The race to save hundreds of thousands of Pakistani earthquake survivors from the harsh Himalayan winter has been won, the United Nations said on Wednesday. ”There has been no second wave of deaths, no massive population movement down the mountains, no severe malnutrition, and no outbreak of epidemics,” said Jamie McGoldrick in Islamabad.
Black Leopards surprised their opposition Bloemfontein Celtic when they beat them 2-0 in an Absa Cup match at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday night. Ajax Cape Town also moved to the next round of the lucrative competition when they beat Silver Stars by 3-1 in a match played at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.
AC Milan, Arsenal, Lyon and Benfica reached the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Defending champions Liverpool and nine-time champions Real Madrid are out, however. Three other clubs advanced on Tuesday — FC Barcelona, Villarreal and Juventus.
The ACT Brumbies are searching for more clinical finishing to realise maximum points against South Africa’s Coastal Sharks as they try to make up some ground on Super 14 rugby leaders Canterbury Crusaders this weekend. The innovative Brumbies will again have home-ground advantage against the 10th-placed Sharks.
Top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne would just as soon not be dubbed the favourite to lift the WTA trophy at the Pacific Life Open. ”It doesn’t matter what your seeding number is,” Henin-Hardenne said on Wednesday. ”I hate to talk about favourites. When you walk on the court, it doesn’t matter what your ranking is.”
Jorge Cantu smacked a solo home run, part of a 3-for-4 performance that produced three runs and sparked Mexico past South Africa 10-4 in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Wednesday at the World Baseball Classic. The victory kept the Mexicans in contention for a second-round berth.
Internet search engine leader Google on Wednesday said it had offered up to -million to settle a lawsuit by advertisers who accuse it of overbilling them through ”click fraud”. Google Associate General Counsel Nicole Wong stressed that ”until the settlement is approved by the judge, it is not final”.
Gunmen wearing commando uniforms of the Shi’ite-dominated interior ministry have stormed an Iraqi security company that relies heavily on Sunni ex-military men from the Saddam regime, spiriting away 50 hostages. The ministry has denied involvement and called the operation a ”terrorist act”.
South Africa on Wednesday said it regrets the inability of the International Atomic Energy Agency to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran. It welcomes, however, the reconfirmation by the agency that all the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for.
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it would keep in place sanctions on Zimbabwe because of money still owed the bank, and urged Harare to urgently implment reforms to stablise its economy. In a statement the IMF board urged Harare ”to continue its efforts to resolve the remaining overdue financial obligations”.