Brisbane picked to host 2032 Olympics without a rival bid
Tokyo, Jul 21: Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids.
The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne hosted in 1956.
"We know what it takes to deliver a successful Games in Australia," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told International Olympic Committee voters in an 11-minute live video link from his office.
Brisbane follows 2028 host Los Angeles in getting 11 years to prepare for hosting the Games. Paris will host in 2024.
The 2032 deal for the Australian east coast city looked done even months before the formal decision by IOC members at their meeting ahead of the Tokyo Games, which open Friday.
The IOC gave Brisbane exclusive negotiating rights in February. That decision left Olympic officials in Qatar, Hungary and Germany looking blindsided with their own stalled bidding plans.
Brisbane was the first winner in a new bidding format. It lets the IOC approach potential candidates and pick them uncontested before the previously mandated seven-year advance mandated other in Olympic contests.
The streamlined process was designed to cut campaign costs, give the IOC more control and remove the risk of vote-buying.
Olympic events will be staged across the state of Queensland, including in Gold Coast, which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
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Four police officials suspended over alleged custodial torture in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Four officials of the Fort Police Station here have been suspended in connection with an alleged custodial torture incident, police said on Friday.
The suspended personnel are Grade Sub-Inspector Sreekumar and Civil Police Officers Siju, Sunil and Gireesh.
Last week, Fort Police registered a case after a motorcycle was allegedly found stolen near a hotel here.
During the investigation, police identified two Kottayam natives, Jinu and Unni, as suspects.
Jinu was later taken into custody from Kochi, which led to the apprehension of Unni and a minor boy, officials said.
After initial interrogation, the minor was released.
However, family members of Jinu and Unni alleged that they were brutally assaulted while in custody.
After being remanded in judicial custody, Jinu’s condition reportedly worsened.
He was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital and later referred to the Government Medical College Hospital, officials said.
Police officials said Jinu suffered serious kidney dysfunction and remains in critical condition.
Unni was also admitted to the hospital with injuries, officials added.
Following allegations of custodial torture, Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner K Karthick ordered an inquiry by an Assistant Commissioner to ascertain whether custodial assault had taken place.
Police said the inquiry found that custodial assault had occurred and that arrest procedures were not properly followed.
Based on the report, the City Police Commissioner ordered the suspension of the four officers and initiated a departmental probe against them, police said.
