In 1919, the Chicago White Sox contrived to deliberately lose the baseball World Series, producing a gambling scandal of epic proportions and one of the most enduring lines about America’s favourite sport: ”Say it ain’t so, Joe.” The lament, was back in circulation this week as the world of professional baseball confronted its latest demon: the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.
Action by Churches Together appealed this week for more than ,2-million to fund projects aimed at alleviating food and water shortages in Eritrea, caused by four years of drought. Scarce rainfall has resulted in another poor harvest, and food reserves have been depleted and the coping mechanisms of the population are stretched to the limit, said a statement.
Certain limitations on a Congress of South African Trade Union picket on the Zimbabwe border were arbitrary and unreasonable, Cosatu argued in papers before the Pretoria High Court on Friday. Cosatu is bringing an urgent application to contest an official decision to limit the number of picketers to 200.
The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, launched a fierce attack on Britain and the United States on Thursday for weakening human rights in the name of the war on terror. ”We cannot compromise on core values,” he said in Madrid on the first anniversary of the train bombings that killed 191 people in the Spanish capital.
Eritrea on Friday strongly denied allegations it is massing troops along its border with Sudan, rejecting as ”groundless” reported statements to that effect made by a Sudanese official. ”It’s a groundless accusation, a total fabrication,” said Yemane Gebremeskel, director of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s office.
The world’s second largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco, expressed ”astonishment” on Thursday at an Italian court’s decision that it was responsible for the death of a lung cancer victim and must pay his heirs â,¬200 000.
Discarded All Black Nick Evans scored a try and sharpened the attacking edge of the Otago Highlanders, who beat South Africa’s Bulls 23-0 on Friday in a Super 12 rugby match at Carisbrook. Evans returned from injury to play at flyhalf for the Highlanders and made a huge impression in a 58-minute stay before a further injury forced him from the field.
Sometimes it is still possible to be proud to be English and still be a proud football lover before the FA Cup quarterfinals. One of those rare nights occurred on Tuesday when Chelsea’s Frank Lampard scored, Joe Cole turned it on and John Terry produced the winner in a fascinating last 16 Champions League win over Barcelona.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shot in the sombre, dark style for which Eastwood’s pictures are notable, Million Dollar Baby has a measured pace that must surely derive from Eastwood’s maturity as a man and a filmmaker. Peter Bradshaw reviews the Oscar-winning film.
There is no grey when it comes to the Champions League. After an epic week of last-16 action in Europe, Chelsea and Liverpool are world-beaters. Arsenal and Manchester United are losers, ready to dismantle their galaxies of fallen stars. In the fickle world of modern football, failure in the globe’s greatest club competition leaves no room for error.