are Republicans.
But Romney faces serious hurdles before he can assume a Sunshine State victory and focus his resources elsewhere. In recent months Obama has all but locked up support from Hispanic voters, a group that comprises about 23 percent of the Florida population. To make up for this deficit, Romney may be forced to make inroads elsewhere. Among the elderly, who flock in droves to Florida—and to voting booths—Romney appears to be standing strong. However, his decision to tap Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as a running mate risked shaving off a few points with the Blue Hair Bloc.
Regionally, Romney's strongest base of support lies in the southwest part of the state, where thousands of retirees from the conservative Midwest flock to retire. Obama is more popular along the eastern coastline, where most of the snowbirds and retirees hail from the more reliably liberal Northeast. Romney is expected to dominate the northern part of the state along the panhandle, which culturally is more like the South than South Florida. But, still, he can't take the north for granted. Bush carried that region solidly in 2000 and 2004, but Obama made great strides to narrow the gap in 2008. If Florida is going to be a close race, Romney cannot afford the same level of support as John McCain in those areas. He must dominate.
Of course, Obama has his own Florida issues. The voting demographics are not the same as they were when he defeated McCain four years ago. Today, there are 141,000 fewer registered Democrats and about 74,000 more Republicans registered in Florida than when Obama was first elected. Registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans by 443,166 here, but the gap could make all the difference in this game of inches.

The battle for Florida, then, lies in the heart of the state. Commonly referred to as the "I-4 corridor," the region stretches 130 miles from Daytona Beach through Orlando and on to Tampa. It's the swingiest part of this swing state, chock-full of undecided voters who could determine the election's outcome. Voters in this region went for Bush in 2004, Obama in 2008 and now ... who knows?

Skydiver's supersonic jump on weather hold

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Plans for extreme athlete and skydiver Felix Baumgartner to make a death-defying, 23-mile free fall into the southeastern New Mexico desert were on hold Tuesday morning because of winds, but his team was still hoping the weather would clear in time to make the jump.

The 43-year-old former military parachutist from Austria planned to take off in a 55-story, ultra-thin and easy-to-tear helium balloon that would take him into the stratosphere for a jump that he hopes will make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier and shatter three other world records.

Mission meteorologist Don Day said winds on the ground were an ideal 1 to 2 mph, but were 20 mph at the balloon-top level of 700 feet before sunrise.

"We need 3 mph or less at 800 feet," Day said, putting the chance of a launch Tuesday at "50-50."

After sunrise, Day said there were indications the upper level winds might calm, so the team pushed the launch window from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., noon at the latest. A final decision would have to be made about 9:30 as it takes about an hour and half to fill the balloon and get Baumgartner suited up and ready.

"We are going to stick it out for another couple of hours," he said, adding, "We've got everyone here. We are going to wait and see if we can take advantage of it."

If the launch, already delayed one day by a cold front, can't go Tuesday, Day said the next try probably wouldn't be until Thursday. In addition to the wind, he said, the team was having some issues with the GPS system.

The balloon had been scheduled to launch about 7 a.m. from a field near the airport in a flat dusty town that until now has been best known for a rumored 1947 UFO landing.
If the mission goes, Baumgartner will make a nearly three-hour ascent to 120,000 feet, then take a bunny-style hop from a pressurized capsule into a near-vacuum where there is barely any oxygen to begin what is expected to be the fastest, farthest free fall from the highest-ever manned balloon.
Baumgartner spent Monday at his hotel, mentally preparing for the dangerous feat with his parents, girlfriend and four close friends, his team said. He had a light dinner of salmon and a salad, then had a massage. He spent Tuesday morning resting in an Airstream trailer near the launch site.
Among the risks: Any contact with the capsule on his exit could tear the pressurized suit. A rip could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as 70 degrees below zero. It could cause potentially lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids, a condition known as "boiling blood."
He could also spin out of control, causing other risky problems.
The energy drink maker Red Bull, which is sponsoring the feat, has been promoting a live Internet stream of the event at http://www.redbullstratos.com/live from nearly 30 cameras on the capsule, the ground and a helicopter. But organizers said there will be a 20-second delay in their broadcast of footage in case of a tragic accident.

