The South Asia earthquake decimated Balakot, a picturesque valley town in northern Pakistan. But not even the awesome forces of nature could manage the fatal stroke that government officials are now planning — to wipe the town off the map. Seismologists warn that Balakot is too dangerous for human habitation.
Donald Rumsfeld, the United States Defence Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, put on a united front during a visit to Iraq on Wednesday after a series of spats over the conduct of the US military campaign. The two, travelling separately, visited Baghdad in support of prime minister designate Jawad al-Maliki.
A spinner-friendly Newlands pitch has South Africa picking Nicky Boje to be influential and New Zealand considering choosing two spinners for the second Test starting on Thursday. Boje was a definite starter in South Africa’s bid to clinch the three-Test series, coach Mickey Arthur said on Tuesday. The Proteas had considered dropping Boje for a fourth seamer.
Barcelona will meet Arsenal in a Champions League final that will delight football purists around the world after holding AC Milan to a goalless draw in Barcelona on Wednesday. The Catalans were unable to add to the 1-0 advantage they had established in the first leg at the San Siro last week.
The on-fire New South Wales Waratahs will have to overcome rain as well as the notorious ”House of Pain” if they are to beat the Otago Highlanders and hit the front of the Super 14 rugby competition on Friday. But it is the Western Stormers in South Africa who hold the key to how the 11th round will pan out.
The fat lady might not be singing, but by all rational and logical assumptions Mamelodi Sundowns are the Premier Soccer League champions for the 2005/06 season. Sundowns staged a stirring fightback on Wednesday at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium to beat Classic 3-1 and rivals Orlando Pirates drew 1-1 with Bush Bucks.
An extraordinary succession battle was under way in the cloistered world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism on Wednesday after the death of the rabbi who headed the world’s largest and powerful Hasidic sect. Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (91) died on Monday, and his funeral drew 20 000 followers.
The CIA has operated more than 1 000 secret flights over European Union territory in the past five years, some to transfer terror suspects in a practice known as ”extraordinary rendition”, an investigation by the European Parliament said on Wednesday. The figure is significantly higher than previously thought.
Cape Town’s mayoral committee has given a thumbs-up to the proposed Darling Wind Farm — a R70-million national pilot project funded jointly by the Danish Development Aid, the Department of Minerals and Energy and the Darling Independent Power Producing Company.
A Namibian human rights group on Wednesday accused bodyguards and local police of resorting to ”heavy-handed tactics” to keep the paparazzi away from movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Jolie, who is eight months pregnant, arrived with Pitt in the Southern African country in early April.