■ OLYMPICS
Torch to light up N Korea
The Olympic torch will pass through the capital of North Korea on its way to Beijing for next year's Summer Games. North Korea and China signed a formal agreement in Pyongyang on Saturday to allow the torch to pass through the city on April 28, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a report late on Saturday. Games organizers have planned a 137,000km torch relay route around the world, including a trip to the top of Mount Everest and visits to 20 cities on five continents. China is the closest thing North Korea has to a major ally.
■ GOLF
Wilson leads in South Africa
Oliver Wilson shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the South African Open. Wilson was at 4-under 212 going into the final round, with halfway leader James Kingston in second place. Garth Mulroy was alone in third, two shots back. Mulroy had the best round of the day with eight birdies for a 64 on the windy 7,394-yard Pearl Valley Golf Estates, to make up for an opening-round 80. Defending champion Ernie Els equaled his opening-round score of 77, after he had hauled himself back into contention with a 70 on Friday. Els had three bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine, leaving him in 44th place.
■ JIU-JITSU
Fighter found dead in cell
Ryan Gracie, a troubled member of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu dynasty, was found dead in a Sao Paulo prison cell on Saturday, hours after he was arrested on suspicion of theft, Brazilian officials said. The 33-year-old Gracie, who has competed in several international ultimate fighting events, was arrested on Friday after allegedly stealing a car at knifepoint, crashing it into a concrete wall and then trying to steal a motorcycle, police inspector Paulo Bittencourt told reporters. Gracie was a grandson of Carlos Gracie, one the creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. More than 40 sons and grandsons of Carlos Gracie and his brother Helio have practiced the sport, helping popularize it around the world. Bittencourt said that during the jail's morning roll call, Gracie did not respond. "When I went to his cell, I saw him lying on his mattress," Bittencourt said. "He had no pulse and a reddish liquid was coming out of his mouth." The Agencia Estado news service quoted Gracie's physician Sabino Ferreira de Farias as saying that at the time of his arrest, the fighter was under the effect of antidepressant and anti-psychotic drugs.
■ RUGBY LEAGUE
Former star wins damages
A former Aboriginal star and five friends have been awarded thousands of dollars in damages after they were refused entry to a pub because it barred blacks, media reported. Former Newcastle Knights player Brett Grogan was barred from the Sydney Junction Hotel in Newcastle, north of Australia's biggest city, with a security doorman telling them "your kind aren't allowed in," the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. Grogan, 34, now an Aboriginal liaison officer for the state police, said the incident in May 2004 was the worst case of racism he had faced. A government administrative tribunal awarded Grogan and five others, including two women, a total of A$15,000 (US$13,150) after hearing the doorman was ordered by a night manager to enforce an NCP, or "No Coons Policy.
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