Philippine VP Leni Robredo to run for President is "the right thing to do," according to her supporters

"Opinions of supporters maybe relevant depending on their numbers."

By Edward Era Barbacena

The group, which identified themselves as LENI UP (Urban Poor), argued that Robredo has rich experience of working with the urban poor as a lawyer until she was elected in public office and respects their struggle for a better life.

“It's not just about money. It’s about what’s right. We don't need a lot of money when the urban poor will help (This is not just about money. This is about doing what is right. We don't need a lot of money if the urban poor will be united behind her.), ”The group said at a virtual press conference.

“Leni should run for president. She should be the president because she has a long history of helping us. Yes, her survey numbers are in the low for now, but it does not mean that this should be the end. Doon tayo kung saan ang tama (We should stand for what is right),” they added.

Manny Manato, one of the convenors of LENI UP which lists 500 organizations under its umbrella, cited that Robredo has showed that she is capable of addressing poverty, hunger, lack of assistance in the midst of the pandemic, insecurity in the housing tenure of the poor, corruption, violence, human rights abuses, neglect, and injustice as seen with her anti-COVID-19 initiatives even with limited resources largely dependent on private sector help.

“Like Leni, we the urban poor do not believe that only one person or one group can solve all of them. We can again face those problems with courtesy, respect, and trust in each other, with her as president,” they added.

Some member families of LENI UP live in resettlement sites built by the state-run National Housing Authority (NHA), while other member-families have recently relocated to in-city condominium-type housing projects funded by the housing financing agencies of the government.

Likewise, there are LENI UP members who have remained living by the waterways and other informal settlements while awaiting financing approval of their proposals for housing in in-city or in-metro lands of their own choosing.

Robredo is ranking sixth in pre-election polls among potential rivals for 2022 presidential race and was candid that it is difficult for her to wage such campaign given the limited resources.

Likewise, she has said that running for president in 2022 is not about what she wants but what would be beneficial for all sectors.

 

American swimmer Lilly King implies Russians 'should not be here' at Olympics because of doping

Lilly King takes aim at Russians: 'There are a lot of people here that should not be here.'

 King implies Russians 'should not be here' at Olympics because of doping 

By Edward Era Barbacena

TOKYO —  The old 'cold war'  is being revived again at the pool between the Russians and Americans after a swimmers of the former Soviet union made a swift victory beating the proud rivals from the United States, hence, doping issues was weaponized by the Americans to take on the Russians.

American swimmer Lilly King doubled down on criticism of Russian athletes hours after the president of the Russian Olympic Committee said his teams’ medals are the “best answer” to critics who questioned why the country is allowed to compete following doping scandals.

King, always willing to sound off on doping, made known her thoughts on some "people here who shouldn’t be here" on Sunday.

“There are a lot of people here that should not be here,” said King, who won a silver and a bronze medal in Tokyo.

Lilly King had plenty of thoughts on a Tokyo Games in which the Russian Olympic Committee, fresh off a recently-lifted doping ban, won its most swimming medals since 1996

Bold and outspoken?: Yes, but Lilly King proves to be gracious in Olympics defeat. “I wasn’t racing anyone from a country who should have been banned and instead got a slap on the wrist and rebranded their national flag,” she said. “So, I personally wasn’t as affected. But Ryan was.”

The topic of doping came up at a press conference Sunday night involving King and fellow United States swimmers Ryan Murphy, Regan Smith and Bobby Finke. This was a reprise of a brushfire from a few days ago involving Murphy, the reigning Olympic champion in both backstroke events who was defeated in both by Russian rivals. Murphy was asked about doping in swimming in general, and he responded that, “It is a huge mental drain on me to go throughout the year knowing that I’m in a race that probably isn’t clean.”

King made her statements seated next to Ryan Murphy, another U.S. swimmer who seemed to take aim this week at a country that has repeatedly run afoul of doping rules.

