Tiger Woods Feeling "Pretty Good" After Playing First Holes of 2016
Tiger Woods is showing some positive signs of recovery.
On Monday, the 14-time major champion hit the ceremonial tee shot at Bluejack National Golf Club in Montgomery, Texas, and played five holes with British Open champion Mark O'Meara. Woods said they were the first holes he had played since the Wyndham Championship last August, when he finished for a tie in 10th.
In an interview afterward, Woods said he felt "pretty good."
"I'm definitely a little tired but I feel pretty good," Woods said Monday, according to ESPN. "I haven't been out here playing like this. I hadn't played any holes until today. I know people have said I've played holes back at Medalist, but I haven't. This is actually the first time I've played holes since Wyndham. It's been awhile.
"I'm just progressing. You saw how I was going at it today, nice and smooth. That's harder than I have been going at it the last month. Just gradually progressing. We're just trying to progress and I'm doing that."
According to ESPN, the United States Golf Association confirmed that Woods was registered for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in June, but his agent Mark Steinberg said the move was "simply procedural."
Johnny Manziel Indicted on Assault, Family Violence Charges
Former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was indicted Tuesday in Texas following allegations that he assaulted an ex-girlfriend.
A grand jury charged Manziel, 23, with assault causing bodily injury and family violence, according to court documents.
Manziel’s lead counsel, Jim Darnell, said in a statement after the indictment was announced: “We certainly respect the decision of the grand jury but of course they only hear part of the case: What the D.A. chooses to share with them. We don’t know what that was. Johnny will certainly plead 'not guilty' and we believe the evidence will support that plea. Out of respect for Ms. Crowley, we will not try the case in the press. We do, however, believe that Johnny will be acquitted at the conclusion of the case."
Manziel’s ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, claims her eardrum burst when the former Browns quarterback hit her during an argument that began at a Dallas hotel in January. After the alleged assault, Crowley “met with domestic violence specialists at the Dallas Police Department,” she said in a statement at the time.
Clippers' Blake Griffin Out for Playoffs, Chris Paul Out "Indefinitely"
Last week on Sportswatch, as Amin & Donavan along with Captain Ryan matched up some of the teams, it was said with the Lakers being a non factor, perhaps the Clippers will be a better fit! But, could it be the end of the Los Angeles Clippers' season?
On Tuesday, the team announced that Blake Griffin would be out for the rest of the season with a left quadriceps injury and Chris Paul would be out after undergoing surgery for a right hand fracture.
Both sustained injuries during Game 4 in the team's first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
According to a statement, Griffin would be ready for the start of next season's training camp, but Paul would be out "indefinitely."
"It's tough," Griffin said Monday night after the game, according to ESPN. "It's not easy dealing with injuries, especially this time of year."
The series is now tied 2-2 and Game 5 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Detroit may soon have MLS team
Detroit may soon have a Major League Soccer team after two owners from basketball's NBA announced a joint bid to launch a franchise in the city.
Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Cleveland Cavaliers' Dan Gilbert are hoping to build a new stadium for the team in the downtown of the city.
In a statement, the pair said their proposal had won support from the MLS.
The league is aiming to increase its size from 20 to 24 teams by 2020 and then ultimately to 28.
"Detroit is rising and we know firsthand the power of sports to lift a community and drive a civic renaissance," read the Gores and Gilbert statement.
"We are very excited about the prospect of bringing Major League Soccer to Detroit and building an ownership group that represents a cross-section of investors."
Gilbert added: "Bringing a team downtown will also further energise Detroit's urban core, which is critical to the entire city's overall health and vibrancy."
Bolt will run the 100 metres at the Golden Spike
Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres at the Golden Spike meet in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava on May 20, the event's organisers said Tuesday.
This will be Bolt's second race in the run-up to the Rio Olympics in August, where he will defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles from 2012.
In his first race this year, he is due to run the 100m at the Cayman Invitational Meet on May 14.
Bolt has not raced since the Beijing World Championships last August, where he won the 100m and 200m races in addition to helping Jamaica dominate the 4x100m relay.
Belgium extradites Paris attacker
Belgium has extradited Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam to face trial in France.
He was wounded and arrested in a dramatic raid in Brussels on 18 March after four months on the run.
The 26-year-old French national was born in Brussels and lived there before the Paris attacks.
Some 130 people were killed and dozens wounded in co-ordinated attacks carried out by so-called Islamic State in Paris on 13 November.
The federal prosecutor said Salah Abdeslam had been "surrendered to the French authorities this morning (in execution of the European Arrest Warrant issued by France on 19 March 2016)".
It is not immediately clear where he has been taken, although it is known that he was transferred recently from prison in Bruges to the high-security jail at Beveren, near Antwerp.
