Latest News Clips 2016.06.06

1. Muhammad Ali Dies at 74: Titan of Boxing and the 20th Century

The New York Times JUNE 4, 2016

 

Muhammad Ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion who helped define his turbulent times as the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century, died on Friday in a Phoenix-area hospital. He was 74.

His death was confirmed by Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman.

Ali was the most thrilling if not the best heavyweight ever, carrying into the ring a physically lyrical, unorthodox boxing style that fused speed, agility and power more seamlessly than that of any fighter before him.

But he was more than the sum of his athletic gifts. An agile mind, a buoyant personality, a brash self-confidence and an evolving set of personal convictions fostered a magnetism that the ring alone could not contain. He entertained as much with his mouth as with his fists, narrating his life with a patter of inventive doggerel. (“Me! Wheeeeee!”)

Ali was as polarizing a superstar as the sports world has ever produced — both admired and vilified in the 1960s and ’70s for his religious, political and social stances. His refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, his rejection of racial integration at the height of the civil rights movement, his conversion from Christianity to Islam and the changing of his “slave” name,Cassius Clay, to one bestowed by the separatist black sect he joined, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, were perceived as serious threats by the conservative establishment and noble acts of defiance by the liberal opposition.

Loved or hated, he remained for 50 years one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

In later life Ali became something of a secular saint, a legend in soft focus. He was respected for having sacrificed more than three years of his boxing prime and untold millions of dollars for his antiwar principles after being banished from the ring; he was extolled for his un-self-conscious gallantry in the face of incurable illness, and he was beloved for his accommodating sweetness in public.

In 1996, he was trembling and nearly mute as he lit the Olympic caldron in Atlanta.

That passive image was far removed from the exuberant, talkative, vainglorious 22-year-old who bounded out of Louisville, Ky., and onto the world stage in 1964 with an upset victory over Sonny Liston to become the world champion. The press called him the Louisville Lip. He called himself the Greatest.

Ali also proved to be a shape-shifter — a public figure who kept reinventing his persona.

As a bubbly teenage gold medalist at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, he parroted America’s Cold War line, lecturing a Soviet reporter about the superiority of the United States. But he became a critic of his country and a government target in 1966 with his declaration “I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong.”

“He lived a lot of lives for a lot of people,” said the comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory. “He was able to tell white folks for us to go to hell.”

But Ali had his hypocrisies, or at least inconsistencies. How could he consider himself a “race man” yet mock the skin color, hair and features of other African-Americans, most notably Joe Frazier, his rival and opponent in three classic matches? Ali called him “the gorilla,” and long afterward Frazier continued to express hurt and bitterness.

If there was a supertitle to Ali’s operatic life, it was this: “I don’t have to be who you want me to be; I’m free to be who I want.” He made that statement the morning after he won his first heavyweight title. It informed every aspect of his life, including the way he boxed.

2. The extraordinary survival of the boy left in a Japanese forest'

 

Yamato’s discovery in an army hut deep inside thick woodland came about thanks to several pieces of good fortune

The Guardian 3 June 2016

He did not flinch when he came face to face with the first person he had seen in almost a week. There were no tears, either, just a composed answer to the soldier’s question: “Are you Yamato?”

“Yes, I am,” came the reply.

More than six days after his parents abandoned him on the side of the road in a forest aspunishment for misbehaving, seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka was found alive and unhurt on Friday morning, marking the end of a search that has gripped Japan and prompted a debate over when parental discipline turns into abuse.

If his sudden disappearance was every parent’s nightmare, Yamato’s discovery, in an army hut deep inside thick woodland populated by hundreds of brown bears, came about thanks to several pieces of good fortune.

While the boy, who suffered only scratches to his arms and legs, was being kept in hospital overnight as a precaution, details emerged of his extraordinary survival.

Without food or water, possibly believing his parents had left him for good, he made his way through three miles (5km) of mountainous forest after leaving the narrow road where, minutes earlier, he had been left as punishment for throwing stones at cars and people during a family trip to a nearby park.

Hours later, he came across a gate marking the entrance to a self-defence force training ground in the town of Shikabe in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island.

In the pitch darkness that descends on the forest at night, he may not have been able to see the sign on the right warning members of the public to keep out. Either by climbing over the fence or making his way through the bushes either side, he set out along a path that, a few hundred metres on, took him to the corrugated-iron hut that became his makeshift home – and probably saved his life.

The hut’s two doors are supposed to be locked when it is not being used as sleeping quarters by soldiers out on exercise. Yamato, though, would have turned the handle on one of them to find it had been left open. Outside was a single tap, his sole source of sustenance during his ordeal, when overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 7C (45F).

Seeking shelter from the rain, three soldiers from the 28th Infantry Regiment at nearby camp Hakodate opened the door early on Friday morning to find Yamato, dressed in sweatpants, a T-shirt and trainers, curled up on a mattress. At night, he had sandwiched himself between two mattresses to keep warm.

Many were beginning to fear the worst when the search, involving 180 people accompanied by dogs, had still failed to turn up any clues after a couple of days. The discovery earlier this week of fresh bear droppings only added to the growing sense that the story of the “naughty” missing boy would end in tragedy.

