A classy 83 from Brian Lara and an unbeaten 70 from Runako Morton carried the West Indies to 256 for four against New Zealand before further rain brought an early end to the second day of the third and final cricket Test in Napier on Sunday. Only 78 overs have been possible in the first two days, and with more rain forecast over coming days, the chance of an outright decision is becoming remote.
It has been called the Sun-eating Dragon. The Spirit of the Dead. The Eye of God. A harbinger of great events, good and evil — terrible famines, bumper harvests, wars, the birth and death of kings. On Wednesday, tens of millions of people will be treated to this spine-tingling celestial sight: a total eclipse of the Sun.
Arsenal were handed a huge Champions League bonus by referee Mike Riley after their Premiership game at Portsmouth was controversially called off because of a waterlogged pitch. Riley postponed the game an hour before kick-off after deciding Portsmouth’s Fratton Park pitch was unplayable following a torrential downpour.
World number one Roger Federer outlasted France’s Arnaud Clement in the second round of a ,9-million ATP and WTA hardcourt event on Saturday but Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt were ousted. Federer dropped the final seven points in a second-set tie-breaker but won 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-0 in a minute shy of two hours to reach a third-round match against German Tommy Haas.
The NSW Waratahs’ demolition of an inept Auckland Blues caterpulted them from third to the top of the Super 14 ladder at the weekend joining the Wellington Hurricanes who produced another late win, this time over the Sharks. The unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders, who had a bye, slipped to third but only one point behind and with a game in hand, while the ACT Brumbies clung on to a two-point win over the Waikato Chiefs.
Zimbabwe announced on Sunday that it would set up its own human rights commission as part of its ”quest to create a culture of human rights”, said Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. Chinamasa said the decision to create a human rights body came after an influx of ”manufactured” human rights abuses reports by non-governmental organisations in the past six years.
Slain mining magnate Brett Kebble claimed to have channelled more than R95-million of shareholders’ money to bankroll the African National Congress and leading members of the ruling party, a forensic investigation has revealed, according to a Sunday Times report.
By the time you get into bed tonight, more people will have died brutal deaths in Iraq. The toll in the two weeks after the destruction of the Samarra mosque was 500, which averages 35 people a day — men, women and children. The explosions and the deaths have become so routine, they barely register with public opinion any more.
A new phobia has exploded among cellphone users in Greece. The ”fear of fear” has been brought on by revelations of eavesdropping at Vodafone, the country’s biggest mobile operator, say psychoanalysts reporting a boom in patients. Greeks, anxious their phones may have been tapped by bosses or spouses, have sought medical help.
Charles Taylor, Liberia’s exiled former warlord and president wanted internationally on crimes against humanity charges, was set to return on Saturday after Nigeria agreed to his extradition. Taylor (58) gained notoriety for plundering his own West African state, encouraging rebellion in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire and making Guinea anxious about its own potential for revolution.