Twenty-five years after the first Aids cases were reported, there is no sign of a halt to the pandemic which is likely to spread to every corner of the globe, the head of the United Nations’s Aids agency has said.
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Mexico scored twice in three second-half minutes to beat Iran 3-1 on Sunday and give a massive boost to their bid to go past the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time. The world number four and Group D seeds were held at 1-1 for 40 minutes by a battling Iran before Omar Bravo broke the deadlock with his second of the match.
Rafael Nadal of Spain successfully defended his men’s title at the French Open on Sunday, beating world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after three hours on the Philippe Chatrier court. The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his record winning streak on clay to 60 matches with the 100th victory of his career.
Jamaican Asafa Powell equalled the world 100m record on Sunday, notching a time of 9, 77 seconds to claim victory at the Gateshead Grand Prix. It is the third time the mark has been achieved following Powell’s first clocking in June last year in Athens and American Justin Gatlin’s record-equalling mark set a month ago in Doha.
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Arjen Robben powered the Netherlands to a vital 1-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in their first World Cup Group C game on Sunday. With Argentina beating the Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday, this was a must-win match for the Dutch in the tournament’s ”group of death”, and an irrepressible Robben ensured just that.
After a week-long lull in fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, war-weary residents cautiously ventured out on Sunday onto the city streets, amid further sabre-rattling by the Islamic courts and warlords’ alliance. Even with the near-complete control of Mogadishu by the Islamic courts, residents said a fresh battle was imminent.
The Rugby World Cup rematch at Olympic stadium on Sunday between Australia and England turned out to be a one-sided affair. Fullback Chris Latham scored his 31st Test try 15 minutes into the second half to clinch Australia’s 34-3 win in Wallaby captain George Gregan’s record-equalling 119th Test.
Defending world champion Fernando Alonso blew away his opposition on a windy day at Silverstone to take his fifth win of the season in the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Spaniard Alonso (24) led from start to finish to give Renault their first Silverstone win as a constructor since 1983.
Two Hamas militants trying to fire rockets into Israel were killed in air strikes on Sunday, as the ruling Islamists fought Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s referendum on coexistence with Israel. A third Palestinian militant from the Islamic Jihad faction was also killed while preparing a rocket attack.
Finance ministers from the world’s most-industrialised nations were upbeat on Saturday about the state of the global economy, despite global jitters over rising interest rates and tumbling stock indices. While the final statement issued by the Group of Eight ministers focused firmly on the dangers of galloping oil prices, it made no mention of the recent declines on world markets.