Breakaway

In a showy display of cash-slicked camaraderie and like-minded politics, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recognized the independence of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia today during a state visit to Russia. Venezuela becomes the third country, after Russia and Nicaragua, to acknowledge the national aspirations of the two small, rebel regions located inside Georgia's internationally recognized borders. Impoverished South Ossetia was at the heart of last summer's war between Russia and Georgia, and Moscow has been accused of carrying out a de facto annexation of the two republics.

After almost 45 years of heartbreak and general unhappiness, the franchise that never won a Stanley Cup whiffed at a chance to parade one in front of their fans. Missed opportunities. So many, many missed opportunities. The Kings hit the post twice and failed on an estimated 7,000 breakaways in a 3-1 loss Wednesday to New Jersey in Game 4 of the Final. They still hold a dominating 3-1 series lead, but you could almost sense their bitterness afterward at Staples Center.

Christians must love all people, even if they don't support their values, pastor Rick Warren told breakaway Episcopalians and other Anglicans in Bedford. "We are to love the people of the world no matter what they believe; we are to not love the value system of the world. And the problem today is a lot of Christians are getting that reversed. They love the value system and hate the people," said Warren, of Orange County's Saddleback Church. "God has never met a person he didn't love."

NEWARK, N.J. - He was the player his Kings teammates would have chosen to be in this situation, to have a breakaway in overtime of the Stanley Cup Final, because they knew he would perform as if he were gliding on a pristine glacial lake instead of the choppy ice of the sauna-like Prudential Center. And there Anze Kopitar was, alone in the midst of a huge crowd and two tired, sweaty teams, an almost surreal scenario. Drew Doughty got the puck to Justin Williams, who was along the boards when he chipped a beautiful backhand pass to the middle of the ice. There was nothing between Kopitar and New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur but the sticky air and a few dozen feet of ice. "Everybody jumped up in anticipation," said Kings winger Dwight King, who was watching from the bench.

NEWARK, N.J. - He was the player his Kings teammates would have chosen to be in this situation, to have a breakaway in overtime of the Stanley Cup Final, because they knew he would perform as if he were gliding on a pristine glacial lake instead of the choppy ice of the sauna-like Prudential Center. And there Anze Kopitar was, alone in the midst of a huge crowd and two tired, sweaty teams, an almost surreal scenario. Drew Doughty got the puck to Justin Williams, who was along the boards when he chipped a beautiful backhand pass to the middle of the ice. There was nothing between Kopitar and New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur but the sticky air and a few dozen feet of ice. "Everybody jumped up in anticipation," said Kings winger Dwight King, who was watching from the bench.

The European Parliament said Russia's peacekeeping mission in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region is not neutral and the terms of its deployment must be changed. The European Union assembly demanded in a nonbinding resolution that member nations send their own border mission to Abkhazia. Georgian officials have asked for EU participation in the U.N.-monitored peacekeeping forces. Moscow has offered passports to Abkhaz residents and those of South Ossetia, another breakaway area in Georgia, and said it would establish ties with separatist institutions in the two regions.

San Pedro 4, San Fernando 2--The San Pedro boys' team scored four goals in the final 43 minutes to defeat the top-seeded Tigers in a City Section match. "We were giant killers," said San Pedro forward Chris Wirtz, who put the match out of reach with a breakaway for the visiting Pirates' final goal. San Pedro (10-4) came into the match as the No. 3 entrant from the Southern Pacific League, but it dominated play after San Fernando (18-3-2) took a 2-0 lead.

Brigitte Bardot, whose breakaway towels kept eyes glued to the screen in her cinema "sex-kitten" days, made her television debut today to save the elephant by putting ivory dealers out of business. After 16 years of avoiding cameras, the 54-year-old Bardot's passion for animal welfare finally persuaded her to host a series of six hard-hitting documentaries aimed at halting reckless poaching for profit and cruelty in the name of science. "There were 2.5 million elephants in 1960.

Mike Fisher scored 3:33 into overtime and the Ottawa Senators extended their winning streak to a team-record nine games in a row with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Fisher scored during three-on-three play after both teams drew penalties in the extra period. He took a pass from defenseman Erik Karlsson and cut across the goalmouth to put a backhand past Jaroslav Halak. Montreal's Hal Gill was penalized for tripping 2:17 into overtime after he upended Jason Spezza on a partial breakaway.

