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Atkinson leads Loeb in Swedish Rally

KARLSTAD, Sweden — World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb finished joint second in the opening super stage of the Swedish Rally today, three tenths of a second behind Subaru’s Chris Atkinson.

Australian Atkinson completed the 2.06-kilometer circuit in one minute 6.1 seconds, just ahead of Loeb and his Citroen team-mate Petter Solberg.

Ford duo Henning Solberg and Gigi Galli were tied for fourth fastest on 1:06.7 while Andreas Mikkelsen finished in sixth place on his first outing of the year in his Ramsport-run Focus RS.

Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen recorded times of 1:07 and 1:07.2 respectively to finish seventh and eighth for BP Ford Abu Dhabi, while Suzuki’s Per-Gunnar Andersson was one tenth of a second behind in ninth. Citroen’s Urmo Aava completed the top 10 on his debut with 1:07.4.

The rally proper begins on Friday and will be Loeb, who is bidding for his fifth consecutive title, and co-driver Daniel Elena’s 100th start. E-mail to a friend

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CNN projects Clinton, McCain take California

(CNN) — The race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination remained wide open Wednesday after senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama split voters and delegates in the Super Tuesday primaries.

Although CNN projections showed Obama winning more states, Clinton claimed victory in several key states with higher delegate counts, including New York, which she represents in the Senate, and California.

Latest estimates suggest Clinton may have picked up only about 20 more delegates than Obama in the Super Tuesday states — and that the pair could be separated by less than 100 delegates in all voting so far.

But it will take time to determine the final distribution of delegates because of complicated formulae, and because New Mexico’s count is not yet final.

In the Republican contest, Arizona senator John McCain admitted he was the front-runner after piling up big primary wins across the country, according to CNN projections.

He is now estimated to have about half the delegates he needs to win his party’s nomination, and more than Romney and Huckabee combined.

Speaking in Phoenix, Arizona, McCain expressed pleasure and gratitude over his Super Tuesday showing Wednesday and declared: We will unite the party behind our conservative principles and move forward and win the general election in November. He said he was pleased at the depth and breadth of our victory last night.

CNN projected McCain to win his home state, along with California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. McCain wins big; Huckabee shines

Mitt Romney was projected to take Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Utah while Mike Huckabee was projected as winner in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia.

In the Democratic races, CNN projections indicated wins for Clinton in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, where her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, was once governor, and American Samoa.

Barack Obama has CNN-projected wins in his home state of Illinois, plus Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah.

More than four-fifths of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and more than 1,000 of the 1,191 necessary delegates on the Republican side were at stake on Tuesday.

The delegate count is key when looking at the results. Candidates need to notch up enough delegates — rather than voter numbers — to secure their party’s nomination. What’s next for the candidates?

On Super Tuesday 24 states and the U.S. Pacific territory of American Samoa went to the polls — the largest single day of voting in the nomination process.

McCain turnaround

For the Republicans, it was a day that cemented McCain’s remarkable turnaround since the four-term Arizona senator, a 71-year-old former Vietnamese prisoner of war, was written off last summer as a viable White House contender by many political commentators.

But CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider warned that McCain still faced a fight to clinch the party nomination after faring less well with traditional conservatives than with moderate Republicans. See how the analysts are calling Super Tuesday.

He did not carry conservative voters, Schneider said. They are very wary of John McCain and he has to find a way to convince them that he is one of them. Watch McCain on uniting his party

The day’s biggest surprise may have been the strong showing by Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister, who collected several important victories across southern states and West Virginia.

Over the past few days, a lot of people have been trying to say that this is a two-man race. Well, you know what? It is, and we’re in it, Huckabee said, reaffirming his commitment to staying in the Republican fight.

Speaking to CNN’s American Morning, Huckabee pointed out that he would support whichever candidate becomes the Republican party’s nominee, including McCain, while reiterating his claim to be the most conservative candidate. Huckabee happy with his showing

Romney, who did not have any public events scheduled for Wednesday, was planning to huddle with his aides to discuss a strategy to stay in the race.

Despite outspending his rivals he received just 176 delegates from Super Tuesday, compared with at least 568 for McCain and 147 for Huckabee, according to CNN estimates.

