MADRID – After an anti-climatic championship capped a season of turmoil in 2009, Michael Schumacher’s return to Formula One has set the stage for a highly anticipated title fight.

Schumacher’s comeback puts four champions on the grid, and at least four teams – including Schumacher’s Mercedes GP – are expected to challenge for the championship after a season of surprises on the track generated little excitement despite the victory of underdog Brawn GP.

Most of the news was made off the track in a series of scandals that included the teams nearly forming a breakaway series, Lewis Hamilton allegedly lying to stewards to gain an advantage and Renault’s Flavio Briatore being banned from the sport for ordering a driver to crash.

Order appeared to be somewhat restored in February when Ferrari emerged as this season’s leading contender after preseason testing, while McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes are all expected to be in the hunt from the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14. In all, 12 teams will be on a starting grid, with Lotus racing for the first time since 1994 and the Senna name returning to the track.

“There could be five or six teams who are competitive,” said defending champion Jenson Button, who switched from Brawn to McLaren in January. “It is great for the sport, and I think it is exciting for the fans of F1, and all of us involved, because we don’t really know what is going to happen.”

Schumacher, a seven-time F1 champ, has returned after three years in retirement and is ready to duel with some familiar foes, as well as others who have emerged during his absence.

Among those he’s raced in the past is two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, who has been re-energized by his move to Ferrari.

“This is the best car I’ve ever had,” said Alonso, who won the title in 2005 and 2006. “When you join Ferrari if you don’t expect a fast car it means there’s something wrong. I was hopeful and it’s always good to confirm that the car works well.”

Teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil has also chalked up miles and looks to show he’s recovered from life-threatening injuries he sustained in a crash at the Hungarian GP in July.

Schumacher, who finished second to Alonso in his final season, said his former team is the one to beat, and most of the paddock considers Alonso the favorite as the iconic red car has had few problems in testing.

Button, meanwhile, left constructors’ champion Brawn GP – now Mercedes – to form an all-British lineup with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, which gives it the past two champions.

McLaren had a strong second half in 2009 and came on strong at the end of testing before this season, which sees some rule changes that will alter strategy significantly.

“(The car) feels all new. It feels light years ahead of what it felt last year at this time,” said Hamilton, who won two races down the stretch to finish fifth last season. “We’re definitely in a much stronger position. We’ll start a lot higher up than we did last year.”

Button, who got off to a fast start early in 2009 and then hung on to win his first title, isn’t deterred by walking into a tricky situation at McLaren, where Hamilton came up through the ranks and has always been favored.

“We’re very open with our opinions and also with our feedback so it’s a good situation to be in,” Button said.

Hamilton has never raced Schumacher, whose comeback was cut short last summer when neck and back injuries kept the 41-year-old German from filling in for Massa after his crash. That missed opportunity whetted Schumacher’s appetite to return.

“I feel like it’s the good old days,” Schumacher said. “It’s just the challenge of driving the car, going at the other guys, and fight them, wheel to wheel. I’m here to fight for it. I’m sure we will be in the position.”

Red Bull driver Mark Webber doesn’t expect Schumacher’s return to be all smooth sailing.

“It’s totally obvious that he’s maybe not like he was, age-wise. That might be something that we might find out if it works against him,” Webber said. “But you can never underestimate him, we know that.”

Schumacher’s teammate, Nico Rosberg, will also be trying to make his mark as he finally gets a seat in a championship-caliber car after four seasons at Williams. Mercedes’ Silver Arrows cars return to the grid for the first time in 55 years.

Hamilton and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel are among the drivers who haven’t raced Schumacher.

Vettel, who finished second behind Button last year, has another fast car but reliability continues to be an issue. The Austrian team at least has a Renault engine, expected to be the most fuel efficient in a season where refueling is banned and cars will only pit to change tires.

Rubens Barrichello replaces Rosberg at Williams, and will be joined by German rookie Nico Hulkenberg. Williams is expected to be in the group just behind the leaders alongside Sauber, Force India, and perhaps Renault and Toro Rosso.

“Hopefully we can (compete),” the 37-year-old Barrichello said. “We have a competitive car, if it’s competitive enough to win the first race I don’t know.”

Barrichello, who will go over 300 career races this season, is no longer the oldest driver on the grid. He is younger than Schumacher and 39-year-old Pedro De la Rosa, who partners Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi at Sauber.

Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi return for Force India, as do Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for Toro Rosso.

Despite new management and the arrival of Robert Kubica, Renault continues to feel the effects of last year’s poor car and “crashgate” scandal and is just hopeful of points, which will be given to the first 10 drivers. Previously only the first eight received points. Race winners will be awarded 25 points instead of 10, while the runner-up earns 18 instead of eight.

Kubica is joined by Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov, one of five new faces on the starting grid this year with Lucas Di Grassi joining Timo Glock at new team Virgin Racing.

Virgin and Lotus, which has drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen for its Malaysian-backed return after 16 years, are the only two new teams that tested. Hispania Racing Team, formerly Campos Meta, will go to Bahrain with rookie pair Bruno Senna – nephew of three-time champion Ayrton Senna – and Indian driver Karun Chandhok.

USF1 will not be competing after governing body FIA rejected its bid to start racing after the start of the season.

Former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt has replaced Max Mosley as president of FIA, the sport’s governing body. Mosley, who headed the governing body since 1993, made headlines for his power struggles with the teams and a sex scandal nearly two years ago.

Montreal will host the Canadian GP again after it was removed from last year’s calendar, while a Korean GP will make it 19 races if the track is ready to go by its scheduled Oct 24 date.

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ATLANTA – Police expect to interview Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the next few days over a sexual assault allegation made by a Georgia woman, a local police chief said on Monday.

The announcement followed a report by a 20-year-old college student that she was sexually assaulted early on Friday after an encounter at a nightclub in Milledgeville, central Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The newspaper quoted Roethlisberger’s lawyer Ed Garland as saying the National Football League star, who has not been charged and is not in custody, was innocent.

“We anticipate interviewing him (Roethlisberger) at some point in the next couple of days,” Chief Woodrow W. Blue of the Milledgeville Police Department told reporters.

Other witnesses would also be interviewed, police said.

Roethlisberger, 28, led the Steelers to Super Bowl victories in 2006 and 2009.

Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney issued a statement saying the team would closely monitor the situation.

“All of us in the Steelers family are concerned about the recent incident involving Ben Roethlisberger in Georgia. We cannot comment on any of the specifics until law enforcement’s investigation is concluded,” Rooney said.

MIAMI – The Miami Heat overcame a 39-point effort from Kobe Bryant to capture a thrilling 114-111 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.Jermaine O’Neal’s basket gave Miami a 111-109 lead with 54 seconds remaining in overtime and the center then drew a vital offensive foul on a driving Bryant as the Heat (31-31) closed out the game with three free throws.

Bryant, whose last-gasp three-pointer beat Miami on Dec. 4, made a game-tying jumper with three seconds left in regulation and scored 12 straight points for the NBA champions late in the game but was unable to prevent a first loss in four games.

Miami All-Star Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and 14 assists to lead the home team to a morale-boosting victory over the Western Conference-leading Lakers (46-16).

Wade may have scored fewer points than Bryant in the match-up between two of the league’s marquee players but his lower tally was mainly due to his late-game tactic of passing on several shots and providing assists for team mates.

“That shows my team mates I’m about winning,” Wade told reporters. “I’m not about, ‘I need to hit this shot because Kobe hit one’. It’s about making sure we all are confident and we all are good.”

In a game that featured 31 lead changes, the most in the NBA this season, Miami had a nine-point advantage in the fourth but the Lakers chipped away and led by one with 42 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from Bryant.

Quentin Richardson answered with a three-pointer as the Heat went ahead 99-97 but the Lakers had plenty of time to give the ball back to Bryant, who entered the night shooing just 34 percent in his last three games.

Richardson finished with 25 points and Carlos Arroyo had 17 for Miami, who are clinging on to the eighth position in the Eastern Conference.

Los Angeles played the first of a three-game East road trip that concludes in Orlando on Sunday.

“It’s one of the tougher ones of the year,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of the trip.

“This is the key game for us, just to get this off right because it’s (the first game of) a back-to-back and we don’t want to come out of this game not playing well.”  

There has always existed a kind of invisible triangle of games between China, Europe and the United States. Every time China and the US have been at odds, China’s relations with Europe has warmed. Similarly, Beijing’s ties with Washington would improve once it had a difficult time with European countries.

However, this push-and-pull relationship is undergoing delicate changes, as indicated by a series of disputes between China and the two powers since the beginning of the global financial crisis and in recent months. A new strategy in which the US and European countries are joining hands to contain China is possibly taking shape and will likely tilt the triangular relationship.

Tension in Sino-US relations has been seething on a number of issues, ranging from Google’s exit threat from China, the US arms sale to Taiwan, the meeting between the Dalai Lama and US President Barack Obama, and the issue of China’s so-called military transparency. Tension with the US has escalated as China’s disputes with Europe remain unresolved on issues such as anti-dumping, China’s prosecution of British drug trafficker Akmal Shaikh, and disagreements on who is responsible for the discounted Copenhagen climate talks. The US and European countries have also moved forward together in lashing out at China for its alleged failure to correct the imbalance in international trade as the West persistently demands, refusing to side with them on the Iran nuclear issue, the Myanmar situation, African affairs and global climate change.

There is an inevitability in the combined move by the US and Europe to contain China. The unprecedented global financial crisis in decades has caused the global economic focus to move east. The rapid development of some emerging economies, such as China, has heightened expectations for approaching changes to world order, which has been dominated by the West.

The military superiority established by Europe five decades ago and its extensive political influences are waning. Faced with a decline in US forces and its international might, Obama has in many public speeches to his countrymen said the US is “one of the most important countries”, an edit from the previous rhetoric in describing the US as “the most important”.

The change in rhetoric reflects to some extent the recognition by the president of the world’s sole superpower that the US is in decline. However, the long-established centralism by the US and Europe and their sense of cultural superiority make it difficult for them to accept China’s rise and to voluntarily give up their long-held dominance in international affairs. Despite being plagued by their differences on some issues, the task of dealing with the challenge from China, perceived as a common strategic competitor, has brought the US and European countries closer than ever.

China’s economy grew by 8.7 percent last year and realized its V-shaped recovery, as indicated by recent economic data. The country’s shining economy is in sharp contrast with discouraging performances from the US and European economies and has stoked resentment in the American and European public toward their respective governments.

China is an ideal country for the US and European countries to shift their domestic dissatisfactions. China’s domestic policies, from its financial and monetary policy, to its exchange rate of the currency, and its trade strategy have been blamed for the snail’s pace of recovery for the US and European countries. This explains why the US and European countries have used protectionism in recent months against China. On Jan 18, Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, emphasized that a no-lower-than 2 percent average economic growth should be the bloc’s top priority. In his State of the Union address on Jan 27, Obama said his focus was to increase jobs, pursue development and reduce the deficit this year. It is expected that a series of export-oriented measures by the US and European countries will likely increase trade frictions with China.

Pressuring China is also taken by the US as an effective way to ease growing pressures at home. Obama’s “smart diplomacy” has allegedly failed to bring American people changes promised during his election campaign. Public dismay toward Obama has contributed to the drastic decline of the president’s approval ratings. In the UK, France and Germany and countries beyond, large-scale anti-government protests have erupted.

In the eyes of European countries, building an allied front against China is in the continent’s interests. Since the global financial crisis, talks of G2 (China and the US) have been spreading throughout the international community.

The idea, although it has failed to be accepted by China or the US, has clipped the nerve of Europe. Becoming closer to the US, in Europe’s eyes, will help foil the possible US and China governance of global affairs.

In the past year, European think tanks and media have reflected on Europe’s China policy, holding that the EU’s orientation of China as a responsible shareholder is wrong. With the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon – the EU constitution – the bloc is under more pressure to have a unified voice and a tougher image to present to the outside world.

At a Jan 11 hearing, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton claimed the community should establish new foreign policies to deal with the rise of emerging countries led by China and be well prepared for a new international order. The changing domestic political landscape in Europe is likely to prompt the EU to adopt a tougher approach in dealing with the Asian nation. That will be a test for China’s diplomatic will and skill.

The author is a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

During Tiger Year’s spring festival, Guo Yimin didn’t have a family reunion at home. The veteran of Counterattack against Vietnam in Self-Defense stayed alone at the border line between China and Vietnam in Guangxi Aidian County to fulfill a 30 years long promise to his deceased comrade-in-arms in 1979: ‘Whoever survives must bring the other’s bones back to homeland’.

