Wednesday's Sports in Brief

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, making him the fifth player in NBA history to score 30,000, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a two-game skid with a 103-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night. Bryant entered the game needing 13 points to eclipse the scoring milestone and did so with a short jumper late in the first half that was perhaps the least spectacular...

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Juan Manuel Marquez's newfound muscle raises questions about PED use

LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez said he's "ready to go to war" with Manny Pacquiao, but the presence of an admitted steroids distributor in his corner Saturday night and a vastly more muscular body has skeptics questioning whether it's conventional warfare or chemical warfare he will use. Marquez will meet Pacquiao for a fourth, and likely final, time on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in a 12-round...

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Australian Rogers joins Saxo-Tinkoff

PARIS (Reuters) - Three-times world time-trial champion Michael Rogers has signed a two-year contract with Saxo-Tinkoff, the Dutch team said on Friday. The 32-year-old Australian left Team Sky after two years with the British outfit, with whom he played a key part in Bradley Wiggins's Tour de France victory in July. Rogers is set to play the same support role for Spain's Alberto Contador, who will...

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Armstrong has three weeks to appeal UCI sanctions

PARIS (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong has been notified by the UCI that he has been stripped of all the titles he won after July 1998 and the American has three weeks to appeal, a spokesman for cycling's world governing body said on Monday. "Lance Armstrong's lawyer was notified on 6th December that all his results since 1st August 1998 were nullified. He has 21 days to appeal (from that date)," the...

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Angry Katusha hit out at UCI over World Tour omission

(Reuters) - Katusha, the team that world number one Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain rides for, have hit out at the International Cycling Union (UCI) for dropping them from the sport's top flight. On Monday, the UCI announced Katusha's application for World Tour status in 2013 had been rejected but gave no explanation as to why the Russian team ranked second in this year's standings were not granted an...

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Obama: U.S. now recognizes Syrian opposition coalition

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama granted U.S. recognition on Tuesday to a Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, a move aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. Obama announced his decision in an interview with ABC News on the eve of a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their international allies...

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U.S. military to increase presence in Philippines

MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. and Philippine officials are expected to agree on an increase in the number of U.S. military ships, aircraft and troops rotating through the Philippines, Filipino officials said, as tensions simmer with China over its maritime claims. Senior U.S. and Philippine officials met on Wednesday in Manila to discuss strengthening security and economic ties at a time of growing tension...

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Turkish ex-leader's body shows poison, death cause unclear: media

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The exhumed body of Turkey's late President Turgut Ozal, who led the country out of military rule in the 1980s, contained poison but the cause of death was unclear, local media reported an autopsy as showing on Wednesday. There have long been rumors that Ozal, who died of heart failure in 1993 aged 65, was murdered by militants of the "deep state" - a shadowy group within the...

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Israel to withhold Palestinian funds until March

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will withhold tax revenues from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration until March at least in response to his statehood campaign at the United Nations, Israel's foreign minister said. Under interim peace deals, Israel collects some $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank -- money that is badly...

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Chavez's cancer surgery successful, Venezuela VP says

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's cancer operation in Cuba on Tuesday was a success, his vice president said, adding that the complex surgery had lasted more than six hours and he would be recuperating for several days. The 58-year-old socialist leader's third bout with cancer in the past 18 months has thrown his presidency into jeopardy and upended politics in the South American...

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The Real Best Places to Retire in 2012

A blizzard of articles give advice about the best places to retire. They generally recommend fleeing the North and heading for the Sunbelt, to places in the Carolinas, Florida, or Arizona. Occasionally they offer a surprise retirement spot in Iowa or Indiana. Sometimes they even tout retirement locales outside the United States. [See The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012.] These articles rely on...

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Baby Boomers Plan Their Retirement Careers

Retirement for the baby boomers is likely to be far different from what their parents experienced. Work will probably be an integral part of everyday life, both to meet financial requirements and to keep busy during an increasing lifespan. Workers approaching retirement should plan now for their pending retirement career. [See 10 Places to Launch a Second Career in Retirement.] Most baby boomers...

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Why Older Workers are Better Workers

At a time when high unemployment numbers constantly make the headlines, companies can be selective about whom they want to hire. Older workers generally don't make the top of lists of potential job candidates for a variety of reasons, some real and some imagined. But with 10,000 baby boomers reaching the age of 65 each day for the next twenty years, hiring companies would do well to re-evaluate this...

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Access to Money-Saving Benefits for Those 60 and Older

It's no secret many Americans are facing tough economic times and perhaps no segment more so than those aged 60 and older who are living on reduced or fixed incomes. The National Council on Aging and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging wants to help connect those individuals with services to help reduce the costs for prescriptions, utilities, food and health care. Aid Funds Available...

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How health care law affects lives of 7 Americans

CHICAGO (AP) — A father lost his job at a medical device company that is facing a new tax. A young woman got back on her parents' insurance and was able to get surgery for an injury that could have hobbled her. A part-time sales woman stopped putting off a colonoscopy and cancer screenings and saved nearly $3,000 because health plans now must pay for preventive care without co-pays. A business owner...

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