Bolt stalks Gatlin in 200m as battle resumes in Beijing

Beijing (AFP) - Usain Bolt and fierce rival Justin Gatlin eased into the 200 metres semi-finals as middle distance greats David Rudisha and Genzebe Dibaba blazed to gold at the world championships on Tuesday.

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2. Athletics-Bolt flirts with failure, Gatlin cruises into final Reuters
3. Tired Bolt and Gatlin cruise into 200 metres semis Reuters
4. Athletics-Gatlin, Bolt storm through 100 metres heats Reuters
5. Bolt back in action as Gatlin seeks road to redemption AFP

Bolt, the biggest name in athletics, returned to the Beijing track two days after pipping Gatlin to retain his world 100m title, and won his 200m heat in an easy 20.28 seconds. Gatlin topped his heat in 20.19.

Sweat dripping from his beard on a humid evening, Bolt then icily shrugged off the threat of two-time doping offender Gatlin in his favourite event.

"It actually means more to me than the 100m," said the world record holder, who recovered from pelvic trouble just in time to deliver positive headlines after allegations of widespread doping engulfed the sport.

"I'm feeling tired and my legs are sore -- just from the fact it was an up and down season. Hopefully I can get my technique right and give it my best in the final," added Bolt, who returns to the Bird's Nest for Wednesday's semis with the final scheduled for Thursday.

Joining the heavyweights in the semi-finals was 16-year-old Japanese schoolboy Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who clocked 20.35 behind Gatlin.

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Justin Gatlin (R) of the US and France's Jeffrey John compete in a heat of the men's 200 met …

"It's just a dream to be here," said Sani Brown, who was ordered by his Japanese mother to choose track over football when he was in elementary school. "I don't know if I can reach the finals but I think I can go faster," added the youngster, whose father is Ghanaian. "I'll give it everything."

Long jumper Greg Rutherford won a third gold medal for Britain on day four of the competition, launching himself to a season's best of 8.41 metres to add a world title to his Olympic, European and Commonwealth crowns.

"It's unbelievable," said Rutherford. "It's just the most incredible thing. I've been dreaming of this for a long time. I can't believe I've done this."

Australian Fabrice Lapierre took silver with 8.24m as home favourite Wang Jianan claimed bronze after leaping 8.18 to bring the house down in Beijing.

- Olympic replay -

Along with Rutherford's gold, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill have also claimed world titles in Beijing, in the 10,000m and heptathlon, mirroring the trio's feats on the same fever-pitch night at the London Olympics in 2012.

Rudisha stormed to a second world title in the men's 800 metres, meanwhile, after running a typically masterful race in sapping conditions, taking Kenya to the top of the gold medal standings with four after Nicholas Bett's earlier victory in the 400m hurdles.

The Olympic champion and world record holder led from gun to tape, clocking one minute, 45.84 seconds with Poland's Adam Kszczot taking silver in 1:46.08 and Bosnian Amel Tuka the bronze in 1:46.30.

Hot favourite Dibaba oozed class as she won the women's 1,500m title with another sumptuous performance, the Ethiopian finishing strongly in 4:08.09 under the floodlights at a packed Bird's Nest stadium.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon came home in second in 4:09.96 with Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan third for the Netherlands in 4:09.34.

"I had a lot of confidence in this race because I told myself: you are the world record holder," said Dibaba, who last month ran 3:50.07 to shatter the world best set in 1993 by China's Qu Yunxia, a product of controversial coach Ma Junren.

"I knew all my rivals in this race and everything about them so I was very confident in the last 400 metres."

There was a first gold medal for Cuba as Denia Caballero won the women's discus, while on the track and somewhat overshadowed by the Usain Bolt show, American Allyson Felix qualified quickest for Thursday's women's 400m final in a season's best of 49.89.

President Jonathan Successfully Fought Corruption Without Making Noise. - Femi Falana.

One of the profound critics of former President Goodluck Jonathan's government and Lagos activist, Femi Falana have joined other Team of Jonathan critics to confess that he actually fought corruption in more civilized ways.

The Lagos while speaking on Channels TV this morning said that "contrary to the general belief that former President closed his eyes to corruption, President Goodluck Jonathan did so much in the fight against corruption including the sack of three of his ministers for alleged graft.

Adding to what Bishop Matthew Kukah said last week, Mr Falana concluded that President Jonathan carried out the most successful loot recovery without making noise about it.

During the Jonathan era, the government introduced the Single Bank account for the country, saving billions. Their electronic payroll payment system and the Bio-metric registration of Federal workers identified 68,000 Ghost workers and over 50,000 ghost pensioners. They also introduced the Single Contract Requisition system with a Legislative oversight.
The cashless economy was the reason that "Ghana-Must-Go" disappeared in the National Assembly and around the corridors of his administration.

Trillion of Naira were recovered and saved the through these high-tech corruption fighting system and and was never advertised.