The condition of Guo’s battle companion is not the worst, at least somebody still remembers him and rushes for him. In the Korean War thousands of Chinese soldiers were even namelessly buried abroad, which casts endless grievance on their families and survived companions. And this is not the only problem of China veterans.

The dead have long gone, while the survival must face more difficulties. For one thing, among Chinese veterans the certain group of people, poverty is a universal phenomenon. For Korean War veterans, the monthly pension from government is about 400 yuan, while Sino-Vietnamese War veterans have less than 200 yuan pension. It’s below the minimum standard of living, much lower than average retirement allowance of a normal worker in a similar age.

For another, what’s more miserable is that veterans have to sustain disrespect and despise of the society. As People.com.cn reported, Veteran Fu Xiqing, who lost a leg in the War of Resistance against Japan, spent his last years in Tianjin as a street cleaner; Yang Yunfeng, the warrior who was killing invaders on Lugou Bridge with broadsword, ironically became the most unwelcomed beggar at the gate of Memorial Museum of Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese War.

On the other hand, Japanese veterans can get more than a hundred thousand Yen (RMB7600 yuan) monthly as “bestow”. Taiwan veterans have 15,000 TWD’s pension (RMB3200 yuan) every month. And the date ’11.11’, which was called Bachelor’s Day in China, is a formal holiday specially for ex-service soldiers in United States — Veteran’s Day — a day to demonstrate the great patriotism and cohesive force of the nation.

Solider used to be an honorable title in China, “the loveliest people”. But nowadays most of them are not treated well. Society should not be so ungrateful when we are declaring once and once again that we’ll never forget the history. Veterans of the anti-Japanese War are some 90 years old, with veterans in the Korean War at about 80 and those in Sino-Vietnamese War at 60. To give them a decent life with dignity in their later years, we have not much time.

Veteran’s Day as a motion had been proposed in the National People’s Congress before, but it’s not resolved yet. A new session of NPC is going to start next week. China should have such a day for elder warriors, at one moment of which day we can say ‘thankful for ever’ and hear them reply ‘never regret’. If we let the moment slip, we may lose the last chance.

Besides prudence, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) should demonstrate a sense of urgency in reviewing and approving the proposed revisions to the state secret law that is nearly 22 years old.

The 1988 legislation needs an immediate reshuffle. It is a poorly conceived work of jurisprudence because it allows state organs and their functionaries virtually unlimited authority in defining and maintaining so-called “state secrets”.

Under the current law’s definition of a “state secret”, official establishments and their staff can easily stick that label to everything they want to hide from the public.

Even township officials can classify information in the name of the state. Such information, once classified, can be withheld forever.

Each of these major defects will, to a degree, be modified in the proposed revisions, which is why we are anxious to see them pass legislative scrutiny.

What has been tabled at the NPC Standing Committee is a simple package to address some technical details. Behind it is a substantial change to lawmaking philosophies.

More than two decades ago, those drafting a law similar to this hardly needed to think beyond the law’s own purpose. In this case, it was nothing more than protecting whatever those in power wanted to label as “state secrets”. There was little concern about the people’s right to know.

Of course, classified information should not be accessible to everybody. But the existing law turns out to be a bad one exactly because it shows little, if none at all, respect for that essential civil right our Constitution bestows to every citizen of the People’s Republic.

The proposed revisions deserve our best wishes because they carry the jurisprudential ideal to introduce some kind of balance between the state’s need for secrecy and the public’s right to be properly informed about state affairs.

Since ancient times, Chinese bureaucrats have shared an intense dislike for the person on the street discussing or caring too much about state affairs. While some information does deserve to be concealed for national interests, the veil of secrecy has obviously been abused.

For those fond of secrecy, a cover can serve multiple purposes. It can either cover incompetence, governance failures, or fraudulence.

Therefore, protecting an excessively broad spectrum of “state secrets” not only creates a waste of public resources. In many cases, it erects protection for corruption carried out in the name of the state that in turn erodes the authorities’ own credibility.

The proposed revisions have not solved all of the identified problems. The definition of “state secrets”, for instance, has not done away with the vagueness that permits abuse. But the ideas of limiting the ability of authorities of various institutions to classify information and imposing time limits on classified information are good ones that may make immediate differences.

