victory on Iditarod

Cathleen Griffin usually feeds her passion for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race through the Internet, but next week she’ll travel to Alaska for the first time to see the winner cross the finish line in the old gold rush town of Nome.

“I just can’t imagine being there,” said the Sebago, Maine, resident. “It’s something that a person only dreams about.”

Most faraway fans—and they are legion—aren’t so lucky as to be there in person for even part of the 1,100-mile race. So Iditarod buffs from around the world rely on their computers to experience the next best way to track a trail that crosses two mountain ranges then goes along the dangerous sea ice up the Bering Sea shore on Alaska’s western coast.

King said he recognizes the irony of being a contender in his last Iditarod with a chance to win some of his own money. "It would be kind of fun to win back the very money I gave, but I think it's a pretty good demonstration that it's not the reason we're here. ... As nice as it is to have the purse, it's the trophy that I will remember longer than the purse."

"Sarkozy is faithful",says Carla Bruni

Carla Bruni denies she and her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are both having affairs. Asked if she trusted her husband, Bruni told Sky News television: "Oh, yes, very much . . . He would never have affairs." She added she hoped her marriage would last forever. The reports, which started on Twitter and made their way onto a French newspaper Web site, said Bruni was romantically involved with singer Benjamin Biolay, while Sarkozy had supposedly taken up with ecology minister Chantal Jouanno.

Nternet chatter about extra marital affairs first surfaced on Twitter. The rumors were also reported on a blog carried on the website of respected French weekend newspaper Journal du Dimanche. The blog has since been removed.
"Because of the serious, prejudicial attack on people's private lives, the newsroom of JDD.fr has decided to withdraw this post," the website says.
A number of British newspapers have since reported the rumors, as did Sky News on its website, and the French government spokesman was asked on Wednesday if the Elysee intended to sue them over the stories.

"Not only do I not comment on rumors, but I also do not comment on rumors about the private life of the president and members of the government," Luc Chatel told reporters.