After confirming his name, Yamato explained that he had stayed in the hut for several nights, and had not eaten for almost a week. The soldiers gave him two rice balls and called for a helicopter to take him to hospital.

It is not clear how many nights he spent in the hut. Early reports said a search of the training ground on Monday had not produced any clues as to his whereabouts. Later, though, the Asahi Shimbun said the area had not been checked because the entrance gate was usually secured.

Troops involved in the search broke into applause when they learned that Yamato had been found, while 900 of his fellow pupils at Hamawake elementary school in his hometown of Hokuto erupted in joy when they were given the news at an assembly.

As Yamato was being treated for mild dehydration, his father appeared at the entrance of Hakodate municipal hospital and attempted to explain his actions. “The first thing I did was apologise to him for the terrible suffering I had put him through,” Takayuki Tanooka said as he fought back tears. “I said that I was really sorry. He nodded and said: ‘OK,’ like he understood.”

3. Garbiñe Muguruza Upsets Serena Williams in French Open Final

The New York Times JUNE 4, 2016

This is the first Grand Slam title for Garbiñe Muguruza, a 22-year-old Spaniard who was born in Venezuela.CreditRobert Ghement/European Pressphoto Agency

PARIS — About 11 months ago, Garbiñe Muguruza stood drying on the grass court of Wimbledon after losing to Serena Williams in the women’s final. The champion that day consoled the vanquished, telling her not to be sad, that one day she would win a major tournament.

Less than a year later, Williams’s prophecy came true at her own expense. In a rematch of the Wimbledon final that was played on red clay instead of green grass, No. 4 Muguruza upset No. 1 Williams, 7-5, 6-4, on Saturday to capture the 2016 French Open.

It is the first Grand Slam title for Muguruza, a 22-year-old Spaniard who was born in Venezuela.

“Today Garbiñe played unbelievable,” Williams said after the match. “The only thing I can do is just keep trying.”

For Williams, who was playing through a strained upper leg muscle, her pursuit of a 22nd major tournament championship will continue, presumably at Wimbledon. Only two other women have won that many majors, including Margaret Court, who won 24 (13 of those were before the Open era). Steffi Graf holds the Open-era record with 22.

Williams won her 21st when she beat Muguruza in the Wimbledon final last July, and at the time it seemed inevitable that she would have reached Graf’s mark by now. But a stunning loss to Roberta Vinci in a semifinal at the United States Open prevented it from happening there. It also squashed Williams’s hope of winning the elusive Grand Slam – all four major tournaments in one calendar year.

Another surprising loss came in Australia in January where Williams lost in the final to Angelique Kerber, then Saturday’s loss to Muguruza.

The last time Williams lost at three major tournaments in a row was in 2014 (the Australian Open, the French Open to Muguruza in the second round and Wimbledon). The losing streak led to a rededication to her craft. The biggest change was to begin working with her current coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. After that she won four straight majors.

Muguruza, who is 6 feet with broad shoulders and a power game to match Williams’s, was playing in only her second Grand Slam final. Before that, her best results were at the French Open, where she earned a spot in the quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015.

Born in Caracas on Oct. 8, 1993, to a Spanish father and Venezuelan mother, Muguruza began playing tennis in Guarenas, just east of Caracas. When she was a school-age girl the family moved back to Spain where Muguruza began to train in earnest and developed into an elite player.

She entered the main draw of the 2012 U.S. Open as a teenager for her first major tournament with a clear upward trajectory. But after reaching the final at Wimbledon, Muguruza did not immediately follow it up. She registered disappointing results at the U.S. Open, where she lost in the second round, and the Australian, where she fell in the third.

Muguruza has acknowledged the challenge of overcoming her emotions and nerves, and she kept those mostly in check on Saturday. After the Wimbledon final, she also picked up on something that may have served her at the French.

“I learned that she’s also nervous,” Muguruza said of Williams that day, after the tears had dried up, “even though she played, I don’t know how many finals.”

The answer to that is 27. But none were quite like this one.

The 2016 French Open was plagued by historical amounts of rain and chilly weather that had players wrapped in leggings and long sleeves —unusual garb for a typical Grand Slam event. The stands were often dotted by umbrellas and colorful rain gear, and some of the featured matches were played in front of half-empty stands.

Rain washed away one whole day of scheduled matches on Monday, and other days saw numerous interruptions of play.

The No. 2 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, lost in the fourth round in a match played, at times, in steady rain. Radwanska was angry the match continued in those conditions, as was No. 6 Simona Halep, who lost to Samantha Stosur that same day.

Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed, lost in the first round, as did No. 5 Victoria Azarenka. Maria Sharapova was not present because of a suspension over a positive test for meldonium, a performance-enhancing drug.

Other players gladly filled the void in the spotlight, including Shelby Rogers, the 108th-ranked player in the world, who made it to the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in her career. Kiki Bertens, ranked No. 58, reached a semifinal for the first time, despite a strained left calf, and lost to Williams in straight sets.

Muguruza did not have a particularly difficult road to the final. She did not have to face a top-10 player until the final. She defeated No. 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets in the fourth round and Rogers in straight sets in the quarters. On Friday she beat No. 21 Stosur in a semifinal match.

The only set she lost on her way to the final was her first, to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round. But just as with her loss to Williams at Wimbledon, she recovered nicely from the disappointment.