Stage 2 of the World Match Racing Tour will head for the southern German town of Langenargen on Lake Constance for Match Race Germany. Fresh from his win at the Brasil Sailing Cup, new World Tour leader Paolo Cian of Team Shosholoza will head up a field of 12 teams including America’s Cup skippers and crews.

The 12 team field will include:

1. Paolo Cian (ITA) - Team Shosholoza
2. Matthieu Richard (FRA) - French Match Racing Team
3. Ian Williams (GBR) - Team Pindar
4. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) - Alandia Sailing Team
5. Sébastian Col (FRA) - K Challenge/French Match Racing Team
6. Peter Wibroe (DEN) - Team Wibroe
7. Staffan Lindberg (FIN) - Alandia Sailing Team
8. Adam Minoprio (NZL) - Emirates Team New Zealand
9. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) - Trifork Racing
10. Damien Iehl – French Match Racing Team
11. Eric Monin (SUI) - Search.ch ‘Qualifier from the German Championship’
12. Markus Wieser (GER) - Team Sea Dubai ‘Qualifier from the Berlin Match Race’

Team Shosholoza is on top of the World Championship standings with their win at the Brasil Sailing Cup. They are the favorites going into Germany having won the event last year sailed in matched Bavaria 35’s “We sailed well in Brazil and had a great event to kick off our World Tour season” commented Paolo Cian “we are the defending Champions in Germany but anything can happen and it’s still a long way to win the World Championships” The fiery Italian will be up against some familiar foes this weekend including current World Champion, Ian Williams and his Team Pindar as well as Tour regulars Col, Hansen and Richard.

Frenchman Sébastien Col comments on the additional benefits the tour is providing him other than the opportunity of competing to become World Champion “Match Race Germany is our first event on the World Match Racing Tour this year. My objective this season is to sail at the highest level and to use the WMRT to prepare for our next America’s Cup campaign with K-Challenge. This will enable me to test different configurations with crew members and trimmers who would be interesting for us to recruit in the team. I’m starting the week with a two days training with Mathieu Richard in Pornic, then we will head to Langenargen to start the event on Wednesday.”

Perhaps no other venue on the World Tour is as stunning as Lake Constance which is bordered by Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Measuring 40 miles in length and 8.5 miles in width, Lake Constance, also called Bodensee, covers 220 square miles, making it central Europe’s second largest freshwater lake. With over 20,000 spectators last year, the event prides itself on its public access and festival atmosphere that takes place along the promenade of Langenargen at Lake Constance. With a large beer tent, many food vendors and bands playing everything from Dixieland to reggae, the event offers a slice of Oktoberfest in early summer.

Racing starts May 7 at 9.00hrs GMT subject to weather conditions. The format will see the teams split into two groups of 6 with the top three from each going to the quarter finals and the bottom three from each sailing a repechage for the final two places in the quarter final. From there the knockouts begin culminating in a first to three point final on Monday, May 12th which is a public holiday in Germany.

For more information about the World Match Racing Tour, visit the WMRT website at www.worldmatchracingtour.com.
Yvonne Reid

[Source: bymnews.com]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq would make it difficult to mount any attack on Iran, the Pentagon’s top officer said in remarks broadcast on Monday, adding that he would prefer to avoid a new regional war.

“I actually am very hopeful that we don’t get into a position where we have to get into a conflict,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Israel’s Channel Ten television when asked if he might recommend that U.S. forces strike Iranian nuclear facilities preemptively.

“It would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world,” Mullen added, referring to the Bush administration’s long-running military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Washington is leading efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear plans through U.N. Security Council sanctions, but has also hinted that war could be a last resort for denying Tehran — which insists it seeks atomic energy only — the means to make a bomb.

Jittery since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 2005 call for the Jewish state to be “wiped off the map,” Israeli officials have been lobbying for a tougher global stand against their arch-foe.

“I certainly share the concern about Iran and about the leadership, and I think it is very important that we increase as much as possible the financial pressure, the diplomatic pressure, the political pressure, and at the same time keep all the military options on the table,” Mullen said.

Believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal, Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981. Israeli war planes also destroyed a site in Syria last September which U.S. officials said was that of a secret nuclear program, though Damascus denied having any such facility.

“Certainly the situation with Syria is a troubling one and the development of this nuclear reactor was a troubling one indeed, and it is also indicative of what can be done out of the sight of people,” Mullen said.

“You just can’t be sure whether someone isn’t developing one somewhere else.”

