Zimbabwean orphans Evans (13) and Edmond Mahlangu (8) crossed a mountain range on foot to get to Mozambique where they are slowly recovering on life-saving Aids drugs in short supply back home. ”We walked for a day in the mountains. We had to keep quiet because of the guards,” recounted the boys’ 17-year-old sister, Emmaculate.
Arsenal left it late to stay top of the Premier League as second-placed champions Manchester United closed to within a point on Saturday. The Gunners were seconds away from being knocked off top spot at the Emirates Stadium when Nicklas Bendtner cancelled out an early Philippe Senderos own-goal to secure a 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa.
Locked together with 31 points each, Orlando Pirates and Golden Arrows were inseparable in an evenly-matched, engrossing 0-0 Absa Premiership draw at Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday night. Whoever said a goalless game cannot be entertaining could not have witnessed the clash between two teams who both look worthy of Top Eight finishes in the log.
The Auckland Blues took the outright lead in rugby’s Super 14 when they racked up 50 points for the second straight week against a South African opponent. The Blues followed last week’s 55-10 win over the Lions with a 50-26 win Saturday over the Cheetahs to secure their third straight bonus point and to open a one-point lead over their compatriots, the Canterbury Crusaders.
Colombia’s military said on Saturday its troops had killed a top rebel commander in an attack on a jungle camp across the border in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America’s oldest guerrilla insurgency. Raul Reyes, one of seven members of the secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, was killed in an operation that included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the border.
It did not look like a political wake. Senator Hillary Clinton emerged into a basketball stadium in Houston wearing a bright red jacket, beaming broadly and waving at thousands of screaming supporters. Gene Green, a Texan congressman, introduced her with confident words predicting her return to the White House.
Bangladesh were staring down the barrel after losing a clutch of wickets on the third day of the second and final Test against South Africa on Sunday. The hosts limped to 245-7 at tea with tailenders Mohammad Rafique, batting on 10, and Mashrafe Mortaza (0) at the crease.
International aid agencies on Saturday called for emergency food programmes to be overhauled as the soaring price of grain and other staple crops threatens to bring further misery to many parts of the developing world. The call came after it emerged that the United States is to slash the amount of food aid it gives to some of the poorest countries in the world.
Bangladesh’s Shahriar Nafees hit an unbeaten fifty to lead the home side to 169 for four at lunch on the third day of the second Test against South Africa on Sunday. Bangladesh are replying to South Africa’s record-studded score of 583 for seven declared. Nafees (61) and Aftab Ahmed (21) were unbeaten at the interval.
South Africans should arm themselves to ward off criminals, regardless of government’s efforts to disarm citizens, Gun Owners South Africa (Gosa) said on Saturday. Gosa said South Africa’s justice system was ”on the verge of collapse” and that the police and security forces were ”in a state of total disarray”.