Bolt sets new Poland indoors 100m best 9.98 secs
Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt set a new best time of 9.98sec for the rarely run 100m indoors at Warsaw’s national football stadium yesterday.
The Olympic champion and world record holder (9.58s) eclipsed the previous best mark for the distance of 10.05 set by Namibian Frankie Fredericks in 1996.
The Warsaw stadium had its roof closed for the event.
Bolt, in action as preparation for Zurich’s Diamond League meeting next week, said: “Above all, I wanted to get through this season without any injury as I’ve suffered enough over the past few years.
“Over the next meetings, starting with Zurich, I’m hoping to run even quicker.”
Bolt received various gifts after his win over his compatriot Sheldon Mitchell and American Trell Kimmons, among them pictures of his 28th birthday celebrations in Warsaw on Thursday.
Bolt had only run his first 100m of the year in an exhibition race on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on August 17 in a time of 10.6sec.
His last competitive individual appearance at the 100m came in Brussels last year while at last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he was part of the victorious Jamaican 4x100m relay team.
Bolt will compete in his final Olympics in Rio in 2016 before calling time on his career in 2017 after the World Championships.
Source-AFP
Bolt calls it quits for 2014 season
Reports out of Europe are that triple World Record holder Usain Bolt has pulled the plug on his short 2014 season and has withdrawn from Thursday’s Diamond League meeting in Zurich.
Athletics Weekly posted on its twitter account Sunday morning that Bolt who just celebrated his 28th birthday last week had “decided to end his season following outing in Warsaw.”
The article said the organisers of the “Weltklasse meeting confirmed that following his outing at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Warsaw on Saturday the Jamaican sprinter has decided to end his season and will therefore miss the Zurich event.”
After anchoring the Jamaican men’s 4x100m team to gold at the Commonwealth Games last month, Bolt won a 100m race in Rio last Sunday before setting World Record for an indoor 100m after running 9.98 seconds at the meeting in Poland on Saturday.
Source-Jamaica Observer
F1: Ricciardo wins Belgium GP
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo followed up on his superb win in Hungary by clinching victory in the Belgium Grand Prix Sunday, but it was again tensions within the Mercedes camp that made the headlines.
It was Red Bull's 50th victory, but the race will perhaps best be remembered for a crash between World Championship leader Nico Rosberg and his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The crash, which Mercedes immediately blamed on Rosberg, eventually led to Hamilton retiring from the race whilst Rosberg finished second.
Rosberg was later booed by the crowd whilst standing on the podium.
"Completely unacceptable," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told AFP after the race.
"That was just an unacceptable race. It is unbelievable. You should not crash into your teammate. Lap number two of a long race and a crash between two teammates, we have often discussed the situation and it happened today.
"You don't try to overtake with the knife between your teeth in lap number two and damage both cars. This is a decisive moment in the battle between the two of them and for the team.
"Lewis is very upset, we kept him out there for a long time with a damaged car. He will recover quickly. It is going to be handled."
Mercedes's Niki Lauda also apologized to Hamilton over the incident, which has placed Rosberg in pole position to win his first World Championship.
Source-CNN
US Coast Guard seize cocaine worth US$19m in Caribbean
The United States Coast Guard says it has seized more than 570 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of US$19 million.
The Coast Guard said Friday the drugs were seized during a patrol, dubbed “Operation Unified Resolve” and that a go-fast vessel with five people had been detained.
It said the five suspected smugglers aboard the go-fast vessel were turned over to US federal law enforcement officials in St Petersburg, Florida.
The Coast Guard said its efforts under Operation Unified Resolve “contribute to the interagency results being achieved each and every day locally under Operation Caribbean Guard” and that together with other stakeholders, they are “working diligently to deter, detect and disrupt illicit maritime trafficking to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands”.
Source-Caribbean Media Corporation
St Lucia implements ‘indefinite stay stamp’ for all OECS visitors
St. Lucia has implemented all administration arrangements to give effect to the movement of people across the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), according to a statement issued by the OECS Commission’s Regional Integration Unit.
It said that citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadine, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands will now be able to stay in St.Lucia for an indefinite period.
The St. Lucia-based Regional Integration Unit said that upon arrival here, the nationals of these countries that are part of the OECS Economic Union will be offered an indefinite stay stamp by immigration.
