South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Libreville on Tuesday for a state visit as part of a drive to strengthen relations across the African continent. Mbeki met his Gabonese counterpart Omar Bongo Ondimba and signed agreements on protecting and promoting investments, maritime matters and cooperation in the arts, education and training.
Celtic crashed out of European competition for the season, but Tuesday’s 4-0 win at home to Slovakian champions Artmedia Bratislava restored some pride. Goals from Alan Thompson, John Hartson, Stephen McManus and Craig Beattie almost allowed the Glasgow giants to overturn their 5-0 defeat from the first leg.
It’s the never-ending season. Summer used to mean a three-month break in European soccer. Now the hiatus is down to a few weeks. League seasons already have resumed in France and Scotland, the German season starts on Friday and the English Premier League begins on August 13.
Newcastle United have joined Manchester United in the chase for Michael Owen after the England striker was officially put up for sale by Real Madrid. The Spanish club want £16-million — double the price they paid Liverpool a year ago — but it is believed they will settle for £12-million.
Risk-management group TransUnion on Wednesday announced that it has completed two separate black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions, with a market value of more than R80-million, in the local credit-data sector. The deals involved the Cida Empowerment Fund and Safika Investments.
New Zealand arrived in Harare on Tuesday for the start of their controversial tour of Zimbabwe. They spent most of the day travelling from the Namibian capital, Windhoek, where they had a week’s preparation for two Test matches and a triangular one-day international series involving Zimbabwe and India over the next month.
A Canadian company has put an ice-breaking ship, suitable for navigating icebergs and the often frozen waters of the Arctic, up for sale for a cool one million dollars. The sale of the unusual vessel by the Newfoundland-based Burry group will be conducted on the internet auction site Ebay.
Australia’s cricket team could decide to abandon the Ashes tour if there are more terrorist bombings in England, fast bowler Jason Gillespie said in remarks reported on Wednesday. Gillespie was quoted as saying the Australian team had been unnerved by the July 7 wave of suicide bombings.
Australia’s highest mountain can’t compete with the stature of Everest, K2 and Kilimanjaro. But Mount Kosciuszko in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains will soon boast something few others can: a state-of-the-art loo. A toilet resembling a hobbit hole is to be built on the freezing rooftop of Australia, 2&nsp;108m above sea level.
Television cameras captured dramatic images of an Air France passenger jet in flames moments after the packed plane apparently skidded off a runway and fell into a ravine on Tuesday night. Steve Shaw, a vice-president of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, said there were no fatalities among the 297 passengers and 12 crew on board the plane.