Salah Abdeslam was indicted by Belgian authorities last week over a shoot-out in the Forest area of Brussels in which four police were wounded, three days before he was arrested.
Punishing Heat Wave Sets Records Across Asia
Record-high temperatures and severe drought are causing misery for hundreds of millions of people in Asia.
“In Southeast Asia this heat wave joins the historical ones of 1960, 1983 and 1998, but as for duration, intensity and affected area it is definitely the strongest heat wave for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia,” said Maximiliano Herrera, a prominent climatologist who investigates world temperature records.
Last year’s India heatwave officially killed 2,422 people — the country's highest heat-related death toll in more than two decades.
This year, more than 150 deaths in India are blamed on the heat over the past two weeks.
“I am afraid the heat will persist and increase for the next weeks and unfortunately the death toll will surely rise,” Herrera told the press.
In India’s richest state of Maharashtra, the worst dry spell in four decades has not only destroyed crops but caused death of livestock, seen reservoirs go dry and affected output at hydroelectric and thermal power plants.
In Malaysia, hundreds of schools have been ordered closed and the country’s farmers are losing their vegetables.
To the north, in Thailand, a record low rice yield is predicted for the dry season.
Vietnam, usually the world’s second biggest coffee exporter, has seen its robusta crop in the central highlands wither amid the worst drought there in at least three decades.
“The first three months of this year have been so warm that 2016 is almost certain to be the hottest on record,” predicts the Times of India.
Some scientists remain cautious about attributing partial blame to climate change for the current spike in temperatures, as the time frame represents a relatively limited chunk of data.
Cambodia saw a national all-time record high of 42.6°C set in Preah Vihea province on April 15. That was two days after its neighbor to the north, Laos, set its own national all-time high temperature of 42.3°C at Seno.
Dozens of Thai weather stations have broken or tied their all-time record maximum temperatures this month.
The thermometer has been reaching 46.0°C in several towns in Myanmar, still shy of the national record high of 47.2°C at Myinmu observed on May 14, 2010.
J$550m allocated as contingency for weather-related risks
Contingency funding of $550 million has been allocated for weather-related risks in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure.
To be used specifically for natural disasters and infrastructure rehabilitation, this allocation is in keeping with the Fiscal Responsibility Framework Regulations, contained in the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAA Act).
In the meantime, another contingency provision of $100 million has been provided to support the proper functioning of the Public Investment Management System (PIMS).
This will be done by providing the fiscal space required to support key pre-investment actions, such as feasibility assessments; process reviews; cost benefit analysis; socio-economic and environmental assessment; and other technical studies.
The objective is to improve the quality of the final project design and ultimately the execution rate of public investment projects.
The allocation will also provide the Government’s counterpart funding for multilateral/bilateral grants, which may be recommended for implementation during the course of the financial year.
Torrential rain kills six in Haiti, including children
Torrential rain in the impoverished Haiti killed six people over the weekend, including four children, authorities said yesterday Tuesday.
Three of the children — aged two, six and eight — were part of the same family and lost their lives when their house in the capital Port-au-Prince collapsed, according to the Interior Ministry.
Another family member in the house at the time, a 41-year-old adult, also died.
In the community of Delmas, the downpours caused a section of a wall to collapse, killing a 36-year-old man and a seven-year-old girl in a house below.
The rain also sparked flooding, with authorities saying water mixed with waste seeped into 4,612 houses in the communes of Port-au-Prince, located north of the capital, authorities estimated.
The severe lack of proper infrastructure to deal with downpours regularly causes damage in the capital.
The absence of an efficient system of trash collection was another deterring factor which also complicated matters, some of the structural housing are poorly assembled and are built without permits.
With the weather not expected to improve before today Wednesday, officials are urging the population to exercise caution.
Haiti is hit by storms every year from June to November but the absence of urban planning means that heavy showers during the country's first rainy season from April to June takes its toll on the poorest parts of the population.
Walt Disney cruise ship rescues fugitives off coast of Cuba
A Walt Disney Co cruise ship has rescued three fugitives off the coast of Cuba who were wanted in New Orleans.
US Marshal Amos Rojas Jr said in a news release that last Thursday, the Disney Fantasy cruise ship found the fugitives clinging to a capsized boat. He says all three were wanted for violating their supervised release on federal credit card fraud charges in New Orleans.
Twenty-six-year-old Luis Rivera-Garcia, 23-year-old Juliet Estrada-Perez and 23-year-old Enrique Gonzalez-Torres were turned over to authorities in Florida.
The fugitives were Cubans who were from the United States. Rojas says authorities believe the three may have been fleeing to Cuba to avoid prosecution.