Mamelodi Sundowns clinched the Premier League title with a goalless draw against Orlando Pirates amid a carnival mood at the Odi Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Buccaneers, who finished as heart-breaking runners-up for the second successive year, needed a 6-0 victory to emerge champions in what was the final game of the season.
A strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia’s tsunami-deva ed province of Aceh on Saturday causing residents to flee their homes, an official said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The undersea quake hit at 10.30am local time.
The head of Opus Dei claimed yesterday that Dan Brown’s portrayal of his fellowship as a murderous global conspiracy had done it more good than harm. In a pre-emptive strike at the film of Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, Monsignor Javier EchevarrÃa told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that since the publication of the novel interest in Opus Dei had soared.
He is beset by allegations of a political smear campaign, has been forced to deny the existence of a secret Japanese bank account, and is being described as the embodiment of the decline of France. But just when Jacques Chirac thought things could not get worse, he is about to make history as the first French president to be immortalised as a complete buffoon on the cinema screen.
Violent attacks by South Africans against foreigners in Plettenberg Bay emanated from a march that took place on Tuesday, Western Cape police said on Friday. ”According to the information police received, individuals in the community demonstrated their dissatisfaction regarding foreigners taking job opportunities from them,” said Captain Malcolm Pojie.
A spurned Indian suitor blew himself up at the wedding of the woman who rejected him, killing himself and injuring the groom and four other people, police said on Saturday. Police said the electrician blew himself up by pressing a switch in his shoe when the bride and groom were taking their vows in the Hindu ceremony.
Richie McCaw was on Saturday named the new All Blacks rugby captain to succeed the now retired Tana Umaga. McCaw has been the only heir apparent to Umaga for the past year, and his appointment, announced by All Blacks coach Graham Henry, had been expected.
America’s Justin Gatlin set a new 100m world record at the Qatar Super Grand Prix on Friday with a time of 9,76sec. The Olympic champion bettered the old mark of 9,77sec held by Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, which was set in Athens last year. The 24-year-old American, who clocked 9,85sec in the semifinal, was overjoyed by his record.
Sajid Mahmood marked his debut by taking three quick wickets as England powered into a commanding position in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Friday. At stumps on the second day, Sri Lanka had collapsed to 91-6, still a huge 460 behind England’s first-innings 551-6 declared and needing a further 261 to avoid the follow-on target of 352.
President George Bush, in a nationally-televised speech on Monday, is expected to propose tougher immigration-enforcement measures along the United States-Mexico border, including the use of additional troops, US media reported on Friday. The New York Times reported that the president is likely to discuss the deployment of national-guard troops.