South African President Thabo Mbeki is due to travel to Côte d’Ivoire in the coming days on an African Union mission to defuse the crisis in the West African country, an AU official said on Sunday. AU leaders have mandated Mbeki ”to undertake an urgent mission in consultation with the chairperson of the AU commission, with a view to promoting a political solution”.

Can China, the world’s most populous country, really go on indefinitely combining censorship, a rigidly controlled media, and an authoritarian, secretive, one-party state with a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture and technological progress, and not suffer some economic or political crisis? It is no longer an obscure question about a far-off country. What happens in China now affects us all.

In its protracted dealings on the Western Sahara issue, the United Nations Security Council persists in urging ”the parties” to reach a political solution. It did this again recently when, after a three-minute meeting, the mandate for the UN mission in the disputed territory (Minurso) was extended for a further six months. In fact, there is only one party — Morocco — that still needs spurring in this 29-year process.

Australia may be dry but it is not parched. The perception of the country as a ”wide, brown land” is widespread but it does not bear much relation to the reality of living there. Although it soon might — if you take into account the support of politically sensitive industries. For example, it currently takes 1 200 litres to make a dollar’s-worth of sugar and 1 500 litres to make dairy products or cotton to the same value.

Gavin Henson has insisted Wales can build on their narrow defeat against South Africa by beating the All Blacks for the first time in over 50 years. Neath-Swansea centre Henson scored two tries as Wales rallied against the Springboks before the Tri-Nations champions held on for a 38-36 victory at the Millennium Stadium.

Stephen Fleming was offered £300 000 by an Indian sports promoter to join an international match-fixing syndicate, the New Zealand cricket captain says in a book to be released this week. Fleming said the approach was made at a Leicester, England, hotel during the 1999 World Cup. Some of the details of the book were released on Monday.

Manchester United striker Alan Smith was sent off as Manchester City frustrated the home side to claim a point in a dismal 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday. England forward Smith was dismissed for a second yellow card on 89 minutes following a late challenge on City’s Irish international defender Richard Dunne.

South Africa’s Hendrick Ramaala won the men’s title at the New York Marathon on Sunday in an unofficial time of 2:9,24. Ramaala became only the second South African to win the New York race, following Willie Mtolo in 1992. American Meb Keflezighi, who was born in Eritrea but became a United States citizen in 1998, was second in 2:09,52 and Kenyan Timothy Cherigat was third.

Russian sixth seed Marat Safin clinched his third Paris Masters title on Sunday as he overwhelmed Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the final of the €2,45-million tournament. Only German legend Boris Becker, in 1986, 1989 and 1992, had previously won three Paris titles.