As overcast skies cleared on Tuesday above the grove at the ruins of Olympia, officials tested a burnished-steel mirror that will help light the Olympic torch using the sun’s rays at Thursday’s flame-lighting ceremony. Once lit, the Olympic flame will travel around the world, including its first trips ever to South America and Africa.
Defending champion AC Milan came back to beat Deportivo de la Coruna 4-1 on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Milan, who lead the Serie A and are looking for their seventh Champions Cup title, got two goals from Kaka and one each from Andriy Shevchenko and Andrea Pirlo.
West Indies captain Brian Lara and England fast bowler Simon Jones have been fined half their match fees after being found guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct during the second Test in Trinidad. Match referee Mike Procter said that Lara was fined for showing dissent to the umpires late on Sunday.
Liverpool have turned down property magnate Steve Morgan’s bid to pump £50-million into the club by issuing shares to the public. Morgan said on Tuesday the offer was turned down by Liverpool chairperson and owner David Moores and the board of directors of the Premier League club.
Chiefs rugby winger Roger Randle is almost certain to be ruled out of the rest of this year’s Super 12. However, unless the Chiefs get further injuries among their outside backs, they are unlikely to seek a replacement — a reflection of the calibre of wings available in New Zealand’s draft pool.
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An argument between Independent Democrats, including leader Patricia de Lille, and ANC members ended in a scuffle in an Upington hotel. The ANC claimed one of their members had his face slapped by De Lille. The ID leader, however, only went so far as to admit to a ”scuffle”.
Seventy suspected mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea were remanded in custody on Tuesday after their first appearance at an improvised court room at the maximum security jail in Zimbabwe where they are being held. Five charges were read out to the suspects on Tuesday.
A train derailed on Sunday in the south of the Central African Republic of Congo, killing 31 people and injuring scores of others, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. It was unclear what caused Sunday’s crash, which occurred about 150km south of the capital, Brazzaville.
The drafting of a new Kenyan Constitution that shifts considerable powers from the presidency to a yet-to-be-created post of prime minister formally ended on Tuesday after a six-year gestation, but opponents of devolution still have a few cards to play.