Despite the dangers and questionable wind forecast, high performance director Andy Walshe said the team was excited, not nervous. Baumgartner has made two practice jumps, one from 15 miles in March and another from 18 miles in July.

"With these big moments, you get a kind of sense that the energy changes," he said Monday. "It really is just kind of a heightened energy. It keeps you on your toes. It's not nervousness, it's excitement."
During the ascent, Walshe said, the team will have views from a number of cameras, including one focused directly on Baumgartner's face. Additionally, they will have data from life support and other systems that show things like whether he is getting enough oxygen.
The team also expects constant communication with Baumgartner, although former Air Force Capt. Joe Kittinger, whose 1960 free-fall record from 19.5 miles Baumgartner hopes to break, is the only member of mission control who will be allowed to talk to him.
And while Baumgartner hopes to set four new world records, his free fall is more than just a stunt.
His dive from the stratosphere should provide scientists with valuable information for next-generation spacesuits and techniques that could help astronauts survive accidents.

Jumping from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner's expects to hit a speed of 690 mph or more before he activates his parachute at 9,500 feet above sea level, or about 5,000 above the ground in southeastern New Mexico. The total jump should take about 10 minutes.

His medical director is Dr. Jonathan Clark, a NASA space shuttle crew surgeon who lost his wife, Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia accident. No one knows what happens to a body when it breaks the sound barrier, Clark said.

"That is really the scientific essence of this mission," said Clark, who is dedicated to improving astronauts' chances of survival in a high-altitude disaster.

Clark told reporters Monday he expects Baumgartner's pressurized spacesuit to protect him from the shock waves of breaking the sound barrier. If all goes well and he survives the jump, NASA could certify a new generation of spacesuits for protecting astronauts and provide an escape option from spacecraft at 120,000 feet, he said.

Currently, spacesuits are certified to protect astronauts to 100,000 feet, the level Kittinger reached in 1960. Kittinger's speed of 614 mph was just shy of breaking the sound barrier at that altitude

1) What is this article about?


2) What is a personal goal you have that you wish to achieve?


3) What is the craziest thing you´ve ever done?

English Listening Exercise

Wind farms on the bog of Ireland could provide UK electricity

Company behind the £5bn proposals hopes to build more than 700 turbines and transport power in cables beneath Irish Sea

Ed Davey, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, is considering the proposals. Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

Hundreds of wind farms could be built on the great bog of Ireland to generate electricity exclusively for the UK's national grid under plans being considered by ministers.
Element Power, the company behind the £5 billion proposals, hopes to build more than 700 turbines and transport power through two dedicated undersea cables across the Irish sea.
Company executives met Ed Davey, the cabinet minister in charge of climate change, and civil servants to discuss the plans this summer.
The plans have been discussed among the coalition and appear in theory to appease both political parties. Liberal Democrats wish for an increase in green energy but have concerns over the high price of building wind farms offshore. Conservative ministers are worried about the backlash in some rural communities as wind turbines have become more common in Britain.
To proceed, the Irish project would need access to the subsidies currently given to UK wind power, but the difficulty for ministers in setting a precedent – which could mean any foreign energy projects can get UK subsidies – means the project face major challenges.
Mike O'Neill, the president of Element Power, said the project would solve a number of thorny problems for the British government. "Our experience is that it is easier to get planning permission in the Republic of Ireland, if you do it in a sensible and sensitive way," he said.
Britain's electricity suppliers are obliged to provide an increasing percentage of their electricity from renewable sources, to help the UK meet its legally binding targets for cutting the carbon emissions that drive climate change.
Costs for onshore wind power are currently estimated to be half that of offshore wind power. Element Power claims its project, entitled Greenwire, will provide electricity at two-thirds of the cost of building a big offshore wind farm, which will reduce the amount that needs to be charged to the UK consumer by £7 billion over 15 years.
The company says its proposed investment would be €8 billion – two-thirds for the wind turbines and a third for the two big sub-sea cables that would take the electricity to the UK. It says the project could provide 3GW of electricity capacity and employ thousands of workers.
O'Neill said the project could start generating power from 2018, if the subsidy obstacle could be overcome. Another hold-up were the delays in the government setting the actual level of the subsidy, so the project can proceed. O'Neill said energy company EDF was getting special treatment from the government over the price that will be guaranteed for nuclear power and that Greenwire should get the same.
There are more than 1,100 turbines in operation in Ireland, mostly at 176 onshore windfarms with a further seven offshore. Element Power hopes to expand in Meath, Westmeath, Kildare, Laois and Offaly but says that its project will not prevent the Republic of Ireland meeting its own carbon target of a 40% cut by 2020.
Coalition tensions over green issues have increased since September's reshuffle. Owen Paterson, who has campaigned against wind farms in his own constituency, is believed to have clashed with Davey, the Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change.
Davey appeared to see off Conservative ministers' attempts to slash the subsidies for onshore wind farms, instead sticking with a smaller cut previously agreed with the industry.
The row began after more than 100 Conservative backbenchers wrote to the prime minister earlier this year demanding he "dramatically cut" the £400m in annual subsidies paid to onshore wind developers.
The energy secretary said the new changes to subsidies for renewables, which also include reducing offshore wind payments and more than doubling support for tidal, stream and wave power, would boost clean electricity while curbing the cost to consumers.

