Kwan out, Jafari in

This is disappointing

Kwan cut short her first practice of the games the day before after straining a groin muscle, and the injury worsened as the day wore on. She withdrew after Dr. Jim Moeller evaluated her early Sunday morning and recommended she not continue.

"I wish I was here in better circumstances," Kwan said Sunday morning, her voice flat and her eyes puffy. "When I first put in my petition, I said I believed I'd be 100 percent by time the Olympics came around. But yesterday, after going on ice and feeling stiff ... I don't think that I can be 100 percent.

"I respect the Olympics too much to compete and I don't feel I can be at my best" [...]

"Michelle Kwan means more to the United States Olympic Committee than maybe any athlete that's ever performed for the U.S. Olympic Committee," [USOC chairman] Ueberroth said. "She's been a leader, she's been gracious, she's somebody that cares for so many youngsters that are training in our country."

Damn...

But anyway...

The leading coalition of Shiite Muslim parties in Iraq nominated the country's incumbent prime minister, Ibrahim Jafari, to a new four-year term in an internal election decided by a single vote, the group's leaders announced at a news conference Sunday afternoon [...]

While Jafari has overseen successful elections, critics say he has failed to significantly improve the security situation in Iraq and allowed abuses of Sunni Arabs by the Shiite-dominated government.

Others fear his alliance's ties to Iran, a neighboring Shiite theocracy that fought a bloody eight-year war with Iraq during the 1980s.

Bah.