Should Mayweather win, as is widely expected, he would match the 49-0 record of former heavyweight great Rocky Marciano but says he would not be tempted to come out of retirement for a 50th fight.
“Forty-nine is my last fight,” the five-division world champion, aged 38, told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday before saying that self-preservation in the ring had always been a top priority.
“My health is more important. Anything can happen (in boxing). I am not really worried about losing. You can make a lot of money but you still won’t be able to talk, walk and have a sharp mind.
“Of course, it’s always about self-preservation. I come first but I appreciate the fans. I do. The only thing I can do is believe in myself. I’m going to be TBE (The Best Ever) until the day I die.”
Many pundits have doubted Mayweather’s claim that he will end his career after the Sept. 12 bout, pointing to the American’s U-turn when he came back from a 21-month retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009.
“Like I have said and Floyd has said a number of times, this will be his last fight,” Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said on Wednesday’s conference call.
“Why can’t a man go out when he has had an illustrious career, accomplished everything that he needed to accomplish and be done? And he has done it his way.
“Over the last week, I have received three major movie offers. We fully expect Floyd to be heavily, heavily involved in the entertainment industry because this is what he does right now … that is going to occupy a lot of his time.”
Mayweather, whose 48-0 record includes 26 knockouts, is renowned for his brilliant defence in the ring though he has often been criticized for selecting easy opponents while building his impressive resume.
Asked what he regarded as the greatest achievement of his career, he replied: “Every fight played a major key … and number 49 is going to be important also. But my career’s not over yet.”
Berto, a twice former welterweight world champion, will step into the ring as a heavy underdog after losing three of his last six fights but Mayweather is wary of underestimating his opponent.
“When you’ve got a guy that’s put in a situation with nothing to lose, it makes him work that much harder,” said Mayweather. “He has a chance to be one of the top guys in the sport when I am through. You never overlook anyone.”
Thirty-two Senate Democrats and two independents who vote with the Democrats now back the agreement.
“No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime. I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb,” Mikulski, of Maryland, said in a statement.
“For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal.”
Mikulski’s backing means Obama’s fellow Democrats will have enough votes to protect the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in the U.S. Congress. The agreement, announced on July 14, exchanges sanctions relief for Iran for Tehran’s agreeing to curtail its nuclear program.
U.S. lawmakers have until Sept. 17 to vote on a “resolution of disapproval,” which would weaken the international pact by eliminating Obama’s ability to temporarily waive many U.S. sanctions on Iran.
With Republicans virtually united in opposition, Democrats have spent the summer rallying support for an agreement seen as a potential legacy foreign policy achievement for the president.
Republicans hold majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate, and are likely to pass a Republican-sponsored disapproval resolution. However, Obama promised to veto any such measure, and opponents would have needed two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override the veto.
Support by 34 senators means a veto would be sustained.
A resolution would also fail if deal supporters can muster 41 votes in the Senate to block it using a procedural motion. Senate leadership aides on both sides of the issue said it was still too early to say whether that would happen.
Mikulski’s support leaves 10 undecided Senate Democrats.
The passenger, who reported being raped and beaten after hailing a ride with the Uber driver in Delhi last year, sued the online car service in a U.S. federal court in January, claiming the company failed to maintain basic safety procedures.
The driver was arrested by Indian police and appeared in court in December. Uber’s Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick at the time called the incident “horrific” and pledged to help “bring this perpetrator to justice.”
However, Uber also argued in court filings that the woman sued the wrong corporate entity as the driver had a contract with Uber B.V., a Netherlands-based entity with no U.S. operations.
The court filing did not disclose any details on how the case was settled, and representatives for Uber and the woman declined to comment.
India is one of Uber’s largest markets outside the United States by the number of cities covered. The rape allegation triggered protests and reignited a debate about the safety of women in Asia’s third-largest economy, especially in New Delhi, which has been dubbed India’s rape capital.
Uber, valued at around $50 billion this year, has said it would introduce additional safety measures including more stringent driver checks and an in-app emergency button.
