Four national athletics records were broken in the two-day National Open Athletic Tournament held 15-16 July in the Dashrath Rangashala in Kathmandu. There were 424 participants from it over the country in a total of 24 events organised by the Nepal Amateur Athletics Association. The main objective was to select the best athletes for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships to be held in Jakarta and more importantly for the Sydney Olympics due to start in September.
Man Bir Joshi\'s 10-year-old national record of 4 min 7.70 sec in the men\'s junior 1500 m race was broken by Bet Bahadur Bhandari who shaved 1.52 sec off the previous timing. Similarly, Ram Krishna Chaudhary of Mahendra Police Club (MPC) set a new national record of 10.55 sec in the men\'s 100 m dash. A new record was also established in the men\'s triple jump by Sitaram Chaudhary with a leap of 15.10 m. Meanwhile, in the women\'s events, Samigya Shakya narrowly beat the national women\'s junior 100 m race record of 12.83 sec by 0.01 sec.
Cyber-protests target Olympics
Sydney - A diverse series of protests coordinated over the Internet threatens to disrupt the opening of the Olympics in Sydney this September, saying the games are an embodiment of the excesses of global capitalism.
Internet activists are passing on the tactics and techniques developed during the successful cyber-protests against the World Trade Organisation in Seattle last year and against the World Bank in Washington in April.
The Sydney Alternative Media Centre, which is being launched this week, is the latest radical Australian website modelled on those used to plan and publicise the protests in Seattle and Washington.
The parliament of New South Wales has passed a raft of temporary laws to attempt to keep tight control of the Olympic stadiums. But the control of cyberspace may prove more difficult.
Groups including aborigines, anarchists and local people protesting about recent rent increases, as landlords cash in on the anticipated 340,000 tourists visiting the city for the Games, plan to use the internet to help organise an unauthorised demonstration during the opening ceremony on 15 September.
Four days before that, ambitious "S-11" demonstrations against a World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne will provide a test for many anti-capitalist activists-and for the Australian police.
Meanwhile, activist sites are urging protesters to target many of the Olympic sponsors, including Coca-Cola. McDonalds, Unilever and IBM. And it was reported last week that hackers also plan to sabotage the official Olympic website, which has three servers in the US and one in Australia.
"The International Olympic Committee is the final stage of corporate evolution," said an activist. "They don\'t produce anything, they redirect local resources to further their own ends, they ignore the needs of the global citizenry and they use the corporate media to distribute their aims."
No to weapons at Olympics
Sydney - Security guards flanking foreign athletes at the Sydney Olympics will not be allowed to carry guns, Australian officials insisted Thursday.
"As a matter of policy we won\'t allow foreign security forces to bring arms into Australia. We have in this country very sophisticated law enforcement agencies. We can handle this ourselves," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
The policy statement followed claims by the Israel wire news agency that in May the Australian authorities had agreed to turn a blind eye to arms carried by Israeli security agents guarding the Jewish state\'s Olympic team.
There are believed to be 12 countries that have asked for a waiver so that they can bring guns along to protect their athletes.
The ban was reinforced by New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Ryan, the officer directly responsible for security at an event now just two months away.
"The responsibility for the protection of high-profile Olympic visitors and teams rests with the New South Wales Police Service," Ryan said, noting that at meetings next week with representatives from 32 nations, security protocols would be laid out.
Afghan footballers play in long pants
Football has become complicated under the Taliban. While they are known to be fierce adversaries in many fields, on the football field Afghans tend to play very carefully-you could almost say fearfully.
Afghan football is still in its infancy. During the last 20 years of jihad against the Soviet Army, youngsters were shown how to use Kalashnikovs rather than the offside trap. However, whenever a football match is announced, fans in Kandahar-only male fans-rush round to the football field.
Clapping, whistling and singing are considered music and are therefore forbidden so players are encouraged to greater heights with calls of "Allah-u-akbar"-"God is great"-as required by Islamic law. Shari\'a law also requires players to be properly attired. Male arms and legs may not be displayed, this could cause the crowd to entertain lewd thoughts. Teams take to the field therefore in heavy training suits, even in the merciless blaze of summer. The only concession is that turbans, normally obligatory, may be left behind in the dressing room.
A team from Pakistan recently visited Kandahar and, in all innocence, trotted out on to the pitch sporting their usual strips-shorts, short-sleeved shirts and all. The game had started and was in full swing when suddenly a member of the "Order the Good and Ban the Bad" committee-as the guardians of Afghanistan\'s public morals are known-rushed on to the pitch armed with a ploughshare.
Brandishing his weapon, he proceeded to arrest the entire Pakistani team, including substitutes. He delivered them into custody whereupon his fellow guardians reached for their razors. As a punishment for taking to the football field improperly dressed, the heads of the guests from the neighbouring country were shaved. The whole squad was then sent back home.
