Diamond League - 100m runners' season bests

Nickel Ashmeade (Jamaica) - 9.93 secs

Michael Frater (Jamaica) - 9.94 secs

Justin Gatlin (United States) - 9.80 secs

Tyson Gay (United States) - 9.86 secs

Trell Kimmons (United States) - 10.02 secs

Christophe Lemaitre (France) - 10.04 secs

Calesio Newman (United States) - 10.07 secs

Michael Rodgers (United States) - 9.94 secs

Richard Thompson (Trinidad) - 9.96 secs

London 2012: Tyson Gay predicts wide open 100m

USA sprinter Tyson Gay believes any of the main contenders in the 100m can achieve gold at London 2012.

Gay ran 100m in 9.86 seconds at the US trials - the same as Usain Bolt did at the Jamaican trials, but 0.11 seconds behind Yohan Blake's trial time.

"I think it's fair to say everyone is on the same playing field right now," said Gay.

The 29-year-old will run against Games team-mate Justin Gatlin at Friday's Diamond League meeting in Paris.

2004 Olympic champion Gatlin, who missed the 2008 Games due to a doping ban, beat Gay at the US trials with a time of 9.80 seconds - the third best time in the world this year.

But the pair were separated by just 0.06 seconds, leading Gay to believe the 100m event could be very competitive at London 2012.

"Everyone is running almost the same time. Yohan has slightly separated himself from the rest of the field but besides that I think everyone is pretty even," he said.

Blake ran 9.75 seconds at the Jamaican Olympic trials, shocking world record holder and current Olympic champion Usain Bolt.

Blake is also the current 100m world champion, winning at Daegu 2011 after Bolt was disqualified for a false start.

"Bolt took his losses but he's shown that he's been able to bounce back, just like he fought hard last year and he bounced back on the 200 so I think it's fair game," said Gay.

"I think Yohan is probably in some of the best shape of his life.

"For him to beat Usain Bolt and some of the other competitors in that race shows that he's serious about this."

Gay and Gatlin will be the headline pair of the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in France, with both expected to make the final at London 2012.

Six of the nine runners in Paris have clocked under 10.00 seconds this season, while only Calesio Newman of the United States has failed to run under the 10 second mark in his career.

LONDON 2012: JUSTIN GATLIN says he has 'more left in the tank'

Justin Gatlin insists he has "got more left in the tank", despite clocking 9.8 seconds in the US Olympic trials' 100m.

The American sprinter takes on compatriot Tyson Gay on Friday in Paris at the latest Diamond League event.

Gatlin, 30, won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics but was later handed a four-year ban for a doping offence he has always strenuously denied.

"I'm more focussed, more determined and I'm wiser now," said Gatlin, who won the recent trials in Eugene, Oregon.

"Eight years ago, it was more of a dream that was accomplished [to become Olympic champion] so now I need to accomplish this mission."

Gatlin, who beat Gay by only 0.06 secs at the trials, always maintained his innocence after testing positive for excessive testosterone at the 2006 Kansas Relays.

"I have never knowingly used any banned substance, nor have I allowed anyone to administer one to me," he said at the time of his appeal.

MICHAEL PHELPS READY TO GO FOR ANOTHER 8 GOLD MEDALS AFTER WIN 100M BUTTERFLY

Michael Phelps' Olympic program is set. He'll be going for another eight gold medals.

He's not the only one who'll be busy in London. Get ready to see a lot of Missy Franklin.

And how `bout Anthony Ervin! After eight years away from swimming, he's going back to Olympics, too.

Phelps wrapped up another stellar week at the U.S. trials Sunday night, rallying to win the 100-meter butterfly and secure his spot in five individual races at the Olympics. Throw in the three relays, and that adds up to eight.

Again.

"I guess that's OK," Phelps said nonchalantly.

Franklin will have four individual races in London after capping her week with a dominating win in the 200 backstroke. She's expected to swim all three relays, as well, setting her up to become the first U.S. woman to swim seven events in a single games.

Uhh, make that the first female. She's still a girl, a 17-year-old who'll be a high school senior in the fall. But first, she's got some important business this summer: the Olympics.

"I can't believe I have seven events," Franklin said. "It's so overwhelming but so exciting. The whole week went really, really well."

LONDON 2012: JUSTIN GATLIN says he has 'more left in the tank'

Justin Gatlin insists he has "got more left in the tank", despite clocking 9.8 seconds in the US Olympic trials' 100m.

The American sprinter takes on compatriot Tyson Gay on Friday in Paris at the latest Diamond League event.