Speculation that Israel could attack Iranian nuclear sites alone has been offset by assessments that its armed forces are too limited for the task. Iran is widely expected to retaliate for any such strike by targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Gulf.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Sami Aboudi)

By Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday dismissed any prospect of new talks with the United States on Iraq, accusing U.S.-led forces on Monday of a “massacre” of the Iraqi people.

The two foes last year held three rounds of ground-breaking discussions in Baghdad, easing a diplomatic freeze of almost three decades, but Iraqi officials have expressed frustration that a fourth round has failed to get off the ground.

Iraq says it does not want its soil to become a battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Iran, which are also at loggerheads over Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

“Right now, what we observe in Iraq is a massacre of the Iraqi nation by the occupying forces,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference.

“Concerning this situation, talks with America will have no results and will be meaningless.”

Hosseini did not elaborate, but U.S. forces have been fighting daily battles with militiamen loyal to anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad for several weeks.

Washington accuses Iran of funding, arming and training “rogue” elements of Sadr’s Mehdi Army to attack U.S. and Iraqi forces, despite its public commitment to stabilizing Iraq.

Tehran blames the violence on the U.S. presence in Iraq.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey criticized Iran for its latest statements and reiterated U.S. accusations of Iranian meddling in its neighbor’s affairs.

“It is meaningless to have talks on anything with Iran as long as they don’t change their behavior. That said, we have continued to be willing and ready, and are willing and ready, to have additional discussions with the Iranians through this tripartite channel,” Casey told reporters.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said there was no point in continuing the talks at this point.

“We see the value of the talks to be continued, but when the conditions are right and conducive,” he told the U.S. television news network CNN.

SHI’ITE MILITIAS

Despite the mutual accusations, U.S. and Iranian officials had launched talks in May last year aimed at easing bloodshed in Iraq. The fourth meeting has been postponed repeatedly.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also voiced support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in cracking down on “illegal” Shi’ite militias, after an Iraqi delegation urged Tehran to stop backing such groups.

The U.S. military said last week “very, very significant” amounts of Iranian arms had been found in Basra and Baghdad during an offensive against gunmen loyal to Sadr.

Maliki has ordered the formation of a committee to compile evidence of Iranian “interference” in Iraq that would then be presented to Tehran, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh Dabbagh said on Sunday.

Hosseini said Tehran had always supported stability in Iraq.

“What Iran has repeatedly said … was its support for Mr Maliki’s government,” Hosseini said. “Iran believes that illegal armed groups that committed crimes should be legally confronted.”

Ties between Iran and Iraq have improved since Sunni Arab strongman Saddam Hussein was ousted in the U.S.-led invasion and a Shi’ite-led government came to power in Baghdad.

Analysts say Tehran wants to keep a friendly government in charge while ensuring that rival Iraqi Shi’ite factions look to Iran as a power broker.

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Aseel Kami in Baghdad, and Sue Plemingin Washington; Writing by Fredrik Dahl, editing by Ross Colvin and Myra MacDonald)

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS - Barack Obama likened Hillary Rodham Clinton to President Bush for threatening to “totally obliterate” Iran if it attacks Israel and called her gas-tax holiday a gimmick as he tried to fend off her challenge ahead of two pivotal Democratic primaries.

Clinton, in turn, stood by both her comment on Iran and her tax proposal as she gave chase to the front-runner in Indiana and North Carolina.

The competitors squabbled over the issues — one foreign, one domestic — from a short distance, first during separate appearances on Sunday news shows and then as they courted voters for Tuesday’s primaries.

“This is the final push,” Clinton told a cheering crowd of volunteer canvassers in Fort Wayne, emboldened by her Pennsylvania victory two weeks ago as well as polls that show her in a close race in Indiana and narrowing Obama’s lead in North Carolina.

Obama, for his part, was hoping that wins Tuesday would stop the bleeding from a difficult campaign stretch. Maneuvering for advantage, he sought to portray Clinton as politically motivated on both Iran and her gas-tax plan.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama opened a new line of criticism and seized on an answer Clinton gave when asked last month what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons on her watch.

“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Clinton said April 22 in an interview with ABC. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”

Obama said, “It’s not the language we need right now, and I think it’s language reflective of George Bush.”

Suggesting that his rival was a political opportunist, Obama added: “Senator Clinton during the course of the campaign has said we shouldn’t speculate about Iran, we’ve got to be cautious when we’re running for president, she scolded me on a couple of occasions on this issue, yet a few days before an election, she’s willing to use that language.”

Clinton, asked on ABC’s “This Week” about Obama’s criticism, said she had no regrets about her comment.