Ryan Murphy bemoaned Friday that his races were “probably not clean” after taking the silver medal behind Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov in the 200-meter backstroke. 

Murphy later said his comments weren’t aimed at the Russians specifically. King was more direct.

'It's not all about gold medals.': Training partners Lilly King, Annie Lazor go silver, bronze

For his part, Murphy reinforced that he was not pointing fingers at any individuals or specific countries with his original comments. He said that his opinion was formed by information from Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Association and Brant Nowicki, a FINA executive who previously worked with the Court of Arbitration in Sport. Murphy said both men have stated that there is a doping issue that international swimming has to address.

Bold and outspoken?: Yes, but Lilly King proves to be gracious in Olympics defeat

“I wasn’t racing anyone from a country who should have been banned and instead got a slap on the wrist and rebranded their national flag,” she said. “So, I personally wasn’t as affected. But Ryan was.”

Her comments came hours after ROC president Stanislav Pozdnyakov said critics “supposed that as a matter of fact our athletes can’t compete without doping,” but that Russian athletes in Tokyo “proved the opposite not just with words but with their deeds and results.”

Russia was revealed to have launched a massive, state-sponsored program to elude testers ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. It has sent depleted squads to the last two Olympics as punishment.

The country’s name, flag and anthem have been banned from the Olympics and other major sports events following a legal battle with the World Anti-Doping Agency. After competing under the moniker OAR — Olympic Athletes From Russia — at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, it has competed as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in Japan.

Russian athletes have won 40 medals in Tokyo, 11 of them gold.

Murphy bemoaned Friday that his races were “probably not clean” after taking the silver medal behind Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov in the 200-meter backstroke. That came three days after he finished behind Rylov and another Russian, Kliment Kolesnikov, in the 100 back.

He said Saturday the comment wasn’t targeted at Rylov but was instead intended to address suspicions of doping throughout the sport.

“I think things were definitely, they were definitely taken a little bit differently than what the question I was asked intended,” he said. “I was asked a question about doping and swimming and I answered honestly. I do think there’s doping in swimming.”

 

Novak Djokovic threw a tantrum after losing the bronze medal match at the Olympics.

Novak Djokovic tosses, smashes racket in bronze medal match loss at Tokyo Olympics

The Serbian tennis player, throws tantrum in Olympics farewell and ditches double match

By Edward Era Barbacena

A day after Novak Djokovic saw his quest for the elusive Golden Slam fall short, the world No. 1 failed to secure a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, falling in the bronze medal match to Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta on Saturday.

Novak Djokovic reacts to his loss in the bronze medal game

Over the course of a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss, Djokovic grew increasingly frustrated with his performance. In one instance, he launched his racket five rows into the stands.

Later on, he mangled his racket by slamming it into the net post, receiving a verbal warning from the umpire.

“It’s part of, I guess, who I am,” Djokovic said after the match. “I don’t like doing these things. I’m sorry for sending this kind of message, but we’re all human beings and sometimes it’s difficult to control your emotions.”

After the loss, Djokovic withdrew from a bronze medal mixed doubles match, citing a left shoulder injury.

Djokovic entered the Olympics on the cusp of history, having already won three Grand Slams on the year. Should he have won both a gold medal in Tokyo and the US Open, he would have become the first man to ever complete the Golden Slam, a feat reserved for tennis players who win four majors and the Olympics in the same calendar year.

Despite earning the top seed in the Olympic tennis tournament, Djokovic underwhelmed, first falling to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday, ensuring that Djokovic’s career medal count would remain at one — a bronze medal won in 2008. 

“I don’t regret coming to the Olympics at all,” Djokovic said. “Everything happens for a reason and [I’ve] had some heart-breaking losses at the Olympic Games and some big tournaments in my career. And I know that those losses have usually made me stronger.

Novac DjoKovic with partner in double Nina Stojanovic

Since Djokovic skipped the double match, he likely cost his doubles partner a medal, too. Nina Stojanovic not a highly ranked player and not one who wins tournaments. He cost her a moment of glory because he's a hypocritical twatwaffle. 

