The French Open started on a Sunday for the first time and nearly ended quickly for Maria Sharapova. The former Wimbledon champion overcame a gimpy foot, a 5-2 deficit in the third set and three match points to beat Mashona Washington 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
Iran on Monday spurned the prospect of European Union incentives to end its nuclear programme, saying the bloc must acknowledge its right to nuclear technology. "The main incentive for Iran is to recognise the essential right of Iran to have nuclear technology," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said when asked about the incentive plan.
United Nations and Red Cross agencies were meeting in Geneva on Monday to coordinate a mounting international relief effort for thousands of victims of Indonesia’s deadly earthquake. The death toll from the earthquake has risen to at least 5 136, the Social Affairs Ministry said on Monday.
World Cup hopefuls Germany and Japan have a chance to find out where they stand less than a fortnight before the finals when they lock horns in a friendly match at the BayArena on Tuesday. Host nation Germany crushed minnows Luxembourg 7-0 on Saturday to boost confidence but are likely to face a much stiffer test of their credentials against Asian champions Japan.
Thierry Henry thinks Franck Ribery can surprise France’s opponents at the World Cup, and urges coach Raymond Domenech to pick him. ”He carries the expectations of a nation,” Henry said on Sunday. ”It is not easy. But I think he has the talent to do it. He is our trump card.”
Betting on major sporting events is always going to happen, but in chunks of Asia it is illegal and police across the region are cracking down ahead of the World Cup. Asians enjoy a flutter and tens of millions of dollars is expected to be wagered over the month-long football festival on everything from who will win to who scores the first goal.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille joined an anti-crime cavalcade through the streets of Mitchell’s Plain on Sunday and urged people to take back the streets. Zille said she felt privileged to join the symbolic stance against what she called a ”terrible” and ”brutal” wave of violence sweeping the country, particularly the Western Cape.
The Wallabies under new coach John Connolly are working on expunging the bitter memories of the demolition of the Australian scrum by England at Twickenham last November. England’s domination at the scrum, where loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan was particularly impressive, was so complete that Australia tighthead Al Baxter was eventually sin-binned for repeat offences.
Hundreds of thousands of VIP ticket-holders for the World Cup could be barred from stadia for not having their names on the tickets, media reports said on Monday. The German organising committee of the World Cup and Swiss agent ISE, hired by football’s world governing body Fifa to oversee commercial sales of tickets have insisted they are not responsible for the blunder.
George Gregan, just two appearances away from becoming rugby’s most capped international player, on Monday restated his commitment to lead the Wallabies at next year’s World Cup in France. The 33-year-old scrum-half general goes into the domestic international season next month on 118 Test caps — just one behind England prop forward Jason Leonard’s record of 119 Tests.