As in politics, a week can be a long time on the football scene. Last Thursday the Premier Soccer League showcased its success as a brand by signing a multibillion-rand deal with pay-television channel SuperSport. Then the South African Football Association lost the man who had breathed hope into the almost comatose body of the association.
”We may be Americans but we’re not stupid,” Alexi Lalas says wryly as, in his role as president of LA Galaxy, he leans back in his boardroom and strokes the smooth and gleaming jawline that used to be covered by the most famous ginger beard in world football.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been taken aback by the decision of players such as Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho to miss a reception with Nelson Mandela on the club’s tour of South Africa. ”It could appear to be a bit surprising,” Laporta was quoted as saying.
The top United States nuclear envoy, just returned from a rare visit to North Korea, said on Friday that Pyongyang was ready to disable its nuclear reactor. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said talks during his some-24-hour surprise trip to Pyongyang were detailed and positive.
Nigeria’s crippling general strike entered its third day on Friday after overnight talks between labour unions and government ended in deadlock. Banks and schools remained closed across the country. The price of what little fuel was available on the black market continued to climb with public transport costing four times the usual price.
Ralph Nader, the independent candidate blamed by many Americans for United States President George Bush’s election victory in 2000, says he is considering a run for the White House next year — even at the risk of dishing the Democrats again.
Kenya is set to receive oil from Libya at preferential rates according to a bilateral agreement signed earlier this month between the leaders of the two countries. Insiders in the oil industry say this makes it likely that Kenya will award the contract for the establishment of a petroleum facility of $45-million to a Libya-connected investor.
The habit of packing some biltong in your suitcase as a gift for homesick friends and family in the United Kingdom will have to stop, if the British government has its way, media reports said on Friday. Many a concerned mother has sent a package of South African goodies, inevitably including some biltong and dry wors, along with a friend on their way to London.
Sitting in his snug log cabin next to the swirling Bystraya river, Alexander explained when he went fishing. "Sometimes we do in the day. Sometimes we do it at night. There’s no set time," he admitted, passing round a tub of mouth-wateringly delicious wild salmon and a chunk of brown bread.
It starts with a good old-fashioned epic, and ends with one. Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’s 1941 biopic about a newspaper magnate, topped a poll of the 100 best films announced by the American Film Institute on Thursday. At the bottom of the list was Ben-Hur, William Wyler’s 1959 spectacle starring Charlton Heston.