SWIMMING

 

The recreational activity of swimming has been recorded since prehistoric times. The earliest recording of swimming dates back toStone Age paintings from around 10000 years ago. Written references date from 2000 BC. Some of the earliest references to swimming include the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible, Beowulf, The Quran along with others. In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book, The Swimmer or A Dialogue on the Art of Swimming (Der Schwimmer oder ein Zweigespräch über die Schwimmkunst).

Swimming emerged as a competitive recreational activity in the 1830's in England. In 1828, the first indoor swimming pool, St George's Baths was opened to the public. By 1837, the National Swimming Society was holding regular swimming competitions in six artificial swimming pools, built around London. The recreational activity grew in popularity and by 1880, when the first national governing body, the Amateur Swimming Association, was formed, there were already over 300 regional clubs in operation across the country.

In 1844 two Native American participants at a swimming competition in London introduced the front crawl to a Western audience. Sir John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-over stroke from some South American natives and successfully debuted the new stroke in 1873, winning a local competition in England. His stroke is still regarded as the most powerful to use today.

Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875. He used breaststroke, swimming 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911.

Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892.^[4]

Swimming became part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. In 1902, the Australian Richmond Cavill introduced the front crawl to the Western world. In 1908, the world swimming association, Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), was formed. Butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was at first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.

VOLLEYBALL

 

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.^[1] It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964.

The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.

• causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
• catching and throwing the ball;
• double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
• four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;
• net foul: touching the net during play;
• foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.

HIV ALLERT

 

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (a subgroup of retrovirus) that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS),^[1][2] a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype.^[3] Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells.

HIV infects vital cells in the human immune system such as helper T cells (specificallyCD4⁺ T cells), macrophages, and dendritic cells.^[4] HIV infection leads to low levels ofCD4⁺ T cells through a number of mechanisms, including apoptosis of uninfected bystander cells,^[5] direct viral killing of infected cells, and killing of infected CD4⁺ T cells by CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize infected cells.^[6] When CD4⁺ T cell numbers decline below a critical level, cell-mediated immunity is lost, and the body becomes progressively more susceptible to opportunistic infections.

DAVAO Region is among the five regions with most number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the country for November 2014, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

The other four regions are Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Visayas and Central Luzon.

The DOH reported that the country has 492 new cases of HIV recorded in November this year.

Data showed that 40 of the 492 cases have led to AIDS.

The latest tally of 492 new cases is 28 percent higher compared to the 384 cases reported in the same period last year.

It also showed that there are more males inflicted with HIV in November with 474 (96 percent).

Records also showed that there are a total of 5,502 HIV cases from January to November 2014 and 22,018 cases from 1984-2014.

MAMASAPANO ENCOUNTER

 

On Sunday, January 25, 2015, three platoons of the elite SAF police squad entered the guerrilla enclave of Tukanalipao, Mindanao,Philippines, with the goal of detaining two high-ranking Jemaah Islamiyah-affiliated, improvised-explosive-device experts, Zulkifli Abdhir (also known as Marwan) and Abdul Basit Usman. The SAF troops raided the hut where they believed Marwan was located, and the man they believe to be Marwan engaged them in a firefight and was killed. The SAF initially planned to take his body for identification. However, the shooting alerted the BIFF and MILF 118th Command in the area. The SAF had no time to retrieve the body so they just cut off a finger, took a photo, and left his body there.By 6:18 AM UTC+8 (PST), an SMS message was sent by the Commander of SAF 61D Batallion to SAF Director Getulio Napeñas that they were pinned down at coordinates 6.92489°N 124.52047°E. What followed was a bloody encounter that left 44 SAF and 18 MILF dead.

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015, the FBI confirmed to the PNP that the DNA sample from the finger matched that of Marwan's brother detained in a U.S. facility.

A MILF spokesman accused the SAF squads of initiating the firefight, claiming that the rebels acted in self-defense, and proposed the continuation of the peace process.

Abu Misri Mama, BIFF spokesman, said that his rebel group's relationship with the MILF's 105th Command headed by Ustadz Zacaria Guma is positive. “We're all family,” Mama commenting on BIFF's relationship with Guma's unit. Mama said that there is no distinction between BIFF members and members of Guma's unit and claims that all of them are either relatives or friends of each other. It was reported that Guma's unit would engage other MILF units over disputes such as clan feuds. It was also reported that Guma is not on good terms with other MILF units which Guma views as "Munafiq", or hypocrites.

A ranking military intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that BIFF leader Ameril Umbra Kato ordered the killing of the SAF members by his group and members of the MILF involved in the incident. The official also quoted Kato as saying “Leave no one alive and take all their firearms, ammunition, and personal belongings.” A colonel from the Philippine Army, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the information and said that SAF personnel who were still alive but wounded were shot dead by some BIFF members.

A private armed group led by Datu Bahnarin Ampatuan was reportedly among those involved in the killings of the SAF members. Bahnarin Ampatuan, who is also implicated in the Maguindanao massacre case, is the brother of Mamasapano mayor Benzar Ampatuan. Bahnarin and Benzar Amputuan were rivals at the 2010 Mayoral elections. Benzar expressed doubt of his brother's participation and believes that Bahnarin would not associate himself with such groups like the BIFF nor to people like Abdul Basit Usman who made an attempt to kill Benzar's grandfather.