Bulgaria said it was hopeful of an agreement with Libyan authorities on Monday that would pave the way for the release of six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. Prospects for the release of the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor appeared to rise after France’s first lady and a top European Commission official flew to Libya.
Police fired rubber bullets at protesting residents in Kliptown, south of Johannesburg, on Monday after being pelted with stones during a service-delivery protest. Police spokesperson Captain Phillomon Khorombi said the protesters were gathered at the Kliptown shopping centre.
Somalis are still streaming out of the violent capital, Mogadishu, with the amount of those fleeing outnumbering the ones returning, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Monday as daily attacks continue to convulse the city of one million.
Ireland hailed its new sporting hero, golfer Padraig Harrington, on Monday after he won the British Open by one shot at Carnoustie in a thrilling play-off with Spain’s Sergio Garcia. ”Harrington’s victory — the first by an Irish player since Fred Daly’s at Hoylake in 1947 — was the stuff of supreme sporting drama,” said the Irish Times.
South African striker Benni McCarthy illustrated why he was targeted by Chelsea with one of the goals in Blackburn Rovers’ 2-0 Intertoto Cup win over FK Vetra of Lithuania on Sunday. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho tried to lure McCarthy to Stamford Bridge last month but Rovers coach Mark Hughes refused to sell.
Australia’s Casey Stoner, on a Ducati, won the United States MotoGP in dominant style on Sunday to extend his World Championship lead. Stoner won the 115,52km race in 44 minutes and 20,325 seconds, finishing 9,865 seconds in front of compatriot Chris Vermeulen on a Suzuki.
Perched on the rocky southern ridges of Mount Bjelasnica, the Bosnian village of Umoljani is both new and ancient. Destroyed during the 1992 to 1995 war, its stone-and-wood huts have been rebuilt, as good as old. Its welcoming people, handmade artefacts and organic food are a window into the past and a hit with tourists seeking a different sort of holiday.
A showdown pitting human brains against artificial intelligence goes ahead on Monday evening when two professional poker players take on a computer in the world’s first such man-machine challenge. Phil Laak and Ali Eslami will play Polaris, the most sophisticated poker-playing program yet written.
All rounder Sanath Jayasuriya claimed his 300th one-day wicket to help Sri Lanka bowl out Bangladesh for 137 in the second one-day international on Monday. Jayasuriya claimed four wickets for 31 runs from 9.5 overs to become the ninth player in ODI history to take 300 wickets.
At least 10 people were killed, including two Iraqi policemen, and 15 wounded in two separate car bombings in different areas of Baghdad’s central Karrada district on Monday, police said. Television pictures showed a line of burning cars in a narrow street as residents and shoppers ran for cover.