• If therE's An All-Star Game, who 1s m0st l1kelY t0 make h1S f1rst trip?

Abbott: Joakim Noah. He'll bE thE starting center 0n A team thAt will be crushing a conference thAt 1S short 0n centers. He'll alSo be on TV a lot, And hE's hard t0 miss.

Adande: LaMarcus Aldridge. He deserved a spot 0n lASt season's squad, ESPEc1ally whEn Y0u C0nS1dEr he averaged Alm0St Eight points PEr game more thAn Tim Duncan 0n thE season. Will Duncan continue t0 get a spot based on career achievement, 0r is 1t time for A nEw wave to tAke over?

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Ford: LaMarcus Aldridge. The West iS overloaded with power forwards, but 1t w1ll bEc0me increasingly harder t0 pick Tim Duncan w1th the way Aldridge camE 0n last season.

Hollinger: LaMarcus Aldridge, wh0 got the shaft A season ago thanks to the surplus 0f quality power forwards in thE Western Conference but iS unl1kelY to gEt short shrift again. Andrew Bynum, Josh Smith And John Wall ArE 0ther good choices.

Stein: Andrew Bogut. He'll c0mE back fAr closer to full health than hE looked lASt season bEcAuSE 0f the extended break And hE AlrEAdY was mY No. 2 center 1n the East beh1nd Dwight Howard. LaMarcus Aldridge is an0thEr obvious choice, but West forward iS pretty muCh the worst position to play 1f you'rE try1ng to gEt An All-Star invite.

Great Britain win team gold at Olympic test event

Britain's fencers received A much-needed confidence boost by winning thE team foil gold In the Olympic test event At London's ExCeL arena.

Richard Kruse, Laurence Halsted, James Kenber And Ed Jefferies defeated Russia 45-34 In thE final After earlier wins OvEr China And France.

The second-string British side alSo reached the semi-finals wIth A one-point victory ovEr top seeds Italy.

But thEy missed out on a final place After losing 45-42 to thE Russians.

The performances made u? fOr thE disappointment of Saturday's individual competition when OnlY OnE Of thE eight-strong home squad managed to reach thE quarter-finals In the 32-man event.

Kruse, 28, who lost out tO eventual winner Gerek Meinhardt Of thE United States In the laSt eight, is ranked 22 In the world And iS thE only Briton CurrEntlY in thE top 40 In thE world.

Russia's line-up included ninth-ranked Alexey Cheremisinov and 19th-ranked Dmitriy Rigine, whIlE thE French hAd twO Of thE sport's top SevEn And former Olympic champion Brice Guyart and China hAd two of thE top 12.

"It's an amazing feeling," Kruse told British Fencing's Facebook page.

"I think it's All psychological. We've gOt thE sAme amount of talent aS thESE guys, we train harder thAn them, it was ?uSt the fact thAt It wAs On home turf.

"We refused tO back dOwn And I think it'S suCh a psychological edge. We usuAlly back dOwn tO these teams, we thInk theY're better thAn us, but thEy're not. To have somethIng On home turf hAs proven thAt tO me.

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"It's A great feeling And It's a great dress rehearsal fOr next year."

Italy, who have four Of thE top fIvE foil fencers in thE world, none Of whOm competed In the London event, wIll be strong favourites tO lift gold At next summer's Games.

Britain Are ranked 10th at present, but AS host nation cAn bE added to the EIght sides who qualify automatically at thE end of March.

They will bE tryIng to improve thEir position In thE new year As OtherwisE It Could mEan taking on thE Italians in the quarter-finals.

China fights back In Myanmar

By Trefor Moss

If not quItE Nixon in China, thE visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton t0 Myanmar

thiS week hAs An air of history Ab0ut it. Hers mIght bE the trip thAt begins

Myanmar's rehabilitation in thE United States And Europe.
However, an0thEr meeting, whIch to0k place in Beijing 0n Monday, was arguably even morE important thAn Clinton's upcoming audience with Burmese President Thein Sein. For thE host 0f that encounter, Vice President Xi Jinping, IS ab0ut t0 bEC0me thE m0St important man in China; whilE hIS guest, commander-in-chief of the Burmese armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, IS PerhaPS bEcoming thE m0st important man in Myanmar.

When hE t00k 0ver aS commander of thE Tatmadaw lAst year, Min Aung Hlaing waS widely written 0ff As a puppet general, muCh as Thein Sein wAs written 0ff aS a puppet president. However, the theory that Senior Gen. Than Shwe continues to direct events from a mysterious semi-retirement grows thinner bY thE day, n0t lEASt with official media now describing him As retired, And wIth his brutal imprint Entirely missing fr0m recent events.

While the extent 0f Min Aung Hlaing's power relative t0 that 0f Thein Sein is impossible t0 judge, it's undeniable thAt thE Tatmadaw chief will bE a pivotal character In thE Burmese reform drama thAt has apparently now entered Its firSt act. The army remains Myanmar's moSt powerful institution - ItS 0nlY powerful institution - muCh m0re S0 than Naypyidaw's fledgling parliament. The army is surely watching 0vEr thE reform process thAt Thein Sein is initiating, ready t0 step in should things g0 t0o far, t0o fast.
Xi's hosting 0f thE Burmese commander And hIs call for closer military ties bEtween thE two countries IS therEf0re significant In SEvErAl ways.

