Roger Federer is desperate to clinch a third successive Wimbledon title to erase the misery of his 2005 Grand Slam flops at the Australian and French Opens. The top seed has captured seven titles this year and has lost just three times in 57 matches. But still the 23-year-old is not satisfied.
Guardian editorial: Zimbabwe’s brutal clearances of thousands of slum dwellers from the country’s capital, Harare, might not top the league of human-rights abuses in Africa (as defendants of Robert Mugabe’s corrupt regime are quick to point out).
Harry Potter fever is gripping book stores across the world in the countdown to next month’s launch of the sixth volume in the boy wizard series, which looks set to become the biggest-selling novel to date. Multimillionaire author Joanne ”JK” Rowling is due to unveil Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, at midnight on the morning of July 16.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ general strike on Monday could be politically damaging for the federation while offering workers no tangible benefits, say analysts. ”Cosatu might be left with egg on its face if the strike is not well supported, and it could lose further support,” said Dr Azar Jammine, chief economist at Econometrix.
Pornographic websites and their legions of fans will soon have their very own corner of cyberspace. The domain name extension ”xxx” has been approved by the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the organisation responsible for approving decisions about domain extensions.
In the face of mounting casualties and a growing threat of civil war in Iraq, George Bush on Saturday urged Americans to stay the course and insisted that he had a plan for eventual victory. In his weekly radio address, the president said: ”Our country has been tested before and we have a long history of resolve and faith in the cause of freedom. Now we will see that cause to victory in Iraq.”
Lions coach Clive Woodward has demanded action against All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu after Lions skipper Brian O’Driscoll dislocated a collarbone in a crunching tackle early in the first rugby Test. The 3-21 loss to the All Blacks proved costly for the British and Irish Lions.
Jake White’s Springboks defied the odds and their critics with a hard-fought 27-13 victory over the French at the EPRU Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.South Africa led 20-6 at the break. The win means the Boks clinch the two-Test series 1-0 after the first Test was drawn 30-all in Durban last weekend.
Jake White, the national rugby coach, has reportedly threatened to resign over selection issues. White is said to be frustrated with interference in his team selections from several quarters in SA Rugby and has reportedly issued an ultimatum.
Large field rats from Western Africa are being used in Mozambique to detect landmines that still threaten hundreds of thousands of people and hamper economic activity 13 years after the end of a brutal war that claimed up to one million lives.