Seventy-five years ago this month, the England cricket, team led by Douglas Jardine and under the auspices of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), arrived in Australia on the steamship, the SS Orontes. Over the ensuing six months Jardine’s despised tactics not only threatened the future of Test cricket, but even undermined the bonds of the British Empire.
No image available
/ 30 September 2007
![]()
Argentina defeated Ireland 30-15 on Sunday to ensure the Pumas finished unbeaten at the top of Pool D and qualified for a World Cup quarterfinal against Scotland next weekend. Wingers Lucas Borges and Horacio Agulla scored tries while playmaker Juan Martin Hernandez drop-kicked three goals.
No image available
/ 30 September 2007
Oil output in Nigeria has plunged by a quarter since the start of 2006 in the face of political unrest in the Niger Delta, reducing the country’s influence in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and limiting the effectiveness of Opec itself.
No image available
/ 30 September 2007
The new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will ”have his work cut out” due to the global credit crunch, one of his predecessors said on Saturday. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, was named head of the IMF on Friday.
No image available
/ 28 September 2007
![]()
Champions England advanced to a quarterfinal meeting with Australia after proving too strong for Tonga in their Pool A decider on Friday by running in four tries in an eventually convincing 36-20 victory. Winger Paul Sackey added two more in the first half at a sodden Parc des Princes.
No image available
/ 26 September 2007
![]()
South Africa winger Bryan Habana has set himself a twin target at the Rugby World Cup — helping his team win the title and collect the top try-scorer plaudits. Habana has four tries to his name so far with probably more to come against the United States in Montpellier on Sunday before the quarterfinal.
No image available
/ 25 September 2007
Europe’s main human rights body will vote next week on a resolution opposing the teaching of creationist and intelligent design views in school science classes. The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly will debate a resolution saying attacks on the theory of evolution were rooted ”in forms of religious extremism”
No image available
/ 25 September 2007
![]()
Springbok centre Francois Steyn was on Tuesday cleared of allegedly biting a Tonga player during Saturday’s Rugby World Cup clash. Steyn was cited by commissioner Jean-Claude Legendre for allegedly biting Tongan number 11 Joseph Vaka in the match at Lens, which South Africa won 30-25.
No image available
/ 25 September 2007
![]()
South Africa centre Francois Steyn has been cited for allegedly biting an opponent during Saturday’s World Cup Pool A match against Tonga in Lens, tournament organisers said on Monday. ”Francois Steyn has been cited in connection with an allegation of biting involving the Tonga wing Joseph Vaka,” organisers said in a statement.
No image available
/ 24 September 2007
Need an alibi for a tricky situation, something to get you out of the house, or into someone else’s? Just log on to one of the increasingly available internet sites that offer the latest in e-business, an alibi service. Already up and running in the United States, Britain and Belgium, sites are now being launched in Switzerland and France.
No image available
/ 24 September 2007
![]()
New Zealand, Australia and South Africa may not have been at their destructive best but all three southern hemisphere giants have kept up their unbeaten World Cup records. Little Tonga pushed South Africa, and scored three tries, before they were edged out 30-25 in a pulsating clash in Lens on Saturday.
No image available
/ 23 September 2007
The world’s best-known mime artist, Marcel Marceau, has died aged 84, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s office said on September 23. For decades, Marceau epitomised his silent art, eliciting laughter and tears from audiences around the globe. His comic and tragic sketches appeal on a universal level.
No image available
/ 23 September 2007
The world’s best-known mime artist, Marcel Marceau, has died aged 84, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s office said on Sunday. For decades, Marceau epitomised his silent art, eliciting laughter and tears from audiences around the globe. His comic and tragic sketches appeal on a universal level.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
![]()
Hosts France kept their nerve and their hopes alive of landing their first World Cup title in Paris on Friday as they beat Ireland 25-3 in their crunch group-D clash at the Stade de France. Two second-half tries by winger Vincent Clerc and 15 points from man-of-the-match Jean-Baptiste Elissalde were enough to see the Irish off.
No image available
/ 19 September 2007
![]()
Italy recorded their second unconvincing win in as many World Cup group-C matches when they were made to work hard for a 31-5 victory against minnows Portugal at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday. It was hard to believe that Italy had thrashed Portugal 83-0 as recently as October.
No image available
/ 19 September 2007
![]()
South Africa coach Jake White retained just four players who started in the 36-0 defeat of titleholders England last Friday when he named his team for the World Cup Group A match against Tonga in Lens on Saturday. The 43-year-old has guided the Springboks to two impressive wins over Samoa (59-7) and England.