In the lawsuit, the woman, who resides in Delhi and was not named, called Uber the “modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking.”
“Buyer beware – we all know how those horror movies end,” the lawsuit stated.
Earlier this year, both sides had agreed to participate in private mediation to try to resolve the lawsuit, according to court filings.
Ishant Sharma, who was fined 65 percent of his match fees for giving send-offs to Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal in the second test, landed in trouble with the Sri Lankans in the final contest as well.
Thirimanne, Chandimal and paceman Dhammika Prasad, who had an animated altercation with Ishant on Monday, have also been charged with code of conduct breaches, the ICC said.
“Details to be announced after the conclusion of the Test,” the governing body said on Twitter.
Tempers flared on Tuesday when Ishant, after taking a single and running past Prasad, was seen smacking his own head, as if daring the bowler to try and bounce him.
Chandimal joined from the slip, brushing shoulders with Ishant.
At the end of India’s second innings, Ishant ran towards the Indian dressing room to change and get ready to bowl and Prasad was also seen sprinting behind the Indian, as if trying to catch up with him.
Ishant gave animated send-offs to Upul Tharanga and broke into wild celebration after Chandimal’s dismissal.
The umpires have spoken to both captains and the players, especially Ishant, face stringent punishment.
It was the lowest year-on-year inflation in over 12 years.
“Pakistan’s inflation has been relatively low in the past year, mainly due to lower electricity and international oil prices,” said Chief Statistician Asif Bajwa.
On a month-on-month basis, prices fell by 0.24 percent in August from July.
The average annual inflation rate for July-August 2015-16 over July-August 2014-15 was 1.76 percent.
It is from here, at an unremarkable roadside monastery just outside the city of Yangon, that the abbot is propelling the radical Buddhist group he co-founded into the mainstream of Myanmar’s politics.
Four bills drafted by his Committee for the Protection of Race and Religion, better known as Ma Ba Tha, have been passed by parliament and signed into law. Critics say the new laws effectively legalise discrimination against women and the country’s minority Muslims.
Along with political clout, Ma Ba Tha is also ratcheting up its public image ahead of elections in November that will be the first free vote in Myanmar in the last 25 years. The radical Buddhist group has regular programming on one of the country’s most popular satellite TV channels and has launched a magazine.
Ashin Tilawkar Biwonsa (C), 77, Ma Ba Tha’s founder and chairman, talks during a meeting at Ma Ba Tha’s head office in Yangon onAugust 26, 2015.
“There should be lawmakers in parliament who are reliable for the country,” Ashin Tilawkar Biwonsa said in an interview. “There might be some people, especially Muslims, who are working on weakening Buddhism, so we need strong people for our religion.”
Ma Ba Tha has shown no signs of contesting elections itself but says it will “remind” the public of candidates who opposed its four laws. These include Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which is going head to head with conservatives and military figures in the polls.
Established two years ago, Ma Ba Tha sprang from the “969” movement, a loose collection of monks linked to a wave of violence against the country’s Muslim minority in 2012 and 2013.
Staff members work at Ma Ba Tha’s head office in Yangon
Senior Ma Ba Tha officials said the 969 movement had raised awareness about threats to Buddhism from a burgeoning Muslim population, but was disorganised and lacked leadership.
“It was (concerned with) only the symbols of Buddhism,” said Ashin Tilawkar Biwonsa.
Now, a growing number of professionals are offering their expertise on everything from media relations to legislation, helping to shape Ma Ba Tha into a slick organisation with popular support and real political clout.
One such expert is Aye Paing, who spent two decades toiling as a lawyer in Myanmar’s musty courtrooms before finding a dramatic new use for his legal skills.
Aye Paing and a team of Ma Ba Tha-linked lawyers drafted the protection of race and religion bills, the last of which was signed by President Thein Sein on Monday.
Lawyers, economists, IT experts and other professionals had made Ma Ba Tha “very efficient, systematic and legal” said Aye Paing, 52, who wears a black “taik pone”, a short collarless jacket worn over a shirt that is common among Myanmar’s legal professionals.
