"There are only two kinds of people in the world: the Irish and those who wish they were." So goes one Irish adage. And on Friday millions will get a wish come true, with parades and parties marking St Patrick’s Day which, just like Irish immigrant communities, have spread to become a global excuse for a bit of <i>craic</i>, or fun.
Paper planes have soared way beyond the classroom. Now every bored schoolboy’s elicit past-time has become a worldwide sport with thousands of fans battling to carry off the championships. ”The secret of a good plane is patience, symmetry and a good eye to feel where you need to fold,” said Nicolas Deschamps,
People like portable gadgets, and Microsoft hopes they’ll like a device that packs much of the power of a desktop PC, with all the multimedia capabilities of a portable MP3 and movie player, plus the convenience of a PDA with W-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, into a device that will fit into a handbag or large pocket.
The JSE was in the red in noon trade on Thursday, dragged down by weakness in heavyweight resources stocks offshore as well as futures activity related to the closeout which commenced at 12 noon. By 12:07, the all share and all share industrial indices were down 0,33% and 0,29% respectively.
The powerful Canterbury Crusaders will put their self-confidence to the test against the lowly Cats on Friday, trying to strengthen their hold on the Super 14 rugby championship while resting six front-line players, including captain Richie McCaw. The second-placed Wellington Hurricanes remain in South African to play the Bulls.
Robbie Fowler scored his first goal in nine games since his return to Liverpool, helping his team beat Fulham 5-1 on Wednesday in the English Premier League. Fowler, who scored 120 goals in 236 appearances during his first nine-year spell with Liverpool, had gone eight games on his return without hitting the target.
Kaizer Chiefs remained on top of the log when they beat Santos 3-1 in a Premier Soccer League match in Cape Town on Wednesday night. In other matches, Sundowns beat Swallows 2-1, Supersport United overcame Ajax Cape Town 2-1 and a 10-man Silver Stars beat Golden Arrows 3-1.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party was at the centre of an investigation on Thursday launched by the party itself into a series of large loans received last year. Labour’s treasurer initiated the inquiry after revealing on Wednesday evening that he had not been informed about the loans given to the party by wealthy supporters in the run-up to last May’s general election.
President George Bush’s place in history — standard-bearer or war-mongerer — is perhaps being decided at this moment in Iraq, three years after the United States-led invasion. Bush recognised the gravity of the current situation in Iraq by saying that Iraqis were at ”a moment of choosing.” But in the end they had turned away from ”the abyss” of civil war, he said.
A trend toward building ever bigger cruise ships, such as a 3 600-passenger vessel to be launched in June, has some industry experts wondering whether it might be too much of a good thing. Cruise lines taunt dream vacations at sea, complete with Broadway-style shows, cinemas, gourmet food and even artificial waves for surfing.