One thing that’s clear — this campaign’s going on, Romney said Tuesday. I think there’s some people who thought that it was all going to be done tonight, but it’s not all done tonight. We’re going to keep on battling.

The Republican contest now shifts to to Louisiana and Washington, where voters cast ballots on Saturday, followed by polls in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. next Tuesday.

Clinton, Obama trade blows

While most Republican contests are winner-take-all, most Democratic contests are awarded proportionally based on the number of congressional districts won. According to latest CNN estimates, Clinton won 569 delegates to Obama’s 550 on Tuesday, giving Clinton an overall lead of 812-720.

Clinton revealed Wednesday she had dipped into her own finances for an additional boost ahead of this week’s Super Tuesday contests, lending her Democratic presidential campaign $5 million. I think the results last night prove the wisdom of my investment, she said. Clinton touts her victories

Campaigning in Virginia, she added: This is a decision between two real people… People are going to have to look at us and decide who they believe would be the best president.

Speaking to reporters in Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday, Obama said: I believe that we had an extraordinary night, it was a big victory for our campaign. He added that this year’s election is crucial because we have a whole array of long-term challenges that demand our attention and we know we have to change the way business is done in Washington to meet them. Obama on the challenges for the next president

The Democratic contest continues Saturday with primaries in Louisiana, Washington State and Nebraska followed by primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia Tuesday.

CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider predicted the Democratic contest could go all the way to the National Convention in August when delegates will gather to confirm the party’s final choice. Typically, the choice of candidate is determined prior to the convention, with voting a mere formality.
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Bank of England cuts key rate; ECB likely to hold steady

LONDON, England (AP) — The Bank of England cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.25 percent on Thursday, its second cut in three months as it attempts to shore up confidence in Britain’s slowing economy.

The prospects for output growth abroad have deteriorated and the disruption to global financial markets has continued, the central bank said in its accompanying statement.

The trim in rates had been widely anticipated by analysts who had expected the central bank’s monetary policy committee to set aside conflicting concerns about accelerating inflation.

The bank said that higher energy and food prices could raise inflation, possibly quite sharply, in the coming months.

Inflation is currently running at 2.1 percent, already above the government’s 2 percent target, and a cut in rates to boost economic growth can also have the effect of increasing inflation.

Given this outlook for inflation, some slowing of demand growth, by reducing the pressure on capacity, is likely to be necessary to return inflation to target in the medium term, the bank said in its statement.

The committee needs to balance the risk that a sharp slowing in activity pulls inflation below the target in the medium term against the risk that elevated inflation expectations keep inflation above target, it added.

The bank last cut rates, again by a quarter of a percentage point, in December. It stayed its hand last month as it awaited more data on the economy and possibly attempted to avoid sending a panic signal to the markets with a second cut in as many months.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has acknowledged that the bank is facing a difficult balancing act, with inflationary pressures from higher energy and food prices and a falling British pound weighed up against data showing slowing economic activity and turbulence on financial markets.

The U.S. Federal Reserve knocked 1.25 percent off the cost of borrowing during the second half of January in response to the threat of a recession in the United States.
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Rio Tinto rejects BHP sweetener

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Rio Tinto rejected a sweetened formal offer from mining rival BHP Billiton on Wednesday, saying the all-share offer worth $147.4 billion still did not reflect the value of the company and its prospects for expansion.

Rio Tinto, which had already rejected an initial approach from BHP Billiton last year as too low, said its boards were unanimous in turning away an offer that would create the dominant global player in iron ore.

BHP Billiton’s offers, while improved, still fail to recognize the underlying value of Rio Tinto’s quality assets and prospects, said Rio Tinto Chairman Paul Skinner. Our plans are unchanged, and will remain so unless a proposal is made that fully reflects the value of Rio Tinto.

BHP Billiton is already the world’s largest diversified mining company, and Rio Tinto is the third-largest. Analysts say that if the deal succeeds it would be the biggest takeover in the mining sector and one of the biggest ever in the corporate world.

