FREAK GOAL CLINCHES IT FOR WELTON

WELTON Rovers boss Bob Williams saw his young guns come of age ina dramatic tie against Screwfix League rivals Brislington.

Trailing to Geraint Bater's first-half strike with only 10 minutesremaining, Rovers stunned the visitors with two late goals at WestClewes.

And after watching Aaron Blakemore and Wes Wilson turn the tableson he Premier Division title contenders, Williams declared: "Wedeserved to win.

"I thought we always looked like scoring in the second half andour pace enabled us to win the game in the end.

"This side has an average age of 22 and plays without fear.We werebehind at half time but never gave up and hit the woodwork twicebefore …

2003 BMW X5

As the price of a vehicle goes up, so too does the power of the magnifying glass with which I scrutinize it. And at nearly $62,000, I feel justified in hauling out the microscope for BMW's tank-like X5. Ironically, the luxury SUV looks pretty darned good when viewed that closely, but when I pull back for the macro view I find some annoying flaws and noteworthy virtues.

First on the "annoying" list are the X5's doors, which are so unbelievably heavy that my 6-year-old daughter couldn't get in and out of the vehicle. To those who rationalize all things German, this might symbolize that the door is extremely strong and sturdy, which I'm sure it is. But so are many lighter and …

Child beggar's father fights abusive teacher

It hurts too much to lie on his back, so the 7-year-old has spent the past month stretched out on his stomach. His two grandmothers sit on the hospital bed beside him, fanning the pink flesh left exposed by his teacher's whip.

It's progress that Momodou Biteye is in the hospital at all. It's also encouraging that the Quranic teacher who did this to him is behind bars.

But what is most significant is that the boy's father _ a poor farmer who sold part of his harvest to pay for the bus fare to the hospital _ filed the charges against the teacher himself. In doing so, this man with cracked lips and bloodshot eyes braved the wrath of his entire village, …

Debunking of a downturn myth ; The global slowdown this time has not spared even the entertainment industry, which was believed to be recession-proof.

Here's somethin' that you're never gonna forget. Baby, you ain'tseen nothing yet..., went the lyrics of a popular '70s rock song.Well, delegates at FRAMES 2009, the annual media & entertainment (M& E) industry conclave held recently, weren't exactly crooning theselines, but what many of them talked about the impact of the downturnon their trade, it sounded pretty much like it.

Indeed, what came through at the three-day affair in Mumbai onFebruary 17-19 was the fact that the entertainment industry is,contrary to the traditional wisdom, not recession-proof, and itwould have to live with lower growth over the next few years.

A FICCI-KPMG report on the Indian M & E …

SAfrican leader wants to keep Mbeki on Zimbabwe

South Africa's new president says he wants his ousted predecessor to continue working to bring political factions in neighboring Zimbabwe together in a unity government.

President Kgalema Motlanthe says in a statement released Thursday that he is confident Thabo Mbeki can build on "the historic successes" of his mediation effort so far.

Zimbabwe's opposition leaders and its President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement mediated by Mbeki on Sept. 15. But implementing the agreement has stalled because the parties cannot decide how to allocate key Cabinet posts.

Without a political agreement, Zimbabweans cannot move on to tackle a growing political and economic crisis.

Report: Valencia rejects Madrid's bid for Villa

Valencia has reportedly rejected a euro47 million (US$69.5 million) offer from Real Madrid for Spain striker David Villa.

Valencia officials met Monday to discuss Madrid's offer, which several board members were willing to accept, the Web site of sports daily Marca said.

Madrid's bid could have been an attempt to test the resolve of Valencia's new president Vicente Soriano, who said on taking charge that neither Villa nor teammate David Silva would be sold. Silva recently signed a new five-year contract.

Valencia needs funds to finance the club's move to a new stadium.

Juan Villalonga _ who was hired as Valencia's financial consultant and then fired two weeks later _ estimated the club's debt at euro739 million (US$1,091 million) a month ago. Villalonga is the former chief executive of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica.

If Villa joined Madrid, it would likely hasten the departure of Madrid forward Robinho to Chelsea.

Robinho pleaded with the Spanish champions last Friday to sell him to the London club before the European transfer window closes at the end of the month.

However, Madrid president Ramon Calderon said the Brazilian would have to pay a large sum to break his contract, which has two years to run.

While Robinho's buy-out fee is set at euro150 million (US$220 million), Calderon is said to be willing to accept around euro50 million (US$73.9 million), a sum which would fund the club's reported bid for Villa.

Villa was the top scorer in the European Championship in June with four goals and helped Spain to win the tournament.

The 27-year-old player, who has spent three years at Valencia, played at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday in his team's 4-2 defeat in the Spanish Supercup second leg. Madrid won 6-5 on aggregate.

Oil prices fall after US data shows rising gasoline stocks offset drop in crude inventories

Oil prices settled lower Wednesday after swelling gasoline supplies offset a tumble in crude oil stockpiles to their lowest level in more than three years.

Crude inventories fell by 6.8 million barrels, or 2.3 percent, to 282.8 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 4, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. It marked the eighth consecutive decline, dragging supplies to their lowest point since October 2004.

The drop was more than 8 times the 800,000 barrels that analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast. However, gasoline inventories beat expectations, rising sharply by 5.3 million barrels, or 2.6 percent, to 213.1 million barrels. Analysts forecast stockpiles would climb by only 1.6 million barrels last week.

"The gasoline market won the tug of war," said Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in New York.

Contributing to the drop in crude oil stocks were efforts by Gulf Coast refineries to minimize their inventories, which are subject to year-end taxes, he said. Crude supplies also tend to bottom out early in the year, Evans said.

"When we have weak gasoline demand, as we do now, and when we have swelling gasoline inventories, as we do now, it's hard to make the case that the overall petroleum market is critically tight," he said.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 66 cents to settle at $95.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose as high as $97.97 after the inventory report.

February gasoline fell 3.84 cents to end at $2.4355 a gallon. Rising energy prices and a shaky economy have dampened demand for the motor fuel.

In London, February Brent crude fell $1.17 to settle at $94.37 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The weekly report also showed that inventories of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.5 million barrels to 128.7 million barrels. Analysts had expected a drop of 300,000 barrels.

Heating oil futures fell 2.29 cents to $2.6134 a gallon. Natural gas prices climbed 13.2 cents to settle at $8.099 per 1,000 cubic feet.

U.S. refineries ran at an average 91.3 percent of total capacity, an increase of 1.9 percentage points, beating the expected 0.1 percentage point gain, the report said.

Oil was supported somewhat by a surge in the price of gold, analysts said. Gold futures surged above $880 an ounce Tuesday to their highest level ever, not accounting for inflation.

A monthly EIA report Tuesday predicted oil supplies will be tight this year but ease in 2009. The EIA predicted oil prices will average $87 a barrel this year, up from a previous estimate of $85. The average price will then fall to $82 a barrel in 2009, it said.

A barrel of light, sweet crude surpassed $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the first time last week.

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Associated Press Writers Gillian Wong in Singapore and George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, contributed to this report.