“The new arrangements for citizens of the OECS Economic Union travelling to St Lucia relate to Article 12 entitled the Movement of Persons as guided by the Protocol of the OECS Economic Union,” the Unit said, adding that citizens of member states of the OECS Economic Union who travel to St Lucia will also be able to drive without a driver’s permit once they are in possession of a valid driver’s license with photo identification and the nationality of their respective OECS member state highlighted.
Regarding this new arrangement, the Commission said that these citizens seeking employment here will no longer require a work permit once they receive the stamp for indefinite stay.
“St Lucia’s implementation of the administration arrangements to give effect to the Movement of people Regime was further facilitated through an intensive training programme organised by St Lucia OECS Commissioner Ambassador June Soomer, and facilitated the OECS Regional Integration Unit,” the Commission noted.
It said that training was held for over 100 officers attached to the traffic, immigration, customs, transport, external affairs, National Insurance Corporation, and other relevant departments.
Under the new arrangement, OECS citizens can travel to St Lucia using a valid photo identification which displays their nationality and is issued by their respective government agency.
The OECS Commission said that “plans are ongoing in Antigua and Barbuda to fully implement the OECS Free Movement Regime”.
Source-CMC
Colombian military officers meet Farc rebels in Havana
The Colombian military has held its first meeting with Farc rebel leaders at peace talks in Havana.
Their talks will focus on ways of implementing a ceasefire and, if a peace deal is agreed, on the laying down of weapons by the rebels.
President Juan Manuel Santos said the government and rebels were getting closer to an agreement.
Earlier this week the rebels met, also for the first time, a group of victims of the five-decade war.
At least three million people have been displaced by the conflict. Most of the victims were civilians.
"It is undoubtedly important that active-duty members of the armed forces and the Farc have sat at the table under equal conditions," said the head of the rebel delegation, Ivan Marquez,
Leading the military is General Javier Flores, the head of Colombia's joint chiefs of staff.
Gen Florez has taken part in some of the army's most successful operations against the Farc, including the operation that ended the life of the Farc's former military chief Jorge Briceno, in September 2010.
The head of the government negotiating team, Humberto de la Calle, said the military had formed a subcommittee that would prepare future mechanisms for a ceasefire that would only enter into force once a final agreement was reached.
"I repeat, so it is absolutely clear, at the moment no-one is negotiating a ceasefire," he said.
Negotiations between the government and the Farc were launched in the Cuban capital, Havana, in 2012.
The talks are aimed at getting the Farc to sign an agreement renouncing its armed struggle in order to join the legal political process.
There has been agreement in three of the six points on the peace agenda - land reform, political participation and illicit drugs.
Once both sides reach an agreement on the rights of the victims, they will negotiate the two remaining issues: disarmament and the implementation of the peace deal.
The current round of talks ended on Friday and will resume in September.
Venezuela plans to introduce supermarket fingerprinting
President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela has announced a mandatory fingerprinting system in supermarkets to combat food shortages and smuggling.
He said the system would stop people from buying too much of a single item.
But the opposition in Venezuela rejected the plan, saying the policy treated all Venezuelans as thieves.
Critics said fingerprinting consumers of staple products was tantamount to rationing and constituted a breach of privacy.
Up to 40% of the goods which Venezuela subsidises for its domestic market are smuggled to Colombia, where they are sold at much higher prices, the authorities say.
"The amount of staples smuggled to Colombia would be enough to load the shelves of our supermarkets," Gen Efrain Velasco Lugo, a military spokesman, told El Universal newspaper earlier this week.
The opposition blames what it says are the failed left-wing policies of the past 15 years - initiated by late President Hugo Chavez - for the country's economic crisis.
Dissatisfaction with the shortage of many staples, as well as rampant crime and high inflation, led thousands of people in the western Venezuelan states of Tachira and Merida to take to the streets in January.
The protests quickly spread to the rest of Venezuela, which faces similar problems.
Earlier this month Venezuela launched an anti-smuggling operation on its border with Colombia.
It deployed 17,000 troops along the border and began closing all the crossings at night.
The one-month ban will be lifted in mid-September.
Source-BBC
California earthquake strikes San Francisco Bay area
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 has shaken northern California, reports the US Geological Survey.
The USGS said it struck at 03:20 local time (10:20 GMT) four miles (6km) north-west of American Canyon, at a depth of 6.7 miles.
Dozens of people were injured in the Napa area, at least two seriously.
The site is 51 miles from Sacramento and about 30 miles north-east of San Francisco, where many Twitter users say the earthquake woke them up.
