Lolo Jones denies being 'Anna Kournikova of track' after failing to win medal

New York, August 9
Lolo Jones, who was described as a marketing and glamour-driven sensation like Anna Kournikova by the Times two days before she missed her medal in the 100-meter hurdles, has now spoke out about her hurt. One of the cover girls of these Games, who missed the medal by .1 seconds, was likened to tennis player, who had much more success posing for pictures than she ever did on the tennis court. "I think it was crazy just because it was two days before I competed, and then the fact that it was from U.S. media," the New York Daily news quoted her as saying on 'The Today Show'. "They should be supporting our U.S. Olympic athletes and instead they just ripped me to shreds. I just thought that that was crazy because I worked six days a week, every day, for four years for a 12-second race and the fact that they just tore me apart, which is heartbreaking. "They didn't even do their research, calling me the Anna Kournikova of track. I have the American record. I am the American record holder indoors, I have two world indoor titles. Just because I don't boast about these things, I don't think I should be ripped apart by media. "I laid it out there, fought hard for my country and it's just a shame that I have to deal with so much backlash when I'm already so brokenhearted as it is," she added.

Tintu Luka qualifies for 800m semis

London, Aug 8
India's middle-distance runner Tintu Luka qualified for the semi-final of the women's 800 metres at the 2012 London Games here Wednesday. Tintu, who is coached by P.T.Usha, finished third in the second heat with a timing of 2:01.75 seonds. It was below her personal best of 1:59.17 secs achieved two years back.

Potential grows for food crisis as prices surge - U.N.

Rome
The world could face a new food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 if countries resort to export bans, the UN's food agency warned on Thursday, after reporting a surge in global food prices due to a drought-fuelled grain price rally. A mix of high oil prices, growing use of biofuels, bad weather, restrictive export policies and soaring grain futures markets pushed up prices of food in 2007/08, sparking violent protests in countries including Egypt, Cameroon and Haiti. Concern about extreme hot and dry weather in the U.S. Midwest sent corn and soybean prices to record highs last month, driving overall food prices higher again and reversing the Food and Agriculture Organisation's expectations for steady declines this year. "There is a potential for a situation to develop like we had back in 2007/08," FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters. "There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible." Grain markets have been boosted by speculation that Black Sea grain producers, particularly Russia might impose export restrictions after a drought there hit crops. Markets drew a little comfort from official Russian comments on Wednesday that the country saw no grounds to ban grain exports this year but did not rule out protective export tariffs after the end of the 2012 calendar year. The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 213 points in July against 201 points in June, the FAO said in its monthly index update. The rise followed three months of declines. Although below a peak of 238 points in February 2011, when high food prices helped drive the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the index is still higher now than during the food price crisis in 2007/08. Higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically. Charity Oxfam said that the surge in grain prices could drag millions of people around the world into conditions of hunger and malnourishment, in addition to nearly one billion who are already too poor to feed themselves. Abbassian said the situation was still quite different from 2007/08, when crude oil prices were at record levels, adding to farmers' costs. Abundant supplies of rice and sluggish economic growth should also ease the upward pressure on prices, but a lot will depend on how the weather develops for U.S. crops and how much demand will be rationed in coming months, he said. The Rome-based food agency usually does not release the food price index this month but it has broken with tradition due to the exceptional market situation. It did not update its supply and demand outlook for cereals on Thursday as it does during a normal release. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will publish its August crop production and supply/demand report on Friday.

Rename India as Bharat, says Congress MP

Panaji, Aug 9
India should be renamed Bharat in the constitution of the country, a Congress parliamentarian has demanded in a constitutional amendment bill introduced in parliament Thursday. Congress MP from Goa Shantaram Naik, in the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, has said that 'Bharat' was a much more wholesome concept and that the word 'India' merely indicates territorial dimensions of the country. 'India' denotes a territorial concept whereas 'Bharat' signifies much more than the mere territories. "When we praise our country, we say, 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and not 'India ki Jai'," Naik's bill stated. Naik's earlier bill on the subject introduced in the Rajya Sabha had lapsed on account of his term coming to an end. However, after his re-election, he has reintroduced the bill. "The grounds for changing the name of the country into simply 'Bharat' are many. But, more than grounds or reasons, it is the sense of patriotism that the name generates and electrifies the people of this country that is relevant," said Naik.