UCLA knocked No. 2 USC out of the Bowl

(2) USC 9, UCLA 13

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Southern California's dejected players trudged off the Rose Bowl field, oblivious to the celebration going on around them.
Their national championship hopes had just ended with the biggest upset of the season.

UCLA knocked No. 2 USC out of the Bowl

Championship Series title game with a stunning 13-9 victory over its crosstown rival Saturday. The Bruins did it with a vastly improved defense and a quarterback starting on three days' notice.

"Give credit to UCLA. They made it a difficult day," said USC coach Pete Carroll, whose team lost for just the fourth time in its last 59 games. "They kept us from doing what we wanted to do. We had no rhythm. We did not anticipate this happening."

Neither did most fans of either team. The Trojans hammered the Bruins 66-19 last season to lock up a second straight appearance in the BCS title game, and figured to win again, if not by such a one-sided score, to make it three in a row.

It wasn't to be. "I didn't believe it until the clock hit zero. All we wanted to do was stay close and get a chance to win," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. "I know how important this win is for the Bruin family. I know that it's been a long time."

Since 1998, to be exact. The Trojans had beaten the Bruins seven straight times. Before that, UCLA beat USC eight times in a row.

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Pittsburgh Football Coach Wannstedt Gets Three-Year Extension

It appears Pittsburgh is not ready to give up on head coach Dave Wannstedt.

Despite three straight losing seasons under his direction, the Panthers are poised to give Wannstedt a three-year extension that takes him through 2012, a person familiar with the deal told ESPN's Joe Schad on Friday.

The deal leaves Wannstedt with five years left on his contract and provides a slight raise over his current $1 million a year salary, a source told Schad.

Pitt is expected to make a formal announcement at Saturday's 100th Backyard Brawl at No. 2 West Virginia.

At his introduction as the Panthers new athletic director on Friday, Steve Pederson gave Wannstedt his vote of confidence.

"Absolutely, I'm a supporter of Dave Wannstedt, and I'm going to do everything I can for him to be successful," said Pederson, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's our football coach and I want him to be our football coach.

"I'm not in a position to talk about [a contract extension] right now. But I think we will be in the very short term."

Wannstedt is 15-19 overall in three seasons with the Panthers. Pitt is 4-7 overall and 2-4 in the Big East this season.

-ESPN

World marks World AIDS Day

Tens of thousands of people filed into a Johannesburg stadium for a 10-hour music extravaganza beamed to millions around the globe to mark World AIDS Day.

The concert at the 50,000-seater Ellis Park stadium featured 30 local and international artists performing, ranging from Ludacris to Peter Gabriel.

The event was organised by the 89-year-old Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS campaign, named after his prison number from his 27 years in jail during South Africa's apartheid regime.

Thirteen years after apartheid ended and after Mr Mandela became president in South Africa's first ever democratic elections, the country is now on the front line of the struggle against HIV.

Around 5.5 million of its 48 million people are infected - the world's worst rate, according to recent UN data.

Addressing the crowd, Mr Mandela urged people to stand up and take the fight against AIDS into their own hands.

"It is still alarming that for every person who receives treatment there are four others who are newly infected," said the Nobel laureate, after slowly walked to the podium with the aid of his wife and a walking stick.

"Here in South Africa we are making every effort to reach into communities because we believe the answer is in our hands.

"Yes, big ambitious plans are needed to deal with the epidemic. But what really matters are small acts of kindness ... such as protecting yourself," he said.

South Africa's deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka thanked the performers.

"It's about preventing the infections. It's about caring for the people who are already sick ... it's about rolling out the treatment, and ensuring we empower women who are at the frontline of the battle," she said.

Worldwide ceremonies

Earlier United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon launched the 20th World AIDS Day at a midnight ceremony at St Bartholomew's Church in New York.

Mr Ban has called on governments around the world to allow universal access to HIV prevention and treatment.

He says the stigma associated with the disease is the biggest barrier towards combating AIDS.

"For AIDS is a disease unlike any other," he said.

"AIDS is a social issue, a human rights issue, an economic issue.

"It targets young adults, just as they should be contributing to economic development, intellectual growth and bringing up the children."

Growing complacency

Activists are trying to keep the battle against HIV in the public eye on in the face of growing complacency amid progress in treating and slowing the spread of the disease.

Even the Miss World beauty pageant on the Chinese holiday island of Sanya was enlisted to get out the message that the disease daily kills some 6,000 people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao appeared on the front page of major state-controlled newspapers shaking the hand of a woman HIV carrier, a day after the UN warned that as many as 50 million Chinese are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

December 1 has become a time of grim stocktaking as AIDS campaigners worldwide sound the alarm over the disease's rampage through Africa, the threat it poses to Asia and former Soviet republics, and the risks to vulnerable communities such as sex workers, drug users and gay men.

