The Alps are gone forever — now the Pyrenees beckon Lance Armstrong again as he edges closer to retiring with a seventh straight Tour de France win. Armstrong finished comfortably in 41st place on Thursday’s 12th stage and preserved his overall lead. Although it was his last day in the Alps, Armstrong had little time for sentimentality.
Ernie Els began the long climb back to try to close the gap between him and Tiger Woods with a second-round five-under 67 at the British Open on Friday. It put the South African at three-under for the championship and three behind Woods, but the world number one had still to tee off. ”I still made a lot of mistakes, but I had eight birdies,” Els said.
”He was always hardcore,” Mike Bechet says as he remembers coaching the teenage Kevin Pietersen at Maritzburg College. There is a small echo of awe in Bechet’s voice as he describes a schoolboy cricketer he initially doubted but ultimately exalted. Donald McRae speaks to Pietersen’s mentors about England’s new star.
Iraqi civilians and police officers are being killed by insurgents at a rate of more than 800 a month — one an hour, according to new figures released by the interior ministry. The figures published on Thursday show that between August 1 2004 and May 31 2005, 8Â 175 Iraqis died as a result of insurgent activity.
Decisions made at the G8 Gleneagles Summit last week mark an historic new step in fundamentally redefining the relationship between Africa and the countries of the North, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Mbeki said the discussions on African development focused on the interlinked obligations of Africa and the G8 arising out of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Opposition leader Tony Leon on Friday suggested that a judicial commission of inquiry be appointed to investigate the allegations published in the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> that Imvume Management — which channelled R11-million in state oil money to the African National Congress before the 2004 election — was effectively a front for the ruling party.
About 40 babies died at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Durban during two months in 2003 of ”various neonatal ICU infections,” the director of the non-profit organisation Voice said on Thursday. ”A report on the deaths of the 40 babies in 2003 was given to me by a high ranking official of the health department in KZN yesterday [Wednesday].
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa’s) discussion document on cellphone pricing — due for release on Monday — will also deal with the call-centre industry which the regulator describes as part of its renewed policy imperative.
In one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries in Germany, four papal seals dating back 600 years have been uncovered from a medieval toilet shaft in the northeastern city of Greifswald, officials said on Thursday. The four round seals cast in lead date to the papacy of Pope Bonifatius IX (1389-1404).
South Africa’s application to have the world heritage status of Sterkfontein’s fossil hominid sites extended to include the Taung Skull fossil site in North West province and the Mokopane Valley in Limpopo province was accepted on Friday. The Department of Arts and Culture said the Taung Skull site exhibited the same characteristics as hominid sites such as Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai.