President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing to confront the United States and the United Nations Security Council over Iran’s nuclear activities, partly to divert attention from the country’s worsening economic problems, Tehran sources say. Iran’s hard-line government said it would respond by August 22 to a western compromise package.
The Polokwane municipality in Limpopo has confirmed the building of an R800-million stadium to be used in the 2010 World Cup, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday. The stadium, which will be named the Peter Mokaba Complex, will be built next to the existing Peter Mokaba stadium.
Embattled Wallaby skipper George Gregan has hit back at his trenchant media critics, saying the criticism has become personal and petty. Gregan has been under fire from sections of the Australian rugby media and the criticism reached a crescendo during Australia’s ugly 20-18 Tri-Nations’ victory over South Africa last Saturday.
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.
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.
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!”
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.
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.
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.
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.