Three former winners and the best player still active not to have won the title will contest the Wimbledon women’s singles semifinals on Thursday. Title-holder Maria Sharapova takes on the 2000 and 2001 champion Venus Williams in a Russia-United States clash, while the 1999 winner and top seed Lindsay Davenport plays eternal French hope Amelie Mauresmo.
All Blacks captain Tana Umaga has been in touch with Lions opposite Brian O’Driscoll after the first Test incident on Saturday which left the Irish centre with a dislocated shoulder, ending his rugby tour of New Zealand. O’Driscoll had previously accused Umaga of causing his injury in an off-the-ball spear tackle which, he said, was ”unnecessary and outside the rules and regulations of the game”.
New Zealand will continue lobbying for a worldwide ban on Zimbabwe cricket despite an International Cricket Council (ICC) ruling that its national side must play a series in the African nation this year or face heavy financial penalties, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova will happily give up the gold by donating a pair of her new tennis shoes flecked with the precious medal to the Wimbledon museum. The teenaged holder, who is defending her title at this edition playing in new clothing — including the shoes — is so well kitted-out that passing along a dress and pair of trainers is absolutely no problem.
Zimbabwean authorities on Tuesday more than doubled the price of fuel in a bid to ease critical shortages, state television reported. The price of petrol was hiked from 3 600 Zimbabwe dollars (R2,60) per litre to Z 000 (R6, 70) per litre. The cost of a litre of diesel was increased from Z 650 (R2,40) to Z 600 (R6,40).
The HIV/Aids pandemic could explode across Asia – where one in four new infections worldwide occurs – unless authorities do more to fight the disease.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for the Security Council to visit both Eritrea and Ethiopia to help solve their longstanding border deadlock, according to a UN statement. Annan ”has called on the Security Council to advance the resolution of the boundary dispute by visiting both Horn of Africa countries,” said a statement.
His protest songs made him the figurehead of the anti-establishment movement that defined America during the 1960s. But on Tuesday Bob Dylan was facing accusations of selling out after it emerged the singer had agreed an exclusive deal to sell some of his rarest tracks at Starbucks.
The case against former deputy president Jacob Zuma was postponed to October 11 by the Durban Magistrate’s court on Wednesday. He was granted bail of R1Â 000. Zuma will not have to hand in his passport but will have to inform the prosecution every time he leaves the country.
The city of Johannesburg has written off R510-million in account holder arrears out of a total R1,5-billion as part of its subsidy scheme, the municipality said on Tuesday. A total of 37 000 account holders, out of about 100 000 who qualify for the scheme, have already registered, municipal finance department spokesperson Mandy Woods said in a statement.