Liverpool’s thoughts appeared to be on their eagerly-anticipated Champions’ League semifinal with Chelsea as they ground out a tedious goalless draw with Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday. In front of the biggest crowd at this stadium this season, 45 883, City stretched their run of play without a goal to nine hours and 20 minutes at home.
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Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) leaders have demanded that the federation ditch its support for Jacob Zuma as its preferred candidate for the ANC presidency, media reports said. Zuma’s candidacy came under debate at a heated Cosatu central executive committee meeting held at the federation’s Johannesburg headquarters from February 26 to 28.
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Jamaican police investigating the killing of Pakistan’s coach at the Cricket World Cup have received results of toxicology tests but released no information about the findings on Saturday. ”We have received the toxicology report but we’re not going to go public with it right now,” Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields told reporters.
Election irregularities sparked pockets of violence across Nigeria on Saturday in a vote which should lead to the first fully democratic transition of power in Africa’s most populous nation. Saturday’s election of state governors and legislators was a test of the strength of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and should give Nigerians an idea of what to expect from presidential polls in a week’s time.
A moderate earthquake jolted central and western Japan on Sunday, injuring two people, but there were no reports of major damage and no tsunami warning was issued. An official at Kameyama City, one of the sites hardest hit by the magnitude 5,4 quake, said there had been reports of roof tiles falling from houses and walls collapsing.
Noriah Masukume weaves her way through the crowded hall at Harare’s international bus terminus as she notes orders from a customer on the cellphone before boarding a bus to South Africa. On the bus she exchanges pleasantries with fellow travellers engaged in small talk around escalating prices in the local stores, their families and how difficult it is becoming for traders who go on shopping sprees in South Africa.
Up to 21 people were killed and about 60 wounded in bomb attacks in two Shi’ite districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said, while two British military personnel died when two helicopters crashed north of the city. The United States. military said two soldiers died and five were injured when the helicopters crashed near a large U.S. air base in Taji, 20km from Baghdad.
There were pensioners clutching single roses, students wearing jeans and a young man weaving through Moscow’s anarchic traffic on a chopper bike. Ranged against them were 9Â 000 riot police wielding truncheons and the might of the Russian state. And yet for one moment on Saturday the demonstrators got the better of their opponents.
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New Zealand exploited favourable early bowling conditions on Saturday to defeat South Africa by five wickets and follow defending champions Australia into the World Cup semifinals. Shane Bond and James Franklin took a wicket each in the first three overs and Craig McMillan picked up three cheap wickets near the end to restrict South Africa to 193 for seven.
Police in Britain and Russia launched inquiries into the multimillionaire Boris Berezovsky on Friday after he disclosed he was plotting a ”revolution”. In Moscow, where investigators said they were opening a criminal investigation into the tycoon’s calls for the use of force to secure regime change, government ministers demanded that he be stripped of his refugee status and extradited to stand trial.