Venezuela Hugo Chávez is re-elected in Venezuela

 Hugo Chávez celebrates at Miraflores Palace in Caracas after winning re-election.

 Venezuelan president retains power after 14 years in office, recording 54.5% of the vote against rival Henrique Capriles

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez has once again defied his doubters by winning a new term of office in the presidential election after what had been billed as the closest race of his political life.
To the euphoria of supporters in and around his campaign headquarters, the National Electoral Council announced on Sunday the president had secured 54.4% of the votes, while his rival Capriles was behind with 44.9%. Some votes were still to be counted, but the council said the result was not in doubt.
Pumping his fist in the air, Chávez address his supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace as a barrage of fireworks lit up the sky. "The revolution has triumphed!" Chávez told the crowd, saying his supporters "voted for socialism."
"Today we've shown that Venezuela's democracy is one of the best democracies in the world, and we will continue to show it," he shouted, waving a replica of Símon Bolivar sword.
As the result was announced, his supporters burst into cheers and songs of "Viva Le Patria" and "Ooh Aah, Chávez won't go."
"I'm crying with joy," said Alirio Guevara, a fisherman from Vargas, who came to Caracas to vote and joined the joyous crowds at the Chávez campaign headquarters. "In the next six years, we will deepen the revolution."
In accepting defeat, Capriles took solace in picking up more votes than any previous challenger and restricting Chávez to a single-digit margin of victory.
"In order to win, one must know how to lose. For me the people's voices are sacred. For those who feel sad, I tell them, 'we started to build a road and there it is'. We have 6 million people who want a new road."
Underlining the intense interest in the campaign, the turnout among the 19 million registered voters was a record 80.4%.
Many analysts had warned that a slim margin of victory could lead to violence, but with an almost double-digit gap there was no immediate indication of unrest on Sunday evening.
Venezuelans had queued under the sun for up to five hours to cast their vote amid expectations of a possible change, prompted by vastly contrasting opinion surveys in the weeks before the poll.
After the result was announced, Chávez tweeted: "Thank you, my God. Thanks to everyone. Thanks my beloved people!!! Viva Venezuela!!!! Viva Bolivar!!!!!"
Chávez has held on to power for more than a decade despite an attempted coup, a nationwide oil strike and a yearlong fight with cancer, which may not be over.
With many voters unhappy at one of the world's highest murder rates and crumbling infrastructure, his party had lost ground in recent legislative elections and his long illness had clearly restricted his campaign appearances, particularly in contrast to his 40-year-old rival who was making two stops a day in a energetic campaign that criss-crossed the country.
The opposition had felt this was their best chance to regain power, but the president ended strongly with a giant rally of hundreds of thousands of supporters in Caracas on the final day of the campaign on Thursday.
On the campaign trail, president Chávez vowed that if re-elected he would use the next six years to correct past mistakes, to continue to build a socialist alternative to the capitalist model, and to continue using the country's vast oil revenues to redistribute wealth, promote the revolution overseas and to bolster ideological allies such as Cuba and Nicaragua.
But analysts say his reduced margin of victory – down from 26% in 2006 and 16% in 1998 – may prompt changes in the cabinet and the government's policy, particularly with regard to public security and the economy. Health concerns are also likely to linger.