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Obama introduces Biden as running mate

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden to the nation as his running mate on Saturday, telling supporters he is a leader who is ready to step in and be president.

For months, I’ve searched for a leader to finish this journey alongside me and join me in making Washington work for the American people. I searched for a leader who understood the rising costs confronting working people and will always put their dreams first, Obama said.

Today, I’ve come back to Springfield to tell you I’ve found that leader, he said.

The rally is the pair’s first joint appearance since Obama announced that Biden, the senior U.S. senator from Delaware, would be his running mate on his Web site and in a text message to supporters early Saturday morning.

Thousands of cheering supporters gathered Saturday for the rally in Springfield, Illinois, where Obama announced his candidacy last year. It will be their only public appearance together before next week’s Democratic convention in Denver.

As he took to the podium at Saturday’s rally, Biden invoked the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, who was from Illinois.

President Lincoln once instructed us to be sure to put your feet in the right place and then stand firm, said Biden, a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Today in Springfield, I know my feet are in the right place, and I’m proud to stand firm with the next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Democrats hope that Biden’s working-class roots and foreign policy experience will help Obama, who informed Biden of his decision Thursday.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, called Biden on Saturday morning and congratulated him, CNN’s John King reported.

Before the text messages were distributed, multiple Democratic sources confirmed to CNN early Saturday that Obama wanted the Delaware senator as his vice president. Watch Biden and Obama at 3 p.m. ET on CNN.com Live

On Friday, CNN learned that three Democrats who had been considered contenders for the No. 2 spot, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, had been ruled out. Watch CNN’s John King break news of Biden being Obama’s VP pick

Sen. Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant, Clinton said in a written statement Saturday morning.

Sen. Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Sen. Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country. Watch Biden leave home for Illinois rally

Biden’s stock rose this week after he returned from a two-day trip to the Republic of Georgia after Russian troops invaded.

Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, brings decades of experience that could help counter GOP attacks on Obama’s lack of experience in foreign policy. Watch what Biden would bring to an Obama presidency

McCain’s campaign quickly reacted to word that Biden would be Obama’s running mate, calling attention to Biden’s past comments about Obama’s experience.

There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden, McCain campaign spokesman Ben Porritt said in a written statement. iReport.com: iReporters ask if Biden was really the best choice

Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing: that Barack Obama is not ready to be president. Watch McCain’s new ad targeting Biden

In a debate during the Democratic primary contest, Biden raised questions about other candidates’ foreign policy experience.

Who among us is going to be able on Day One to step in and end the war? Who among us understands what to do about Pakistan? Who among us is going to pick up the phone and immediately interface with Putin and tell him to lay off Georgia because Saakashvili is in real trouble. Who among us knows what they’re doing? I have 35 years of experience, Biden said.

During another debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos referred to some of Biden’s comments on Obama.

You were asked, ‘Is he ready?’ You said, ‘I think he can be ready, but right now, I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training,’ Stephanopoulos said.

I think I stand by that statement, Biden replied.

In July, Biden said he would choose Obama’s judgment over McCain’s war record and foreign policy experience.

But 20 years of experience that has not been very solid in terms of projecting what was going to happen just doesn’t make you a better commander in chief, Biden said. We don’t need as a commander in chief a war hero. John’s a war hero. We need someone with some wisdom.

Biden abandoned his own White House run after a poor showing in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. He also ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out after charges of plagiarism in a stump speech. Learn more about Biden

Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972. Shortly afterward, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. He considered resigning but decided to continue with his political career.

Biden is serving out his sixth term, making him Delaware’s longest-serving senator.

He is married and has three children. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and got a law degree from Syracuse.

In 1988, Biden suffered an aneurysm and nearly died but has recovered fully.

found here.

Absalon and Spitz claim mountain bike glory

(CNN) — French legend Julien Absalon took his status to new heights when he became the first rider to defend the men’s mountain bike Olympic title.

Absalon kept the gold in French hands for the third Olympics in a row — following Miguel Martinez’s victory at Sydney in 2000 — thanks to a commanding display early in the 36km race which left his rivals trailing.

The Olympic Games is a massive motivation for every athlete and four years passes quickly, as it has from Athens to Beijing, said Absalon, who finished well ahead of compatriot Jean-Christophe Peraud with Nino Schurter pipping world champion and Swiss compatriot Christoph Sauser to the bronze medal.

A highly-fancied Swiss trio failed to match Absalon’s early pace after he had begun to steadily grind out a lead by the second of the eight scheduled laps.

It’s great to do the double. It feels totally different (from 2004), but this just confirms what I achieved in Athens, added Absalon, who denied that he had made his victory look easy.

