It must count as one of Britain’s trickier public relations jobs. Europe’s biggest Muslim cultural event opens in London and it will coincide with the anniversary of the July 7 attacks on the British capital. The festival, Islam Expo, will feature a recreation of an Arab souk and a timeline tracing 1 400 years of Islamic history.
A veteran of 20 African summits, Hassan Sunmonu, secretary general of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, recently declared that the Banjul gathering of the continent’s leaders was the best he’d experienced. He raised eyebrows in the gathering of NGOs where he was a panelist.
South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup, their ardour fuelled by the country losing to Germany for the 2006 edition, said at the World Cup handover ceremony in Berlin on Friday they have their hearts set on a jamboree that can transform the world’s perception of the whole African continent. President Thabo Mbeki said the 2010 event will be one to remember.
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Justine Henin-Hardenne is one victory away from a career grand slam. Henin-Hardenne defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to reach the Wimbledon final and close in on the one major title missing from her collection. She will face Amelie Mauresmo on Saturday, who beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insisted on Thursday he expects Ruud van Nistelrooy to return to Old Trafford for pre-season training. Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy (29) has been linked with a move away from the English Premiership club after losing his place in the United team towards the end of last season.
Zimbabwe is facing billions of dollars in foreign debt while internal debt has risen to the highest figure since independence from Britain in 1980, its central bank said on Thursday. Statistics by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe showed that the crises-hit Southern African country owed ,9-billion against export receipts, while internal debt rose to -million.
Spaniard Oscar Freire of Rabobank won the fifth stage of the Tour de France held over 225km between Beauvais and Caen on Thursday. Belgium’s Tom Boonen, who finished second on the stage ahead of Spain’s Inaki Isasi in third, retained the race leader’s yellow jersey by 13 seconds from Australian Michael Rogers ahead of Friday’s 189km.
Somali Islamists said on Thursday they had arrested two Muslim militiamen accused of shooting dead two people this week during a protest in central Somalia against a ban on watching the World Cup. The pair is to be tried, possibly for murder, under Sharia law according to two senior clerics involved in the case.
Rafael Nadal shrugged off a controversial doping storm to move closer to a dream Wimbledon title clash against Roger Federer with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 semifinal victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen on Thursday. The 20-year-old Spaniard became the first French Open champion to reach the last four here in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999.