“We discuss, give advice and share our visions,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL VISITORS
In another sign of its growing influence, foreign diplomats regularly visit the group’s monastery headquarters.
One was U.S. ambassador Derek Mitchell, who went there twice in May to discuss “the need for increased interfaith dialogue” and “the importance of keeping religion out of politics”, according to a statement from the U.S. embassy in Yangon.
Myanmar’s revered and influential monks led many pro-democracy protests during nearly half a century of military rule in the Buddhist-majority nation. But after a quasi-civilian, reformist government took power in 2011, some outspoken monks claimed Islam was eclipsing Buddhism and weakening the country.
A copy of Aung Zay Yathu, a weekly promoting nationalism published by Ma Ba Tha, is seen at the head office of the Buddhist group, in Yangon.
Now, Ashin Tilawkar Biwonsa says Ma Ba Tha has 250 offices nationwide. He couldn’t estimate how many supporters it has, but in June more than 1,500 people attended the group’s annual conference in Yangon.
Ma Ba Tha recently struck a deal with Myanmar’s popular satellite television provider, SkyNet, to broadcast its sermons.
The broadcasts would help the public “know the truth” about Ma Ba Tha, said Khine Khine Tun, 25, an articulate former teacher and interpreter who heads the group’s international relations department.
Through media training courses, she said, she has learnt to speak to visitors with a smile, confounding expectations of the abrasive and sometimes confrontational style for which the group is known.
The television deal bolsters an information campaign that already includes a bi-monthly magazine with a circulation of 50,000 that contains sermons delivered by Ma Ba Tha monks nationwide.
RACE AND RELIGION
In contrast to long-delayed legislation on banking, mining and property, the Ma Ba Tha-backed “race and religion” bills moved swiftly through parliament.
One bill requires some women to wait at least three years between pregnancies. Another requires Buddhist women to seek official permission before marrying a non-Buddhist man.
This will stop Muslim men “torturing and forcing (Buddhist women) to change religion,” Ashin Tilawkar Biwonsa said.
Suu Kyi and her NLD opposed the laws. But government officials and politicians rarely criticise Ma Ba Tha, because they either sympathise with the group’s views or fear upsetting its many supporters during an election year.
“They are afraid of Ma Ba Tha,” said May Sabi Phyu, the director of the Gender Equality Network, a women’s empowerment group that opposed the bills.
Any plans to sway voters would be “violating the law,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win, adding: “It’s the government’s responsibility to control and stop them.” – Reuters
Captain Eoin Morgan smashed a superb 74 off 39 deliveries to lift the home team to 182 for five and despite a brilliant 90 by Australia skipper Steve Smith, the touring side fell just short of their target.
“It was brilliant, a great game of cricket to win,” Morgan told Sky Sports. “You can learn a lot from playing in close games against top opposition.”
He shared a third-wicket stand of 135 with Moeen Ali (72 not out) after Smith had won the toss and England openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy fell cheaply.
Morgan struck seven sixes and three fours and Moeen hit three sixes and six fours to put England on course for a total in excess of 200.
But quick bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc slowed down the run-rate in the closing overs to keep Australia in the game.
Australia openers David Warner and Shane Watson then failed but Smith and Glenn Maxwell put together a fluent partnership.
Maxwell was brilliantly caught by Ben Stokes off man-of-the-match Moeen for 44, the all-rounder running round from long-on to end a third-wicket stand of 112.
“Ben Stokes’ catch changed the momentum of the game because the wicket meant it was difficult for a new batsman to come in and score quickly,” Morgan said.
Smith made his 90 off 53 balls, including four sixes, but he was caught by Sam Billings off David Willey in the 19th over and Stokes conceded just six runs off the last six balls to leave Australia stranded on 177 for eight.
“It was impressive the way Ben Stokes bowled that final over and delivered his skills after just finishing a five-game test series,” Morgan said.
“He stuck his chest out and bowled very well.”
Smith was left to rue his team’s inconsistent bowling.
The cause of the blast at the factory on the outskirts of the city near the airport was unknown.
