Thousands of supporters of Somalia’s new fundamentalist rulers held a rally in the capital, Mogadishu, after prayers, calling for a holy war against enemies of Islam in the Middle East, United States and around the world. More than 2Â 000 people shouted ”God is great!” and ”Down with the enemies of Islam, wherever they are!”
Workers in southern China shovelled large piles of mud and debris off the streets as officials assessed the losses on Saturday after the strongest typhoon in 50 years killed 104 people and left 190 missing. Typhoon Saomai bore down on Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of 1,7-million people.
Top-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova avenged a French Open fourth-round defeat with a straight-set win over compatriot Dinara Safina on Friday to reach the semifinals of this 600 000-dollar WTA tournament. Sharapova, seeking to keep the momentum going after her WTA triumph in San Diego last week, defeated the fifth-seeded Safina 6-2, 6-4.
A five-day conference to call for divine intervention in the HIV/Aids pandemic in South Africa will be held next week, the Institute for Christian Leadership Development said on Friday. ”We are going to pray and extract biblical principles on how to counsel the society when dealing with the HIV/Aids pandemic,” institute spokesperson Timothy Olusegun said.
All Black golden boy Daniel Carter has found a way around his tightly controlled rugby playing regime — he’s turned out for a social soccer match in a move that has surprised his rugby bosses. They are offering little comment on Carter’s switch from the oval ball to the round ball and are unsure whether he has broken any conditions of his contract.
United Kingdom Muslim groups said on Saturday that the UK’s policies on Iraq and Lebanon were fuelling militancy, as Pakistan said it had arrested a UK al-Qaeda member over an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners. A court gave UK police more time to question 22 of the 24 suspects arrested in swoops on Thursday.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for an end to the conflict in Lebanon late on Friday night. Israel announced it would respect the plan, but said it would not call off a full-scale land invasion, launched on Friday, before Sunday at the earliest.
It is time Africans take responsibility for how their continent is portrayed, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Writing in his weekly newsletter on the African National Congress website, Mbeki said every day the African and global media publish articles about Africa.
The Second Network Operator (SNO) has been given access to an inter-city communication network following the singing of an agreement on Friday, it said. The heads of agreement, signed with the Department of Public Enterprises, provides for the SNO to have access to an inter-city, high-capacity, full-services network, the SNO said in a statement.
The United States and Lebanon said on Friday a deal on a United Nations resolution to end Israel’s month-old war with Hezbollah guerrillas is in sight. But Israel told the US it would not automatically accept any such resolution, Israeli television said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also ordered the army to expand its ground offensive.