Source: NY Post

 

Philippine gymnast Carlos Yulo aims to execute astonishing performance in the vault  after a thwarting result on his predillected floor exercise

He needs  at least two 5.60 in difficulty to contend for a medal

By Edward Era Barbacena

 

TOKYO –Philippine gymnast Carlos Yulo vies in the men’s vault finals of artistic gymnastics on Monday night hoping to redeem himself from a disappointing performance in floor exercise more than a week ago.

Yulo scored 14.733 points to land in sixth place in the vault and be with the top eight participants who advanced to the finals. Unfortunately for Yulo, he landed in 44th place out of 64 competitors in his pet floor exercise.

The 2019 floor exercise world champion also fared poorly in rings (24th), parallel bars (55th), horizontal bar (63rd), and pommel horse (69th).

“Hopefully he is more relaxed this time,” Gymnastics Association of the Philippines President Cynthia Carrion Norton said on Sunday. “But watching all the great gymnasts from all over the world could be intimidating.”

South Korea’s Shin Jeahwan is marching to the finals set at close to 7 p.m. (Tokyo time) as the top qualifier with 14.866 points, followed by Armenia’s Artur Davytan with 14.866 and Russian Olympic Committee top bet Nikita Nagorny with 14.783.

Nagorny added the Tokyo Olympics men’s team gold medal to the ROC’s collection earlier last week.

Rounding out the eight qualifiers were Brazil’s Caiou Sauza (14.700), Turkey’s Ahmet Onder (14.466), Hong Kong’s Shek Wai Hung (14.274), and Spain’s Nicolau Mir (14.133).

Carrion Norton said Yulo’s coach Munehiro Kugimiya picked Shin and Onder as favorites in the event but hinted Yulo could have a shot at a medal.

“According to Coach Mune [Kugimiya], the two top vault athletes are Korea and Turkey with the difficulty of 6.02,” Carrion Norton said. “Caloy’s difficulty is 5.60. If Shin and Onder earn deductions and Caloy makes a perfect score, we have a good chance.”

Carrion Norton didn’t say if Yulo was bitten by the so-called “twisties,” which struck even the sensational Simone Biles of the US.

The Associated Press described in a report “twisties” as the sudden inability for a gymnast to make the requisite spins -- or sometimes any spins -- for a particular maneuver.

Meanwhile, Kristina Knott gets on the Tokyo Olympic Stadium track on Monday morning to compete in the women’s 200 meters heats of athletics.

Knott will be running in Heat 7, the final heat, set for 10:18 a.m. (Manila time) hoping to break 23 seconds.

Her personal best is 23.01 seconds, a Philippine national record.

“My goal is to go sub-23 (seconds),” Knott told the Tokyo Olympics official website days before the pandemic Games opened on July 23.

There are seven heats for the event and Knott knows all those times of training are thrown out the window come the start gun.

“It’s championship time. And anything to do with tapering should have been done weeks before,” said Knott.

She prepared for Tokyo under her coach Rohsaan Griffin and strength and conditioning coach Carlo Buzzichelli.

“At this point, you should have given everything you and everything you worked, and it will hopefully show at the competition,” Knott added.

Knott has a personal best 23.01 seconds, the Philippine national record. But in Tokyo, she has to exert more effort.

The 200m field parades many of the world’s best, including the US’s Gabrielle Thomas, who owns a 21.61-second mark in the race. Also in the mix are the Bahamas’s Shaunae Miller-Uibo (21.47) and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson Herah (21.66).

In Knott’s heat, five of her rivals have sub-23 times.

“Tapering time is now over. It’s now time to show off and show out,” said the Orlando, Florida, native Knott, whose Olympic stint was threatened when she contracted Covid-19 in Sweden in June despite having been vaccinated twice. 

