Chelsea face a tough opening to their bid for a hat-trick of Premiership titles after being handed three potentially tricky fixtures for the start of the 2006-07 season. Flying starts have been a feature of Chelsea’s last two successful campaigns. Last season, Jose Mourinho’s side began with nine straight wins and did not concede a goal in their first six.
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The World Cup organisers admitted on Thursday that they were disappointed by worn-looking pitches, but blamed unseasonably cold weather in Germany in May for the problems. All of the playing surfaces at the 12 World Cup stadiums were replaced at the end of the German league season in mid-May, but low temperatures at that time prevented the grass from growing properly.
Reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi crashed on Thursday during practice for the Assen TT race and was taken to a hospital with reportedly minor injuries. The 27-year-old Italian fell off his Yamaha during the sixth lap of his first practice session, said Assen spokesperson William Lute.
Sachin Tendulkar has been tipped for a swift return to the top of world cricket after smashing his way to a century in his first match since undergoing shoulder surgery in March. Suggestions the Indian legend is no longer quite the player he was looked wide of the mark as Tendulkar displayed his full range of shots for the Lashings World XI.
The national government has failed on a grand scale to properly manage public money, Democratic Alliance public accounts spokesperson Eddie Trent said on Thursday. An overview of the audit outcomes of government departments proves that too many ministers and directors general are unable to provide proper financial management of public money, he told a media briefing at Parliament.
When Bill Gates started to make an impact in the software business, he reportedly said: ”I want to be the IBM of software.” It looks as though he succeeded all too well — Microsoft looks as bloated and bureaucratic as its giant model, where programming was famously compared to prehistoric monsters wrestling in tar-pits.
South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that although things looked good at present, he warned of danger signs in the economy, which could signal "some major inflationary consequences down the road". Speaking to the Parliamentary finance portfolio committee, the governor said while "things generally look good … there are lots of dangers".
Uneasy calm returned to the Nigerian market city of Onitsha on Thursday after almost a week of violence that claimed at least seven lives and left more than 200 prisoners freed, police said. ”Our men are on top of the situation. There is calm everywhere now. But the curfew imposed … is still in force,” state police spokesperson Fidelis Agbo told Agence France-Presse.
Israel vowed on Thursday to continue air attacks in the Gaza Strip, despite global outcry over the killing of civilians in botched raids, as the Israeli and Palestinian leaders met in Jordan. Fourteen Palestinian civilians, including five children, have been killed in air strikes over Gaza in nine days, following an upsurge in cross-border violence.
The justice system is seen as unfair to people laying a charge of rape, a survey has found. This perception was strongest in the coloured community, with black people the least critical, said Research Surveys, which conducted the study as part of ongoing research into social and political issues. It was also a belief held mainly by women, but not markedly so, the survey found.