One of the downsides of being consistently brilliant is that people start to expect it all the time. Since arriving at Stamford Bridge eight months ago, Petr Cech has produced so many match-winning moments that our amazement is in danger of dissipating. For every outstanding save he makes, he causes us to raise our eyebrows a little less.
Thierry Henry’s suggestion was pounced upon, and now everyone finally seems to agree: Arsenal need surgery. Thus far, the surgeon has escaped lightly. Having given his all to the cause, Henry questioned this season’s lack of spending to strengthen the squad amid the recriminations that followed Arsenal’s Champions League exit.
A former housekeeper for Michael Jackson testified at the entertainer’s molestation trial that she called his Neverland ranch ”Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island” because children were allowed to run wild without adult supervision. Kiki Fournier said on Thursday that on several occasions she saw children who appeared to be intoxicated.
The decision by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) this week to close M-Net’s two-hour open time diminishes competition in the sector, M-Net said on Friday. ”Closing open time will force M-Net to re-evaluate the programming it currently schedules in the two-hour slot,” M-Net chief executive Glen Marques said.
An outbreak of an unidentified haemorrhagic fever has claimed the lives of 87 people in northern Angola over the past four months, health ministry spokesperson Carlos Alberto said on Friday. The ministry is awaiting the results of samples sent to Senegal and the United States to identify the strain of the fever.
Former president Nelson Mandela flew into the South African town of George on Friday to talk with local people about HIV/Aids issues ahead of the second star-studded 46664 Aids benefit concert, organised by his global fund-raising and awareness campaign. The concert is scheduled to take place on a fairway at the Fancourt Golf Estate.
If the oil price goes much higher it could threaten South African Airways’ (SAA) survival, chief executive Khaya Ngqula said on Friday. ”Once it is and up, it becomes just a question of survival,” Ngqula told reporters in Johannesburg. ”We are taking it one day at a time … but there is no cause for alarm just yet.”
The ruling African National Congress will initiate "relevant organisational disciplinary processes" against its MPs convicted of fraud, says its national spokesperson, Smuts Ngonyama. Meanwhile, official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said the MPs "should do the honourable thing and resign".
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The initial impressions of the Democratic Alliance’s observers to Zimbabwe’s March 31 elections so far have been alarming, party leader Tony Leon said on Friday. Writing in his weekly newsletter on the DA’s website, he said the observers reported widespread intimidation of opposition members and supporters.
President Thabo Mbeki took issue on Friday with former president FW de Klerk and two journalists on their assertions that minority rights in South Africa are being sidelined in favour of the majority. The president was writing in the African National Congress’s online publication, ANC Today.