Maria Sharapova chalked up her fourth-round exit at the French Open to one thing: a lack of matches. The 2004 Wimbledon champion hadn’t played in a tournament since April 1 because of an injured right ankle, and she wasted a 5-1 lead in the final set on Sunday against Dinara Safina before losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.
Roger Federer insists that Mario Ancic won’t catch him out again like he did when the Croatian sent him tumbling to an embarrassing Wimbledon defeat in 2002. The two meet in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday with the Swiss world number one still needled by that first round centre court defeat at the All England Club.
To prevent students from cheating during school exams, Taiwan on Monday banned the use of invisible-ink pens. ”We will bar students from using invisible-ink pens during exams because many students are cheating with these pens,” Lee Yu-Chuan, from the Education Ministry’s Department of Higher Education, told a news conference.
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It was D-day for England’s World Cup squad on Monday as they prepared to set off for Germany on a mission that they hope will end with skipper David Beckham raising high the trophy in Berlin on July 9. Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men will have one final training session on home soil before they fly to their base camp in the Black Forest resort of Baden-Baden.
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Brazil is engulfed in World Cup mania with optimism high that Ronaldinho and company can bring home a record sixth title. The country is dripping in green and yellow. Roads, buildings, shop windows, and even beaches have all been decked out in the national colours that will set pulses racing in stadia across Germany starting from Friday.
Telkom CEO Papi Molotsane said on Monday that the Interception of Communications and Communication-related Information Act places onerous conditions on telecommunications operators. However, he said that Telkom and mobile operator Vodacom were in a position to intercept communications and register subscribers as was required by the Act.
Johannesburg’s Stock Exchange was listed as a public company on its own boards on Monday. Speaking at a listing ceremony at the exchange in Sandton, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka congratulated the stock exchange on another milestone in its history.
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon will lay a charge of crimen injuria to investigate the origins of a fake Africa Muslim Party pamphlet defaming him and his wife, the party said on Sunday. The pamphlet accuses Leon and his Israeli wife of supporting ”racist and murderous” Israeli government policies.
Mystery surrounding the disappearance of Australian entertainer Olivia Newton-John’s longtime boyfriend Patrick McDermott deepened on Monday following a report he was alive and living in Mexico. McDermott, who had been Grease star Newton-John’s partner for nine years, disappeared off a boat while on an overnight fishing trip off the California coast a year ago.
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A senior African National Congress (ANC) official has denied the party intends grilling Jacob Zuma about statements he made in court during his rape trial. Its website quoted ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe as saying there would be no further questions about Zuma’s utterances in court.