Olympics head rejects silence for Israeli victims
The head of the International Olympics Committee again rejected calls for a moment of silence during the Games' opening ceremony to honor Israeli Olympians killed in a terror attack at the 1972 Games.
"We feel that the Opening Ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident," Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said Saturday.
Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, condemned that stance Sunday as "unfeeling" and "completely out of touch."
More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for a moment of silence in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed by Palestinian militants at the games in Munich, Germany, 40 years ago. A German policeman and five of the attackers also died.
President Barack Obama supports the campaign, the White House said Thursday.
Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has also been a vocal proponent, campaigning on Facebook and Twitter for "Just One Minute" of silence.
The refusal of the IOC to back the plan "told us as Israelis that this tragedy is yours alone and not a tragedy within the family of nations," Ayalon said in May.
Ankie Spitzer, whose husband Andrei was among those killed, was the first to sign the petition.
"They came to Munich in 1972 to play as athletes in the Olympics; they came in peace and went home in coffins," she writes in the online plea.
She says she has "no political or religious agenda. Just the hope that my husband and the other men who went to the Olympics in peace, friendship and sportsmanship are given what they deserve. One minute of silence will clearly say to the world that what happened in 1972 can never happen again."
Rogge said Saturday that the IOC would "be present" at the September 5 ceremony honoring the dead at the site where they were killed in Germany.
"We are going to pay a homage to the athletes, of course, as we always have done in the past and will do in the future," he said.
But Lauder of the World Jewish Congress said that was inadequate.
"Frankly, that's not good enough," he said, arguing that "hardly anybody" will notice that event.
The attack began in the early hours of September 5, 1972, when eight Palestinian terrorists disguised in track suits broke into the Olympic Village in Munich.
They stormed the apartments housing Israeli athletes and coaches, killing two and taking nine others hostage. Hours later, the world woke up to the image of a masked man on the balcony of the Olympic Village.
From the Olympic Village, the militants demanded the release of 200 Arab inmates from Israeli prisons or they would start killing the athletes in Munich, one every hour.
Israel refused to negotiate, and the terrorists demanded an airplane to Egypt. The German government then attempted a rescue at the airport. When it was over, all the Israelis, five terrorists and one German police officer lay dead.
The Munich Games were temporarily suspended, and a memorial service attended by some 80,000 people was held at the Olympic Stadium.
--BBC
London 2012: GB men's basketball team beaten by Belgium
Great Britain's men's basketball team lost a third warm-up game in a row as they suffered a 79-56 defeat by Belgium in their final pre-Olympics match.
Without NBA stars Luol Deng and Joel Freeland, GB got off to a bad start, trailing 21-15 after the first quarter.
Belgium stretched their advantage to 39-24 at half-time and never looked back as they cruised to victory.
GB have now lost to USA, Tunisia and Belgium heading into their London 2012 opener against Russia on Sunday.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu led the GB attack with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Eric Boateng hit 12 points and 15 rebounds.
However, GB were always behind in the game in Antwerp and despite a brave fight could not do anything to stop a third-straight loss.
England v South Africa: Dale Steyn sends England to innings defeat
Dale Steyn took five wickets as South Africa swept to an innings-and-12-run win in the first Test at the Kia Oval.
The pace bowler claimed 5-56 and Imran Tahir 3-63 to bowl England out for 240 shortly before tea on the final day.
Ian Bell's defiant 55 from 220 balls and Matt Prior's 40 failed to prevent England slipping to a first Test defeat at home since 2010.
Once they perished within six overs, England were quickly finished off by a ruthless South Africa side.
Their comprehensive victory capped a remarkable turnaround in fortunes after England closed the first day on 267-3.
Steyn did the damage on Monday, removing Ravi Bopara half an hour into the day before dismissing Bell, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann to give him seven wickets in the match.
With Bell and Prior at the crease, confidence grew that England could achieve the unlikely and save the Test, the first in the three-match series which will decide the best team in the world.
Bell was particularly stoic, reining in any attacking instincts on his way to a hard-working half-century.
