A Russian passenger plane burst into flames after it crashed on landing in the Siberian city of Irkutsk early on Sunday, killing at least 102 people. Russian news agencies said the death toll could be as high as 150. Transport Minister Igor Levitin blamed the crash on wet runway conditions after rain, Russian news agencies reported.
As competition between Boeing and European aviation rival Airbus heats up, the two groups may see a new dogfight over the issue of government subsidies, analysts say. The prospect of a new political row is looming as Boeing is gaining on Airbus due to the success of its 787 ”Dreamliner” programme.
Western Province played an impressive and near clinical game of rugby to record a morale boosting 15-10 victory over a lifeless Blue Bulls team at Loftus Versveld on Saturday. Last week the Bulls looked like possible Currie Cup champions when they convincingly beat the Lions at Ellis Park, but this Saturday they were a completely different outfit.
Amelie Mauresmo became the first Frenchwoman in 81 years to win the Wimbledon singles title when she conquered a severe bout of stagefright to beat Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday. The 27-year-old’s victory was also her second career Grand Slam victory and was the first step towards what could be a memorable weekend for French sport with France facing Italy in the World Cup final in Berlin on Sunday.
Three Palestinian family members, including a six-year-old girl, were killed on Saturday in an air strike on Gaza City as Israel rejected a call by Hamas premier Ismail Haniya for a mutual ceasefire. The girl, her elder brother and her mother were killed in the air raid which according to an army spokesperson targeted a group of militants east of Gaza City.
The Falcons recorded their first victory in the Currie Cup rugby competition when they beat the Griquas by 23-8 at the Bosman stadium on Saturday. The Falcons scored three tries to one and led by 6-5 at the break. The home side ground the visitors down in a hard fought contest for sixty minutes before taking control of the game in the last quarter.
Fela Yunga, better known in his neighbourhood by his rap name XV Venom, will on Sunday sit down with his two brothers on the worn sofa in his parents’ council flat in Paris’s run-down 19th arrondissement. With a prison record, no real educational qualifications, an eye for girls and a thriving business selling T-shirts, Yunga, raised in France but born in the Democratic Republic of Congo 24 years ago, is hardly the model French citizen.
Visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki has been supportive of European Union plans to send up to 2Â 000 soldiers to the Democratic Republic of Congo before and after free elections, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday.
A Kenyan team on Saturday won the first street football world championship, beating South Africa 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out. Twenty-two teams of youngsters from poor backgrounds had taken part in the week-long tournament in Berlin, focusing attention on the game’s gritty origins and its power to fight social ills.
A local journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo was shot dead on Saturday at his home in Kinshasa, press rights group Journalists in Danger (JED) said, calling it an ”ignoble crime”. Bapuwa Mwamba (64) was killed by three armed men around midnight at his house in the Matete district where he lived with a nephew, JED said.