Inter loans Amantino Mancini to AC Milan

Inter Milan loaned Brazilian midfielder Amantino Mancini to rival AC Milan on the final day of the transfer window.

Milan said on its Web site Monday that the deal gives it the option to acquire Mancini's full rights at the end of the season.

The deal was reportedly worth euro3.5 million (US$4.9 million).

After moving from AS Roma in 2008, Mancini played in only seven games with Inter this season between Serie A and the Champions League.

In a goalkeeper swap, Rubinho joined Livorno and Francesco Benussi went to Palermo.

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Breakfast Briefing // Nation World

Reports hurt bonds, grain futures In trading Wednesday: U.S. bonds fell, finishing their worst quarter in three years, as areport on Midwest manufacturing raised concern that brisk economicgrowth will quicken inflation later in 1999. The 30-year Treasurybond fell $5 per $1,000 in face value, raising its yield to 5.62percent from 5.59 percent. The bond's 7.59 percent loss in thequarter was the worst since the first quarter of 1996.Grain and soybean futures prices fell sharply on the Chicago Boardof Trade as investors interpreted a government report as showingthere will be no end soon to a supply glut.No quick end to Microsoft case WASHINGTON - The judge in theMicrosoft antitrust …

Button fastest in 1st Abu Dhabi practice

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — McLaren driver Jenson Button was the fastest in the first practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, edging Red Bull's Mark Webber.

The Brit clocked 1 minute, 40.263 seconds on the 5.5-kilometer (3.5-mile) Yas Marina circuit on Friday, making him 0.126 seconds quicker than the Australian Webber.

Button's teammate Lewis Hamilton was third …

SEC West flexing its muscle against the East

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — There's a new hierarchy in the Southeastern Conference. And the royalty no longer lies in the SEC East.

While they're panicking in Georgia, protesting in Tennessee and preparing for basketball in Kentucky, the teams in the West just keep on winning.

However, the power shift to that "other" division has gone largely unnoticed. The bulk of the national SEC attention the last 18 years has focused on the East.

Auburn senior guard Mike Berry, who grew up in central Tennessee watching the Volunteers slug it out with Florida and Georgia every fall for a ticket to the SEC title game, said the the tide has turned.

"I've always felt like we've had some …

Friday TV ; Choice

MICHAEL MCINTYRE: HELLO WEMBLEY! BBC1, 9pm If anyone asked youwho held the record for the fastest selling stand-up comedy DVDever, you might be tempted to say someone like Ricky Gervais orBilly Connolly. But the actual holder of that title is MichaelMcIntyre, whose Live and …

House Democrats to Unveil Iraq War Plan

WASHINGTON - In a direct challenge to President Bush, House Democrats are advancing legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of next year.

Democratic officials who described the measure said the timetable would be accelerated - to the end of 2007 - if the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki does not meet goals for providing Iraq's security.

The conditions, described as tentative until presented to the Democratic rank and file Thursday, would be added to legislation providing nearly $100 billion the Bush administration has requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The officials who described the measure did so …

Report: Beckham nears deal to finish Milan season

An agreement that would allow David Beckham to finish the season with AC Milan before reporting to the Los Angeles Galaxy is close to being finalized, according to a newspaper report.

The deal would call for Beckham to miss the first 17 games of the Major League Soccer season before he rejoined the Galaxy in mid-July, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Monday, citing a person close to the negotiations. The Times said the person requested anonymity because the deal was not signed.

Beckham had been due to report to Los Angeles on March 9. The proposed agreement would allow him to remain with AC Milan until the Italian season ends on May 31, the …