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  • American Wins First Gold Medal at Sochi Games

    American Wins First Gold Medal at Sochi Games

    {{American Sage Kotsenburg laid down an almost flawless first run to win the first gold medal of the Sochi Games as snowboarding slopestyle made a spectacular Olympic debut on Saturday.}}

    Kotsenburg’s run, the third of the day, earned him 93.50 points, which proved enough to make him a surprise champion in a low-scoring contest where judges favoured stylists over big jumpers.

    “I’m really excited,” said Kotsenburg. “It feels awesome. I don’t know what to call it. I have no idea what’s actually going on. This is the craziest thing that ever happened.”

    Staale Sandbech nailed his second run to snatch the silver medal for Norway with 91.75, while Canadian Mark McMorris, who was riding with a broken rib, was awarded 88.75 for his second run to take bronze and round out a podium of 20-year-olds.

    There had been concerns that the withdrawal of America’s Shaun White might devalue the maiden event, but the biggest name in snowboarding, and the safety concerns that caused him to pull out of the event, were a distant memory on Saturday.

    Slopestyle was brought into the Games to try to help attract a younger demographic, and there could not have been a better advertisement for the sport than the first final.

    The fans in the stands jigged to pumping rock music as the competitors performed their tricks on rails and over jumps against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains and the brightest of blue skies.

    “Today was a great debut for slopestyle,” said McMorris. “I think the future for slopestyle is extremely bright.”

    Kotsenburg had failed to get through Thursday’s first qualifying and needed one of the four spots available in the second round of heats earlier on Saturday.

    The American’s score of 90.5 was enough to put him through to the final and confirmed that the absence from his routine of a “triple” – the trademark trick of the top X-Games riders – was not going to hurt his chances.

    The judges clearly liked his distinctive moves on the rails and creative grabs and twists in his jumps and, when he reprised them in his opening run in the final, he got the reward he was hoping for.

    {reuters}

  • Ethiopian Airlines to Acquire 10 Boeing 777X: CEO

    Ethiopian Airlines to Acquire 10 Boeing 777X: CEO

    {{Ethiopian Airlines is in preliminary talks with Boeing (BA.N) that could lead to an order for 10 of the U.S. planemaker’s latest model, the 777X, the airline’s chief executive said.}}

    “When the 777X comes, as soon as we can get the (production) slots we will be there,” Tewolde Gebremariam told Reuters in a telephone interview.

    “We are discussing with Boeing for about 10 777X,” he added – a deal potentially worth $3.8 billion at list prices.

    The comments represent a strengthening of Ethiopian’s interest in the 406-seat jet after it said last month it was evaluating it but had no immediate plans to place an order.

    The 777X was launched with record orders at the Dubai Airshow in November.

    The airline is expanding its fleet as part of an existing plan to increase revenues five-fold to $10 billion by 2025.

    It already plans to order 10-20 smaller narrowbody jets and expects to make a decision within three months.

    Gebremariam said the Ethiopian flag carrier also wanted to lease up to three more Boeing 787 Dreamliners and would order even more directly from Boeing if they were available.

    Ethiopian recently restored a Dreamliner to service after a fire on the ground in London’s Heathrow Airport, but has said it is satisfied with the performance of Boeing’s high-tech jet despite persistent reports of glitches.

    Modifications offered by Boeing since it was grounded in a crisis over melting batteries last year have improved the aircraft’s reliability, Gebremariam said.

    {reuters}

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  • Rules of the competition

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  • Tanzania Crop Exports Suffer in World Market

    Tanzania Crop Exports Suffer in World Market

    {{Tanzania’s coffee, cotton and tea exports generally suffered from falling prices in the world market during November last year as the result of different factors.}}

    The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Monthly Economic Review (MER) for December 2013 outlines the factors as including low demand for cotton, increased coffee production in Brazil and increased global supply of tea. “The price of cotton declined mainly due to increasing use of synthetic fibres by textile manufacturers,” notes the report. The prices of coffee declined on account of bumper harvests in Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

    According to the International Coffee Organisation (Ico), coffee production in 2012/13 is estimated at 145.2 million bags, a 9.8 per cent increase compared to preceding season.

    Ico said coffee prices have fallen consistently over the course of 2013, with decreases recorded in nine out of the last twelve months.

    “Although prices in December rose slightly compared to November, the Ico composite indicator is still at its second-lowest level of the year, and 2013 recorded the lowest average annual price since 2009,” notes Ico.

    MER says robusta production increased by 11.9 per cent, while that of Arabica increased by 8.5 per cent when compared with previous seasons.

    Increase in tea production in Kenya, India and Australia following favourable weather conditions coupled with low global demand was the reason behind fall in prices of tea.

    According to the Tea Board of Kenya’s monthly records, the harvest increased from 32.8 million kilos in September to 44.3 million kilos last October.

    Some records of tea exports last September from Tea Board of Tanzania shows that the country exported only 826,616 kilos, which was less than the 1,097,644 kilos exported last August.

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  • Taliban Claim to Have Captured ‘Military Dog’

    Taliban Claim to Have Captured ‘Military Dog’

    {{The Taliban say they captured a military dog from foreign forces operating in Afghanistan following a battle in the east of the country late last year.}}

    In a video posted on the insurgents’ website on Wednesday and later on Facebook, the Taliban claim the dog was seized from the US military.

    But Western defence sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the dog belonged to British forces.

    The video shows the animal, whom the Taliban said is named “Colonel”, being held on a leash in a small, well-lit courtyard surrounded by five men holding guns and grenades.

    Wearing a black vest with pouches for equipment, the dark brown canine wags its tail and later perks up its ears as the militants begin chanting “Allah hu Akbar” (“God is greatest”).

    A US defence official told AFP the dog did not belong to the American military. Britain’s Ministry of Defence declined to comment.

    The video’s narrator says three rifles, one pistol, a GPS and a torch were seized together with the dog, after a military operation in Alingar, a volatile district in Afghanistan’s Laghman province.

    Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told: “The Mujahideen put up fierce resistance and repelled the attack…

    “The Mujahideen seized some weapons and also a dog which we later learnt the Americans called ‘Colonel’.”

    The Taliban spokesman said Colonel is alive and well, adding that his fate would be determined later.

    A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul confirmed that a military dog had gone missing during a mission in December.

    AFP