A round-up of today's other world news in brief ...
Court ruling sparks hope in Zimbabwe
HARARE – Zimbabwe's supreme court ordered the release on bail of a senior MDC official yesterday, his lawyer said, a sign political tensions may be easing in the new unity government.
Roy Bennett, who was set to become deputy agriculture minister in the powersharing government of president Robert Mugabe and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was arrested last month and charged with plotting terrorism.
Australia said yesterday it would provide funding to Zimbabwes new unity government, the first Western power to announce direct support to the new administration. – (Reuters)
Georgia withdraws from Eurovision
TBILISI – Georgia said yesterday it was pulling out of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow this May after organisers banned its song for taking a swipe at Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.
Broadcasting official George Chanturia said Georgia was withdrawing after refusing to change its song, entitled We Dont Wanna Put In.
Organisers of the 43-nation contest had demanded that the former Soviet republic ditch the song or rewrite the lyrics because they breached the rules by being political. – (Reuters)
Fuel leak delays ‘Discovery’ launch
CAPE CANAVERAL – NASA said it was postponing for at least 24 hours last night’s scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery because of a fuel leak.
The shuttle had been scheduled to blast off on a mission to finish installing the International Space Stations power system. – (Reuters)
Feminists storm beauty contest
LONDON – A university beauty contest descended into chaos as feminist protesters chained themselves to a nightclub entrance and stormed on stage. Police arrested eight women’s rights activists after more than 100 critics of the Miss University London gathered to protest. – (PA)