January 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

Who’s the daddy? –
A Cuban man convicted of spying in the US and committed to a double life sentence in 1998 has become a father a month after his release. Gerardo Hernandez, who was released last month by the US as part of a diplomatic thaw with Cuba, requested to have his wife artificially inseminated with his sperm while he was still in jail.
CubanFiveVaradero

Imran bowled over –
Sportsman-turned-politician Imran Khan has married his fiance, Reham, at a small wedding ceremony at his home in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan was Pakistan’s most successful cricket captain, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and leading them to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (8414079377)

Team Wiggo launched –
Former Tour de France champion and Sky Team member Sir Bradley Wiggins launches his own cycling team to help preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The four-time Olympic champion will try to break the individual world hour record as part of his build-up to Rio2016. Team Wiggins will operate independently of British Cycling but the governing body has given its backing to the team.
Roubaix - Paris-Roubaix, le 13 avril 2014 (B16)Bradley Wiggins

App designers golden year –
Apple revealed today that app developers earned more than $10 billion in revenue in 2014, partly due to a 50 percent rise in billings. The App Store has grown to 1.4 million apps since launching in 2008, with 725,000 designed for the iPad.

Russia says drivers must not have ‘sex disorders’ –
The Russian government is tightening medical controls for drivers because the country “has too many road accidents”. Transsexual and transgender people are among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences and fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as “mental disorders” now barring people from driving.

Job for life but don’t turn up –
A.K. Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, India, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990. Even after an inquiry found him guilty of “wilful absence from duty” in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.

Video of the Day –

When you say you’re a swimmer –

“When You Say You’re a Swimmer” from Chris Shimojima on Vimeo.

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August 21, 2016

Top News Stories –

Rio Olympics 2016: Team GB beat China to finish second in medal table –
Great Britain have finished second in the medal table at the 2016 Olympics – above sporting powerhouse China. One of the event’s dominant nations, China have won more than 200 golds since returning to the Games in 1984. Britain ended the Rio Games with 27 golds from 15 sports, one ahead of China, as they finished with a total of 67 from 19 sports, beating the 65 at London 2012. Since the modern Olympic era began in 1896, no country has increased its medal tally at the summer Games immediately following one it hosted. GB have also smashed their pre-Games target of at least 48 medals, which was set by UK Sport. That means Rio 2016 is the nation’s most successful ‘away’ Games in history. China, with a population of 1.357bn to Britain’s 64.1m, have amassed more medals (70) than Team GB in Brazil, achieving notable success in table tennis, diving and weightlifting. However, GB are ahead on golds, which is what the rankings are based on. [BBC] See List of the day

List of the Day –

2016 Summer Olympics Medals Table [Wikipedia]

2016 Summer Olympics medal table
 Rank NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 46 37 38 121
2  Great Britain (GBR) 27 23 17 67
3  China (CHN) 26 18 26 70
4  Russia (RUS) 19 18 19 56
5  Germany (GER) 17 10 15 42
6  Japan (JPN) 12 8 21 41
7  France (FRA) 10 18 14 42
8  South Korea (KOR) 9 3 9 21
9  Italy (ITA) 8 12 8 28
10  Australia (AUS) 8 11 10 29
11  Netherlands (NED) 8 7 4 19
12  Hungary (HUN) 8 3 4 15
13  Brazil (BRA) 7 6 6 19
14  Spain (ESP) 7 4 6 17
15  Kenya (KEN) 6 6 1 13
16  Jamaica (JAM) 6 3 2 11
17  Croatia (CRO) 5 3 2 10
18  Cuba (CUB) 5 2 4 11
19  New Zealand (NZL) 4 9 5 18
20  Canada (CAN) 4 3 15 22
21  Uzbekistan (UZB) 4 2 7 13
22  Kazakhstan (KAZ) 3 5 9 17
23  Colombia (COL) 3 2 3 8
24  Switzerland (SUI) 3 2 2 7
25  Iran (IRI) 3 1 4 8
26  Greece (GRE) 3 1 2 6
27  Argentina (ARG) 3 1 0 4
28  Denmark (DEN) 2 6 7 15
29  Sweden (SWE) 2 6 3 11
30  South Africa (RSA) 2 6 2 10
31  Ukraine (UKR) 2 5 4 11
32  Serbia (SRB) 2 4 2 8
33  Poland (POL) 2 3 6 11
34  North Korea (PRK) 2 3 2 7
35  Belgium (BEL) 2 2 2 6
 Thailand (THA) 2 2 2 6
37  Slovakia (SVK) 2 2 0 4
38  Georgia (GEO) 2 1 4 7
39  Azerbaijan (AZE) 1 7 10 18
40  Belarus (BLR) 1 4 4 9
41  Turkey (TUR) 1 3 4 8
42  Armenia (ARM) 1 3 0 4
43  Czech Republic (CZE) 1 2 7 10
44  Ethiopia (ETH) 1 2 5 8
45  Slovenia (SLO) 1 2 1 4
46  Indonesia (INA) 1 2 0 3
47  Romania (ROU) 1 1 3 5
48  Bahrain (BRN) 1 1 0 2
 Vietnam (VIE) 1 1 0 2
50  Chinese Taipei (TPE) 1 0 2 3
51  Bahamas (BAH) 1 0 1 2
 Ivory Coast (CIV) 1 0 1 2
 Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA) 1 0 1 2
54  Fiji (FIJ) 1 0 0 1
 Jordan (JOR) 1 0 0 1
 Kosovo (KOS) 1 0 0 1
 Puerto Rico (PUR) 1 0 0 1
 Singapore (SIN) 1 0 0 1
 Tajikistan (TJK) 1 0 0 1
60  Malaysia (MAS) 0 4 1 5
61  Mexico (MEX) 0 3 2 5
62  Algeria (ALG) 0 2 0 2
 Ireland (IRL) 0 2 0 2
64  Lithuania (LTU) 0 1 3 4
65  Bulgaria (BUL) 0 1 2 3
 Venezuela (VEN) 0 1 2 3
67  India (IND) 0 1 1 2
 Mongolia (MGL) 0 1 1 2
69  Burundi (BDI) 0 1 0 1
 Grenada (GRN) 0 1 0 1
 Niger (NIG) 0 1 0 1
 Philippines (PHI) 0 1 0 1
 Qatar (QAT) 0 1 0 1
74  Norway (NOR) 0 0 4 4
75  Egypt (EGY) 0 0 3 3
 Tunisia (TUN) 0 0 3 3
77  Israel (ISR) 0 0 2 2
78  Austria (AUT) 0 0 1 1
 Dominican Republic (DOM) 0 0 1 1
 Estonia (EST) 0 0 1 1
 Finland (FIN) 0 0 1 1
 Morocco (MAR) 0 0 1 1
 Moldova (MDA) 0 0 1 1
 Nigeria (NGR) 0 0 1 1
 Portugal (POR) 0 0 1 1
 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) 0 0 1 1
 United Arab Emirates (UAE) 0 0 1 1
Total (87 NOCs) 307 307 360 974

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