Gyaneshwari clinches silver, Rithika wins bronze in Junior World Championships
New Delhi (PTI): Gyaneshwari Yadav clinched the silver medal while compatriot V Rithika finished third to give India a double podium finish in the women's 49kg category at the IWF Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Heraklion, Greece.
Chattisgarh lifter Gyaneshwari produced a total effort of 156kg (73kg+83kg) to take home the silver metal on Monday night.
The 18-year-old Rithika, on the other hand, heaved 6 kgs less than her compatriot -- 150kg (69kg+81kg) to bag the bronze medal in a depleted 10-lifter field.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and strong favourite Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia was crowned the champion in the category thanks to her total effort of 185kg (83kg+102kg).
The gulf between the Indonesian lifter, who won the Asian and world junior titles last year, and the 19-year-old Gyaneshwari was a whopping 29kg with Aisah even declined to take her final attempt.
The field was missing lifters from powerhouses China, North Korea and Thailand.
The junior world record for the category sits at 206kg (92kg+114kg) in China's Jiang Huihua's name.
It is the same weight division in which Mirabai Chanu won a silver at the Tokyo Olympics, with an effort off 202kg (87kg+115kg).
Chanu holds the senior clean and jerk world record in the category. She had lifted 119 kg at the Asian Championships last year to achieve the feat.
The snatch (96kg) and total weight lifted (213kg) records are in Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Hou Zhihui's name.
The podium finishes take India's medal haul to three in the ongoing event.
Earlier on Monday, Harshada Sharad Garud became the country's first weightlifter to win a gold medal at the world event.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus are banned from competing in IWF events.
Russia had won the most medals (9) in the last edition.
Countries like China, Romania and Bulgaria among others are giving the tournament a miss for a variety of reasons.
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CNN host evacuates on live television in Abu Dhabi amid Israel-Iran fire exchange
A live broadcast by CNN from Abu Dhabi was briefly interrupted after emergency alarm systems were activated inside the network’s office here, as tensions escalated sharply in the Middle East after US and Israel struck Iran.
Senior anchor and CNN Abu Dhabi Managing Editor Becky Anderson was on air when the alarms sounded.
Anderson informed viewers that she and her team had been instructed to seek immediate shelter in line with local emergency protocols.
“I’m Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi with the alarms going off here suggesting we should seek immediate shelter. So we’ll do that. Our breaking news coverage continues after this short break. Stay with us,” she said before the broadcast cut.
CNN host in Abu Dhabi EVACUATES ON LIVE TELEVISION as Israel and Iran exchange fire across Middle East
— RT (@RT_com) February 28, 2026
'We'll be back after this short break' pic.twitter.com/YY5GDILBVQ
The network operates a major, state-of-the-art broadcasting and production centre in Abu Dhabi, alongside its hubs in Atlanta, London and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, similar emergency alerts disrupted a live broadcast on Al Jazeera in Doha. National emergency warnings were heard on air, advising residents to take shelter.
During the broadcast, a presenter said the alert system had been activated following reports of an Iranian missile targeting U.S. interests in Qatar.
“This is the alarm, by the way, that we all get on our phones here in Doha when there is an urgency. And so the national emergency alert system has gone off here in Qatar. The defense ministry in Qatar announcing just a short while ago that an Iranian missile has been intercepted here in Qatar, warning citizens basically to take shelter. Apologies, there's a bit of chaos in the newsroom, as you can imagine, because this is also happening here in Qatar, our emergency systems going off here,” the presenter said.
National emergency alerts blared during a live Al Jazeera broadcast just moments before explosions were heard in Qatar’s capital, Doha. The alert came as Iranian missiles targeting US interests the country were successfully intercepted. pic.twitter.com/eT6RD8fAZT
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 28, 2026
The development came after Iran on Saturday attacked the UAE's Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Qatar's Doha, and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh hours after Israel and the US conducted joint strikes on Iran.
