The sight of a dust jacket in blue with a compass and a sea chart, and a sub-title promising ‘Pirates, Castaways and Madness’ raises hopes of an entertaining account of adventures on the high seas.

ARGENTINA, Ireland's opponents in the crunch World Cup tie at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, finally arrived in the South Australia capital at 6pm local time yesterday.

The confrontation between Venezuela's government and workers at one of the world's largest oil companies is beginning to affect exports of crude oil and refined products.