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/ 31 January 2008
An opening game against Australia clearly illustrates the massive task awaiting the Springbok Sevens team on Friday, when the third International Rugby Board Sevens tournament of the 2007/08 season kicks off in the Kiwi capital, Wellington. The South Africans are grouped together with the Aussies, France and Kenya in Pool C, by far the toughest of the four pools.
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/ 31 January 2008
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe may have dealt a fatal blow to Pretoria’s "quiet diplomacy" by calling an election in the middle of mediation efforts by his South African counterpart, say analysts. President Mbeki was handed the poisoned chalice of mediating between Mugabe and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change last April.
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/ 31 January 2008
International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed said on Thursday the organisation accepted the blame for the administrative blunder that enabled Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh to escape a stiffer penalty in his racial-abuse case. Harbhajan’s three-Test suspension for allegedly racially abusing Australian Andrew Symonds was overturned on Tuesday.
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/ 31 January 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as champions Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League on goal difference from Arsenal after a 2-0 win at home to Portsmouth. The Gunners had briefly been at the head of the table after their 3-0 victory against Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
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/ 31 January 2008
Samuel Eto’o became the all-time record goal scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday when he fired Cameroon into the quarterfinals, where Egypt will also feature despite Zambia holding the defending champions to a 1-1 draw. In Tamale, Eto’o helped Cameroon to a 3-0 win to bag the Group C runners-up spot on six points.
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/ 31 January 2008
Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest gold producer, on Thursday warned that it may be forced to close shafts and restructure as a result of Eskom’s request that the mining industry reduce its power use by 10%. Gold Fields CEO Ian Cockerill warned that the power shortages in South Africa would affect production in the March quarter.
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/ 31 January 2008
South African police have raided a church that was a sanctuary for Zimbabwean refugees, arresting scores of suspected illegal immigrants, the South African Broadcasting Corporation said on Thursday. The raid occurred at about midnight on Wednesday at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, which has become a virtual refugee camp for those fleeing Zimbabwe.
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/ 31 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s High Court ruled on Wednesday that a former British special forces officer could be extradited to Equatorial Guinea to face coup-plot charges, rejecting arguments that he might be tortured. Simon Mann was jailed in 2004 and was briefly released after serving his sentence in May last year.
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/ 31 January 2008
DVD OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal looks at the humour of <i>Another Gay Movie</i>.
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/ 31 January 2008
China has turned its battle against brutal winter weather into a propaganda push to try to comfort millions of cold, stranded and dismayed citizens, even as storms threaten to continue lashing many areas. Snow, sleet and ice blanketing much of central, eastern and southern China have killed dozens.