The explosion at the factory, which makes fireworks and matches, was heard in a large area of the city. Television pictures showed a large column of smoke rising from the factory.
Emergency services urged local residents to stay away from the area. The airport continued operating.
A spokeswoman for the regional government of Aragon said five people were killed in the blast.
“As well as the deaths, at the moment there are six people injured to varying degrees,” she said.
She said firefighters were continuing their work at the factory, which exports products to other European countries and Canada.
El Pais newspaper said accidents at fireworks factories around Spain in the last 25 years had claimed more than 110 lives.
About 17 percent of young employees in workplaces that encouraged several healthy lifestyle practices were obese, compared to about 24 percent in spaces that promoted one or no healthy practices, researchers found.
“I have personally experienced a range of workplace environments that I feel have influenced my eating habits and my physical activity, both positively and negatively,” said lead author Allison Watts, of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Those environmental factors include support for colleagues, lunchtime yoga classes and food availability, she said in an email to Reuters Health.
“I wanted to see if this was true of other young adults as well,” she added.
Researchers used data collected on 1,538 people who answered surveys while in middle or high school during 1998 and 1999. As young adults, the participants answered more questions 10 years later.
At the second survey, the average age of participants was 25 years. Most were white and nearly half were from high social and economic backgrounds.
Among the factors the participants reported to the researchers were their typical diets, weekly exercise routines, and specifics about their workplaces and their locations.
Less than half ate at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, 27 percent had at least one sugary drink and 20 percent ate fast food at least three times per week. More than half completed at least 2.5 hours of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week and took active transportation, such as walking or cycling.
Soda and sweet snacks were available at most of the young adults’ jobs. About half said eating a healthy diet and being physical active was easy at work. Less than half reported working within a 30-minute walk from home, but about half worked within a 10-minute walk to fitness facilities. More than half worked within a 10-minute walk of a fast food restaurant.
Overall, about 19 percent of participants were obese, but those who reported working in spaces with three or more healthy factors were less likely to be obese than those working at jobs with fewer healthy factors.
“Working young adults are dealing with many stressors such as being pressed for time, juggling personal and work responsibilities, and stretching limited resources,” Watts said. “So, many young adults (will) reach for what is convenient and affordable.”
The appealing nature of convenience and thriftiness is why it’s so important for workplaces to take these factors into account, she said.
The study shows the importance of environment on healthy eating and activity, according to Carolyn Dunn, professor and head of the Department of Youth, Family and Community Services at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Discouraging employees from leaving unhealthy leftovers in the break room or only stocking sugar-free beverages could help employers promote a healthier lifestyles, noted Dunn, who was not involved with the new study.
“The environment is so important and so often policies drive that environment,” Dunn told Reuters Health.
Dunn, who has developed programs on nutrition and wellness, said workplace environments could help compensate for fast food establishments nearby.
“You certainly are not going to turn down a great job just because there’s a McDonald’s on the corner,” she said. But creating a healthy environment at work that’s supported by management may chip away at the unhealthy factors, she added.
Sharapova, 28, has not played a match since losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July and withdrew from hardcourt tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati in August, citing a right leg strain.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to compete in this year’s US Open,” she tweeted.
“I have done everything possible to be ready but it was just not enough time. To all my amazing fans, I will be back in the Asian swing in a few weeks and look forward to finishing the year healthy and strong.”
It marks the second time in three years that the 2006 champion has withdrawn from the year’s last grand slam event.
Her absence robs the US Open of some star power and a possible marquee showdown.
Sharapova, who has won each of the four grand slam tournaments during her career, was seeded to meet top-seeded American world number one Serena Williams in the semi-finals.
The 33-year-old Williams is campaigning to win a fourth US Open title in a row that would give her a rare grand slam sweep of the year’s four majors.
The Russian, however, has not proven much of an obstacle to the big-serving Williams, who has beaten Sharapova in 18 of their 20 career meetings and has not lost to her in 11 years.
The US Tennis Association said on Sunday that Russian Daria Kasatkina is the lucky loser who will replace Sharapova in the main draw.
