BBC has fired Carol Thatcher, the daughter of former prime minister Margaret 'Iron Lady' Thatcher, from one of its shows after she referred a 'tennis player' as "golliwog" off-air.Although a "golliwog" is a character found in 19th century children's literature inspired by a black-faced rag doll, the term is widely interpreted as racist.
A BBC spokesperson said there was a discussion about the Australian Open in the 'green room', and Carol referred one of the black tennis players (supposedly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) as a golliwog.
Well, Carol should have targeted Andy Murray during his bad hair days instead.
(Via Reuters; Image via Anorak News)
Marcos Baghdatis had the opportunity to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on Tuesday to understand the history of South African and the legacy created by Nelson Mandela.
Baghdatis and his team were all labelled as either white or non-white prior to entering the museum and forced to enter through separate doorways.“It’s weird you know, knowing that they separated people for everything."
"They had different toilets, black people had toilets, white people had other toilets, but it was not only that, it was everything, beaches, houses, taxi queues, entrances, bus stops and mainly the black people suffered a lot and that’s sad to hear.”
Then he was taken through a visual and physical explanation of the life of Nelson Mandala.“I can understand now why he is a hero to so many people."
"The guy is an amazing person and whatever he wanted to and whatever he wanted to help those people he did it even if it meant death for him."
"He spent 30 years of his life in prison and he suffered a lot to maintain what he maintains today, and I have a lot of respect for him."
"I can understand now why people see him as a hero,” Baghdatis remarked.
During the tour Baghdatis was also asked to take the walk of freedom, an experience that saw him choose a series of coloured sticks which represent various characteristics of Nelson Mandela’s life.Reflecting on his choice of sticks Baghdatis said “I chose loyalty because it’s always important to have loyalty to everything in life, courage I chose because showing courage is when you get the best out of you, and forgiveness because we have to forgive people that made mistakes and give them a second chance to make everything right for all the people that live this life and to leave a legacy that will not allow people to suffer like other people have”.
Finally the tour ended with Baghdatis signing the museum’s visitor book, the same book which Mandela signed when the museum opened in 2001.
Meanwhile at the SA Tennis Open, Baghdatis eased into the quarterfinals and he will meet David Ferrer.
(Via atpworldtour.com, SA Tennis Open website; Images by Reg Caldecott/SA Tennis Open)
Sania Mirza is never far from controversies, isn't she?
After winning a Grand Slam with Mahesh Bhupathi last week, she announced earlier today that she had to skip India’s Fed Cup campaign this week.
She blamed it on her abdominal pain, apart from the fatigue following the Australian Open. Asked about her decision not to play in India to steer clear of controversies, Sania said, “I never said I am going to boycott (events in India). As usual, it was blown out of proportion. Who does not want to play in India? I love to play in the country. But not many tournaments are happening now.”
Her absence has left India with just three players for the event, which features eight nations, split into two groups, in round robin ties including two singles matches and a doubles clash, over three days before the top side from each division meets in Saturday's final.
The Indian team is world no.377 Abkita Bhambri, Sanaa Bhambri (478) and Rushmi Chakravarthi (509).
The winner of Saturday's final advances to the World Group II play-offs in April.
The other nations in the Asia-Oceania play-offs are Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Korea.
Meanwhile, Sania sounded upset with Bhupathi for not taking her to watch 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Sania wanted to watch the much-acclaimed film, but instead of taking her along, Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna went ahead and saw the movie.
“Mahesh and Rohan ditched me,” Sania said.
(Via telegraphindia.com, AFP; Image via Yahoo! Sports)
Andy Roddick and girlfriend Brooklyn Decker were at the backstage VIP tailgate. They posed separately during the pre-game show prior to the start of Super Bowl XLIII.
And a reminder, guys, their wedding which is due this spring is just around the corner!
(Images via sports.sina.cn)
Marcos Baghdatis had the opportunity to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on Tuesday to understand the history of South African and the legacy created by Nelson Mandela.
Baghdatis and his team were all labelled as either white or non-white prior to entering the museum and forced to enter through separate doorways.
Then he was taken through a visual and physical explanation of the life of Nelson Mandala.
During the tour Baghdatis was also asked to take the walk of freedom, an experience that saw him choose a series of coloured sticks which represent various characteristics of Nelson Mandela’s life.
Sania Mirza is never far from controversies, isn't she?
