Forget waiting around a mere few days for an iPhone. Two sisters are in the midst of an 11-day vigil for this summer’s hottest, ”must have” low-tech phenomenon: the latest Harry Potter book. Chloe and Sydney Bostian started camping out on Tuesday in front of Gulliver’s Books in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Help is being offered to Muslims afflicted by chafed thighs during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Gazette reported on Saturday. Worshippers at the annual event are to be offered ”seamless trousers” for the first time to guard against chafing, the English-language daily said.
The Leopards pulled of a surprise 20-17 victory against the Blue Bulls in a compulsory friendly match played at Olënpark in Potchefstroom on Friday night. After trailing 14-0 at the break, the home team fought back to a 17-14 lead halfway through the second half.
Belgium’s Tom Boonen won Friday’s sixth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish, while Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara retained the leader’s yellow jersey for a seventh straight day. Boonen won the 199,5km trek from the Burgundy town of Semur-en-Auxois toward the foot of the Alps in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Lack of infrastructure in the Pan American Games venues upset fans in the first two days of competition. Traffic jams and difficulties buying food and finding bathrooms inside the venues prompted about 100 fans to protest to organisers on Friday. ”We want to eat! We want to eat!” they chanted at the Riocentro complex.
South Africa’s brilliant 22-year-old 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl issued a gutsy warning when he defeated a world-class field at the IAAF Golden Gala meet in Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Friday night. His time of 48,24 seconds was a career best in a nail-biting finish against American Kerron Clement, 2007’s fastest runner.
Double amputee runner Oscar Pistorius of South Africa claimed second place in a 400m race at the Golden League stop in Rome on Friday. Pistorius, who wants to compete at the Beijing Olympics next year among the able-bodied stars, clocked 46,90 seconds in a B race at the meet, beaten only by Italian race winner Stefano Braciola.
South Africa continued to dominate swimming at the All Africa Games, winning five out of six gold medals on Friday. Amanda Loots won the women’s 50m butterfly in 27,60 seconds, Melissa Corfe the women’s 200m freestyle in 2:02,45, and Suzaan van Biljon the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:32,30.
The arrival of an ageing midfielder at a struggling team currently second-bottom of the Major League Soccer western division should not have needed a club official to insist it was ”meant to be low key”. David Beckham’s first day in his new job as footballer, one-man-brand and international ambassador for LA Galaxy was, however, anything but.
Facebook is now scything through companies thanks to its compelling combination of MySpace, Flickr, forums and Friends Reunited, all done with a bit of taste. It was started at Harvard in 2004 and spread virally through universities and colleges, but two things have made Facebook the hottest thing on the web this year.