European competition appears set to disintegrate further with England’s clubs confident the Welsh regions will join them next season.

Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius has been sent for trial charged with murdering his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day.

THE jellyfish has no brain, no bones and no teeth.

An all-encompassing climate deal “may be beyond our reach for now,” UN leader Ban Ki-moon admitted today.

A SOUTH AFRICAN outdoors expert is feared dead after a crocodile snatched him from his kayak while he led an American expedition from the source of the White Nile into the heart of Congo.

SOUTH AFRICAN police used pepper spray to stop scuffles and a pensioner died in a queue as thousands of fans rushed to buy 500,000 World Cup tickets being sold over the counter for the first time yesterday.

A SOUTH AFRICAN dementia suffer lost a bag containing €150,000 worth of cannabis in the airport, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party said the recounting of ballots was deeply flawed.

DISCUSSIONS on reopening beef trade with Ireland are well advanced with authorities in Japan, which is the world’s second most valuable beef import market.

Gulf Air has launched a direct service from Bahrain to Johannesburg, allowing Irish travellers to travel from Dublin straight through to the South African capital.

WRU chief executive Steve Lewis will do everything in his power to get the Scots and Irish to resurrect a full-blown Celtic League campaign for next season.

A SOUTH AFRICAN farmer and one of his employees were found guilty of murder yesterday for attacking a farm worker with machetes and throwing him into a lion enclosure, bringing to an end a case that rattled a country long accustomed to violence and crime.

APRIL 30, 2004 was a sad and ignominious day in the history of Munster rugby. That was the date when an understrength side from the province crashed 60-14 to their Cardiff hosts at the Arms Park.

A SOUTH AFRICAN mother-of-two who was due to be deported on Saturday has fled to Britain, gardaí confirmed last night.

A SOUTH AFRICAN mother-of-two, who has received huge support in her battle to remain in Ireland, has been told she will be flying back to her former home later this week.

THE Johannesburg speech given

Parents of pupils at Holy Cross girls’ school who have faced weeks of abuse by loyalist protesters in north Belfast today called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to travel to Belfast and join them on the school run.

US Defence Secretary Colin Powell has decided to boycott a UN conference on racism because the meeting has been urged to criticise Israeli discrimination against the Palestinians.