A Taiwan young woman has been indicted for sending dog poop as a birthday gift to a colleague over a personal dispute, a newspaper said on Saturday. Liu Chia-pei (27) and Ma Wan-ching work in the same company in Taichung, central Taiwan, but often argue because Liu likes to have the air conditioning turned on all the time.
The Free State Cheetahs had few problems beating the Valke by 45-11 at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan on Friday night. The visitors patiently waited for the home side to make mistakes, on which they then pounced. Most of the visitors’ six tries were against the run of play, with the Valke failing to protect their own ball.
Under-fire Springbok coach Jake White believes Australian attacks on his under-strength team will harden the resolve of his players in next week’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies. Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill has reportedly said the union will quantify the financial damage caused by White’s decision.
Zimbabwe’s exile from Test cricket is set to continue, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday, amid reports of financial corruption that the global governing body said it would investigate. Zimbabwe have been in decline as an international cricket force since a race row in 2005.
One day after backing a proposal for autonomy in the disputed Western Sahara region, the United Nations appeared to be backtracking on Friday, saying it would reissue a report without mentioning the idea. The UN secretary general issued a report on Thursday saying that autonomy for Western Sahara should be tested.
The South African Football Association (Safa) shenanigans of the past week regarding accusations levelled against Sbu Mngadi, the former CEO of the national association’s commercial wing, SA Football, continued unabated on Friday — much to the detriment of the reputation of the administration of soccer in South Africa.
On a four-hour visit to Mali on Friday, United States First Lady Laura Bush said she was ”touched” by the African country’s effort to educate its young people. Mali was the last stop on the former schoolteacher’s tour of Africa, which also included visits to Zambia, Mozambique and Senegal.
Officially, heads of state attending the African Union summit this weekend will be discussing plans for a United States of Africa, a continental body that does away with national borders. Unofficially, the key discussion will be about the things pulling Africa apart in Sudan’s Darfur region and Zimbabwe.
Côte d’Ivoire Prime Minister Guillaume Soro narrowly escaped a rocket attack on his plane on Friday that killed at least four people and dealt a blow to the divided country’s fragile peace process. The UN Security Council and secretary general condemned the attack and said they feared for the future of a negotiated peace plan.
United States troops killed an estimated 26 militants during fierce fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City early on Saturday in one of the bloodiest clashes in the Shi’ite slum since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The US military said in a statement that American forces staged two separate raids into Sadr City.