His steadying influence helped England recover from the early blow of losing the under-pressure Bopara, who followed up his first-innings duck by dragging a back-footed force off Steyn on to his stumps.
The ugly nature of the dismissal seemed to focus Bell and Prior on the task at hand and they knuckled down for the remainder of the morning session, taking the sting out of the seamers and using their feet to negate any turn from leg-spinner Tahir.
Bell did get a faint edge on one Tahir delivery, but stand-in wicketkeeper AB de Villiers spilled the chance, helping England reach lunch without further alarm.
However, Prior's departure sparked a collapse that saw England lose their last five wickets for 37 runs.
The sweep shot was redundant until Prior attempted it against Tahir, succeeding only in gloving the ball to Jacques Kallis at first slip.
The importance of the wicket was not lost on South Africa, who took the new ball four overs later and set about finishing off England's tail.
Steyn, bowling with great hostility, drew Bell into playing at a wide one that found Kallis at second slip.
Broad was caught down the leg side after South Africa successfully reviewed a not-out decision, Swann drove tamely to extra-cover and James Anderson was trapped in front by Tahir.
The second Test of the series at Headingley starts on 2 August.
--BBC
Torch starts final leg before London Olympics open
The Olympic torch relay began its first full day in London on Saturday, marking the start of the final week-long countdown to the opening of the 2012 Games.
The flame was handed to the day's first torchbearer in Greenwich, home to the Equestrian Arena for the Games.
The torch was also carried up to the roof of the North Greenwich Arena, where gymnastics events and the basketball finals will be staged.
Later in the day, it will reach the Tower Hamlets neighborhood, one of the poorest in London, which has benefited from millions of dollars of investment in infrastructure and regeneration projects as a result of the Games.
The torch made a dramatic arrival at the Tower of London on Friday evening, when a Royal Marine commando, carrying the flame in a lantern descended a rope 180 feet from a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter into the grounds.
London Mayor Boris Johnson was there to greet the torch at the Tower, which dates to the 11th century. The flame spent the night in the safekeeping of the Jewel House, home of the Crown Jewels.
Over the next week, nearly 1,000 torchbearers will carry it along nearly 200 miles of streets around the capital before it takes a starring role at the opening ceremony at the Olympic Park next Friday.
More than 10 million people lined the streets of more than 1,000 communities around Britain to see the torch, which has been carried by more than 7,000 torchbearers over the past two months, Olympic organizers said.
The buildup to the Olympics has been overshadowed by a security fiasco caused by the failure of contractor G4S to supply enough guards for the Games.
But Johnson told CNN's Becky Anderson that while London authorities are not complacent, he is confident in their ability to keep visitors safe.
"We do everything in our power to maximize security at the venues and that's working well now -- the army, the military as well as G4S are providing very safe conditions on the site, plus there is a huge amount of work that nobody has seen involving the intelligence service," the mayor said
"That's something about an event like this -- you listen out for what may or may not be happening on the Internet, you try as hard as you possibly can to monitor the potential suspects."
Johnson said it is impossible to guard against all "unknown unknowns" and that's why strong security is needed at venues.
"At no stage can you guarantee that someone won't do something moronic, stupid, violent and tragic, not just in London but the whole of the UK is a potential target in this period," he said.
But at the same time, he said, "the intelligence is as reassuring as it could be under the circumstances. The threat level as far as we are aware has slightly come down in the last 12 months, but you can never be certain."
Some 3,500 extra military personnel have been called up to meet the shortfall in recruitment by G4S. Another 1,200 have been placed on standby as a contingency, the government said this week
--CNN
Top athletes missing from camp
The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association is expecting to have all 47 track and field members on campus at their pre-Olympic training camp in Birmingham today.
The camp is missing some members including Asafa Powell, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Melaine Walker and Kaliese Spencer.
Team manager Ludlow Watts said the unusually high number of meets this close to the start of the Olympic Games have made it difficult to have everyone in camp at the same time.
