The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday decided to take away the right to terminate matches from umpires and handed it instead to match referees. The recommendation, suggested by the ICC chief executives’ committee in January, was adopted at the two-day board meeting that ended in Cape Town on Friday. It takes immediate effect.
An Ethiopian administrator accused Eritrean forces of kidnapping a group of five Europeans and 13 Ethiopians in a remote part of Ethiopia, and taking them to a military camp near the Eritrean border. Britain sent a six-strong team of senior Foreign Office officials to Ethiopia to step up diplomatic efforts to free the foreigners.
The Cape Cobras thrashed the defending champions, the Diamond Eagles, by seven wickets, with Henry Davids and Benji Hector hammering the bowling in a record stand, in their Standard Bank Pro20 match in Kimberley on Friday. Davids and Hector unleashed a feast of free-scoring as their stand of 154 off 96 balls carried the Cobras to a target of 188 with an over to spare.
Benoni Premier United held Maritzburg United to a one-all draw in a Castle Premiership match at the Harry Gwala stadium on Friday night. The visitors have themselves to blame for the draw, having dominated for the better part of the game.
Brazil, the United States, China and the European Commission launched a joint initiative in New York on Friday to promote development of an international market for biofuels which are seen as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Joined by India and South Africa, they announced at a press conference here the launch of a mechanism to create a world market to spur production
The new minimum wage of R1 090 a month for farm workers is welcome but inadequate, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Saturday. ”The challenge now, as always, is to force the employers to comply, the trade union said.
A Norman Rockwell painting stolen more three decades ago was found in Steven Spielberg’s art collection, but the Oscar-winning filmmaker acquired it legally, the FBI said on Friday. Rockwell’s Russian Schoolroom, worth as much as 000 today, was stolen from a St Louis gallery in 1973.
Britain sent a six-strong team of senior Foreign Office officials to Ethiopia on Saturday to step up diplomatic efforts to free foreigners feared kidnapped in a remote area of the Horn of Africa country. Two groups of tourists were believed to have been kidnapped in a remote, inhospitable area of Ethiopia where separatist rebels operate.
Springboks Jean de Villiers and Breyton Paulse snatched intercept tries as the Stormers beat the Wellington Hurricanes 30-17 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday. De Villiers scored the first and Paulse the last of the Stormers’ four tries as the South African team, previously last on the championship table, took a bonus point from an away win.
A senior director in the Zimbabwe government has been arrested at Harare International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle diamonds, reports said on Saturday. William Nhara, who is also spokesperson for the ruling party for the Harare province, is still in police custody.