Source:Hope for Nigeria

How Pedro's disallowed goal sparked the bitter feud between Mourinho & Guardiola

 By Ben Hayward---Goal.com
The Chelsea winger saw a strike ruled out in the 2011 Copa del Rey final as Barcelona lost to Real Madrid, leading to the war of words involving the Catalanand Portuguese coaches
It is one of football's famous feuds. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were friends and colleagues at Barcelona back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the former a midfielder for the Catalan club and the latter an assistant coach. But their relationship was damaged beyond repair in 2011 - and it all started, surprisingly, with Pedro.

The Spain winger is set to make his debut for Chelsea on Sunday against West Brom after sealing his move from Barcelona earlier this week - and he claimed Mourinho was one of the big factors behind his decision to join the Blues. Just a few years ago, however, theirs would have seemed an improbable alliance.

Pedro scored Barca's second goal in the Catalans' 5-0 drubbing of Mourinho's Madrid at Camp Nou in November 2010 - the worst defeat the Portuguese has suffered in his entire coaching career. But it was in April and early May later in that same season, as the two teams met four times within the space of 17 days, that the tension boiled over between Jose and Pep.

After a tense 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on April 16, Barca and Madrid met again four days later in the final of the Copa del Rey at Mestalla. And following a tight first half, Pedro thought he had broken the deadlock when he latched onto a pass from Lionel Messi and fired past Iker Casillas.

However, his strike was ruled offside, Guardiola waved his finger in disapproval on the sidelines, but replays showed the officials' decision was correct as Pedro was indeed a fraction beyond the last Madrid defender, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Real went on to win in extra-time as Cristiano Ronaldo headed home from an Angel Di Maria cross.

In a packed press room after the match, Guardiola appeared to question the decision. "The assistant must have great eyesight to spot that Pedro was two centimetres offside," the Catalan coach quipped.

But six days later, ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg clash between the two teams at the Bernabeu, Mourinho mocked the words of his Barca counterpart.

"We have started a new cycle," he began. "Up until now there was a very small group of coaches who didn't talk about referees and a very large group, in which I am included, who criticise referees. Now, with Pep's comments, we have started a new era with a third group, in which there is only him, that criticises the referee when he makes correct decisions. This is completely new to me."

The Portuguese's provocations had previously had little effect on Guardiola, but with his team beaten at Mestalla and a Champions League semi-final ahead, the former Barca boss chose to react this time with a statement of intent - in the Bernabeu press room of all places.

"Señor Mourinho has permitted himself the luxury of calling me Pep, so I will call him Jose," Guardiola said. "Which one is your camera, Jose? All of them, I suppose...

"Tomorrow at 8.45pm we face each other on the pitch. He has won the battle off the pitch. If he wants his own personal Champions League trophy away from the pitch, let him take it home and enjoy it.

"In this room, Mourinho is the f***ing chief, the f***ing boss. He knows all about this and I don't want to compete with him in here. I'd just like to remind him that I worked with him for four years [at Barcelona]. He knows me and I know him.

"If he prefers to value the views of the journalist friends who take their information in a drip feed from Florentino Perez more than the relationship we had for four years, then, that's his choice. I try to learn from Jose on the pitch, but I prefer to learn as little as possible from him off the pitch."

When he returned to his hotel dining room, the Barca players stood to greet Guardiola with a round of applause. And on the pitch a day later, the Blaugrana beat Madrid 2-0. This time, unlike in the final of the Copa days earlier, refereeing decisions went in Barca's favour. Mourinho had met his match.

The Portuguese was sent off for his protests after Pepe was dismissed for a wild challenge on Dani Alves and he decided against attending the second leg at Camp Nou, watching instead from his hotel in the Catalan capital as Pedro scored in a 1-1 draw that saw Barca progress to the final.


In the first of the three images above, Pedro can be seen protesting the assistant's decision to disallow his strike in the 2011 Copa final - the action that led to Mourinho's mocking of Guardiola and then Pep's press-room rant days later. In the second picture, the two coaches shake hands but avoid eye contact prior to the Champions League semi-final first leg meeting between Madrid and Barca at the Bernabeu days later and in the third photograph, Pedro and Pep are all smiles after the winger scored to secure a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou and passage to the final thanks to a 3-1 aggregate win over Real.

The winger went on to net in the final too as Barca beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley with an extraordinary exhibition of attacking football.

And asked just a couple of months later if Guardiola was a better coach than Mourinho, the winger was in little doubt. "It's obvious that Guardiola is better," he said. "From the moment he arrived at the club he has responded. For me, he is the best coach in the world and he has been able to handle world-class players."

Pedro subsequently saw Mourinho at his worst as the Portuguese poked then Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye as the sides' Spanish Supercopa series turned ugly a month later and the Clasico clashes continued to be marked by ill feeling and animosity.

But less than four years on, the winger will now work with the Portuguese at Chelsea and Pedro revealed Mourinho had played a pivotal part in his arrival at Stamford Bridge. 

"Mourinho is one of the main reasons I'm here," he said. "He called me a couple of times and told me he needed me to strengthen the team."

It is quite the unexpected turnaround after all that went on during the Mourinho-Guardiola fallout that inadvertently started with Pedro's disallowed goal in Valencia. But football, as Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, is a funny old game.