 

Daryl Vandyke, 55, an acquaintance of the child’s father, has been charged with the first-degree murder of 14 year-old Steven Wayne Butler III. 

14 year-old boy found dead in Champaign, Illinois, 55 year-old suspect arrested

By Edward Era Barbacena

The body of a missing Champaign teen was found Friday morning.

3400 block of East Washingtin Street where Steven Butler III's dead body was found by two bicyclists around 7 AM

Two bicyclists discovered the body of 14-year-old Steven Butler III around 7 a.m. in the 3400 block of East Washington Street.

Steven had left the family home in the 900 block of Harvard Street about 5 p.m., didn’t return his dad’s calls and could not be found

The teen was reported missing to Champaign police about 7:30 p.m. Thursday by his father, who said it was out of character for him not to stay in touch with him.

Steven had left the family home in the 900 block of Harvard Street about 5 p.m., didn’t return his dad’s calls and could not be found.

The investigation into Butler's homicide led authorities to 55-year-old Darryl Vandyke of Champaign.

500 block North Russell Street in Champaign

Rietz said Vandyke was arrested at his home in the 500 block of North Russell Street in Champaign just before 11 a.m. Friday. He declined to speak with police.

Vandyke  is in police custody in the apparent beating death of a Butler whose body was found Friday morning in a roadside ditch east of Urbana

Vandyke already had a Douglas County warrant out for his arrest for contempt of court.

He was taken into custody just before 11 a.m. Friday.

The crime scene where police believe Butler was killed was found inside a home.

The boy was the victim of blunt-force injuries, Rietz said. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

A Facebook post made Thursday by the boy’s father said that he had left his home to mow a lawn but didn’t return.

“His phone was shut off. He has never just stayed gone. He never leaves for more than an hour at most. He left his money and didn’t have anything other than his phone. Please help!! He doesn’t know anyone here. No friends. He left to mow a yard and the guy said he came and mowed. That’s the last he was seen or heard from. God please bring my son home,” the post read.

The boy’s image had also been posted on the Missing Persons Awareness Network, which listed several photos of him.

Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said Daryl Vandyke, 55, an acquaintance of the child’s father, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Steven Wayne Butler III based on the evidence and information learned during the investigation

He’s being held in lieu of $2 million bond and is expected to make his first court appearance Monday.

Vandyke was taken to the Champaign County Correctional Center.

The investigation is ongoing.

Source: NY Post

 

Police gathered information in crime scene at 30th Street, Clinton road, Indianapolis

5 injured in mass shooting in Indianapolis

4 year-old girl in critical condition after being shot outside funeral homes

By Edward Era Barbacena

A 4-year-old is in critical condition after being shot outside a funeral home in Indianapolis, according to reports.

The girl was one of five people hit by gunfire after an argument broke out in the parking lot Saturday afternoon.

The incident, in which a 16-year-old girl was also shot, unfolded at about 4:30 p.m. while a funeral service was being held inside, according to the local CBS affiliate.

Three of the victims, including the child and the teenager, were found at the scene, while two others later walked into a local hospital.

The violence apparently began when one man got out of his car and approached another man sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot.

One of the men started shooting when the exchange grew heated, police said, according to WRTV.

 

China & Russia pose ‘daily threat’ from space with lasers and missiles to blast satellites, military chief warns

"A future conflict may not start in space, but I’m in no doubt that it will come very quickly to space, and it may well be won or lost in space."

By Edward Era Barbacena

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said Moscow and Beijing are engaging in "dangerous activity" - such as flying satellites within "close proximity" of others - on a daily basis.

He warned future wars would be "won or lost in space" and said the UK are gathering intelligence on the "questionable" activity

Sir Mike said "reckless" behaviour from the two nations was seen "several times a year".

He said Russia has deployed satellites that "we would describe as having the characteristic of a weapon and they practised a manoeuvre, that we would say, could only have been done to deliberately destroy another satellite".

