Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy has warned his people that Western countries might invade Libya because of its sun, sand, seashore, dates, watermelons . . . and camel milk. "The Western countries might invade you one day because of your sun," he said in a speech on Monday marking the 28th anniversary of his rule.
"They don't have sun to produce solar energy, and Libya is a sunny country and is the best placed on the planet toward the sun."
After singing the praises of his country's dates and watermelons, the colourful colonel went on: "The camel is also a reason for them to invade Libya. The camel is unique because he can go for months without drinking. He also has good milk. In fact, why do you import milk from Europe when you have the camel's milk?"
World chess champion Garry Kasparov and arch-rival Anatoly Karpov have agreed in principle to play a title match outside Paris starting next month, a Swiss daily newspaper reported yesterday.
In a front-page article, the Journal de Geneve said the two legends would open a 22-game contest in Compiegne, France, on October 21st, with the winner taking home 10 million French francs (£1.1 million).
Kasparov, still considered the world's best player, last May suffered a stunning defeat by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. He wants to play the machine again before the end of the year in a winner-takes-all match.