World News

Greek Sprinters Step Down

Kelly Hayes - Aug 18, 2004 / 5:05 pm | Story: 3511

Top Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou withdrew Wednesday from the Athens Games, nearly a week after the duo missed a drug test and were hospitalized after a mysterious motorcycle crash. Kenteris, the reigning 200-metre Olympic champion, is the country's most celebrated athlete and was Greece's best hope for gold in track at the Athens Games. He was considered a leading candidate to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. A Greek windsurfing champion got the honour.
A planned raid of the Imam Ali shrine appeared to have been averted on Wednesday when a spokesman said radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to accept peace terms offered by the Iraqi National Conference.
The Pentagon has hastily reversed a decision to partially withhold payments to Halliburton, the biggest U.S. contractor in Iraq.
Eight British men charged with conspiracy to murder as part of an alleged terrorism scheme appeared in a London court on Wednesday.
Yasser Arafat has conceded the Palestinian leadership has made mistakes and he's promised to correct them.
Internet search engine Google made a surprise move on Wednesday as it pared back its initial public offering.

Absolute Perfection