Steelmakers in China, Japan and Europe have protested BHP Billiton’s bid, contending that a takeover would give it too much influence over global iron ore supplies and pricing. BHP Billiton accounts for around 15 percent of world iron ore sales, while Rio Tinto is responsible for 24 percent, which would put the combined company at 39 percent. Watch what the deal entailed

BHP Billiton — which also reported a 2.4 percent drop in six-month net profit on Wednesday — is offering 3.4 of its shares for every one Rio Tinto share, an increase from the initial informal proposal of three-for-one, the Melbourne-based company said. The offer applies to both Australian-listed Rio Tinto Ltd. and British-listed Rio Tinto PLC.

The proposed deal would deliver efficiency benefits worth $3.7 billion a year and raise the value of shareholdings in both companies, BHP Billiton Chief Executive Marius Kloppers said.

I believe there is widespread support for the compelling logic of the proposal to combine the companies, Kloppers said in Sydney earlier in the day.

BHP’s offer came just hours before a deadline set by the British takeover regulator for the company to formalize its bid or walk away from the deal for six months.

Under the current terms, Rio Tinto would hold 44 percent of the new company — more than the 36 percent of the merged group BHP Billiton made in its earlier offer.

Analysts had thought that BHP Billiton’s new offer would be more attractive to Rio Tinto, but might still not be enough to secure the deal. Numis Securities analyst Simon Toyne said BHP Billiton can now sit back and let the regulatory process unfold before presenting its current offer, or an improved one, to Rio Tinto shareholders.

BHP Billiton valued its latest offer at $147.4 billion using Monday’s closing share price. The theoretical value of the all-share swap changes daily, and is further complicated because BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are both listed separately in Sydney and London.

Rio Tinto’s shares fell 0.6 percent to 5,399 pence ($106.37) in London, where BHP Billiton sank 4.6 percent to 1,524 pence ($30.02).

BHP Billiton is likely to discuss its sweetened offer with Aluminum Corp. of China, and Alcoa Inc., which last week bought a 12 percent stake in Rio Tinto’s London-listed stock, which equated to a 9 percent stake in the whole group. At some stage, we’re likely to have a discussion, Kloppers told a conference call, though he also said BHP Billiton could proceed with its offer without the support of the new stake holders.

The purchase by state-owned Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, and U.S.-based Alcoa followed rumors that some Chinese entity might try to block BHP Billiton’s bid.

Chinalco President Xiao Yaqing said this week his company and Alcoa had no intention of raising their stake in Rio Tinto, though they reserved the right to participate in a takeover offer within the next six months.

He suggested Chinalco might be prepared to sell its stake in Rio Tinto as part of a BHP bid if the return is attractive.

Earlier Wednesday, Alcoa and Chinalco said through Singapore-based Shining Prospect that they would closely monitor bid developments, in particular any response from the board of Rio Tinto. Shares in Chalco, the Hong Kong-listed unit of Chinalco, fell 6.5 percent to 12.40 Hong Kong dollars ($1.59) on Wednesday.

BHP Billiton said it had already secured a committed bank financing facility of $55 billion for the deal.

The deal would be subject to regulatory approvals in Australia, the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and to 50 percent shareholder approval, Kloppers said. He said the company believed regulatory clearances could be achieved within nine months.

If the offer is successful, BHP Billiton said it will return up to $30 billion to shareholders through a share buyback within 12 months of completing the acquisition.

Earlier Wednesday, BHP posted a net profit of $6.02 billion in the six months ended December 31, down 2.4 percent from $6.2 billion a year earlier because of moderating global growth.

Net profit before one-time items was $6.0 billion, compared with consensus forecasts of $6.1 billion. Underlying earnings before interest and tax for the first half was $9.62 billion, just above analyst consensus of $9.5 billion.

Revenue for the half-year rose 16 percent to $25.54 billion from $22.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.
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No rest for Clinton, Obama; 7 more contests fast approach

(CNN) — With Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton almost even in delegate counts, the two Democratic presidential candidates will focus on several weekend contests and then a trio of primaries in the Washington area next Tuesday.

Super Tuesday delivered a split decision for the Democrats. CNN estimates showed Clinton earned a handful more delegates than Obama, who surprised observers by taking states where the senator from New York had large polling leads until recently.