And China has continued to "develop anti-satellite technology, and that’s everything from missiles that directly target satellites, to laser dazzle weapons, to electronic jamming to physically ramming other satellites". 

China has tested out the dangerous stunts against "their own redundant satellites" and proved successful, Sir Mike told The Telegraph.

Satellites provide communications, navigation, and intelligence to any nation's war machine, so knocking them out would seriously disrupt - and even render useless - much of its equipment.

Sir Mike warned: "A future conflict may not start in space, but I’m in no doubt that it will come very quickly to space, and it may well be won or lost in space. 

"If we don’t think, and prepare for that today, then we won’t be ready when the time comes."

CHINA'S GIANT LASER WEAPONS

China has tested out the dangerous stunts against 'their own redundant satellites' Credit: Amazon/China vs. USA Empires at War

China has been working on laser weapons since the 1960s, according to a 2017 report.

The International Assessment and Strategy Center suggested China could even have a space-based laser within a decade.

Experts have warned about China's giant laser weapons that could cripple American satellites and blind the US fleet in the event of a war.

Multiple Pentagon and intelligence reports warned about the potential of these weapons, and according to some sources, they are already here.

Back in 2019, Amazon’s Prime’s "China vs USA: Empires at War" series said an existing weapons system could knock out American warships navigation systems and communications, leaving them practically useless.

The series revealed: "The Chinese army has developed a system to blind the Americans. This is not science fiction, but a technology already in use."

A Pentagon report, cited by Global News, appeared to cement the fears.

The news outlet said the US Department of Defense warned the development of anti-satellite laser weapons by China and Russia was one of the key drivers for Trump’s new Space Force.

The report said: "China and Russia, our strategic competitors, are explicitly pursuing space war-fighting capabilities to neutralize US space capabilities during a time of conflict."

"A future conflict may not start in space, but I’m in no doubt that it will come very quickly to space, and it may well be won or lost in space."

Sir Mike Wigston

The report said both countries were developing energy weapons technologies to disable satellites, citing national intelligence director Dan Coats’ May 2017 worldwide threat assessment statement.

Wan Xiangsui, a military strategist for the People's Liberation Army, told the Express: "The US relies on satellites to control their entire communications network and that is a weakness.

"This dependence reminds me of the Greek legend Achilles who was invulnerable, except his heel. And satellites will be America’s Achilles heel."

And back in April, China unveiled their new deadly destroyer warship that can shoot down ballistic nuke missiles and satellites.

It's the world's second-most powerful destroyer, behind the US Navy's Zumwalt-class.

At around 180 metres long and 22 metres wide, the Type 055 has 112 vertical launch missile cells, which can launch a combination of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles and anti-submarine missiles.

This means it can deploy projectiles to intercept incoming attacks, thanks to its dual-band radar system.

Rigged out with a helicopter deck and a stern hangar, capable of accommodating up to two helicopters, it enables China to prepare for attacks from every angle.

RUSSIA TARGETS SATELLITES

Meanwhile, test footage has revealed Russia's terrifying new S-500 Prometheus system which it claims can destroy incoming hypersonic missiles in near-space.

The video was released earlier this month as the Kremlin warned the US it could spark World War Three by basing its new-generation nukes in Europe.

The S-500 surface-to-air defence system is designed to bring down enemy aircraft and missiles up to an altitude of 125 miles.

It brings ballistic missiles and potentially even low orbit satellites within range.

The new 77N6-N missile can reportedly hit a target travelling at over 11,000mph - or three miles a second - while being guided by an advanced radar tracking system in a second vehicle on the ground.

Major General Babakov, commander of Russian missile defence troops, boasted: "The S-500 air defence system is capable of destroying hypersonic weapons of all modifications, including in near-space, in addition to aerodynamic and ballistic targets, which makes it possible to say with confidence that this system is unique."

And last year, Russia tested a terrifying new 9,000mph "star wars" ballistic missile capable of destroying US satellites in space.