No image available
/ 26 December 2007

Arsenal hope that history repeats itself

Arsenal have enjoyed Christmas Day at the top of the Premier League standings — and are hoping that history repeats itself and keeps them top at the end of the season. The club at the top at Christmas have won the league for the past three years — Manchester United last season and Chelsea in 2005 and 2006.

No image available
/ 26 December 2007

Landmark for Smith in Windies Test

Proteas captain Graeme Smith will be leading his team for the 50th time in a Test match in the first Test against the West Indies, starting at St George’s Park on Wednesday. Smith is only the second South African captain, after the late Hansie Cronje, to achieve this landmark. Cronje captained the Proteas on 53 occasions.

No image available
/ 26 December 2007

The year of social networking

Online social-networking websites saw their ranks swell and values soar in 2007 as everyone from moody teenagers and mellow music lovers to mate-seeking seniors joined online communities. Seven out of the 10 hottest topics that triggered Google internet queries during the year involved social networking.

No image available
/ 26 December 2007

Asia marks tsunami, three years on

Survivors prayed at mass graves and mosques on Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami, while warning sirens sent hundreds fleeing beaches during a drill to test an alert network established since the disaster. The waves on December 26 2004 killed about 230 000 people in 12 Indian Ocean nations.

No image available
/ 26 December 2007

An American woman’s life in Iran

American Louise Firouz made Iran her home half a century ago. Now 75, she runs a stud farm in the remote north-east and has watched the turbulent transformation of her adopted country from United States ally to arch-foe. She moved to Tehran in the 1950s to marry a young Iranian aristocrat.

No image available
/ 26 December 2007

Help for immigrants divides US faithful

Helping illegal immigrants has become an unpopular business in the United States. Republican and Democratic presidential candidates alike have backed down from any previous support for illegal immigrants, and ordinary Americans are treading just as carefully in the face of a growing backlash against the 12-million people here illegally.