Injury-plagued Juventus shoots for a record-equalling fifth title on Saturday when it takes on perennial rival Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup, the country’s top preseason trophy. The match at Turin’s Stadio delle Alpi between the Serie A champion and the Italian Cup winner will also test the form and strength of two of the favourite teams in the league campaign which kicks off on August 27.
The United Cricket Board of South Africa has been bailed out of its financial troubles by an extra R25-million of sponsorship money. The game’s leading sponsors are stumping up an extra R25-million this year to help stabilise the UCB’s rickety finances, which had it on the brink of a financial crisis a few months ago.
Chinese sports fans are hailing the man they call ”Flying Spectacles Man” as their newest star. Hu Kai, nicknamed for his ever-present gold rimmed glasses, has dominated the front pages of Chinese sports newspapers since winning the men’s 100m sprint at the University Games in Izmir, Turkey, on Sunday.
The body of a nine-year-old boy who went missing a week ago has been found with parts missing, an Mthatha police spokesperson said on Thursday. Captain Sherine Reddy said Yamkela Mabhuda’s body was found in Mt Ayliff on Tuesday. The boy went missing from his home in Manzana in Mt Ayliff in the Eastern Cape on August 10.
![]()
The aggressive conduct of members of the South African Police Service VIP protection unit at the home of former deputy president Jacob Zuma on Thursday is ”cause for great concern”, said the official opposition Democratic Alliance on Friday.
Mike van Graan brings us the the top ten contestants of i-Dolts, the unreal TV series hoping to find the best exponents of mediocrity in a sea of talent.
Three men arrested and released in connection with a series of abductions and rapes in Northampton, near London were not South African, British police said on Friday. ”I must make it absolutely clear that the three men arrested and released on bail today [Friday] on the suspicion of rape are not South African,” said Northampton police spokesperson Sarah Thompson.
A 48-year-old schoolteacher was shot dead in Ekhombe, in the Nkandla area, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday. ”Teressa Mbanjwa was found dead in her cottage around 8am on Wednesday with her head smashed beyond recognition. It is suspected that she was shot at close range the previous night,” Captain Vusi Mbatha said.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation apologised on Thursday for not showing Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka being booed at a rally in Utrecht in KwaZulu-Natal on Women’s Day. ”The SABC apologises unreservedly to the public for not airing the footage,” the public broadcaster said.
Trade union Solidarity said on Friday that a lack of cooperation was causing unnecessary delays in the investigation into last September’s explosion at oil and chemicals group Sasol’s Secunda plant. The explosion killed 10 people and injured more than 300 others.