Chelsea missed the chance to close to within four points of leaders Manchester United as they were held to a goalless draw on Tuesday at Aston Villa. Frank Lampard missed a golden chance in injury time to give the champions a victory, and Villa held on for a point — their second draw with Chelsea this season. The result leaves Chelsea six points off the pace.
More than 60Â 000 Malaysians who were forced to evacuate their homes due to massive floods have returned to their wrecked homes after staying at temporary shelters for close to two weeks, officials said on Wednesday. Uncommonly heavy rains in the southern state of Johor and neighbouring states last month forced close to 90Â 000 people to leave their homes.
A two-year-old calf that escaped slaughter at an abattoir in Mumbai for a Muslim festival has been named George, after the American president, a report said on Wednesday. George bolted and ran into a scrap yard where he kept butchers at bay for 20 hours, the <i>Times of India</i> reported.
Thai shares sank on the first morning of trade after the deadly New Year’s Eve bombings in Bangkok, raising fears that the attacks could drag down the faltering economy. The blasts that killed three and wounded 38 raised new fears about Thailand’s security and added to doubts about the post-coup government.
A Chinese firm running Zambia’s largest textile company has temporarily shut it down and placed about 700 workers on forced unpaid leave following massive losses, management said. Che Ming, a managing director, said the Zambia China Mulungushi Textiles, which has been having problems paying wages to its workers, had been closed to allow the company to source a capital injection.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon started his first day on the job on Tuesday by departing from the traditional UN opposition to the death penalty, saying nations can make their own decision. Ban was greeted by a UN honour guard, went to a UN meditation chapel to honour fallen peacekeepers, spoke to reporters and held a mass meeting with UN staff.
Indonesian rescuers launched new sea, land and air searches on Wednesday for a missing plane with 102 people aboard after initial reports its wreckage had been found turned out to be false. Senior government officials have apologised for erroneously saying the 17-year-old Boeing 737-400 had been spotted in the mountains of Indonesia’s eastern Sulawesi island.
The festive-season death toll on South Africa’s roads has dropped despite an increase in the number of cars and drivers, the Department of Transport said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Ntau Letebele said 1Â 366 people had died in 1Â 168 crashes over the December 2006 period — a drop from 1Â 454 deaths in 2005.
Ethiopia said on Tuesday its troops will stay for another few weeks in Somalia to help the government pacify the Horn of Africa nation, but the Islamists they ousted in a brief war vowed to ”rise from the ashes”. The Islamists, who fled their last stronghold on Monday after a two-week conflict, said they refused a government offer to surrender.
Now that it belongs to the European Union, Romania has high hopes for the Danube Delta. This vast wetland is one of the richest wildlife havens in the world. Every spring millions of rare migrating birds fly thousands of kilometres from Siberia to nest on its lagoons.