It is the best and the worst of times for club soccer. Having scored an unprecedented billion-rand-plus for television rights, the game’s top division, the Premier Soccer League, is finally getting close to its commercial worth. But it is the worst of times for the minor league sides in the feeder Mvela Golden League.
South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini carded eight birdies without a bogey on Thursday to claim the first-round lead with a 63 at the -million Barclays Classic. Sabbatini surged heading into the turn, posting four birdies in a six-hole stretch at the Westchester County Club’s West Course. ”You know, the course, it’s playing easy right now,” Sabbatini said.
Real Madrid on Thursday unveiled new signings Arjen Robben and Gabriel Heinze at the Bernabeu stadium after they passed medicals, with both men saying they were delighted at the opportunity to swap the English Premiership for La Liga. Dutch winger Robben (23) arrived from Chelsea while Argentine defender Heinze (29) joins from Manchester United.
Britain’s Tim Henman, who reached six Grand Slam semifinals in a 14-year career, announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday. The 32-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals on four occasions, said his last tournament will be Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Croatia at the All England Club from September 21 to 23.
Oil prices were slightly lower in Asian trade on Friday as investors kept an eye on global financial and equity markets shaken by a crisis in United States lending to risky home-loan borrowers, dealers said. Prices have firmed in recent days after falling sharply from an all-time peak $78,77 on August 1 as the financial markets calmed down.
A controversial new history of the Indian Mutiny, which broke out 150 years ago and is acknowledged to have been the greatest challenge to any European power in the 19th century, claims that the British pursued a murderous decade-long campaign to wipe out millions of people who dared rise up against them.
Arguments by the Sunday Times and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on the return of the minister’s medical records were expected in court on Friday. The Sunday Times filed court papers on Tuesday and the Health Department confirmed that its reply had been filed on Thursday.
Sierra Leone’s main opposition All People’s Congress swept aside the ruling party in this month’s landmark elections, winning a majority of seats in the new Parliament, officials said on Thursday. The APC won 59 of the 112 seats on offer in the August 11 vote, leaving the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party with just 43 seats, down from 83 in the previous assembly.
Sudan has expelled the European Union and Canadian envoys from the war-torn African country, state radio and Western officials said on Thursday. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry had declared them persona non grata ”for involving themselves in activities that constitute an interference in the internal affairs of the country,” Sudan radio reported.
We have bemoaned the weakening of Parliament over the years due to the loss of skilled personnel and their replacement by what we called B-grade politicians. It is therefore appropriate that when work such as the comprehensive review of the Chapter Nine bodies and other state-supporting institutions is performed by parliamentarians, they equally deserve our plaudits.