As to the pivotal question of what qualifies as “state secrets”, we believe a more inclusive discourse will be far more meaningful.

ABU DHABI: World number one Roger Federer has been forced to pull out of the $2 million ATP Dubai Open due to a lung infection.According to the ATP’s website Federer picked up the infection last week and is expected to be out of action for a further two weeks.

The 28-year-old Swiss won the title in Dubai in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 and was runner-up in 2006

VANCOUVER: Mark Tuitert edged American hot favourite Shani Davis in the men’s 1,500m speed skating here on Saturday, claiming the Netherlands’ second gold at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Dutch’s first gold also came from speed skating as Sven Kramer triumphed in the men’s 5,000m last Saturday.

“Unbelievable. I can’t believe it,” said the 29-year-old Tuitert, who finished the race in 1:45.57. “Everything went right. This is the race of my life.”

As the third to last pair competing in the race, Tuitert and Norwegian Havard Bokko performed greatly as Bokko chased Tuitert tightly since the beginning and the Norwegian finally finished third, only 0.03 seconds behind Davis.

Davis set the world record in the men’s 1,500m last December in one minute and 41.04 seconds. He won the gold at the World Single Distances Championships in 2009 and 2007 and took silver in 2008.

What’s more, the 27-year-old American has shown his great shape by defending the 1,000m title here on Wednesday.

Davis, who came onto the ice as one the last pair of competitors, overcame his rival Lucas Makowsky quite comfortably with a lead in 2.51 seconds, but the 1:46.10 result was not good enough for him to beat Tuitert.

“I tried my best and I’m satisfied with my results. It was a silver today, not gold. It was my goal to get a medal today,” said Davis.

Tuitert also became the first Dutch speed skater to win the event since Ard Schenk in 1972 and he is the third Dutchman in history to be crowned Olympic champion in this event.

“I worked so hard for this over the last eight years. And then it comes out in such a moment and with so much respect,” Tuitert said.

VANCOUVER: Zhou Yang of China won the women’s 1500 meters short track speed skating gold medal at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games here on Saturday.

Zhou clocked in a winning time of two minutes 16.993 seconds for the top honor, the Olympic record, while Lee Eun-byul of South Korea took the silver in 2:17.849  and Lee’s compatriot Park Seung- hi finished third in 2:17.927.

WASHINGTON：The United States is developing a “significant regime of sanctions” after Iran apparently spurned an offer to negotiate over its suspect nuclear program, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

In his most extensive remarks on Iran in some time, Obama said Iran appears to have spurned his offer of engagement. He says Iran is still pursuing a nuclear program that would lead to nuclear weapons.

“They have made their choice so far, although the door is still open,” Obama told reporters at the White House.

Obama said work to broaden economic sanctions applied by the United Nations Security Council is moving along quickly, but he gave no specific timeline. He hinted at a troublespot, saying China’s crucial vote is not assured.

Obama also said the United Nations penalties are only one part of an international squeeze on Iran, a reference to a sequence of economic strictures that could be applied by the European Union and individual countries over the next several months.

Obama spoke during a surprise appearance Tuesday in the White House briefing room. Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level on Tuesday, raising fears that the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons.

Even before the announcement that Iran had taken that provocative step, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed the U.N. should slap new sanctions on Iran in “weeks, not months,” according to his spokesman Tuesday.

France and the U.S. said Monday Iran’s action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran’s nuclear defiance. Russia, which has close ties to Iran and has opposed new sanctions, appeared to edge closer to Washington’s position, saying the new enrichment plans show the suspicions about Iran’s intentions are well-founded.

Iranian state television said that the process began in the presence of inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Uranium has to be enriched to fuel nuclear power plants and Iran needs the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor producing medical isotopes.

Enriching uranium to 90 percent, however, creates the material for nuclear weapons, which many countries are afraid Iran is seeking. Iran denies the charge.

In effort to defuse the crisis, the International Atomic Energy Agency brokered a deal last year in which Iran would ship out its low enriched uranium to be processed abroad and returned a year later.

Iran initially rejected the deal, then later said that if an acceptable alternative could be reached, it would not continue the high level enriching process.

Obama said the offer was a “good deal” that Iran walked away from. He also said it can be difficult to get a real answer from the Iranian government, since different parts of the regime sometimes appear to contradict one another.