Phelps makes statement one year out from London 2012

2011-07-27

Relief was etched all across Michael Phelps’ face on Wednesday after the American won his first gold medal of the world swimming championships in Shanghai, one year to the day before he begins his final Olympics campaign.

Phelps, the most successful Olympian of all time who won an unprecedented eight golds in Beijing in 2008, has said he will retire after the London Olympics that open on July 27 next year.

A bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay and silver behind compatriot Ryan Lochte in the 200 freestyle as well as recent defeats in the 200 butterfly — his signature event — in the lead up to Shanghai had left the 26-year-old facing 12 months of gruelling preparation under coach Bob Bowman.

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2011-07-27

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Norwegian killer probably insane, his lawyer says

2011-07-27

Breivik’s lawyer believes he is insane

Police doubt claims that Breivik was part of network

Justice Minister congratulates police on “fantastic work”

At least 100,000 in Oslo’s anti-violence Rose March

THE lawyer of a Norwegian who killed at least 76 people in a bombing and a shooting spree said yesterday his client appeared to be a madman.

Friday’s attacks by Anders Behring Breivik traumatised normally peaceful Norway, which has been struggling to come to terms with its worst peace-time massacre of modern times.

“This whole case indicated that he is insane,” Geir Lippestad said of the 32-year-old Breivik, who has confessed to “atrocious but necessary” actions, but denies he is a criminal.

Kosovo policeman wounded near Serbian border

2011-07-27

A KOSOVO police officer was shot and seriously wounded during an attempt by ethnic Albanian Kosovo government forces to take control of a border post in an ethnic Serb area of the country, a doctor said yesterday.

The incident occurred after Kosovo police tried overnight to seize border posts in the Serb-controlled north, where the Pristina government does not provide services, collect tax or control security.

Authorities in Pristina said the move was motivated by Serbia’s decision not to recognise their customs stamps, essential for cross-border trade.

The European Union expressed disapproval of Kosovo’s action aimed at establishing control over a region of the country where local ethnic Serbs do not recognise the central government’s authority.

End ‘three-ring circus’ urges Obama

2011-07-27

 

‘The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government’

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has described the fight over raising the limit on government borrowing and avoiding default on US debt as a “partisan three-ring circus” and blamed the crisis on the refusal of many Republican politicians to compromise.

In a hastily arranged nationally televised speech last night, he said the US was dangerously close to default, and warned of a “reckless and irresponsible” outcome without a compromise solution by the August 2 deadline.

He urged Americans to make their voices heard and let their representatives know they support “a balanced approach to reducing the deficit”.

Mystery ‘creation’ particle evades scientists – CERN

2011-07-27

 

The mysterious “creation” particle believed to have turned flying debris into stars and planets at the dawn of the universe has evaded capture in a year of hot pursuit, physicists said.

Rolf Heuer, director-general of the CERN research centre near Geneva, said he was now looking to 2012 to turn up traces of the particle, the Higgs Boson, and signs of other concepts that were once the preserve of science fiction.

Confirming that intensive scrutiny of the results of more than 70 million particle collisions in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had not yet identified the Higgs, Heuer said: “I hope the big discoveries will come next year.”

US Olympic medallist commits suicide

2011-07-27

Olympic silver medalist skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson has committed suicide near Salt Lake City, days after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving, police said on Tuesday.

Peterson, 29, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Monday night, shortly after he had called emergency dispatch to say he was going to kill himself, said Lieutenant Justin Hoyal, a spokesman for Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake.

He was a silver medalist in the men’s freestyle aerials competition at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Peterson’s body was found beside his vehicle on a road just outside Salt Lake City, Hoyal said. Police said he left a suicide note, but they declined to reveal the contents of the message.

Parties walk out of economy meeting after being ‘tricked’ by state

2011-07-27

CRUCIAL talks on the economy broke down yesterday when political party representatives walked out, accusing the government of not only failing to present additional measures to deal with the July 11 blast that took out the main power station but also for axing measures agreed to last week.

Civil servants won’t accept salaries’ harking back 20 years

2011-07-27

THE CIVIL servants umbrella union PASYDY warned yesterday they would not accept others deciding austerity measures that would affect them, and accused MPs of ignoring their own benefits while seeking to make savings from others’..

PASYDY boss Glafkos Hadjipetrou said state workers understood the problems created by the economic crisis and those that emerged after the July 11 explosion and would not object to contribute their share.

But “we do not accept others deciding that only we will contribute and what rights we will continue to have and refusing us social dialogue,” Hadjipetrou said.

EAC issues cuts schedule

2011-07-27

THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus (EAC) yesterday finally issued an indicative schedule for power outages, although the authority said it could change depending on unforeseen problems with the supply.

According to the schedule there will be 22 areas having one outage a day lasting for a maximum of two and a half hours between 8am and 7pm. Outside of those hours, cuts are not expected.

The easiest way for consumers to find out when a power cut will take place is to compare the time of a power cut they may have had on Monday or Tuesday.

“The time of an outage is expected to be the same,” an EAC statement said yesterday.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.