Category: Athletic

Lusaka – The head of the Angolan swimming team, Artur Henriques, considered positive the country´s performance at the IV-Zone African Championship, as nine medals have been won.

Of the medals in that competition, which ended on Sunday, the national team won two gold, three silver and four bronze.

Speaking to ANGOP, at the end of the open water competition (river, lake or sea), the official said that the representation, mostly young people from the home championships, knew how to stand up to more experienced opponents, such as those from Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

He added that, even so, the Angolan swimmers managed to improve their marks, breaking three records, being one absolute and two by categories, reduced to 17 athletes.

He added that the altitude and the weather factor (low temperatures) somehow made it difficult for some swimmers to adapt, influencing the score.

According to Artur Henriques, the team got the 12th position in the general medal table and in the 8th position in the classification by points.

In the additional open water event, held in the artificial lake (Tiffany Canyon), in the Zambian capital, the national team was once again reduced from three to two athletes.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Grammy Award-winning songwriter Ed Sheeran won a U.K. copyright battle over his 2017 hit “Shape of You” on Wednesday, then slammed what he described as a “culture” of baseless lawsuits intended to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.

The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, had denied allegations that the song copied part of 2015’s “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.

“Whilst we’re obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim,” Sheerhan said in a video posted on Twitter. “It’s really damaging to the songwriting industry.”

Andrew Sutcliffe, the lawyer for the co-writers of “Oh Why,” argued that there was an “indisputable similarity between the works.” He claimed that Sheeran had “Oh Why” in his head “consciously or unconsciously” when “Shape of You” was written in 2016.

The plaintiffs alleged that the refrain “Oh I, Oh I, Oh I” in the chorus of “Shape Of You” was “strikingly similar” to the line “Oh why, Oh why, Oh why” in their track.

During the 11-day trial, Sheeran denied allegations that he “borrows” ideas from unknown songwriters without acknowledgement and said he has always been fair in crediting people who contribute to his albums.

In Wednesday’s ruling, High Court Judge Antony Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from “Oh Why” when writing his smash hit.

Sheeran, McDaid and Mac said in a statement that the cost of the case was more than financial. The stress of going to trial also hurts creativity, means less time to make music and takes an emotional toll, they said.

“It is so painful to hear someone publicly and aggressively challenge your integrity,” the trio said. “It is so painful to have to defend yourself against accusations that you have done something that you haven’t done, and would never do.”

“Shape of You” was the biggest-selling song in the U.K. in 2017.

Source: Voice of America

Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic has been deported from Australia after losing an appeal to stay in the country. Australia canceled the visa of the world No. 1 tennis player on health and public order grounds.

Novak Djokovic’s supporters believe he has been unfairly treated by Australia after arriving in Melbourne last week.

They said his deportation was “inhumane” and “outrageous” after the chief justice of the Federal Court of Australia, James Allsop, rejected Djokovic’s last-ditch attempt to remain in the country.

“The orders of the court are, one, the amended application be dismissed with costs; two, reasons to be published at a later date. Those are the orders of the court,” said Allsop.

The Serbian tennis player was granted a medical waiver from Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination rules by two independent health panels set up by the Victoria state government and Australian tennis authorities. Djokovic had been infected with the virus in December.

However, his visa was canceled when he arrived at Melbourne airport January 5 by Border Force officials, who said he had flouted immigration rules.

He was sent to an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne.

His visa was reinstated by an Australian judge on Monday, but it was revoked for a second time by immigration minister Alex Hawke on Friday.

Djokovic is not inoculated against COVID-19 and Hawke asserted that his presence in Australia would stir anti-vaccination sentiment, and canceled his visa on health and public interest grounds.

The tennis champion’s lawyers insisted the government’s argument was irrational and illogical. The three federal court judges unanimously disagreed and Djokovic’s appeal Sunday was dismissed.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said the Australian Open will not be diminished by the Serbian player’s absence.

“This grand slam tournament — one of the big four — is much bigger than any one person. Much bigger. That is why it is a grand slam. That is why it is the biggest thing in tennis in the first quarter of every year,” he said.

Djokovic has won the Australian Open title nine times.

Had he triumphed at this year’s tournament he would have become the most successful men’s grand slam champion, with 21 titles.

Before he left Australia, he said in a statement that he was “extremely disappointed with the Court ruling” but he respected the decision and would “cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country.”

Source: Voice of America

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged governments to combat child labor, saying it was terrible that children who should be playing are instead working as adults or scavenging in garbage dumps for something to sell.

Speaking at his weekly general audience Francis also lamented that in many countries people were being exploited in the unofficial, underground economy, working without benefits or legal protection.

“Let’s think of the victims of work, of children who are forced to work. This is terrible,” he said.

The U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report last year that the number of children in labor rose to about 160 million worldwide in 2020.

“Children who are at an age when they should be playing are forced to work like adults. Let’s think of those children, poor little things, who scour in garbage dumps looking for something useful to trade or sell,” the pope said in comments that were mostly improvised.

The ILO report, done with the U.N. children agency UNICEF, said progress to end child labor had stalled for the first time in 20 years at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing a previous downward trend.

He said that lack of work was a “social injustice” and that while charity and handouts for the jobless were important, they filled the stomach but did not dispense dignity.

“Governments must give everyone the possibility of earning their bread because this gives them dignity. Work anoints people with dignity,” he said.

According to the ILO, Africa has the largest number of child workers in the world, with about 72 million, about 43 percent of them doing hazardous work.

At the audience, Francis asked for a moment of silence to remember the unemployed, victims of industrial accidents and those who had taken their own lives after losing their jobs because of the pandemic.

Source: Voice of America

U.S. health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent COVID-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines.

It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment.

The FDA warned the drug Evusheld is “not a substitute for vaccination in individuals for whom COVID-19 vaccination is recommended” and can only be authorized for people with weakened immune systems or those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, such a strong allergic reaction.

In those cases, the drug can be administered to people 12 and older.

Evusheld combines two types of synthetic antibodies (tixagevimab and cilgavimab), and is given as two intramuscular injections, one right after the other. These antibodies help the immune system fight off the virus by targeting its spike protein, which allows it to enter cells and infect them.

The FDA said that the treatment “may be effective for pre-exposure prevention for six months.”

It cannot be administered to someone who is already infected with the virus, the FDA said, although AstraZeneca is testing it for such treatment.

Side effects may include an allergic reaction, bleeding from the injection site, headache, and fatigue.

The FDA authorization was based on a clinical trial carried out on unvaccinated people older than 59, or with a chronic disease, or at high risk of infection.

The drug was given to 3,500 people while 1,700 received a placebo. The trial showed that the treatment cut the risk of developing COVID-19 by 77%.

Two cocktails of antibodies, made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, are currently authorized for prevention of infection in the United States, but only in people who have been exposed to the virus shortly before, or who have a strong chance of being exposed, such as employees of retirement homes or prisons.

In addition to being immunocompromised or unvaccinated, these people must also be at high risk of developing a severe case of the disease.

Source: Voice of America