Top-ranked Roger Federer and defending champion Rafael Nadal won quarterfinal matches in straight sets at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday. Federer defeated eighth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-1, 6-3, and Nadal beat number six Guillermo Coria of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.
For the first time in 10 years it was a different face that topped the podium after the men’s 200m breaststroke at the Telkom South African National Championships in Durban on Friday night. In the absence of Terence Parkin, William Diering took the 200m breaststroke gold.
A season of trials and tribulations for Orlando Pirates midfield dynamo Benedict Vilakazi has come to a characteristically traumatic and premature end. The Buccaneers’ website on Friday revealed that the player will be out of soccer for a minimum of six weeks due to a fractured ankle.
Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher was left in a positive mood in Imola, Italy, on Friday after setting the day’s fastest practice time ahead of qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix. The 37-year-old German topped the time sheets in the opening free practice session in a time that was unbeaten for the rest of the day.
Lamontville Golden Arrows have been slapped with a R50 000 suspended fine by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) disciplinary committee following crowd incidents at the recent PSL game that the Durban-based club lost 3-2 against Supersport United with nine men.
Tension soared in the capital of lawless Somalia on Friday as Mogadishu’s powerful Islamic courts declared jihad, or holy war, on a militia alliance widely believed to be backed by the United States. Thousands of terrified Mogadishu residents have fled their homes to avoid the expected violence.
About 200 white commercial farmers have asked Zimbabwean authorities to restore their seized land, a senior member of a farmers’ union said on Friday. ”I submitted close to 200 applications. Some farmers submitted their applications individually,” said Roy Gifford, vice-president of the white-dominated Commercial Farmers’ Union.
The family of former Zimbabwean opposition MP Roy Bennett has confirmed that he has applied for asylum in South Africa, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Friday. The Witness earlier reported that Bennett had claimed his life was in danger from state security forces.
African National Congress cadres should guard against the selfless legacy of anti-apartheid activists like the late Ellen Khuzwayo being overrun by self-interest, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Khuzwayo’s legacy should inspire ANC members to work selflessly towards the organisation’s strengthening
On a November Tuesday, just more than two-and-a-half years from now, Americans will vote for a new president, watched anxiously by the rest of the world. It is a long way off. There are congressional elections to get through first, later this year, and a new war could have started. But the campaign is already under way.