I had as tough a race as everyone else. When I saw the chance to make the break I went for it. After that I really gave it everything I had.

In the women’s 27km mountain bike race, defending champion Gunn-Rita Dahle from Norway was one of several contenders to fall victim to a course that was finally mastered by Germany’s Sabine Spitz.

The 36-year-old, who only began racing at the relatively late age of 22, was determined to improve on her bronze medal in Athens.

She started fast and was soon racing on her own to gold ahead of Poland’s Maja Wloszczowska, who finished with the silver ahead of Russian Irina Kalentieva.

I feel pure joy at what I have finally achieved after so many years of hard work, said Spitz. Winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games is the crowning glory.

The first boxing medals were decided on Saturday with Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic winning his country’s first ever Olympic boxing title after beating Thailand’s Manus Boonjumnong to take the light-welterweight gold.

But Thailand made amends in the flyweight final when Somjit Jongjohor comfortably out-pointing Cuban Andris Laffita 8-2 to claim his first Olympic gold.

Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine won the featherweight gold medal, capping a spectacular run through the tournament with a first-round stoppage of France’s Khedafi Djelkhir.

James Degale of Britain won the middleweight gold medal, upsetting Cuba’s Emilio Correa in a sloppy bout, while Correa failed to emulate his father’s gold medal performance for Cuba in 1972.

Rakhim Chakhkiev of Russia gained revenge on Italy’s world champion Clemente Russo by claiming heavyweight gold. Chakhkiev was beaten by Russo in the final of the world championships.

China’s Ma Lin won gold in the men’s singles table tennis tournament, defeating teammate Wang Hao to secure a clean sweep of all gold medals on offer to the host nation.

World number two Ma fought off world number one Wang in a scorching final strewn with fast and furious rallies to win 4-1 and cement China’s status as the superpower of the sport.

The victory hands China a clean sweep of all six medals in the singles competition, after teammate Wang Liqin removed the last obstacle to the Chinese Wall — defeating Sweden’s veteran Jorgen Persson for the bronze medal.

A goal from Christopher Zeller in the 16th minute gave Germany the men’s field hockey gold medal by defeating Spain 1-0 in the final. Australia took the bronze with a 6-2 win over the Netherlands in the play-off between the losing semifinalists.

Australian Matthew Mitcham won the men’s 10m platform diving title to spoil China’s bid for a sweep of all eight diving gold medals. China’s Zhou Luxin settled for silver, while Russia’s Gleb Galperin claimed the bronze medal.

Elsewhere, on the penultimate day of competition, Russia won the team event and swept both gold medals in synchronized swimming for the third consecutive Olympics.

Russia finished with a combined 99.500 points after Saturday’s free routine. Spain took the silver with 98.251 points and China claimed the bronze with 97.334.

Anastasia Ermakova and Anastasia Davydova already won gold in the duet on Wednesday and were also part of Russia’s eight-woman squad for the team event.

Norway’s women’s handball team won their first Olympic gold medal, beating Russia 34-27 in the final.

Norway rushed to an 8-1 lead after just eight minutes and remained well ahead for the rest of Saturday’s match. Neither Norway nor Russia has ever won a gold medal in women’s handball.

Brazil won their first women’s volleyball gold medal after defeating the United States 25-15 18-25 25-13 25-21 in a hard-fought final.

Saturday also saw the remaining six disciplines decided in the canoeing, with Ken Wallace of Australia winning the gold medal in the men’s 500-meter kayak singles.

The first-time Olympian won in one minute, 37.252 seconds from Adam van Koeverden of Canada. Briton Tim Brabants took the bronze medal to add to the gold he won in the 1,000m race.

Inna Osypenko-Radomska of Ukraine won gold in the women’s 500-meter kayak singles, just nipping Italy in a tight finish.

Osypenko-Radomska’s time of 1:50.673 seconds was enough to just pip Josefa Idem of Italy, with Germany’s Katrin Wagner-Augustin taking bronze.

Saul Craviotto and Carlos Perez of Spain won gold medal in the men’s 500-meter kayak doubles, slipping past the defending Olympic champions for victory.

Craviotto and Perez clocked 1:28.736 seconds to edge Ronald Rauhe and Tim Wieskotter into silver in a major shock as the German pair have been world champions since 2001. Raman Piatrushenka and Vadzim Makhneu of Belarus took bronze.

Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Janic of Hungary won the gold medal in the women’s 500-meter kayak doubles, successfully defending their Olympic triumph in Athens.

The two-time world champions saw off Beata Mikolajczyk and Aneta Konieczna of Poland with the French tandem of Marie Delattre and Anne-Laure Viard taking bronze.

