Venezuela’s presidential recall referendum last Sunday is one event among many in what has been a turbulent period for this oil-rich country. This recall vote signalled, at least, a departure from the illegality of the past attempts at change. Whether it ushers in a period of peace, prosperity and democracy for the country remains to be seen.
Ashley Cole, in his most vulnerable moments, used to wonder how he could play with such freedom for Arsenal, then feel as if he had pulled on a straitjacket every time he wore an England shirt. He would return from international matches wondering where his confidence had gone and whether he would ever be able to put it right.
Winning is not everything, Bill Shankly once said; it’s the only thing. Thus will Real Madrid, for which above all or anyone else victory is paramount, be unhappy about winning one and losing one. Thus Michael Owen prepares for life at the Bernabeu, but Patrick Vieira, somewhat surprisingly, remains at Arsenal.
United States swimming sensation Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal of the Athens Olympics as a doping scandal escalated in the troubled weightlifting competition on Thursday. Meanwhile, the track and field athletes were preparing for the first main day of competition on Friday.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
Legislation paving the way for registered nurses who have undergone prescribed training to perform abortions was approved in the National Assembly on Thursday, despite the objections of several opposition parties. Democratic Alliance MP Ryan Coetzee said it was DA policy to allow its members to determine their own position on matters of conscience, including abortion.
In ”Follow the money to peace” (July 30) Yazini Funeka April approaches the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from a narrow perspective. The most prominent feature of the complex DRC crisis, alongside the consequences of decades of dictatorship, is the uncontested presence of former FAR and interahamwe who perpetrated genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
The first athletics medals of the Olympics went up for grabs on Friday as week one of the Athens Games drew to a close with the host nation facing another drugs case involving a Greek athlete. Italy’s Ivano Brugnetti sped away to victory in the men’s 20km walk at the sun-baked 70 000-capacity Olympic Stadium.
South Africa’s Olympic athletes did not fare too well on Friday. Among others, Janice Josephs finish seventh in the 100m hurdles; Geraldine Pillay did not qualify in the 100m sprint; triple-jump champion Khotsa Mokoena failed to come close to his personal best; and shooter Martin Senore failed to make the final eight.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
The United States is to allow human rights groups to enter Guantánamo Bay for the first time since detention camps were set up 2 years ago. The Pentagon has previously barred independent observers from the military base in Cuba, where more than 600 men are detained indefinitely as part of the ”war on terror”.
Iraqi teenage sprinter Alaa Jassim’s taste of Olympic competition lasted just less than 13 seconds in Athens on Friday but she said she would not have missed it for the world. The 18-year-old lives in Baghdad and trains six days a week, although only in the evening and only when there is no bombing or shooting.