In Australia, campaigners have warned that complacency after earlier success in fighting HIV/AIDS risks giving rise to a new wave of infections.

AIDS awareness educator Vince Lovegrove is calling for a new campaign aimed at a new generation.

"This is the moment it all could go astray. This is the moment when it can become a pandemic," he said.

Australian government figures show that by the end of 2006, 26,267 Australians had been diagnosed with HIV and 10,l25 people had been diagnosed with AIDS, with 6,723 having died.

- AFP/BBC/ABC

Former American Idol Finalist Jessica Sierra Jailed

TAMPA, Fla. - Former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra was jailed early Saturday after a drunken confrontation with police and onlookers, authorities said.

The arrest comes less than two weeks after she pleaded no contest to charges of battery and possession of cocaine.

Sierra, 22, was charged Saturday with disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, felony battery and possession of cocaine, according to the police report. No bond was immediately posted.

Sierra, who was supposed to be completing a drug-rehabilitation program to be televised nationally, was arrested at a bar in Ybor City at 2:10 a.m. Saturday.

"As the defendant was taken into custody, she attempted to push away and flee the scene," the arresting officers wrote.

A message left Saturday for Sierra's attorney John Fitzgibbons was not immediately returned.

On Nov. 19, Circuit Judge Gregory Holder sentenced Sierra to 12 months probation and random drug screening. She was accused of hitting a man on the head with a glass at a Tampa nightspot in April. Officers then found a small amount of cocaine while searching her afterward at the county jail.

A top-10 contestant on the show in 2005, Sierra entered a California rehab facility in July that was to be documented on VH1's reality show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," sometime early next year.

Source: Associated Press

Miss China Is Miss World

Pre-contest favourite Miss China won the Miss World 2007 title in her own country late Saturday, much to the delight of the audience, in front of an estimated two billion viewers around the globe.

Twenty-three-year-old Zhang Zilin was crowned the winner in Sanya, China. Miss Angola came second and Miss Mexico third at the beauty pageant, held on the southern holiday island of Hainan, dubbed China's answer to Hawaii.

Viewers in 200 countries were expected to tune in to watch the show, which saw Miss China take the crown ahead of 105 of the world's most beautiful and talented women.

The audience in the 2,000-capacity Beauty Crown Theatre, specially built for when Sanya first hosted the event in 2003, roared in delight as Zhang was crowned the winner at the end of the two-hour-long contest, which was conducted mainly in English.

The secretary from Beijing was the pre-contest favourite with British bookmakers, along with Miss Dominican Republic.

At 182 centimetres (six feet), Zhang was also the tallest contestant.

"There are 1.3 billion people behind me," she said during the interview stage of the contest, referring to China's population.

"If I win I want to become a link between the Olympic Games (in Beijing next year) and the Miss World Organisation."

"I want to use the power and beauty of Miss World to support those in need," she said, speaking throughout in hesitant English, adding a few words in Chinese.

Zhang earlier told the contest her favourite pasttimes were the 100-metre hurdles and the high jump.

Fireworks exploded above the crown-shaped theatre, where visitors had paid up to 300 dollars for tickets, after the popular decision was made.

Miss Mexico had also been strongly fancied, while Miss Angola was an outsider.

"I want to tell you that I am a strong woman and also a dreamer girl and I don't accept failures in my life," Carolina Moran Gordillo, Miss Mexico, said earlier in the contest.

"This is my dream and I worked very very hard to get here," the 19-year-old student added.

Portuguese-born Miss Angola, Micaela Reis, 18, said she wanted to win the coveted crown so she could spread awareness about AIDS/HIV.

Contestants were rated on an array of disciplines including physical fitness, style, dress, personality and beauty.

The 106 were whittled down to 16, then five, with hotly tipped Miss Dominican Republic not making the final five despite strong support from the mainly Chinese crowd.

The 57th edition of the contest was being held on World AIDS Day as organisers wanted the annual showcase of gloss and glitz, seen by critics as a sexist throwback, to help increase awareness of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

To underline their commitment to AIDS awareness, organisers invited former South African president Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter Maki to serve on the panel of nine judges.

The Noble laureate's son Makgatho died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005, and the family has since been active in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

As well as being held on World AIDS Day, Miss World 2007 came a week after Chinese state media reported hotels in Beijing have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in the capital.

Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzgefBvkCq5XAt2Kr2ImNnCVMT_A