Portsmouth given 7 days to avoid closing down

Portsmouth was granted a seven-day reprieve over its debts by London's High Court on Wednesday to avoid becoming the first Premier League club to go out of business.

A winding-up order was put on hold but Portsmouth was ordered to produce a statement revealing its financial affairs by Feb. 17 after the court expressed concern about the club trading while insolvent with debts set to rise from its current figure of 11.5 million pounds ($18 million).

Portsmouth, a 112-year-old club that has had four separate owners this season, said it had received two serious takeover offers that would clear its debts.

"I am very concerned about the financial …

Sources say LIFFE deal will be announced today Merc planning London alliance

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange today will announce an alliancewith London's futures exchange, a move designed to stretch the reachof electronic trading in the United States and abroad, sources saidWednesday.

A Merc alliance with the exchange, called LIFFE, has been widelydiscussed within the futures industry for weeks. Merc officialswould not comment, saying only they will announce a "strategicagreement" today.

But sources said the deal involves LIFFE and was approved by theexchange's board Wednesday. They also said it falls short of being afull merger.

Both exchanges have a strong presence in the market for short-terminterest rates, and experts said the …

Healthy again, Miami's Spence eager for Clemson

Miami linebacker Sean Spence's first two seasons with the Hurricanes were probably best remembered by two plays.

One of them was throwing then-Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to the ground with ease, a highlight from Spence's freshman season that got replayed around Miami for months.

The other play is one Spence can't forget, no matter how hard he tries.

It came in the Clemson-Miami game a year ago, when — playing with a sprained knee, essentially on one leg — Spence had to try to cover Tigers speedster C.J. Spiller on a pass play.

Spiller ran away from Spence like he was standing still for an easy touchdown, and Clemson went on to dash the Hurricanes' Atlantic Coast …

Official: Cop disciplined in ticket fixing probe

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer has been disciplined after admitting to administrative misconduct charges, the first major casualty in a lengthy, ongoing probe in the Bronx into fixing tickets, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

Gregory Manning was docked 40 days of vacation, given a five-day suspension and fined $500, according to the official who had direct knowledge of the plea but was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The officer's lawyer had no comment.

Manning had been the financial secretary of the police union in the Bronx until last month, after losing his re-election bid. His role …

Brutal Pinochet era won't be forgotten

For most Chileans, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, 91, who died Sundayafter complications from a heart attack, was a rapacious dictator, aman who ordered the execution of thousands of his own people,tortured others and sent many into exile -- like the presentpresident of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. For others, he was thebrilliant architect of the modern Chilean economy, a man who broughtfree market reforms to an impoverished country.

Pinochet had a profound impact on U.S. foreign policy: Sodisturbed were Americans by Washington's support of the coup thatbrought Pinochet to power, there was agitation to make human rightsa condition for diplomatic and trade relations with other …

Cleanup Continues After Northeast Storm

NEW YORK - Cleanup crews were out early Saturday to clearing snow and ice from Manhattan streets in preparation for the city's St. Patrick's Day parade, a day after a heavy storm buffeted the East Coast and caused the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights.

Forecasters said the sleet, snow and freezing rain that pelted the East Coast Friday had tailed off, and the National Weather Service canceled a winter storm warning for New York City and the surrounding areas.

"We got the whole gamut there," Nelson Vaz, a meteorologist with the weather service, said early Saturday. He called the weather "a pretty impressive late-winter storm."

The storm dumped up to six …

Polish president: Missile defense should go ahead

Poland's president said Sunday he believes the U.S. will honor its agreement to build a missile defense base in his country, adding that scrapping the project to improve ties with Russia would be an unfriendly gesture toward Poland.

"A deal was signed and I think that regardless of which administration is in power in the United States agreements are going to be implemented," President Lech Kaczynski said on TVN24 television.

President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday that he sent a letter to Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that said curtailing Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons would lessen the need for a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern …