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Sports Briefs

■ ATHLETICS

Bekele wins sixth title

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele won the men's world cross country title in Edinburgh on Sunday for a record sixth time. Bekele finished the 12.1km course in 34min 38sec, 0.03sec ahead of Patrick Komon of Kenya, with defending champion Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea in third. Bekele suffered a nightmare start to the race when he was clipped from behind and had the heel of one of his running shoes ripped off on the second of the first two short laps. The Ethiopian, the world record holder at 5,000m and 10,000m, stopped to readjust his footing, gather himself mentally and quickly made up lost ground.



■ MOTORSPORT

FIA distances itself

The FIA wants to stay clear of the situation involving its president, Max Mosley, and a British tabloid that reported he engaged in sexual acts with five prostitutes in a scenario that involved Nazi role-playing. "This is a matter between Mr Mosley and the newspaper," the governing body of world auto racing said on Sunday. Mosley, the son of British Union of Fascists party founder Oswald Mosley, reportedly took part in the scene on Friday at a London apartment near his home, the News of the World said in a front-page story. A video on the paper's Web site shows a man identified as Mosley being greeted by a woman playing the role of a prison guard, checking his hair to see if he has been kept clean "at the other facility."



■ MOTORSPORT

Loeb wins in Argentina

Sebastien Loeb won another stage and easily claimed his fourth straight Rally Argentina title on Sunday. It was the Frenchman's third victory of the year and 39th of his career, mastering the rugged, muddy hills of Cordoba, Argentina, to finish in five hours, five minutes and 48.6 seconds and put him on and early track for a fifth world title. Chris Atkinson of Australia, driving a Subaru, finished second, 2 minutes, 33.2 seconds behind, and Loeb's Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo of Spain finished third, 4:04.7 behind. Loeb, who also won in Monte Carlo and Mexico this year, took the second of four stages on Sunday.



■ SOCCER

Malaysia mulls lifting ban

Malaysia yesterday hinted it may lift a travel ban on Israelis to allow Chelsea coach Avram Grant and midfielder Tal Ben Haim to come to the country on a mini-Asian tour by the English Premier League side. "I am not sure what the decision would be yet. But it would be a pity that politics should get in the way of sports," Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said. "There is a travel ban. I will have to study the situation first but I would like to see Chelsea although it is not my [favorite] team, I would like to see them playing here."



■ MOTORSPORT

Win gives Pedrosa lead

Spain's Dani Pedrosa grabbed the world championship lead with a dominant display in Sunday's Spanish MotoGP in Jerez, Spain. The Repsol Honda rider set a cracking pace after starting from second on the grid and set a new lap record on the second lap. He left his rivals in his wake, leading all the way to notch up his 28th career win and fifth in MotoGP. Italian Valentino Rossi finished second, 2.883 seconds behind, with Pedrosa's Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo third.