LANCE ARMSTRONG "has agreed a settlement with the Sunday Times after it sued him" for about £1M ($1.6M). Armstrong had been paid £300,000 ($467,000) to settle a libel case in '04 after the newspaper alleged he had cheated. After U.S. officials last year found Armstrong had led a "sophisticated" doping program, the paper "demanded the money back plus interest and costs." The Sunday Times said it had reached a "mutually acceptable final resolution" (BBC, 8/25). ... Germany's Interior Minister HANS-PETER FRIEDRICH "has once again called for an anti-doping law." Friedrich: "In cases where an athlete promotes his image through fraud, it is worth considering" (FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG, 8/25). ... Swiss Olympic champion cyclist ROBERT DILL-BUNDI "was identified as the motorist held responsible for two car crashes" in Switzerland on Thursday, including one involving seven vehicles that injured 11 people. The accidents occurred in the middle of the day as Dill-Bundi, winner of a Gold Medal in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, "was driving his BMW" 45 km southeast of Lausanne. Dill-Bundi "was himself injured and taken to hospital where he is expected to spend a couple of days getting treatment" (THE LOCAL, 8/23). ... Seventeen-year-old Russian "whiz kid" SERGEI SIROTKIN "stayed on course to be the youngest-ever Formula One driver Friday by signing a deal with Swiss team Sauber." Sirotkin "is yet to acquire a superlicense to enter auto sport’s most prestigious series next year -- to coincide with the first Russian Grand Prix in Sochi -- but the considerable backing of his father may yet see him on the grid come March" (R-SPORT, 8/23). ... India's two-time Olympic medal-winning wrestler SUSHIL KUMAR said on Friday that "he was offered money to lose a world championship title bout in 2010 in Moscow." Kumar, 30, said that he "was approached through one of his team's foreign coaches to lose the 66kg-category final" against Russia's ALAN GOGAYEV (BANGKOK POST, 8/23). ... U.N. Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON kicked off the 2013 World Rowing Championship in Chungju, his hometown in central South Korea Saturday, "giving pep talks to nearly 2,000 competitors from around the world." Ban said, "Sports has the power to bring out peace and development" (YONHAP, 8/25). ... Japanese PM SHINZO ABE "will lead Tokyo's bid delegation to Buenos Aires for next month's vote on the host city of the 2020 Olympics." Spanish PM MARIANO RAJOY and Turkish PM RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN "are also expected to be in Buenos Aires for the vote" (AP, 8/23). ... Former world champion shooter RONJAN SODHI "has been named the winner of India's highest sports award." Sodhi was "a double-trap world record holder" in '10 and '11 (AFP, 8/23).
