Bahrain’s newly crowned 1Â 500m world champion Rashid Ramzi began his quest for a golden double with an easy win in his 800m first-round heat at the World Athletics Championships in Montreal on Thursday. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa struggled to get the third automatic qualifying spot.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal and American Andre Agassi remained on course for a possible final showdown as they booked quarterfinal berths at the ,45-million ATP Masters Series in Montreal on Thursday. Nadal emerged with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over France’s Sebastien Grosjean.
The number of hungry children in Africa will increase by more than three million by 2025 if current policy and investment trends continue, according to a new report that predicts the continent will fail to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving child malnutrition by 2015 unless more aggressive measures are taken now.
In a development that raises further concern over the conduct of Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana, the Mail & Guardian has established that Mushwana personally intervened to remove a politically sensitive investigation from his Cape Town office. His subsequent report declined to investigate most allegations and took others no further.
A whale-watching boat braved rough seas and a strong wind on Thursday to tow back a snoek boat that capsized off Onrus near Hermanus in the Western Cape on Wednesday. ”All four of [the boat’s crew members] were rescued by the fishing craft Rosemary,” a National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson said.
Phalaborwa Circuit Court state prosecutor Ivy Thenga will give reasons on Friday why the killers of Nelson Chisale, who was fed to lions, deserve heavy sentences. This follows two days of evidence in mitigation of sentence by the defence for Mark Scott-Crossley and Simon Mathebula.
Two missing Mthatha boys were found sodomised and murdered at a disused bus depot on Friday, Eastern Cape police said. The boys — aged six and 12 — disappeared late on Thursday afternoon. ”I have just come from the scene. It is terrible, terrible,” said police spokesperson Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta
<b>AUTHOR’S NOTES:</b> By day, Nadine Botha is the listings editor of the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>. By night, she is a poet, whose debut collection, <i>Ants Moving the House Millimetres</i>, has just been published, she spoke to ZA@Play.
Tuesday night was something of a triumph for Manchester United and their new treble-Glazered outlook — not just because the team beat Hungarian hopefuls Debrecen 3-0 at Old Trafford to just about ensure a record 10th successive entry in to the group stages of the Champions League.
When Glenn McGrath retires and Shane Warne follows him, Australia’s decline will be in full shrivel. The golden age of the Waughs, of massive first innings and nagging length and ripping leg-breaks, will be over. And if the Ashes so far are any indication, a new golden age for spectators will just be beginning.