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Accountability Court to hear case against Sharifs today
Brilliant Bolt scorches to 100m gold
Richards-Ross takes first US gold at track
Ethiopia's Gelana wins women's Olympic marathon
Kenya's Kemboi wins men's 3000m steeplechase
Rypakova wins Olympic gold for Kazakhstan in TJ
Olympics: Pars wins men's hammer title
Soryan gives Iran 1st Olympic gold in Greco-Roman
Olympics: Pistorius fails to qualify for 400m final
Olympics: Gold surge puts China back on top
Cull of blue plaques means dozens of famous names are dropped
British explorer heads to pirates 'treasure island'
Suicide bomber kille six soldiers in Nigeria
30 hurt in Milwaukee Sikh temple shooting
Phelps says life after swimming is weird

Accountability Court to hear case against Sharifs today

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The court had summoned PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and other members of Sharif family to appear today in Ittefaq Foundries case and corruption reference. The Accountability Court IV headed by Chaudhry Abdul Haq will hear the case. The hearing of Hudaibia Paper Mills case against Sharif family will start on September 15. The counsel for Sharif brothers, Akram Sheikh, said that these cases were filed against his clients when they were in Attock Jail. He further argued that the reopening of cases after a hiatus of 12 years is based on dishonesty. Meanwhile, NAB Additional Prosecutor General Chaudhry Riaz said the bureau did not make the delay in reopening of the three corruption references against the Sharif brothers rather it had earlier filed an application for revival of the cases first in 2007 and then in 2010, but an objection was raised that the application was not duly signed by NAB chairman, a slot that remained vacant for quite some time.

Brilliant Bolt scorches to 100m gold

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Jamaican Usain Bolt retained his Olympic 100 metres crown in spectacular style on Sunday, scorching to the second-fastest time ever run at 9.63 seconds and becoming the first man to win back-to-back titles on the track. Bolt s 9.58-second run to win the 2009 world title is the quicker run and Sunday s brilliant display proved he had completely recovered from the hamstring problems that had given a sliver of hope to his rivals in the build-up to one of the most eagerly-anticipated races in history. World champion Yohan Blake made it a Jamaican 1-2 when he won silver in 9.75 seconds and 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin of the United states grabbed bronze in 9.79 as the first seven men all broke 10 seconds. Asafa Powell pulled up with a groin injury. Blake s time equalled his personal best and Gatlin beat his. Tyson Gay finished fourth in a season s best 9.80 seconds with fellow American Ryan Bailey fifth in an equal PB of 9.88. But it was all about Bolt who said repeatedly that he needed back-to-back titles to cement his place among the sport greats. Carl Lewis is the only other man to win two Olympic 100m titles and the American s second gold came only after Ben Johnson was disqualified for doping. Bolt was slow out of the blocks on Sunday and trailed Blake, who beat him in the Jamaican trials, and Gatlin, back in the mix after serving a doping ban. However, his massive stride reeled them in and he roared through the line, barely easing his speed as he tore round the bend to soak up the adulation of the delirious crowd. "When I went out in the first run, I felt  I can do this,  Bolt told the BBC in reference to his opening heat on Saturday. "I was slightly worried about my start, I didn t want to false start again. So I think I sat in the blocks a little bit, I don t think it was the best reaction in the world, but I executed and that was the key. "Remember I told you my coach said  stop worrying about your start , the best of your race is at the end, that s where you rule. So I stopped worrying about the start and I executed, so it worked." Bolt, who was disqualified from last year s world championship final for a false start, will now bid to complete an unprecedented double-double by retaining his 200 metres title and will also seek a sixth sprint gold in the 4x100 metres relay. "Usain knows what it takes, he is a world beater and he is the fastest man in the world," said Blake. "But I got a medal in my first Olympic games and a lot of that is down to Usain and our coach." Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also retained her women s title to give her country a flying start in their sprint showdown with the United States.

Richards-Ross takes first US gold at track

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Sanya Richards-Ross accelerated through the stretch to win the Olympic 400-meter race Sunday for the first US gold in track and field at the London Games. Capping a four-year wait for a second chance with the finish she wanted, Richards-Ross won in 49.55 to edge out the defending champion, Christine Ohuruogu of Britain, who finished in 49.70. American DeeDee Trotter finished third in 49.72. Richards-Ross ran to the stands and hugged her husband, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Aaron Ross, a quite different scene from 2008 in Beijing, when she finished third and was found crying under the stands at the Bird s Nest.