“Why would I have any regrets? I’m asked a question about what I would do if Iran attacked our ally … and, yes, we would have massive retaliation against Iran,” Clinton said. “I don’t think they will do that, but I sure want to make it abundantly clear to them that they would face a tremendous cost if they did such a thing.”

Turning up the heat on an issue closer to home, Obama on NBC called Clinton’s proposal for a gas-tax holiday this summer a “classic Washington gimmick” that wouldn’t solve anything and would save only $28 for each person. He opposes the temporary suspension of the federal tax and argued that Clinton was pandering for votes.

To underscore that, Obama rolled out a new TV ad for Indiana and North Carolina that derided “Clinton gimmicks that help big oil.”

“More low-road attacks from Hillary Clinton. Now she’s pushing a bogus gas-tax gimmick. Experts say it’ll just boost oil industry profits,” the ad says. “Clinton aides admit it won’t do much for you — but would help her politically.”

Clinton dismissed the criticism and disputed Obama’s suggestions that she and Republican candidate John McCain were the same because they both support a gas-tax holiday.

“Senator McCain has said take off the gas tax, don’t pay for it, throw us further into deficit and debt. That is not what I’ve proposed,” Clinton told ABC, adding that she wants the oil companies to pay the gas tax instead of consumers this summer.

Many economists oppose the plan and Clinton demurred when asked to name one who supports it. “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists because I know if we did it right … it would be implemented effectively,” she said.

Focusing on Indiana, Clinton and Obama nearly tripped over each other throughout the day. They stayed overnight in Indianapolis hotels one block apart. They were greeting voters within miles of each other in Fort Wayne. By evening, they planned to return to the capital city for the Indiana Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

North Carolina, too, was to get some last-minute attention. Both candidates shuffled their schedules to dart back to the state on Monday, reflecting the tightening contest there

Obama is ahead in the hunt for convention delegates — 1,742.5 to 1,607.5, according to an Associated Press count Sunday — but he has faced a spate of troubles over the past month. That has Clinton sensing an opening. Still, the delegate math works in Obama’s favor, and it will be difficult for Clinton to overtake him.

Nevertheless, Clinton suggested anew she had no intention of dropping out, saying on ABC, “When the process finishes in early June, people can look at all the various factors and decide who would be the strongest candidate” to go up against McCain in the fall.

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve and other regulators are moving Friday to crack down on “unfair and deceptive” practices in the credit card industry that have added billions in debt to people already struggling to cope with the economic downturn.

In the most far-reaching crackdown on the credit industry in decades, the Fed and two government agencies are proposing rules that would stop credit card companies from unfairly raising interest rates and make sure they give people enough time to pay their bills.

The banking industry is expected to fight the new rules.

Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America, said that while he hadn’t yet seen the details, the rules “appear to address some of the most significant abuses in the credit card marketplace right now.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who has introduced legislation to protect consumers from credit card abuse, said in a statement that she was pleased the Fed had adopted some aspects of her legislation.

But she also expressed concern that “by the time the Fed gets around to finalizing these credit card reform proposals, they will be watered down and come too little too late for consumers who need relief now.”

The Fed has been criticized for moving too slowly to respond to abuses leading to the subprime mortgage crisis.

The agencies said the new regulations could be finalized by the end of the year.

Plunkett said his group estimates that credit card debt is now about $850 billion, with households that don’t pay their credit card bills in full every month owing an average $17,000.

The proposed new rules that would prohibit:

_Placing unfair time constraints on payments. A payment could not be deemed late unless the borrower is given a reasonable period of time, such as 21 days, to pay;

_Unfairly allocating payments among balances with different interest rates;

• Unfairly raising annual percentage rates on outstanding balances;

_Placing too-high fees for exceeding the credit limit solely because of a hold placed on the account;

_Unfairly computing balances;

_Unfairly adding security deposits and fees for issuing credit or making credit available;

_Making deceptive offers of credit.

In news releases, the agencies said the proposed rules also would require federal credit unions to give consumers a chance to opt out of an overdraft protection program. And they would prohibit those institutions from charging a fee for an overdraft caused by a hold placed on consumer’s funds when a person uses a debit card.

The Fed, which is expected to vote Friday afternoon on its approval of the proposed rules, is acting in conjunction with the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Ken Clayton, senior vice president of card policy for the American Bankers Association, said the industry will fight the new proposals, describing them as “aggressive regulatory intervention in the marketplace that will result in higher prices and less consumer credit.”

He said the change “basically says that we can’t price for risk” and that if higher risk borrowers don’t bear the costs, those costs will be passed along to other consumers.

—-

Associated Press Writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.