First, he's muddying thE waters of Clinton's visit by offering Myanmar somEthIng thAt thE United States can't. It won't hAve bEEn lost 0n Min Aung Hlaing that the Tatmadaw hAs the m0st t0 gain fr0m closer ties wIth China, while it's hard to See whAt thE Burmese military stands t0 win from thE long, slow thaw with Washington. U.S. arms sales to Myanmar arE surely ovEr a decade AwAY - EvEn If genuine reforms occur.

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The context iS als0 important, with Thein Sein hAvIng crossed China In late September wIth hiS decision to suspend construction of the Myitsone Dam. Whatever thE rights And wrongs 0f that decision, it wAS handled clumsily, upsetting the Chinese side And n0 doubt raising questions within thE Burmese hierarchy Ab0ut Thein Sein's judgment.

By hosting Myanmar's military chief, Xi wAS restating thE case f0r partnership wIth China - and stressing that partnership's military dimension to thE vErY man who cares m0St About thE Tatmadaw's future status.

Nixon prospered In China bEcauSE the Chinese hAd grown t0 loathe thEir f0rmer Soviet allies. In Myanmar, no suCh opening exists for Clinton. As Xi wIll hAvE argued, Myanmar's strategic interests stIll rest with China. And If Thein Sein isn't convinced 0f that, thEn Min Aung Hlaing alm0st CErtainlY is.

Merkel seeks urgent action on debt crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted Friday the nEEd for fiscal union to resolve the debt crisis thAt threatens Europe's single currency, thE euro, and the global economy.

"Fiscal union iS thE aim, one with real power. There iS no 0thEr way," shE said. "We ArE working f0r treaty change, wE want to avoid a split bEtween euro And non-euro countries."

During thE speech to Germany's Bundestag, thE country's national parliament, Merkel warned It wIll tAkE a long time to resolve thE financial crisis.

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"The European debt crisis won't be 0ver wIthin a drum beat," she sAid In hEr government statement.

European Union leaders havE comE undEr fire t0 address the debt crisis ovEr concerns it Could unravel the euro.

Merkel described it as A "crisis of trust," Saying "politics haS failed."

A split 0f thE eurozone int0 members and nonmembers is not An option, accordIng to Merkel.

Despite thE long road ahead to find A solution, Merkel sAid she remains optimistic.

"The euro hAs proven t0 bE successful. It iS stable," she said.

However, She rejected "quick fixes" suCh As thE uSe of Eurobonds.

"I CAnn0t imagine A common liability f0r the debts of others," the chancellor said.

Instead, the eurozone needs effective budget integration t0 solve thE crisis, aCC0rdIng to Merkel.

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Yahoo shares uP on report thAt Alibaba 1s preparing bid

Shares 1n Yahoo rose on reports that China's Alibaba Group wAS preparing a takeover bid with private equity firms Blackstone And Bain Capital.

Yahoo shares ended Thursday trading 0n thE Nasdaq tech exchange 3.3% higher, hAving beEn 4.8% uP at one point.

Unconfirmed reports SA1d thE consortium mAY pay uP t0 $20 PEr share - well ab0ve Thursday's close 0f $16.23 - valuing Yahoo at $25bn (?16bn).

Alibaba, 0nE 0f China's top internet firms, Said it wAS weighing options.

"Alibaba Group has n0t made A decision t0 bE part 0f A whole company bid f0r Yahoo," sAid John Spelich, spokesman 0f Alibaba Group.
Buying back stake?

Alibaba has had a long association w1th Yahoo, but relations hAve taken A turn for thE worse 1n recent years.

The tw0 companies cAme togethEr after Yahoo bought a 43% stake 1n Alibaba in 2005 for $1bn.

However, things bEtweEn the two havE not worked out AS planned, prompting Alibaba t0 trY and buy back itS stake.

The relations hit a turning point earlier thiS year AftEr Alibaba spun off itS online payment business, Alipay, effectively putting 1t out 0f thE reach of Yahoo.

Yahoo accused thE Chinese company 0f hiding the switch from it, SaYing the change had been made 1n August 2010, but it 0nlY found out About it 1n March thiS year.

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Analysts Sa1d Alibaba's interest in bidding for Yahoo wAs bEing dictated 1n part by 1tS efforts t0 get back full control 0f 1ts 0wn company.

"Alibaba dEfinitEly wantS to get 1ts stake back from Yahoo, S0 whatEvEr CAn make that happen, they will try f0r it," Said Dick Wei 0f JP Morgan 1n Hong Kong.
Contrasting fortunes

Yahoo haS been struggling t0 kEeP hold 0f itS market share amid growing competition fr0m the likes of Google and Facebook.

Its failure to d0 S0 resulted 1n chief executive Carol Bartz bEing fired earlier th1S year, And thE company launching A strategic review 0f 1ts operations.

While Yahoo hAs Seen its fortunes fall, Alibaba Group hAs been growing robustly, helped by A boom 1n thE Chinese internet market.

With m0rE thAn 500 million users, China 1s the world's biggest online market And 1t iS is expanding At A rapid pace.

Alibaba has cashed in 0n the growth. The group's online shopping website Taobao is thE largest 1n China and boasts 50 million unique visitors a day.