The latest estimate gave Clinton 582 of the 1,681 delegates at stake Tuesday, compared with 562 for Obama. It will take time to determine the final distribution because of complicated formulas.

CNN’s overall count showed Clinton leading at this point in delegates with 823 to Obama’s 731. They’ll need 2,025 to secure their party’s nomination.

Both candidates fly to Washington on Wednesday afternoon for Senate votes, but the next day Obama holds a major rally in New Orleans ahead of this weekend’s Louisiana primary.

Washington state and Nebraska also hold caucuses Saturday, and Maine will hold its caucuses Sunday.

Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia hold their presidential primaries next Tuesday.

I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debates about how to leave this country better off for the next generation, because that is the work of my life, the former first lady told supporters at her headquarters in New York on Tuesday night.

Clinton took Tuesday’s biggest prize of California, but Obama still earned a large share of the state’s 441 Democratic delegates.

Clinton won her home state of New York and neighboring New Jersey as well as Massachusetts, where the state’s two U.S. senators and the governor had endorsed Obama.

She also won primaries in Arkansas, where her husband was governor for more than a decade, and neighboring Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Arizona and American Samoa also fell into Clinton’s column.

But Obama won two Deep South states — Alabama and Georgia — with overwhelming African-American support despite early endorsements of Clinton by many black officials. And he won caucuses across Midwestern and Rocky Mountain states with mostly white populations — Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota and Kansas.

Obama also won primaries in Alaska, Utah, Delaware, Connecticut and Illinois, which sent him to the Senate in 2004.

The two were still in a back-and-forth race in New Mexico as the final votes were being counted on Wednesday.

The votes are still being counted in cities and towns across America, Obama told supporters in Chicago, Illinois. But there is one thing on this February night that we do not need the final results to know: Our time has come. Our movement is real. And change is coming to America.

The Democrats award delegates based on a proportion of the vote, and Tuesday’s primaries and caucuses were less decisive than in the Republican races, where many states awarded delegates on a winner-take-all basis.

Clinton racked up a string of wins in populous states, but she’s not taking them convincingly, said David Gergen, a former adviser to the Reagan and Clinton administrations.

She won New York by 15 points. Barack Obama won Illinois by 30 — his own home state, Gergen said. So it’s closer in the delegate camp, but she is moving. You get the sense their wagon is continuing to roll.

Clinton and Obama split the early Democratic contests, with Obama winning the Iowa caucuses and South Carolina primary and Clinton taking the New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucuses. Clinton also won primaries in Florida and Michigan, but those states were stripped of their delegates for moving their primaries up in defiance of the national Democratic Party. Watch how the delegates will be assigned

Each of the surviving Democrats has raised more than $100 million to date, and they spent a combined $21 million on television advertising in the past two weeks, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, CNN’s consultant on political ad spending. Obama spent about $12 million since January 21, said Evan Tracey, CMAG’s chief operating officer.

He is putting his money to work, Tracey said. He has turned up the volume, not only in the February 5 states but beyond.

As in South Carolina, African-American voters made up about half the turnout in Georgia and Alabama — and exit polls indicated that Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant father and a white mother, took about 80 percent of that vote. Meanwhile, his nearly 40 percent showing among white voters in Georgia was an improvement over South Carolina, where native son former Sen. John Edwards was also in the mix. View what is at stake on Super Tuesday

Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race last week following a string of third-place showings.

Clinton’s campaign played down the Georgia and Alabama results, saying it did not seriously contest the states. But she had the support of members of the black political establishment there, including former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and U.S. Rep. John Lewis — onetime lieutenants of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — and both she and former President Clinton made campaign appearances there last week.

Meanwhile, Clinton talked up her projected victory in Massachusetts. Obama received endorsements from Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, the latter the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and Gov. Deval Patrick. Watch Clinton cast her ballot

Her campaign said the results prove Clinton can show strength in places Obama was expected to win. But Obama spokesman Bill Burton pointed out that the senator from Illinois trailed Clinton in Massachusetts by more than 30 points in late January.

We’re happy for a close result, Burton said.
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