It is like something Lewis Carroll might have written: "Beware the fearsome information peddler; he lurks, waiting to catch the unsuspecting Democratee …" The <i>Browse Mole</i> saga, and Parliament’s role in it, is a work of similarly unrestrained imagination. What are we to make of all this?
France extended their perfect record against Italy with a 25-13 win on Sunday that kept alive their slim chances of retaining the Six Nations title. France, who bounced back from a defeat by England on the same Stade de France pitch two weeks ago, will now try to ruin Wales’s Grand Slam hopes next Saturday in Cardiff.
Moroka Swallows and Thanda Royal Zulu (TRZ) remained in the positions they occupied before their 0-0 draw in an entertaining Premier Soccer League match at the Olen Park Stadium in Potchefstroom on Sunday. Swallows are in seventh place with 32 points and TRZ are seven places behind with 21.
AmaZulu and Jomo Cosmos played to a dull 0-0 draw in their Premier Soccer League clash at a packed King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Sunday afternoon. The game started on a low note and both sides were cautious when attacking. The first chance of the game went to Cosmos striker Reneilwe Letsholonyane.
The FA Cup will boast just one Premier League side in the last four after Cardiff City continued a weekend of shocks by beating Middlesbrough 2-0 on Sunday. First-half goals from Peter Whittingham and Roger Johnson handed the Championship (second division) side a deserved win at the Riverside Stadium and a place in the semifinals alongside Barnsley and Portsmouth.
Tropical cyclone Jokwe lashed northern Mozambique on Sunday, killing at least one person and destroying over 500 homes, a meteorological official said. Mussa Mustafa, head of Mozambique’s National Meteorological Institute, said the cyclone, which swept through part of Madagascar last week, is expected to intensify by Monday.
Russian helicopters rescued 775 fishermen stranded on ice sheets drifting into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday. The men had walked a few kilometres across the ice pack surrounding the remote island of Sakhalin in Russia’s far-east to fish over the ocean, news agencies quoting local emergency services reported.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a Bill giving local owners the right to take majority control of foreign companies, including mines and banks, a government newspaper reported on Sunday. Analysts fear the move could sound the death knell for an economy that is struggling with the world’s highest inflation rate of more than 100Â 000%.
Suspected ”terrorists” killed in a raid in north-west China’s Muslim-dominated Xinjiang region earlier this year had been planning an attack on the Olympics, a top official said on Sunday. In separate comments, another high-level official from the same region said authorities had on Friday foiled a planned ”terrorist attack” on a passenger jet.
Pakistan’s two major opposition leaders signed a formal declaration Sunday on forming a coalition government, and urged President Pervez Musharraf to convene Parliament without delay. Asif Ali Zardari, widowed husband of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif signed the agreement at a news conference after a fresh round of coalition talks.