Gatlin, 30, won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics but was later handed a four-year ban for a doping offence he has always strenuously denied.

"I'm more focussed, more determined and I'm wiser now," said Gatlin, who won the recent trials in Eugene, Oregon.

"Eight years ago, it was more of a dream that was accomplished [to become Olympic champion] so now I need to accomplish this mission."

Gatlin, who beat Gay by only 0.06 secs at the trials, always maintained his innocence after testing positive for excessive testosterone at the 2006 Kansas Relays.

"I have never knowingly used any banned substance, nor have I allowed anyone to administer one to me," he said at the time of his appeal.

MICHAEL JOHNSON'S GOLDEN CAREER

• Four-time Olympic champion
• Became the first male athlete to win Olympic gold in both the 400m and 200m in 1996
• The only male athlete to successfully defend the 400m Olympic title
• Still holds the 400m world record (43.18 secs) set in 1999
• Retired from athletics in 2001

USAIN BOLT COULD RUN 100M IN 9.4 SECONDS, SAYS MICHAEL JOHNSON

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson believes Usain Bolt can run 100m in 9.4 seconds - but only if the Jamaican refines his sprinting style.

The 25-year-old broke his own world record with a time of 9.58 secs at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin

Johnson said: "Bolt could absolutely run faster, but it would take a tremendous commitment on his part to do a complete overhaul of his technique."

But the American still thinks Bolt is favourite to retain his Olympic titles.

"He could probably run 9.4 seconds," added 44-year-old Johnson, who won gold in Barcelona in 1992, did the 200m and 400m double in Atlanta four years later, and claimed another gold in the 2000 Sydney Games.

"But he would have to do some major training and adjustments in the way that he runs."

Bolt, who will also be defending his 200m and 4x100m Olympic titles in London, announced on Thursday he was going to withdraw from the Diamond League meeting on 20 July after suffering a "slight" injury problem.

The Monaco event had been scheduled to be his final race before London

EUROPEAN GP: Fernando Alonso wins brilliantly in Valencia

 

Fernando Alonso became the first man to win two races this year with a spectacular victory in the European GP.

The Spaniard won his home race at Valencia after a series of overtakes and Sebastian Vettel's retirement.

Lewis Hamilton was set to finish second after Romain Grosjean's retirement, but crashed out with three laps remaining.

The McLaren driver was pitched into the barriers after a tussle with Williams's Pastor Maldonado, handing second to Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso started 11th and fought his way up to fourth place before a safety car was deployed.

He gained third after a pit-stop problem for Lewis Hamilton, passed Romain Grosjean on the restart and saw leader Vettel retire with alternator failure on lap 35.

Battling fading tyres, Hamilton was passed by Raikkonen before Maldonado crashed into the side of him having rejoined the race track after running wide trying to pass the Briton around the outside.

Grosjean retired from second with 16 laps to go with alternator failure - the same problem that caused Vettel to retire.

The frantic action promoted Mercedes's Michael Schumacher to third place - the first podium since his comeback in 2010 - and Red Bull's Mark Webber to fourth from 19th on the grid.

It was by far the most exciting race the Valencia street circuit has ever produced and it was won by a top-drawer performance from Alonso

LONDON 2012 Olympics

A statement from the Saudi Embassy in London says the country's Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify".

The decision will end recent speculation as to whether the entire Saudi team could have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.

The public participation of women in sport is still fiercely opposed by many Saudi religious conservatives.

There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in the country.

Saudi officials say that with the Games now just a few weeks away, the only female competitor at Olympic standard is showjumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas.

US, N.Korea hold first talks after Kim’s death

Pyongyang and Washington began their first official contact since the death of Kim Jong-il, as senior diplomats from the two countries met in Beijing yesterday to discuss North Korea's nuclear activities.

After meeting on denuclearization, non-proliferation and humanitarian aid with North Korea's negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, Glyn Davies, coordinator for US policy on North Korea, marked the talks as serious and substantive.

"We covered a number of issues," AFP quoted Davies as saying, since "we are in mid-talks. I expect we will wrap up tomorrow (Friday)."

China yesterday supported the efforts of the US and North Korea for resuming the talks, as Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that "China has always believed that it is in accordance with the interests of all parties to resume the Six-Party Talks at an early date and implement the September 19 joint statement," according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Relevant parties should continue to follow the direction and objectives of the six-party talks and create conditions for the early resumption of the six-party talks, Hong said.

The process of negotiating between the two sides, in which the US is demanding North Korea end its nuclear activities, halted after the unexpected passing of Kim Jong-il.

