UK - Musharraf rally draws Islamic protestors

Islamic protesters massed in a British city yesterday ahead of a rally addressed by former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf.

Up to 200 members of the political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir gathered in Birmingham to demonstrate against the ex-military ruler. Musharraf was set to address a rally of up to 1,500 people yesterday.

Israel - Mairead Maguire set to be expelled from Israel after losing her legal bid to avoid deportation

Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire is expected to be expelled from Israel this weekend, after she lost her legal bid to avoid deportation from the country.

Authorities had refused her permission to enter because she took part in an attempt to break the sea blockade of Gaza on board the Rachel Corrie ship in early June.

Italy - Missing balloonists are feared dead

Two missing US balloonists are feared dead after their craft suffered "a sudden and unexpected failure" over the Adriatic last week.

Organisers of the Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race said Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis, missing since Wednesday, were likely to have been killed in the tragic accident off the Italian coast.

UK - Readers' hotline set up over pulped novel

A publisher yesterday urged disgruntled readers to call a helpline after 80,000 copies of a new novel were printed with errors. The wrong version of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom was printed in the UK, meaning it was littered with mistakes. The new version is expected to be available early this week, with the initial copies to be removed from shops.