Ethiopia's Gelana wins women's Olympic marathon

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Tiki Gelana felt the Olympic marathon slipping away when she tumbled on the rain-slickened street. Around the halfway point of the race, the Ethiopian was knocked down by another runner as she reached for her water bottle, a hard fall that bloodied her right elbow. Already aching, Gelana thought about pulling out. Instead, she found new motivation, and headed on down the road. Gelana recovered from the fall to win the marathon on Sunday in a race that began in a downpour, was briefly brightened by sunshine and ended in another drenching rain. She was soaked as she crossed the finish line, but she didn t seem to mind, raising her hands high to celebrate after navigating the rainy course in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 7 seconds to hold off Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya by five seconds. Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova of Russia won the bronze in the typical London weather. "When I fell, I said,  Oh, wow, I m not going to finish, " Gelana said through an interpreter. "But I just concentrated on running. All of a sudden, I made it." Gelana said she loved running in the rain. "I have been doing that since I was a small child," she said, a bandage on her elbow. "I enjoyed my run."

Kenya's Kemboi wins men's 3000m steeplechase

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Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi won the men s Olympic 3000m steeplechase for the second time on Sunday, showing great mental strength to put aside the pressure of a court case he faces back home. The 30-year-old - who faces trial for allegedly stabbing a woman earlier this year - timed 8min 18.56sec to finish ahead of France s Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabear, who clocked 8:19.08 for a second succssive silver. Another Kenyan, Abel Kiprop Mutai taking bronze (8:19.73). Kenya s dominance of the event now stretches back to the 1984 Los Angeles Games - they have now won eight consecutive golds. Kemboi, a two-time world champion, then celebrated in unusual fashion by dancing with Mekhissi-Benabear. The Frenchman is no stranger to controversy himself as he brawled with compatriot Mehdi Baala in 2011 and was served with a five-month ban by his national federation after the world championships that year.

Rypakova wins Olympic gold for Kazakhstan in TJ

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The 2011 world championship silver medalist took the lead with the third of her six attempts, setting a mark of 14.98 meters. Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia, the 2011 world championship bronze medalist, momentarily held the lead in the third round, but needed a jump of 14.80 on her final attempt to get the silver medal. Reigning world champion Olha Saladuha of Ukraine finished in third place with a jump of 14.79 on her last attempt.

Olympics: Pars wins men's hammer title

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Hungary s Kristzian Pars won the men s hammer Olympic title on Sunday ending the misery of twice finishing in fourth spot at world and Olympic finals. The 30-year-old recorded a winning mark of 80.59m, beating defending champion Primoz Kozmus, who threw a season s best of 79.36m, while Japan s 2004 gold medallist Koji Murofushi took bronze also with a season s best of 78.71m.

Soryan gives Iran 1st Olympic gold in Greco-Roman

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It always seemed a bit strange that wrestling-mad Iran had never won an Olympic gold medal in the Greco-Roman discipline. Hamid Soryan ended that drought on Sunday, and he might not be the only Iranian to win a gold in London. Soryan, the five-time world champion, won his country s first gold medal in men s 55-kilogram, beating Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan 2-0, 1-0. "I m hoping that I made everybody happy back home," Soryan said. Iran has 30 overall medals in freestyle but had only two, a silver and a bronze, in Greco-Roman before Sunday. The Iranians also have a pair of Greco-Roman world champions in Omid Noroozi at 60 kilograms and Saeid Morad Abdvali at 66 kg, and both are considered the favorite in their respective classes.

Olympics: Pistorius fails to qualify for 400m final

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South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius failed to qualify for the Olympic Games 400m final on Sunday. The 25-year-old had on Saturday become the first double amputee to compete in an athletics event at the Olympics, but he was never in contention in his semi-final and finished last in a time of 46.54sec.