It is the third round of negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, which began last year, aiming to break a deadlock for the relations between the two Koreas and for an early resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

"The resumption of contact is hard for achieving substantial results, because Pyongyang willl not meet the requirements set by the US on dismantling its nuclear activities," Jeung Young-tae, director of the North Korea Studies Center at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told the Global Times.

However, it is a good sign that Pyongyang would like to take a step on contributing to the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks, he said.

Wang Junsheng, a Korean affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, agreed with Jeung, saying that the process of the Talks depends on the development of US-North Korea negotiations, and the improvement of relations between the two Koreas.

During the ongoing dialogue, Washington is trying to clear Pyongyang's attitude toward US demands on ending nuclear activities, since North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un just took over power at the end of last year, Wang said.

He said the US also wants to see if North Korea is abiding by its 2005 agreement on abandoning nuclear activities in exchange for food aid and security guarantees, adding the bilateral negotiations showed their efforts on pushing forward the Six-Party Talks.

Since Kim Jong-il died in December, the friction between the two Koreas has been growing. North Korea has announced it would no longer deal with the South, and has repeatedly denounced the "inhuman" response by Seoul following Kim Jong-il's death.

Yesterday, South Korea's unification ministry authorized two charitable groups to send medical instruments and drugs worth about $70,000 to the western provinces of North Korea, AFP reported.

South Korea is trying to ease tensions, because the US doesn't want to see any military clash between the two, which would not be consistent with US interests in the region, Wang said.

Agencies contributed to this story

Astronomers reveal new type of planet

 

Using Hubble space telescope, an international team of astronomers have come up with a new class of planet, according to a report published online Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal.

By analyzing the previously discovered world GJ1214b, the team led by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) astronomer Zachory Berta proved that it is a water world enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere.

Our solar system contains three types of planets: rocky, terrestrial worlds (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), gas giants ( Jupiter and Saturn), and ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). Planets orbiting distant stars come in an even wider variety, including lava worlds and "hot Jupiters".

"GJ1214b is like no planet we know of," said Berta in a statement issued Tuesday. "A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water."

GJ1214b was discovered in 2009 by the ground-based MEarth Project. This super-Earth is about 2.7 times Earth's diameter and weighs almost seven times as much. It orbits a red-dwarf star every 38 hours at a distance of 1.3 million miles, giving it an estimated temperature of 230 degree Celsius.

In 2010, CfA scientist Jacob Bean and colleagues reported that they had measured the atmosphere of GJ1214b, finding it likely that the atmosphere was composed mainly of water. However, their observations could also be explained by the presence of a world- wide haze in GJ1214b's atmosphere.

Berta and his co-authors used Hubble's WFC3 instrument to study GJ1214b when it crossed in front of its host star. During such a transit, the star's light is filtered through the planet's atmosphere, giving clues to the mix of gases. Hazes are more transparent to infrared light than to visible light, so the Hubble observations help tell the difference between a steamy and a hazy atmosphere.

They found the spectrum of GJ1214b to be featureless over a wide range of wave lengths, or colors. The atmospheric model most consistent with the Hubble data is a dense atmosphere of water vapor.

"The Hubble measurements really tip the balance in favor of a steamy atmosphere," said Berta.

Since the planet's mass and size are known, astronomers can calculate the density, which works out to about two grams per cubic centimeter. Water has a density of one gram per cubic centimeter, while Earth's average density is 5.5 gram per cubic centimeter. This suggests that GJ1214b has much more water than Earth, and much less rock. As a result, the internal structure of GJ1214b would be very different than our world.

Theorists expect that GJ1214b formed farther out from its star, where water ice was plentiful, and migrated inward early in the system's history. In the process, it would have passed through the star's habitable zone.

GJ1214b is located in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, and just 40 light years from Earth. It's a prime candidate for study by the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope.

Al-shabab commanders flee towards Yemen

Reports from southern Somalia says that close to 100 members of the militant group Al-Shabab streamed out of the port town of Kismayu, directing towards Yemen, a sign the militant group is under increasing pressure.

Residents say at least three speed boats have docked at the port of Kismayu on Wednesday alone to carry 100 militants — mostly foreign fighters — fleeing to Yemen, only weeks after the Al-shabab and Al-Qaeda announced their merger.

Senior Al-shabab commanders ordered local residents in Kismayu town, which is just 500km away south of Mogadishu to come out in the streets and squares in the city, urging people to join the battlefields of the militants in Somalia.

Al-Shabab has formally merged with Al-Qaeda — a move that analysts say was an attempt to give a boost of confidence to an insurgent force that is losing power.