Maxim Opalev of Russia took gold medal in the men’s 500-meter canoe singles, giving him his third medal in the last three Olympics and first gold.

Opalev took bronze four years ago in the Athens Games and silver in Sydney. David Cal of Spain won his second silver medal in two days, after also finishing second in the 1,000m. Iurii Cheban of Ukraine took the bronze medal.

Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun of China took gold in the men’s 500-meter canoe doubles, successfully defending their Olympic triumph in Athens.

Sergey Ulegin and Alexander Kostoglod of Russia won silver while the German pair of Christian Gille and Thomasz Wylenzek took bronze.

Mexico’s Maria del Rosario Espinoza won the gold medal in the women’s 67kg taekwondo category. Espinoza, the 2007 world champion, easily defeated Norway’s Nina Solheim on points after going ahead in the first round and never falling behind.

Winning bronze were Britain’s Sarah Stevenson, who defeated Egypt’s Noha Abd Rabo, and Brazil’s Natalia Falavigna, who outscored Sweden’s Karolina Kedzierska.

Russia’s Evgeniya Kanaeva won gold in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around competition, posting the highest score in all four rotations of the event.

Her final total of 75.500 points was enough to beat Inna Zhukova of Belarus, who gained 71.925 points for the silver. Anna Bessonova of the Ukraine had 71.875 points for her second straight bronze.

There was controversy in the Taekwondo competition as Cuba’s former Olympic champion Angel Valodia Matos was thrown out of international competition for kicking the referee in the head after he was disqualified in a bronze medla match.

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Weightlifter Razoronov expelled for doping

BEIJING, China (AP) — Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov has been kicked out of the Beijing Olympics, after becoming the sixth athlete caught for doping during the games.

Razoronov tested positive for the steroid nandrolone after finishing sixth in the 105kg division on Monday, the International Olympic Committee said.

The 38-year-old Razoronov was disqualified and expelled from the games.

The IOC asked the international weightlifting federation to adjust the competition results and consider any further sanctions. Razoronov now faces a two-year ban from the sport.

Another Ukrainian, Lyudmila Blonska, was stripped of her heptathlon silver medal after testing positive for the steroid methyltestosterone.

The IOC said Razoronov’s doping sample was more than four times over the permitted threshold for nandrolone. He did not request testing of his backup B sample.

The IOC said Ukrainian team officials apologized, saying Razoronov had undergone surgery for elbow and knee injuries and that his positive test may have resulted from medication he was using.

IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch, however, said it was unlikely medical treatment would lead to the presence of nandrolone and that Razoronov had not requested any exemption for use of medications.

Razoronov is the only weightlifter who has tested positive in Beijing. Eleven Greek weightlifters and 12 Bulgarian lifters failed doping tests ahead of the Beijing Games.

found here.

Buffett: U.S. still in recession

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday the U.S. economy continues to be in a recession, by his definition, and will continue to be for at least several more months.

During a live appearance on CNBC, Buffett said ripples of the credit crunch are continuing to cause problems in financial businesses and the economy.

Earlier this year he said a financial crisis reveals which players have been swimming naked, because the tide goes out. That picture has worsened along with the crisis.

We found out that Wall Street has been kind of a nudist beach, said Buffett, who is chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is based in Omaha.

Buffett said activity at businesses Berkshire owns, especially ones related to housing construction such as Shaw carpet and Acme Brick, continued to slow during the summer.

He is confident the U.S. will be doing better five years from now, Buffett said, but the economy could be worse five months from now.

Buffett said the economy is in a recession because most Americans aren’t doing as well today as before. The technical definition of a recession most economists use is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the nation’s gross domestic product.

found here.

Buffett: U.S. still in recession

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday the U.S. economy continues to be in a recession, by his definition, and will continue to be for at least several more months.

During a live appearance on CNBC, Buffett said ripples of the credit crunch are continuing to cause problems in financial businesses and the economy.

Earlier this year he said a financial crisis reveals which players have been swimming naked, because the tide goes out. That picture has worsened along with the crisis.

We found out that Wall Street has been kind of a nudist beach, said Buffett, who is chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is based in Omaha.

Buffett said activity at businesses Berkshire owns, especially ones related to housing construction such as Shaw carpet and Acme Brick, continued to slow during the summer.

He is confident the U.S. will be doing better five years from now, Buffett said, but the economy could be worse five months from now.

Buffett said the economy is in a recession because most Americans aren’t doing as well today as before. The technical definition of a recession most economists use is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the nation’s gross domestic product.

found here.