Officials in Napa said in a statement that the quake had destroyed four mobile homes and caused "approximately 50" gas main breaks and around 30 leaks from water mains.
Three historic buildings in the town had been hit and two commercial buildings "severely damaged", the statement went on.
More than 10,000 households were without power in Napa County, about six miles from the earthquake's epicentre, and the surrounding area, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company said.
The California Highway Patrol in the San Francisco Bay Area tweeted that it was "checking over crossings and bridges for obvious signs of structural integrity" and asked residents to report any signs of problems.
Twitter users in the quake zone contacted the BBC to share their experiences.
Sarah McLellan tweeted: "On 6th floor entire building swaying, shaking", while Matt Dyar said: "Major shaker. Stuff off shelfs. Broken glass. No house damage that is obvious."
Another Twitter user said: "I haven't felt one that big since the Northridge quake in the early 90s."
California lies on the San Andreas Fault, which forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, two of the large moving plates that form the Earth's crust.
Source-BBC
Netanyahu Warns Gazans to Leave Hamas Sites
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday to leave any site where "terrorists" are operating.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, the Israeli leader said all these places are legitimate targets.
Netanyahu said the military will continue to strike at Hamas and other "terrorist groups" in Gaza until Israel achieves its goals, namely, an end to Palestinian rocket attacks and the restoration of peace and quiet.
Hamas responded by firing more rockets and mortar shells across the border, paralyzing much of southern Israel.
The Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is now in its seventh week with no sign of a letup.
More than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict. Of the 68 Israelis who have died, 64 were soldiers.
Israeli warplanes leveled a five-story building located in the Al-Shati Camp district in Gaza Sunday. An Israeli strike leveled a seven-floor office building earlier Sunday.
On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes hit a 13-story apartment tower that housed 44 families. Israel's military said there were Hamas "terrorist activities" in the buildings and their attacks are aimed at deterrence.
The targeting of large buildings appears to be part of a new military tactic by Israel, a move which Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri described as a "dangerous development."
Ukraine's Poroshenko Vows $3 Billion for Military
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to increase military spending by $3 billion over the next few years because of the ongoing pro-Russian separatist threat in the east of Ukraine.
Poroshenko made the comment Sunday in Kyiv during a speech marking Independence Day, 23 years after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
He told a crowd of thousands gathered in Independence Square to view a military parade that it is clear the separatist threat will "hang over Ukraine" for the foreseeable future, and the country must be prepared to defend itself.
On Saturday, Western monitors said the Russian aid convoy that crossed into Ukraine Friday had gone back to Russia, easing international tensions as German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Ukraine's capital voicing renewed hopes for peace.
Merkel met with President Poroshenko, and pledged $660 million in German aid to help rebuild cities in eastern Ukraine battered by months of fighting.
Pro-Russian rebels in the Russian-speaking east launched their rebellion in April. Since then, an estimated 2,000 people have been killed as government forces seek to regain control of the region.
Merkel said her visit, just three days ahead of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, comes at "a difficult but decisive time" for Ukraine's territorial integrity. She also warned that Moscow could face further economic sanctions if its support for the rebellion continues.
As the high-level diplomacy unfolded in Kyiv, at least six civilians were reported killed by artillery fire in the key rebel stronghold city of Donetsk, as Ukraine's forces press their fight against rebels near the Russian border.
In a related development, the U.S. State Department voiced shock Saturday over reports that a top Lithuanian diplomat was abducted and murdered by rebels in the the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. Spokeswoman Marie Harf also extended condolences to the diplomat's family and said U.S. authorities were still "seeking information on the circumstances of this tragedy."
Lithuanian authorities reported Friday that Honorary Consul Mykola Zelenec was kidnapped and killed, but did not immediately provide details.
The entry of Russia's convoy into Ukraine, following days of waiting as delivery details were negotiated with Kyiv, raised an outcry from Ukraine, the United States, NATO and the European Union.
White House officials called the crossing a flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and demanded Russia remove the convoy or face consequences.
In acknowledging the incursion, the Russian Foreign Ministry referred to "endless delays hampering the initial deliveries" and said those delays had become "intolerable." It also described the aid as "urgently needed by women, children and the elderly."
Ukraine and its allies had for days expressed fears Russia could use the aid trucks to smuggle arms to pro-Russian separatists inside Ukraine, or use the convoy as a prelude to a full-scale military operation.
There were no reports by late Saturday of either Russian smuggling linked to the convoy or ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine territory.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.