The camp is mandatory.
Ingraham bows out of politics
Bahamas' former prime minister Hubert Ingraham, 65, whose Free National Movement (FNM) was defeated in the May 7 general election, said his resignation becomes effective from August 31 this year.
He said one of the reasons for his postponement is to allow his preferred candidate, Greg Gomez, the opportunity to meet the one year constitutional residency requirement in order to be considered as a candidate to run in the North Abaco by-election on the FNM ticket.
“The leader of the party asked me to consider not resigning forthwith...and secondly I belie the Bahamian people ought to have an opportunity to reflect upon a proposed referendum and they want to ensure they are not rushed by the government and it is being said I have some part to play in the events to come.
“Thirdly and this is the most important one, Greg Gomez, who is one of the four people who have applied to the party for nomination, has spent some time in the United States of America and he hasn’t been back home quite a year yet. He has applied and I want him to be considered as a candidate and my postponement will facilitate that,” said Ingraham, who served as prime minister of The Bahamas for 15 years but stepped down as NFM and Opposition leader after he led the party into defeat in the last general election.
The by-election is due to be held in October.
Ingraham told reporters he intends to make a farewell speech in Parliament before his resignation becomes effective. Parliament next meets on July 25.
“It has been a singular privilege and honour to serve in this August House of Assembly of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” Ingraham said, adding he also remains a “full and faithful “ member of the FNM.
(CMC)
IMF team in Jamaica today
The country will today welcome another high-level delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the Government presses ahead with plans to negotiate a new agreement with the lending agency.
Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips, in his address to the media on the final day of the People's National Party's (PNP) two-day National Executive Council meeting, said the meeting with the IMF, slated for this morning, would seek to advance discussions ahead of the coming of the larger delegation expected in the island later this year.
"I will have discussions with them in the morning. It is a very short mission, but we will focus particularly on clearing up data issues (and) get them to understand what is happening with our revenue numbers, in preparation for the larger team which will come in November," Phillips said.
The PNP has said it would be seeking a more flexible agreement with the IMF instead of the standby loan agreement which was entered into by the former government and expired in May.
Bajan fishermen held in Trinidad
Two Barbadian fishermen are now in the care of Trinidad and Tobago authorities, after they were arrested and charged for illegal fishing in Tobago waters.
The arrested is currently receiving the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade who has been in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to resolve the matter.
The Ministry has also been in touch with the Barbadian boat owner and his representatives.
The Trinidad authorities have responded to queries and have promised to provide further information on the matter.
BGIS/DR
Two St.Lucians among 8 held for prostitution at bar in Trinidad
Officers in Trinidad, detained four Colombian women between the ages 18 to 30, two Venezuelans in their late 20s and two St Lucians, also in their late 20s at a popular central pub in Trinidad on Friday.
The illegal immigrants according to reports were allegedly engaged in the act of prostitution.
They were later handed over to Immigration authorities, where they were being quizzed up until late yesterday.
According to reports, at about 11.30 pm on Friday, a party of officers, executed a search warrant at the Chase Village pub and found a group of women believed to be illegal immigrants dancing in a lewd and suggestive manner.
According to reports in the Sunday Newsday edition, when police officers stormed the business place, several of the male patrons told officers that they were having a nice time and the women were making some money.
Officers say they intend to clean-up the Central Division, especially the brothels where prostitution is taking place, and they have also set their target on raiding several drug dens throughout the division.
Dominican Government officials dealt a salary slash
President elect Danilo Medina will have a salary cap of RD$400,000 (around US$10,000) per month, a figure no other Administration official can exceed, including expenses, and other perks.
The announcement was posed Friday morning on the Senate Website, while Congress debates the bill on the Public Administration Salary Regulation.
He Chamber of Deputies however, attributes the information to lawmakers close to the president elect.
"As this ordinary Legislature concludes on the 26th of this month, several lawmakers said the Executive (Branch) will convene a special session of 15 more days for the approval of this and other initiatives that would lose force otherwise," says the Senate document.