British authorities have thwarted ”at least four major plots” since the deadly July 7 bombings last year, home secretary John Reid told BBC television on Sunday. Reid said that all four plots would have led to significant loss of life, and added that ”up to two dozen” terror investigations were currently being pursued.
Battle for control of South Africa’s newest political party, the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco), is set to enter the public arena this week when its leader, Dr Ziba Jiyane, opposes a court action to set aside the appointment of the party’s federal executive. Last Thursday Vincent Ngema filed papers in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Bantering with a journalist from the lads’ mag FHM last year, Jenson Button was asked his opinion of women racing drivers. ”You wouldn’t want to be on the circuit with them, would you?” he said. ”A girl with big boobs would never be comfortable in the car. And the mechanics wouldn’t concentrate. Can you imagine strapping her in?”
World number one Roger Federer fended off a tenacious challenge from Fernando Gonzalez on Saturday, downing the 15th-seeded Chilean 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the Toronto Masters Series final. It wasn’t exactly the Federer Express, but the top-seeded Swiss finally chugged into his 17th straight ATP final — a streak dating back to his semifinal exit at Roland Garros in 2005.
A storm in the Bay of Bengal sank seven fishing boats and at least 60 Bangladeshi fishermen were missing, police said on Sunday. The storm on Saturday also triggered a metre-high water surge, washing away some houses and shops on the island of Saint Martin, about 500km south-east of the capital Dhaka.
It was not unlike an ambiguous medical report for Orlando Pirates after their goalless Caf African Champions League draw against Ghana’s Hearts of Oak at Ellis Park last night that ”the operation was a success, but the patient died”. Pirates produced their most fluid and pleasing soccer of what has so far been a mainly melancholy and miserable sea.
The United Nations said Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed a ceasefire that will take effect on Monday to end the month-old war, but fighting raged on Sunday as Israeli forces met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas. Israeli aircraft also launched scores of strikes on more than 50 villages and towns across Lebanon on Sunday.
The debate is officially over. With 147kW of power on tap, Kawasaki’s ZX-14 is the most powerful production motorcycle in the world, and its 0 to 100kph acceleration time of 2,5 seconds makes it the world’s fastest accelerating production machine, on two wheels, or four.
I’ve always been fascinated by rally drivers simply because it must take nerves of steel to be able to push those souped-up cars to the limit on often slippery dirt roads, knowing that the slightest miscalculation could result — as it often does — in costly accidents. It’s not something I’ve ever wanted to try because I’m more at home on a properly tarred racetrack, writes Sukasha Singh.
While I was watching <i>The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift</i>, I wondered why anyone would go through the tedious process of making such a dreadfully weak movie that is essentially an excuse to show off the growing worldwide phenomenon of drifting. Why not just make a documentary and save the money you would have spent on actors, asks Sukasha Singh.