Arpinder Singh Creates History by Becoming First Indian to Win Medal in IAAF Continental Cup
Neeraj Finishes Sixth
Ostrava, Sept 09: Triple jumper Arpinder Singh Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze but star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished sixth with a below-par show.
Arpinder, who had won a gold in the Asian Games in Jakarta, cleared a modest 16.59m in the first of his three jumps to be in the four-man semifinals. He could only clear a 16.33m jump in his next attempt to miss out on the two-man final jump. Nonetheless, he collected a bronze.
The 25-year-old Arpinder was representing the Asia-Pacific team in the meet, held once every four years. He had jumped 16.77m in Jakarta and has a personal best of 17.17m which he recorded in 2014.
No Indian has ever won a medal in the Continental Cup which was known as the IAAF World Cup before 2010. Two top athletes from the four regions of Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific were taking part in each of the 36 events in men and women sections taken together.
Reigning Olympic and world champion Christian Taylor of the United States easily took the gold with a jump of 17.59m, which is one metre more than the best effort of Arpinder. The 28-year-old Taylor beat World University Games silver medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, who cleared 17.02m, in the two-man final round. Taylor, who was representing the Americas, has a personal best of 18.21m.
In men's javelin throw, reigning Commonwealth Games and Asian Games champion Chopra finished a disappointing sixth in the eight-man field with a best of 80.24m from his three throws. Chopra began with 80.24m and then could only clear 79.76m in his second attempt. His third throw was a foul attempt. This was Chopra's worst international performance this season. He had a 80.81m in the Eugene leg of the Diamond League Series.
In most of the other events, he has been consistently throwing above 85m. He had won the Asian Games gold with a national record throw of 88.06m last month. Reigning Olympic champion Thomas Roehler of Germany took the gold as he beat Chopra's Asia-Pacific team-mate Chao-Tsun Cheng in the two-man final round. Cheng had a 81.81m while Roehler sent the spear to 87.07m to clinch the gold.
In a change of format by the IAAF, the athletics world governing body, every competitor (in horizontal jumps and throws) was given three attempts. The best athlete from each team from these three rounds gets a chance to have the fourth throw. The top two performers from the fourth round will each have one more attempt and the performance in that fifth and final round will determine the winner.
The new format was introduced this year with an aim to make the event more interesting. In men's 400m, national record holder Mohd. Anas ran with a good timing of 45.72 seconds but that was enough for a fifth-place finish. His Asia-Pacific team-mate Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar won the gold in 44.72.
Haroun had won gold in the Asian Games in 44.89 while Anas had settled for a silver with a timing of 45.69m.
In men's 1500m race, Jinson Johnson finished sixth, clocking 3 minute 41.72 seconds. He had won a gold in the Asian Games in this event with a time of 3:44.72. Johnson had also competed in the 800m race on Saturday, finishing seventh in an eight-man field.
Sudha Singh, meanwhile, did not finish her women's 3000m steeplechase event. She had won a silver in the Asian Games. On Saturday, P U Chitra had finished a surprise fourth in women's 1500m race. She had won a bronze in this event in the Asian Games.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
