The World - Aug. 27, 2009

THURSDAY

Scottish authorities released Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan agent jailed for life for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103. Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said he was releasing al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer. al-Megrahi returned home to a hero’s welcome.

Four days after shattering the world record with a 9.58 in the 100 meter dash, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt clocked a world record 19.19 in the 200 meter dash at the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin.

Track and field authorities ordered a gender test for South African teenager Caster Semenya after she easily won the 800-meter gold medal. Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about whether she meets requirements to compete as a woman.

FRIDAY

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shut down four banks, the biggest of which was Texas-based lender Guaranty Bank, which had about $13 billion in assets and $12 billion in deposits. The failures brought to 81 the number of U.S. bank failures in 2009. The agency expects bank failures will cost the deposit insurance fund around $70 billion through 2013.

Chechen fighters said in a letter posted on a rebel website that they had used an anti-tank grenade to cause a disaster at a massive dam in Siberia last week presumed to have killed over 70 people.

Yemeni Mohammed Adahi, held since 2002 in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, must be freed because there is no evidence he belonged to al Qaeda or was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, a U.S. judge said in a decision published on Friday.

Veterinarians in Thailand have been teeming alleyways, armed with candy bags, to capture macaques monkeys for a sterilization program. At least half of the 1,500 male monkeys are expected to be sterilized as part of the program.

WEEKEND

The Spokane Shock took the Arena Football 2 championship Saturday, riding a huge second half to a 74-27 victory in front of an announced crowd of 5,846 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

A leaking Australian oil well is likely to pour oil into the Timor Sea for nearly two months before it can be stopped. Rig operator PTTEP Australasia said it planned to drill a relief well and pour mud to stop the leak.

A report from the CIA inspector general John L. Helgerson says U.S. interrogators carried out mock executions and threatened an al Qaeda commander with a gun and an electric drill, according to an internal report that provides new details of abuses inside’s the agency’s secret prisons.

Frenchman Sylvain Quimene won the 2009 Air Guitar World Championships in Finland. The 28-year-old, clad in a skin-tight golden leotard, impressed judges with his imaginary guitar solos and backflip moves. This year’s event featured 21 wannabe rockers.

MONDAY

Widow Elsie Poncher sold her husband’s burial crypt directly on top of film legend Marilyn Monroe’s final resting place for $4.6 million through online auctioneer eBay Inc. The auction opened earlier this month at $500,000 and attracted 21 bids before closing.

Bombs planted on two minibuses killed at least 11 people and wounded 12 near the usually quiet southern Iraq town of Kut.

TUESDAY

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. The decision, while widely expected, was welcomed by financial markets and policy makers around the globe.

NASA delayed a planned Wednesday morning liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery because of an apparent problem with a valve in its fuel tank. It was the second consecutive delay, after stormy weather postponed a launch attempt early Tuesday. Discovery and its seven-member crew were preparing for a 13-day supply mission to the International Space Station.

Early election returns showing Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a slender lead over challenger Abdullah Abdullah are misleading and it is too early to call a winner in the poll, said Richard Holbrooke, Washington’s envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

WEDNESDAY

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party who took the helm of one of America’s most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, died at age 77. Kennedy had been battling brain cancer which was diagnosed in May 2008.

The U.S. Postal Service is offering $15,000 buyouts to as many as 30,000 employees in an effort to cut costs. The move is expected to save as much as $500 million in the next two years.

Benton County Coroner Rick Corson has asked a forensic anthropologist to determine the age of a lower jaw bone found Saturday in the Columbia River.