An emergency summit of Southern African leaders on Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis opened on Saturday with a plea from its chairperson not to turn a blind eye, but President Robert Mugabe stayed away. Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa told Southern African Development Community leaders that doing nothing was not an option.
The Stormers ran out comfortable 34-22 winners over the Cheetahs in a Super 14 fixture at Newlands on Saturday. A great kick-off by Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant set up the platform for the team’s opening try in the second minute. Grant’s kick went into touch 5m from the Cheetahs’ try line.
The New South Wales Waratahs climbed into the top four with a hard-fought 17-12 win over plucky Western Force in a thrilling Super 14 clash in Perth on Saturday. In a bruising encounter that claimed key players from both sides, the Waratahs scored the only two tries, one in each half.
Western Province (WP) retained their unbeaten record by the skin of their teeth when they were held to a 23-23 draw by Griquas in a Vodacom Cup match at Newlands on Saturday. Griquas unsettled WP with their speedy playing patterns at the outset and it came as no surprise when they scored a try in the seventh minute.
Sourav Ganguly cracked a gutsy 87 on a difficult pitch to help India gain a slender advantage on the second day of the third and final Test against South Africa in Kanpur on Saturday. India were struggling at 123-4 before reaching 288-9 in their first innings at stumps in reply to South Africa’s 265 on a day of fluctuating fortunes.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday there was ”no crisis” in Zimbabwe after holding his first face-to-face talks with Robert Mugabe since the country’s disputed March 29 elections. Mbeki had stopped in Harare on his way to join Southern African leaders in Zambia for an emergency meeting on Zimbabwe.
African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma celebrated his 66th birthday on Saturday. Unlike Zuma’s birthday last year, when 1Â 000 people attended a lavish affair at Durban’s International Convention Centre, no major events have been planned for his 66th birthday.
The ACT Brumbies kept their Super 14 semifinal hopes alive with a tense 16-11 away win over an ill-disciplined Auckland Blues at Eden Park on Saturday. Needing a win to stay in touch with the teams above them, the Brumbies withstood some early Auckland pressure before slowly asserting their dominance.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) holds its spring meeting in Washington, DC, on Saturday amid what officials describe as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression and as the global economy weakens. The 185-member IMF warned on Wednesday that the economic outlook was increasingly grim.
Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption — except there are no volcanoes in the area. There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 240km south-west of Newport.