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New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming’s 102 not out set the seal on a comprehensive nine wicket victory against Bangladesh on Monday as his side moved a step nearer the semifinals. Together with Hamish Marshall he shared an unbroken second wicket stand of 134 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
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The world’s top-ranked team South Africa will not be complacent against debutants Ireland in Tuesday’s World Cup Super Eights match but should win ”convincingly”, coach Mickey Arthur said. Ireland, a team of mostly amateurs, are expected to finish eighth and have already lost to England.
Iran’s most senior diplomat, Ali Larijani, called for a "delegation" to rule on whether a British naval patrol entered Iranian waters last month before his government would release the 15 marines and sailors it is holding captive. Larijani said that if it was found they had crossed into Iranian territory, there should be an apology and they would then be released.
Zimbabwe’s trade unions have called a two-day strike from Tuesday morning, ostensibly over the plummeting value of wages under rampant inflation that has left many people unable to afford the bus fare to work. But many Zimbabweans view the strike as a demand for an end to Robert Mugabe’s 27-year rule.
Twenty-five years after the Solidarity crisis that engulfed Poland and marked the beginning of the end of eastern European communism, the country’s leader at the time, General Jaruzelski, is facing ruin. The hard-right government of the twin Kaczynski brothers — Prime Minister Jaroslaw and President Lech — is determined to strip him of his rank and pension.
A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals that there is a serious lack of skills and knowledge among pension fund trustees and that few funds have a policy on how to manage conflict of interests among trustees. These are the issues at the heart of the Fidentia scandal. In many cases, especially with smaller pension funds, people’s retirement money is left in precarious hands.
Recently, French studies at Wits University invited Aminata Sow Fall, a leading woman writer from Senegal, to talk about African literature, the issue of language and the state of French-speaking Africa. When most of the former French colonies became independent in the 1960s, it was a time of euphoria and great hope for the future of Africa, writes Veronique Tadjo.
”Master is crapping,” M said, with a glint of mischief in her eye that belied her otherwise deadpan expression. Not having returned to my host’s place the previous night, preferring instead to dance part of it away at a gay disco near Bangalore airport and the rest trying to sleep on a friend’s lounge floor, I felt it necessary to check in.
Turkey was not invited to Europe’s big birthday bash despite being an official candidate for EU membership. Ankara expressed disappointment at a ”missed opportunity”. Media reaction to the perceived snub was sharper. ”In the 1990s, the EU was a giant organisation governed by prominent leaders,” said leading columnist Mehmet Ali Birand.”
Northern nations such as Russia or Canada may be celebrating better harvests and less icy winters in coming decades even as rising seas, also caused by global warming, are washing away Pacific island states. A draft United Nations report to be issued in Brussels foresees unequal impacts from warming: tropical nations from Africa to the Pacific, are likely to bear the brunt but those nearer the poles.