Heather McIntyre scored 11 minutes into the second half Tuesday to lift the Laguna Hills High School girls' soccer team to a 1-0 win over Edison in a nonleague match at Huntington Beach. Junior goalie Lynn Lambert had nine saves to record her seventh straight shutout. The Hawks (7-0) have not allowed a goal this season. Edison, defending Southern Section 4-A co-champion, is 4-2. The game was a rematch of last year's semifinal, won by the Chargers, 1-0.

NEWARK, N.J. — Dustin Penner had the best imagery, likening the arena to a Russian sauna, and Dustin Brown said the puck behaved more like a bouncing tennis ball than anything else, all greatly testing their poise and patience. On a night that required sweat and skill, the Kings got both in a 2-1 overtime victory against the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. Center Anze Kopitar scored on a breakaway 8 minutes 13 seconds into overtime, moving the Kings to within three victories of their first Cup in franchise history.

The latest installment in the "Twilight" series didn't break franchise records this past weekend, but the film still had the fifth-best domestic opening of all time at the box office. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" raked in $139.5 million, according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment. While that was an impressive opening, "Breaking Dawn" fell just short of the $142.8-million opening weekend record held by the second movie in the series, 2009's "New Moon.

Cruise fans who want to be first in line to board the Breakaway, one of Norwegian Cruise Lines' newest ships, may now buy tickets for its inaugural 2013 sailings. The ship's seven-night crossing from London to New York City in spring 2013 starts at a low $749 per person -- just a bit more than $100 a day. The deal: The Breakaway , which is still under construction in Germany, will hold 4,000 passengers and will be the largest ship to home port in New York City, according to the cruise line.

Yet another attempt by the Ducks to plug the hole in their goal failed Friday night, this time by a very narrow but very dramatic margin. Their 3-2 overtime loss to Minnesota was the Ducks' fifth defeat in a row as they struggle in the scrum of teams contending for the final Western Conference playoff spots. Dan Ellis, the newest player to start in goal after he was acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay on Thursday, was victimized in overtime when the Ducks gave up two breakaways in the final minute.

Leaders of a California labor group battling the giant Service Employees International Union alleged in a lawsuit Tuesday that the SEIU engaged in a pattern of violent threats and strong-arm tactics against dissident unionists. The suit, filed in Superior Court in San Francisco, is the latest salvo in the bitter intra-union clash pitting the SEIU against the breakaway National Union of Healthcare Workers. For two years, the rival group has been trying to woo SEIU members at California hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Ollie Matson, a remarkably versatile football player who had the misfortune during a 14-year career in the National Football League to play on mostly bad teams, among them some of the worst Los Angeles Rams clubs in history ? and made it to the Hall of Fame anyway ? has died. He was 80. FOR THE RECORD: Ollie Matson: In the obituary of Hall of Fame football player Ollie Matson in the Feb. 20 LATExtra section, the last name of his former college teammate Bob St. Clair was misspelled as St. Claire.

Afew months ago, I traveled to Sukhumi, a balmy, war-wrecked seaside resort that is the capital of Abkhazia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as anyone who has followed the news of the last week cannot fail to know, are the two breakaway regions of Georgia. In pelting rain, I crossed the Inguri River from Georgia proper into Abkhazia and noticed that the Georgians had erected a giant sculpture on their side. It was of a pistol pointing at Abkhazia, but the barrel of the gun had been tied in a knot.

Wayne Gretzky is ready for Rendez-vous '87. Gretzky, in his final tuneup for the two-game series with the Soviet Union, scored two goals and set up two others Sunday night at Edmonton to lead the Oilers to a 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Soviets and NHL All-Stars play Wednesday and Friday night at Quebec in a format that is different from the usual midseason All-Star game.

Everywhere Tavis Smiley travels around Southern California these days, people stop him with concerned expressions on their faces. He says they wonder about his nightly talk show and blow off some steam about KCET-TV Channel 28, the major Los Angeles PBS outlet for 40 years and Smiley's home studio for the last seven, which is exiting the public-broadcasting network just five weeks from now. "If the viewer in Southern California, if the viewer in...

The tense scene inside the cafeteria at Kaiser Permanente's sprawling Los Angeles Medical Center illustrated the bitter, long-in-the-making battle that is about to culminate in the nation's biggest private-sector labor election since 1941. In bright red T-shirts promoting one of two unions vying to represent Kaiser employees, a few healthcare workers stood out in the sea of white smocks at the lunch tables. Across the room, a supporter of the rival group videotaped the workers in hopes of catching them breaking any rules that limit union soliciting at the Sunset Boulevard hospital.