Source: www.goal.com

Thierry Henry claims Paul Scholes was better than Steven Gerrard

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Manchester United hero Paul Scholes was a better player than Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard.

The Frenchman was asked on Sky Sport’s Monday Night Football which current or former player he wished he could have played with, to which he replied: “Paul Scholes”.

Henry’s answer prompted Gary Neville, who names Scholes as the best footballer he ever played with, to point towards his co-pundit Jamie Carragher and say: “Tell him that as well!”

Neville and Carragher famously had a lengthy discussion about Scholes, Gerrard and Frank Lampard and where the trio ranked in terms of their greatness. They ended that particular show by agreeing to disagree.

Carragher, on this occasion, said to Henry: “You thought Scholes was better than Steven Gerrard?”

HENRY: SCHOLES WAS BETTER THAN GERRARD

Henry replied: “I was just about to say, the next one would have been *right* behind - very close - Stevie G.

“I have to go with Paul Scholes, and I love Stevie G, but I have to go with Paul Scholes.

“Paul Scholes was just ahead in his head, he was making [Manchester United] tick. Every time we [Arsenal] played them we needed to find a way to stop him.”

Neville could barely contain his smile while Henry was speaking, clearly delighted that Henry had picked Scholes over Carragher’s former Liverpool teammate Gerrard.

Liverpool supporters, like Carragher, will hate the fact Henry rates Scholes as a better player than Gerrard.

SCHOLES OR GERRARD?

But which English midfielder do you think was better? We want to hear your thoughts!

Source: www.givemesports.com

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Israel Gay Pride stabbing suspect charged with murder

Source:  
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel on Monday charged an ultra-Orthodox man with murder for stabbing a 16-year-old girl to death and wounding five others at a Gay Pride parade, as he lashed out at homosexuality in court.

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Yishai Shlissel, who was released from prison only three weeks before the stabbing for a similar attack, mentioned the name of the 16-year-old girl killed during his appearance at the court that charged him, news website Ynet reported.

"The pride parade must be stopped in order for the soul of Shira Banki to ascend to heaven," Shlissel, 39 and with a long beard, told the court in Jerusalem.

"If you care for her well-being... you must stop cursing against God. The parade marchers are bringing great harm upon the nation of Israel."

Besides the murder accusation, Shlissel was also charged with aggravated assault and six counts of attempted murder over the attack on the march last month in Jerusalem, the justice ministry said.

Shlissel has so far refused the help of a lawyer and said he does not accept the court's authority, but a psychiatric exam has found him fit to stand trial.

Three weeks before the July 30 stabbing, Shlissel was released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for a similar attack that left three people wounded.

He had also posted a letter on the Internet speaking of the "abomination" of a Gay Pride parade being held in the Holy City and the need to stop it, even at the cost of one's life.

The attack has led to criticism of the Israeli security forces, with many questioning how Shlissel was allowed anywhere near the parade. The attack occurred in Jerusalem's city centre as hundreds were participating in the march.

An unrelated attack hours later on July 31 that saw a Palestinian home in the West Bank firebombed, killing an 18-month-old child and his father, focussed further attention on Jewish extremism.

Rapper Wiz Khalifa Violently Arrested by Cops at LAX for Using a Hoverboard

SOURCE: THE DAILY BEAST

Video of the incident was caught by onlookers and seems to show police slamming the rapper to the ground while yelling ‘stop resisting.’ He does not appear to be resisting at all.

Wiz Khalifa couldn’t have seen this coming.

On Saturday night, the chart-topping 27-year-old rapper posted a video taken by an onlooker that depicts a swarm of border patrol agents and police officers confronting him at Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly refusing to get off a hoverboard.

“This? I didn’t do nothing, anyway. What you want to do? Put me in jail because I didn’t listen to what you say?” he says to the cops. “We can have all the conversations you want to, you can end up on TMZ, destined to become as famous as you wanna be.”

 Follow

Cameron 

✔@wizkhalifa

All because I didn't want to ditch the technogy everyone will be using in the next 6 months. Do what you want kids.

1:00 AM - 23 Aug 2015

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A further video of the incident shared by the emcee on his Instagram, whose time stamp reads that it was taken at 3:56 pm PT, shows Khalifa being slammed to the ground on his stomach by three officers yelling, “Stop resisting!” Khalifa doesn’t appear to be resisting at all in the video, and is shown lying still on the ground, calmly replying, “I’m not resisting, sir,” as the trio of cops continue to yell “stop resisting” at him whilst cuffing him and applying pressure to his back.

The Los Angeles Police Department has not yet responded to a request for comment. And the emcee behind hits “Black and Yellow” and “Work Hard, Play Hard” had this to say of the unfortunate episode:

Cameron 

✔@wizkhalifa

Haven't been slammed and cuffed in a while. That was fun.

12:44 AM - 23 Aug 2015

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•  19,34019,340 favorites

CameronVerified account‏@wizkhalifa

They love sayin stop resisting.