A human tragedy on a massive scale was unfolding on Saturday night amid the ruins of Bam, the historic Iranian city hit by an earthquake on Friday, as survivors tried to find food and shelter surrounded by more than 20 000 dead.

For Zimbabwe, the coming year, most analysts agree, is make-or-break. If opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai gets it right, Zimbabwe will have a ”soft landing” from 23 years of Robert Mugabe rule. If he gets it wrong, the country may go the way of Congo and pay in chaos and bloodshed.

Children make up almost half the Democratic Republic of Congo’s population of 50-million. They share crowded homes and beds, are malnourished and have weak immune systems. It is a recipe that turns measles into a mass killer. ”It is one of the most contagious diseases known,” says vaccine specialist Lieven Desomer.

Supermaxis Skandia and Zana were in a tussle for line honours in the 59th Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sunday. The pre-race favourites were within sight of each other in the notorious Bass Strait leg of the event and Skandia sailing master Ian ”Barney” Walker predicted a nail-biting finish.

World champions Ferrari opened up the first front in the battle for the 2004 title on Saturday when the Italian team’s technical chief Ross Brawn claimed Juan Pablo Montoya could be in for an uncomfortable last year at Williams. ”It’s going to be a difficult year for Montoya and the people around him,” Brawn told the BBC.

Former Manchester United star George Best was held for 11 hours in an English jail after allegedly assaulting his estranged wife, British media reports said on Saturday. Best split up with his 31-year-old wife in September when he returned to drinking after being told to give up alcohol following a liver transplant in July 2002.

A 69-member South African rescue team left on Saturday to lend assistance to Iran following a devastating earthquake there on Friday, an NGO rescue organisation spokesperson said. The massive earthquake hit south-east Iran, destroying the historic fort city of Bam.

If you are headed for KwaZulu-Natal this season, and are hoping to meet that someone special, you are in for a good time. But also a risky one. A recent survey conducted in Durban has revealed that people in that city believe that oral sex is safe sex.