SUDANESE President Omar el-Bashir said on Friday that his government is working toward creating a strong Islamic state that will not succumb to any outside pressure. Despite much resistance, el-Bashir said that Sudan during his 10-year leadership has never deviated from advancing Islamic goals. A strong Islamic nation would lead the world to respect Muslims, […]

A GIANT portrait of an Egyptian Islamic militant executed for the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat will be unveiled in the Iranian capital on Friday. The picture of the “great al-Islambuli martyr” — Khaled al-Islambuli — is being painted by fundamentalists in a residential street named after the assassin by Iranian authorities angry over […]

DAVID MAGERIA, Nairobi | Friday 2.45pm SOUTH Africa faces a bitter trade war with its Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) neighbours over its aggressive sale of products on the continent while closing its own market, a Kenyan minister said. Kenyan Trade Minister Joseph Kamotho said on Thursday the 21-member Comesa will block […]

AT LEAST 200000 people regularly use the Internet in Nigeria, Nigerian Communications Commission chair, one OC Iromantu, said on Friday. Twenty-two internet service providers are active in the country, and many people access providers based outside the country, he said. Iromantu said Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is already the Internet gateway into West Africa […]

FRIDAY, 10.30AM: ERNIE ELS carded a pedestrian five-over-par 75 after the first day’s play at the US Open on Thursday, putting him nine shots behind the leader, Payne Stewart, who closed with three straight birdies to finish on a four-under 66. Qualifier Mark Carnevale, playing in only his second US Open, was one stroke behind […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | day 11.00m. MZUKISI Sikali, South Africa’s World Boxing Union Junior Bantamweight world champion makes the second defence of his title in Italy on Saturday night. The gutsy South African Southpaw will be facing Luigi Castiglione, the man he dethroned for the title last year. Although Sikali who’s record now stands on […]

SOUTH Africa coach Bob Woolmer confirmed on Tuesday he would not be available to coach England after the World Cup. In Cape Town the Western Province Cricket Association said coach Duncan Fletcher would be allowed to leave if he was offered the job as England coach. Woolmer steps down as South Africa coach after the […]

IN BRIEF AWB MAN UNSURE WHO HIS SUPERIOR WAS THE Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging had a top-heavy rank structure, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission amnesty committee heard on Friday. Nonetheless, Abie Fourie, one of 10 AWB members applying for amnesty for the pre-election bombings of 1994, did not know who his immediate superior was, or where the […]

AFRICAN Olympic chief Jean-Claude Ganga will lose his position as chief of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, following a change of rules made by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday. Ganga has been implicated in the recent scandals over bribery of Olympic officials.

THE Pan Africanist Congress said on Thursday some of the appointments to the new Cabinet were so surprising that they were “spine-chilling”. PAC spokesperson Wonder Masombuka said the appointments of Dr Nkosazana Zuma to Foreign Affairs, Patrick Lekota to Defence and Thoko Didiza to Land Affairs were of particular concern. The appointments appeared to be […]