Reigning Olympic champion Tristan Gale and other members of the United States women’s skeleton team have accused US coach Tim Nardiello of sexual harassment, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Nardiello denied the claims but the US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation has decided that Nardiello will remain as coach through the Torino Winter Olympics in February.
Ricky Ponting starts the new year and his 100th test match on Monday hoping to pick up where he left off in 2005, with another Test century and a win over South Africa. Ponting scored 117 — his 26th test hundred — in the first innings of Australia’s 184-run win over South Africa in the Boxing Day test at Melbourne, finishing 2005 atop the run-scoring standings.
Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent of the United States beat Serbia and Montenegro’s Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic 7-6 (3), 6-2 in their deciding mixed doubles match on Sunday at the Hopman Cup. At the mixed teams tennis tournament at the Burswood Dome, Ivanovic beat Raymond in women’s singles 6-2, 6-4 and Dent evened the match for the Americans with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Djokovic.
Hernan Crespo and Arjen Robben scored first-half goals on Saturday to lift Chelsea to a 2-0 win over 19th-place Birmingham City and keep it 11 points clear in the English title race. Second-place Manchester United outplayed Bolton 4-1 with two strikes by Cristiano Ronaldo, and third-place Liverpool made it 10 straight wins by edging relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion 1-0.
Somehow Rey had managed to struggle free from the rope strung around his neck, after being left to die a slow death by strangulation as punishment for being a bad Spanish greyhound. Rey, who had a life-saving operation on his neck and throat wounds last week, was lucky. Campaigners estimate that 50 000 greyhounds are killed by their owners in Spain each year after they grow too old, or turn out to be too slow to hunt with.
A woman dying of HIV/Aids in Yeoville cannot eat or drink, her medicine has run out and getting to hospital on New Year’s Eve is a struggle, because only armoured ambulances dare venture into Johannesburg’s inner city. Rowdy revellers have been known to attack ambulances, throwing toilets and fridges at them.
The prospect of a further increase in British gas bills grew on Saturday night as Ukraine and Russia failed to reach agreement over a crucial gas pricing deal. The bitter energy dispute between the two countries threatens supplies into the European Union, with repercussions for the amount that would reach the United Kingdom.
The British aid worker kidnapped with her parents in Gaza last week has vowed to stay on to help the Palestinian people despite her ordeal. In a joint statement, Kate Burton and her mother and father said they had been treated well by their captors. Burton (24) and her parents — Hugh (73) and Helen (55) known as Win — were seized last Wednesday in the southern city of Rafah.
Revellers around the world rang in the New Year with the usual fireworks and fanfare accompanied by calls for peace from the United States and Iraqi presidents. Hundreds of thousands crowded amid tight security into New York’s Times Square and paid special tribute to those who brought relief to the hurricane-devastated city of New Orleans.
South Africa coach Mickey Arthur expects his line-up to showcase its ”brave” new approach to cricket as it chases victory at all costs in the third Test against Australia. ”If we go home having lost two-nil trying to give ourselves the option of winning, we’re going to he happy with that,” Arthur said on Wednesday.