The Casa Poporului is the unfinished work of one of Europe’s last megalomaniacs, Nicolae Ceausescu. Much of historic Bucharest was levelled to create a building that the Romanian dictator could boast of as the largest in the world. An odd choice of summit venue for Nato, which tries to define itself as much by shared democratic values as it does by brute force.
Cardiff City booked a place in the FA Cup final for the first time in 81 years as Joe Ledley’s goal clinched a 1-0 semifinal win over Barnsley on Sunday. Ledley’s first-half volley at Wembley was enough to set up a final clash against Portsmouth on May 17 and make Cardiff the first Championship club to reach English football’s domestic showpiece since Millwall in 2004.
Kaizer Chiefs moved into the top half of the Absa Premiership table after walloping Moroka Swallows 3-1 in a league match at a packed Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday. Mabhuti Khenyeza, Jonathan Quartey and Thuso Phala scored for Chiefs, while Swallows’ lone goal came from the boot of James Chamanga.
A Zimbabwe court delayed until Monday a ruling on whether it could order the release of presidential election results, which President Robert Mugabe is trying to hold up. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition says Mugabe wants to delay the result to help him find a way out of the biggest crisis of his 28-year rule.
Absa Premiership leaders SuperSport United, seemingly on the wrong wavelength and looking nothing like potential champions, slumped to a 2-0 defeat against a more willing and able AmaZulu at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Sunday afternoon.
British police battled to keep pro-Tibet protesters away from the Beijing Olympics flame, making 30 arrests as the torch went on a high security tour of London on Sunday. Police on bikes and running alongside the flame escorted each member of the relay.
Kenya’s president and future prime minister said on Sunday they had made ”substantial progress” at talks to end an impasse over a power-sharing Cabinet and expected to clinch a deal on Monday. The two sides had planned to name the Cabinet on Sunday, but disagreement over the division of ministries scuttled that plan.
South African satellite technician Sipho Maseko, who is being held in a Zimbabwean prison, has been admitted to St Anne’s Hospital in Harare after his blood-sugar levels reached danger levels, his employer, Globecast, said on Sunday. Globecast spokesperson Melanie Gibb said Maseko, a diabetic, was looked at by a doctor from the South African embassy.
After nearly two weeks of baggage chaos and hundreds of cancelled flights, London Heathrow airport was hit by bad weather on Sunday, which forced British Airways (BA) to cancel 114 flights. Two runways at Heathrow were briefly closed for de-icing as snow fell in London and air-traffic control reduced the number of take-off and landing slots.
Zimbabwe’s opposition went to court on Sunday to try to force the release of presidential election results after President Robert Mugabe’s party called for a delay and a recount. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has won the vote and should be declared president.