Poland and Ukraine have been chosen to co-host the European Championship soccer tournament in 2012, Uefa announced on Wednesday. European soccer’s governing body said it had selected the Poland and Ukraine bid ahead of Italy and another joint bid from Croatia and Hungary to stage the finals.
Iraq plans to take security control of the whole country from foreign forces by the end of the year, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday after British forces handed over control of a southern province. Fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is increasing pressure on Maliki to set a timetable for the withdrawal of 146Â 000 United States troops from Iraq.
Nowhere in the labyrinth of legal minutiae that is the America’s Cup rules book is there a section on boats enlisting help from above, which is just as well as South Africa’s Team Shosholoza claim to have a hotline to heaven. The service provider to the link to the Almighty is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
”Alarmingly low” levels of rivers in the Kruger National Park will from Monday result in drastic cuts in water usage, the park’s management said. ”We realise that the restrictions will have a noticeable effect on tourist facilities as the lawns will not be as lush and green as they have been for the last few years …,” head of the park’s conservation services, Dr Freek Venter, said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe’s 27th anniversary of independence on Wednesday should be marked with a plan clearly setting out successive steps to restore democracy and good governance to that country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said. ”The 27th anniversary of Zimbabwean independence … is the most dismal in that country’s history,” DA spokesperson Douglas Gibson said in a statement.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has urged National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli to urgently investigate the unprecedented upsurge in public complaints about reckless behaviour by ministerial-vehicle convoys on the country’s roads. ”These complaints centre on the excessive speeds at which these convoys travel …,” the IFP said on Wednesday.
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South African skipper Graeme Smith and his ”merry men” were toasted by his country’s media on Wednesday after a blitz on the England team saw them burst into the cricket World Cup semifinals. A day after being lambasted for partying into the wee hours of the morning following a woeful loss to New Zealand on Saturday, South Africa’s press said the Proteas deserved a few drinks.
Nigeria’s government on Wednesday rejected an opposition call to postpone next Saturday’s presidential election following widespread abuses in state polls last weekend. Information Minister Frank Nweke told Reuters. Election observers said the results announced in 10 of 36 states did not reflect the will of the people.
South African retail sales growth slowed to 8% year-on-year in February at constant prices, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. In the three months to the end of February, sales also rose by 8% compared to the same period the previous year. The annual increase for January was revised to 9,9% from 9,4%.
New Zealand will face South Africa on Saturday the IRB under-19 rugby World Championship final. New Zealand scored three tries in a powerful first-half performance against Wales at Ravenhill, Belfast, to go into the break 23-9 ahead. Despite a much-improved performance in the second half, Wales were unable to breach the New Zealand try line.