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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.
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.
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.
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.
Tiger Woods admits he will be taking a step into the unknown at next week’s US Open as he returns to competition for the first time since the death of his father. Woods’s father Earl died on May 3 after a long battle with cancer and the American hasn’t played since the Masters in April.
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.
They are as French as demonstrations, croissants and good railways; an essential part of any British tourist’s holiday and of the social and cultural life of the nation — and they are rapidly disappearing. France’s bistros are shutting so quickly that within 10 years they will all either have closed down, become ”theme bars” or have been swallowed up by large chains.
Forced off his land in Zimbabwe, 60-year-old Hunter Coetzee has farming in his blood, but it’s Nigerian soil under his fingernails now after the first harvest in his new home. ”Nigeria has offered us hope and succour. We are here for good,” he said contentedly, six years after he thought he had lost everything.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday [Saturday] called his people to a referendum that would in effect recognise the state of Israel, a move that was denounced by the radical Hamas government as a coup. Abbas called the vote just hours after dramatic scenes in Gaza when thousands of mourners expressed grief during the funeral of the family killed by an Israeli attack.