No image available
/ 19 September 2007
One of Darfur’s most powerful rebel leaders will not take part in peace talks until a lasting ceasefire is put in place and security is restored, he said in an interview published on Wednesday. Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur has refused to join Darfur rebel commanders and groups who agreed a joint position last month.
No image available
/ 19 September 2007
![]()
France have traditionally had an iconic player in their flair-filled rugby ranks, whether it be Jean-Pierre Rives, Jo Maso or Serge Blanco. And to these ranks can now be added Sebastien Chabal, such has been the adulation from the French spectators for the 29-year-old.
No image available
/ 17 September 2007
![]()
If outspoken former Wallaby winger David Campese had his way, the likes of Georgia, Namibia and Portugal wouldn’t be at the Rugby World Cup. Yet the underdogs have shamed their critics by scaring some of the fancied teams and proving they do deserve places at the game’s biggest event.
No image available
/ 17 September 2007
A United States arbitration panel has ended deliberations on embattled 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis’s doping case and will reveal its ruling in the next seven days, the American’s lawyer said on Monday. Landis tested positive for the banned male sex hormone testosterone but has maintained his innocence.
No image available
/ 17 September 2007
![]()
A few months ago Fourie du Preez could have been forgiven for having given up hope of playing in the World Cup. How England must have wished that had been the case as he once again showed why he is regarded as the best scrumhalf in world rugby.
No image available
/ 16 September 2007
![]()
There is no question of the South Africans taking their feet off the pedal after two convincing victories in their opening World Cup matches said coach Jake White on Sunday. The inspirational 43-year-old handler admitted they were on a high but would not now lose their way.
No image available
/ 15 September 2007
![]()
South Africa coach Jake White said his team played one of the best matches of his tenure to crush England 36-0 in their World Cup Pool A match on Friday. He added that one of the most pleasing aspects of their victory was that the world champions had few chances to score.
No image available
/ 14 September 2007
![]()
South Africa humiliated world champions England in Paris on Friday as they inflicted a record World Cup defeat on them winning 36-0 to avenge their 2003 World Cup loss to the English. Two tries to JP Pietersen (taking his total to three), one from Juan Smith and 18 points from Percy Montgomery handed England defeat.
No image available
/ 14 September 2007
Soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) have massacred hundreds of people and burned villages, forcing civilians to flee, during a counter-insurgency campaign, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday. The watchdog group blamed President Francois Bozize’s elite guard for atrocities carried out since mid-2005.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
Formula One leaders McLaren have been stripped of all their 2007 constructors’ points and fined -million in a spying controversy involving Ferrari information. However, the governing FIA ruled that Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso could keep their points in the drivers’ contest.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
![]()
On the surface, Friday’s World Cup pool clash between England and South Africa looks similar to their 2003 meeting. In reality four years has seen an astonishing 180 degree shift in expectations. The winners at the Stade de France will go on to a probable quarterfinal against Wales and a possible semi against France.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
![]()
South Africa and England have quite a Rugby World Cup history and their clash at the Stade de France on Friday promises to be yet another enthralling chapter. It was here eight years ago that the Springboks — then the defending champions — ended England hopes of landing the William Webb Ellis trophy and ridiculed Clive Woodward’s statement of ”judge me on the World Cup”.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
James McFadden’s long-range goal earned Scotland a landmark 1-0 victory over France on Wednesday night to put them firmly on course for the Euro 2008 finals on a winning night for Britain. McFadden turned and shot with less than half an hour to go at the Parc des Princes to propel Scotland to the top of Group B and within sight of their first major finals in a decade.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
![]()
The Rugby World Cup appeal committee on Thursday reduced Springbok flanker Schalk Burger’s four-match suspension to two matches. This was announced following an appeal hearing by the committee into the incident where Burger tackled a Samoan player in the air during the Boks’ opening match on Sunday.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
A kilogram just isn’t what it used to be. A 118-year-old cylinder that has been the international prototype for the metric mass, and kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing its weight — if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, south-west of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms.
No image available
/ 12 September 2007
![]()
South Africa flanker Schalk Burger’s appeal against a four-match suspension for a high tackle on Samoa scrumhalf Junior Polu will be heard on Thursday. A South African team spokesperson said the hearing had been set for 06h00 GMT in Paris. Springbok coach Jake White was shocked at Burger’s ban, handed out in the early hours of Wednesday.