Olympics: Gold surge puts China back on top

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China surged back to the top of the London Games medals table Sunday as they completed a historic badminton clean-sweep and edged towards diving perfection. Led by the legendary Lin Dan and diving royal Wu Minxia, China were two gold medals clear of the United States with 30 to 28, well clear of hosts Britain on 16. With one week to go, just over half of the 302 golds have been handed out. At Olympic Stadium, Japan s 2004 winner Koji Murofushi took bronze in the hammer-throw behind Hungary s Kristzian Pars and defending champion Primoz Kozmus. Japan lie 15th in the medal tally, below China and the two Koreas. But China s "Super Dan" provided the day s highlight as he edged a gripping final with top seed Lee Chong Wei in a match which may prove the culmination of their great rivalry. With customary mental toughness, Lin battled back from a game down to win 15-21, 21-10, 21-19, adding to his list of accolades as he became the first men s singles player to win the Olympic title twice. Shortly afterwards, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng won the men s doubles final 21-16, 21-15 against Denmark s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, clinching the fifth and last badminton title for China. "Lee Chong Wei is such a brilliant rival that I treasure the chances to play against him," said Lin, who ripped off his shirt and dashed around Wembley Arena in an extravagant celebration after his win. "We are very good friends and I welcome him when he comes to China and hope he comes frequently." China s team had been rocked when women s doubles top seeds Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among eight players disqualified in a match-throwing scandal which prompted a public apology from their head coach, Li Yongbo. But they won the women s doubles regardless, as well as the mixed doubles and the women s singles, through Li Xuerui in an all-Chinese final, to become the first country to take all five since badminton s Olympic debut in 1992. Meanwhile Wu won the women s 3m springboard gold medal to draw level with her ex-partner, "diving queen" Guo Jingjing, as the Olympics  most decorated diver. Afterwards, she played down revelations from her father -- which sparked debate about China s sports system -- that Wu wasn t told of her grandparents  deaths, or that her mother had cancer, for fear of disrupting her training. "I think it s not only Chinese athletes who are separated from their families. Parents seldom come to our training base, however we are like a big family, we train together from different bases," she said. "Maybe there is some distance from your real family, however the distance will stop us feeling they are not beside us and their support. "Now there is the technology where we can ring every day and I feel lots of care from my family all the time. I choose to be a diver, so I will pursue this goal and fulfil my dream." China s Zhou Lulu won the women s Olympic over-75kg weightlifting gold in a new world record, and Zou Kai was crowned as China s most successful Olympic gymnast when he won his fifth gold medal, in the men s floor routine.

Cull of blue plaques means dozens of famous names are dropped

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It says it can no longer afford them, due to funding cuts. When it comes to celebrating the lives of historical figures, English Heritage’s blue plaque scheme seemed the ideal, inexpensive way of doing so. However, the organisation has announced it is scaling back the popular project, which sees commemorative signs attached to the former homes of celebrated personalities from the past, because it says it can no longer afford to erect so many. The number awarded each year has been reduced by a quarter, while plans to grant plaques to dozens of famous names – which had already been given initial approval – have been scrapped, among them Graham Chapman, the Monty Python comedian, Sir Barnes Wallace, the scientist who invented the “bouncing bomb” used by the RAF during the “Dambusters” raid and Jacqueline du Pré, the cellist. English Heritage (EH) claims it has been forced into the cuts by a fall in the funding it receives from central government. However critics have attacked the decision, pointing to other more questionable schemes, which the organisation continues to run. The quango is currently spending £8,000 on an “Ultimate Sandcastle Competition”, in which entrants compete for free tickets to EH sites, because it believes the building sandcastles “is in danger of becoming a lost art”. To launch the contest, professional sand sculptors made large replicas of several EH sites on Scarborough beach. It also drew up a guide of how to build a sandcastle. Meanwhile, Simon Thurley, the chief executive, has seen his income rise to £163,000 this year, after he was awarded a £27,000 bonus. The second most senior officer, Keith Harrison, the director of resources, also saw his income increase, to £132,000, after he received a £12,000 bonus. The cuts to the heritage scheme were approved at the last meeting of EH’s blue plaques panel, which includes Stephen Fry, the broadcaster, and Professor Sir Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate. At the meeting, the panel worked through its “shortlist” of candidates in line for a plaque and culled almost half of them, striking off 39 and leaving just 40. The shortlist is made up of figures who have passed the first stage of the process, having been initially approved by the panel. Research is then undertaken by the panel’s team of historians, to more fully assess whether the candidates would be worthy recipients, and checks are made on the relevant buildings. A report on each one is then returned to the panel for final approval. Those left on the list include Ava Gardner, the American actress, David Niven, Peter Sellers and Leslie Howard, the actors. Among others who have now been dropped from the shortlist are: General Wladyslaw Sikorski, who was prime minister of the Polish-government-in-exile in London during the Second World War, Vladimir Nabokov, the novelist, and Brian Epstein, former manager of The Beatles. According to EH’s strict rules, none of them can be considered again for another 10 years. The panel also decided that nine plaques will be awarded a year, rather than the previous 12 and that the criteria by which plaques are awarded will have to be applied more stringently. The ceramic signs cost £965 to manufacture and around £2,000 to install. They each take two months to make and are described as “self cleansing” – because of their domed shape. It means the amount saved by awarding three fewer plaques a year only just exceeds the spending on the sandcastle contest. The plaques are designed so as not to fade. EH says there are also associated staff costs of the scheme. There are five officials working in the team, but two of the posts have now been made part time. The organisation is undergoing a 32 per cent cut in the grant it receives from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from £136 million in 2010 to £92 million in 2014. Last year, it also generated around £54 million from membership, admission fees and retail. The sandcastle contest was funded from this source. A spokesman said: “As part of our need to cut costs, funding for the blue plaques scheme has been substantially reduced. As a result, and very regretfully, we have had to reduce the number of plaques put up each year and reduce our existing shortlist, by applying our selection criteria more stringently to both new and shortlisted suggestions.” He added: “It is a matter of great regret that English Heritage no longer has the resources to pursue all of the suggestions that had previously been shortlisted by the Blue Plaques panel

