No image available
/ 27 February 2006
The colourful closing ceremony of the 20th Winter Olympics was marred on Sunday night when a protestor rushed the platform during the finishing speeches. The intruder ran onto the stage when the president of the organising committee Valentino Castellani was making his closing remarks.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
Sir Alex Ferguson has voiced confidence that he is capable of building another great Manchester United side and that he will be given the time to do it by the Glazers, the club’s American owners. The Scot was in bullish mood after watching Wayne Rooney mastermind a 4-0 win over Wigan in the League Cup final.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
England captain Michael Vaughan has been ruled out of Wednesday’s first Test against India after failing to recover from a knee injury, dealing a big blow to the tourists already battling form and fitness problems. ”He [Vaughan] is ruled out of this Test, but is not out of the series at this stage,” England media manager Andrew Walpole told reporters on Monday.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
Russia on Monday downplayed progress on its plan to alleviate fears over Iran’s nuclear programme, saying there was still work to be done to reach agreement and warning that time was quickly running out ahead of a March 6 deadline. "This is a complex issue and the negotiations are difficult," said Sergei Kiriyenko, Russia’s chief nuclear negotiator with Iran.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
President George Bush has been buffeted by one calamity after another. Try what he may, he just can’t seem to find traction for his second-term agenda. With midterm congressional elections approaching later this year, it won’t get any easier.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
Opening batsman Phil Jaques was on Monday added to the injury-hit Australian one-day squad for its limited-overs series in South Africa, Cricket Australia said. The New South Wales batsman was considered unlucky to miss out in the original selection after a prolific-scoring Australian summer.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
The murder and rape trial of a South African soldier in Burundi has hit a snag because the key witness wants 000 (about R12 000) for his testimony, Beeld newspaper reported on Monday. It said a taxi driver who was supposed to link Sergeant Philippus Jacobus Venter to the crime failed to turn up to give evidence.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
The local elections are do-or-die for the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal, which has haemorrhaged 38 municipal councillors to the fledgling National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) in the past two months. However, analysts say Nadeco lacks the political machinery and ideological direction to pose a serious electoral threat in the province at this stage.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
Michael Donen, the advocate heading the commission that will investigate South African abuse of the Iraq Oil for Food Programme, has shrugged off a charge that he will not be independent. Recently, Democratic Alliance justice spokesperson Sheila Camerer demanded that President Thabo Mbeki replace Donen.
No image available
/ 27 February 2006
Rescuers recovered another body from a collapsed building in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday, raising the death toll to 19, as Parliament passed a law imposing jail terms for building code violators. Firefighters and soldiers found the body of 25-year-old construction worker Humayun while searching for survivors in the debris for the third consecutive day.