News

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: One by one, the six candidates took their turn at the podium, trying to drum up support in their bid for the most powerful job in international sports. With just over two months before the election, the race to become the next International Olympic Committee president came into sharp focus Thursday with the contenders taking their case directly to the …

BEIT SHABAB, Lebanon: Fawzi Fakhoury’s hands are calloused and brown. Hours of shaping tough clay and standing in front of a burning wood oven have stained them shades darker than the rest of his body and toughened them so they are like leather. He is a short man with salt and pepper hair and bushy eyebrows, dressed in simple, mud-stained …

SIDON, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army deployed Tuesday in the suburb of Abra, south Lebanon, after clashes between supporters of Sheikh Ahmad Assir and the Resistance Brigades, a pro-Hezbollah group, claimed the life of one resident, security sources told The Daily Star. Backed by 20 armored personnel carriers, some 400 soldiers made their way into Abra, an eastern suburb of the southern coastal city …

BIRMINGHAM, England: Australia batsman David Warner was dropped for his team’s Champions Trophy washout against New Zealand on Wednesday for attacking England player Joe Root in a bar, inflaming tensions between the fierce rivals ahead of the Ashes series and leaving his test spot in jeopardy. While Cricket Australia maintained it was an alleged “physical altercation,” its English counterparts used stronger language by saying Warner “initiated an unprovoked …

HAVANA: Australian endurance athlete Chloe McCardel jumped feet-first into calm, balmy waters off Cuba on Wednesday and began stroking steadily out to sea in a bid to make a record swim from Havana to Florida without a protective shark cage. A smiling, upbeat McCardel arrived in the morning at a rocky jetty in Havana’s Hemingway Marina in a pink 1950s Chevy convertible. She carefully adjusted her …

PARIS: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent Roger Federer crashing out of the French Open quarterfinals Tuesday to take a step closer to ending France’s 30-year wait for a men’s champion at Roland Garros. Sixth-seed Tsonga swept to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 triumph to reach his first semifinal in Paris and first by a home player since Gael Monfils in 2008. The 28-year-old will tackle Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer for …

ST PETERSBURG: The Sochi 2014 Olympics medals got their first public airing on Thursday with organisers unveiling the prizes for Russia’s first ever Winter Games and Paralympics. With eight months to go until the opening ceremony, a record 1,300 medals were manufactured with the Russian city hosting more events than any previous Winter Olympics. Depending on the colour, the bulky round medals …

ST. PETERSURG: An official with knowledge of the decision says pole vault great Sergei Bubka of Ukraine has become the sixth declared candidate in the race to be the next IOC president. The official tells The Associated Press that the 49-year-old former Olympic and world champion is announcing his candidacy Tuesday to succeed Jacques Rogge, who steps down in September. The official spoke on …