Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer and writer with a Nazi past who fled a British prisoner-of-war camp in India for the northern Himalayas, where he befriended and tutored the Dalai Lama, died on Saturday. He was 93. Actor Brad Pitt played Harrer in the film Seven Years in Tibet.
This week, barring a last-minute climb-down, Iran may get back to building a nuclear bomb. It is a small moment, and a big one. Small because the threat has lingered for years; big because the consequences could convulse the region and the world.
Police closed several beaches in eastern Australia on Sunday after a 21-year-old woman was mauled to death by a shark in waist-deep water. The woman, whose identity was not immediately released, died of severe injuries after the attack near North Stradbroke Island, east of the Queensland state capital, Brisbane.
Michael Schumacher has threatened to end his formula-one career if he can’t win with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion had a poor past season. The latest edition of Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine quoted him as saying he may quit if the Italian team can’t build a winning car.
Roger Federer went a long way towards dispelling doubts about his fitness to remain world number one for a third successive year with a successful defence of his Qatar Open title in Doha on Saturday. Federer celebrated a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win in a fine final over Gael Monfils, the exciting 19-year-old Frenchman.
French driver Thierry Magnaldi won the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally on Saturday as two-time defending champion Stephane Peterhansel regained the overall lead in his Mitsubishi. Magnaldi, in a Schlesser-Ford, took the 508km stage from Atar to Nouakchott in five hours and 56 seconds to celebrate his second stage win on this year’s event.
Zimbabwe cricketers called off their strike on Saturday and gave the game’s rulers three weeks to find a solution to the impasse that once again threatens the strife-torn country’s Test status. Following a meeting with their representative, Clive Field, the 37 players involved agreed to shelve their three-month stoppage until January 31.
Non-league minnows Nuneaton Borough earned a dramatic draw at home to English Premiership team Middlesbrough in the biggest shock of the FA Cup third round on Saturday. Fellow non-leaguers Tamworth will also find their name in the hat for the FA Cup fourth-round draw after they earned a draw at Championship side Stoke.
In a match filled with many nostalgic moments, illustrious former soccer stars playing for a European combination gained a 3-1 win over the African XI in what was billed as ”The Battle of the Legends” at a rain-swept Ellis Park on Saturday night. And no one demonstrated the ingrained skills any better than Italy’s Roberto di Matteo.
All-rounder Jacques Kallis will miss South Africa’s Twenty20 cricket international against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday. Kallis will be rested along with pacemen Andre Nel and Charl Langeveldt and all-rounder Justin Kemp, coach Mickey Arthur said on Sunday.