British explorer heads to pirates 'treasure island'

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It eluded Franklin Roosevelt, Sir Malcolm Campbell and Errol Flynn, but now an explorer from Melton Mowbray could be on the trail of a multi-million-pound hoard of gold, silver and jewellery stolen by pirates and buried on a treasure island.Shaun Whitehead is leading an archaeological expedition to Cocos Island, the supposed hiding place of the “Treasure of Lima” – one of the world’s most fabled missing treasures. The haul – said to be worth £160 million – was stolen by a British trader, Captain William Thompson, in 1820 after he was entrusted to transport it from Peru to Mexico. He is said to have been stashed his plunder on the Pacific island, from where it has never been recovered. An original inventory showed 113 gold religious statues, one a life-size Virgin Mary, 200 chests of jewels, 273 swords with jewelled hilts, 1,000 diamonds, solid gold crowns, 150 chalices and hundreds of gold and silver bars. The site, credited by some as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, is uninhabited and around 350 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, of which it is a part. It has also been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site for its unspoilt environment and variety of wildlife and it has taken around 18 months of negotiations with the authorities to secure permission to go there on an exploratory mission. Although there have been no official expeditions to the island for more than a quarter of a century, Mr Whitehead will join an impressive a line of notable adventurers and explorers who been attracted by the lure of the “Lima loot”. They include Roosevelt, the American president from 1933 to 1945, who travelled there with friends in 1910, Campbell, the racing driver, who went there in the 1920s, and Flynn in the 1940s. Another explorer, August Gissler, a German, spent 19 years living on the island hunting the treasure but returned with just six gold coins. However, Mr Whitehead’s team is equipped with technology that has never before been used on the island. He has also established the most likely spots around the island on which to focus his efforts. Mr Whitehead, who has previously led a project to explore uncharted shafts inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, said: “Given the amount of treasure, it would have been too heavy to carry far from sea level and stories suggest the use of caves. We can also rule out where others have looked, dug up and detected – like on the beaches. “If it is there, it will be in a natural cave which was hidden by one of the many landslides that occur on the island. "It is not a case of following a map and “X” marking the spot. It is about using a bit of logic to establish the likelihood of some areas where it could be.” The team’s research will concentrate on the areas around three of the island’s four bays, which have been most used by visitors. The team plan to use a small, unmanned helicopter, fitted with specialist cameras, to fly above the nine mile square island, which will enable them to make a computer-generated 3D map of the landscape. They will then use a snakelike robot that can be dragged across the parts of island and, using ground penetrating radar, detect voids and cavities up to a depth of around 60ft. This data will be added to the 3D map to identify any likely concealed caves. After this, a team will use a specialist “keyhole” drill, which can reach more than 100ft, to dig down into the cave. A probe camera can be sent down through the 1in diameter. The 10-day expedition will also involve extensive archaeological, geological and ecological research and Mr Whitehead is at pains to stress they are not simply going there on a treasure hunt. The team, of around 15, involves researchers from the University of Costa Rica and the Senckenberg Insitute – a natural history research organisation based in Germany. “This is a scientific survey, including archaeological, geological and biodiversity aspects,” Mr Whitehead said. “Unlike previous trips we are not going to dig vast holes or do anything destructive at all. The real treasure of the island is its natural beauty. Anything else we find there is simply a bonus.”The island, which is said to have been the inspiration for Jurassic Park, the book and film about an island on which dinosaurs are recreated, is home to hundreds of unusual species.

Suicide bomber kille six soldiers in Nigeria

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."He detonated the bomb he was carrying in his car, killing himself. Six soldiers were also killed, nine others were injured and are in hospital," Patrick Egbuniwe, the Yobe state police commissioner, told AFP. "One civilian was killed and another one injured," he added. A security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, earlier said the attacker and five soldiers died in the explosion. There was no immediate claim for the attack, but it was similar to scores of others carried out by radical Islamist group Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed hundreds in Nigeria. Egbuniwe provided a slightly different version of events, saying the suicide bomber was being chased by a military patrol vehicle and the driver detonated the bomb and blew himself up when soldiers closed in on him. However, the security source said the bomber in a sport-utility vehicle had been parked along the roadside and rammed into the multiple vehicle military convoy when it passed, affecting two of the vehicles. Damaturu is the capital of Yobe state, which has been hard hit by attacks blamed on Boko Haram. Sunday s attack follows a suicide bomber s attempt to assassinate Yobe state s top traditional Muslim leader, the Emir of Fika, on Friday. The bomber sought to approach the emir after Friday prayers in the city of Potiskum but was pushed away. He blew himself up and wounded a number of others. Authorities have been carrying out raids since the attempted attack in a bid to arrest suspected members of Boko Haram, which has claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria s mainly Muslim north. The group is thought to include various factions with differing aims, however, and demands have repeatedly shifted. In a video posted to YouTube on Saturday, the suspected leader of Boko Haram criticised US President Barack Obama over Washington s decision to label him a "global terrorist". It was unclear when the video was made, but it marked the first time Abubakar Shekau publicly addressed the terrorist designation slapped on him by the United States in June. In addition to Shekau, the US State Department also announced the designations for Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi -- both who were said to be linked to Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Members of Boko Haram are believed to have received training from AQIM in northern Mali, and Western countries have been watching closely for signs of further cooperation. Some US lawmakers have been pushing Obama s administration to label Boko Haram as a whole a terrorist organisation, but American diplomats have stressed that the group remains domestically focused. They also say deep poverty and a lack of infrastructure in Nigeria s north must be addressed as part of the solution to the violence. Nigeria, Africa s most populous nation and largest oil producer, is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

30 hurt in Milwaukee Sikh temple shooting

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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pointed to reports that the head priest of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek was locked inside a restroom with a cell phone. According to US media, two shooters could still be inside holding children as hostages. It said about 50 people were at another temple in nearby Brookfield for a morning service and many went outside after learning of the shooting in Oak Creek. The president of the temple was among those shot, according to the newspaper, adding that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were among the law enforcement officers who had responded at the scene. A police dispatcher earlier told AFP that several people had been shot, but could not confirm how many people were injured or whether anyone had been killed.

Phelps says life after swimming is weird

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So how did he feel on the first day of the rest of his life? “I think I’ve been kind of confused and out there all day,” Phelps told USA Today Sports. “Don’t know what to do. I don’t know. It’s weird not having swimming anymore.” Saturday’s gold in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay was the end of his otherworldly 22-medal career, not that everyone believes he’s really done. He noticed Dara Torres sent out a tweet asking if anyone wanted to bet her on whether Phelps would stay retired. “Yes, I would love to” take that bet, Phelps said. Here’s why: “The 6 a.m. wake-up calls and jumping in that cold pool and gone and out the door. Time to turn the page and go do something else.” That means travel and golf and he’s not sure what else.

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