The Lithuanian men's basketball team have clinched a spot in next year's Beijing Olympics. The team won third-place in the EuroBasket championship after downing Greece 78-69 on Sept. 16. The players arrived back home in Vilnius on Sept. 18 to receive more medals, awards and prizes from President Valdas Adamkas, who thanked the men for lifting Lithuania's national pride. It was Lithuania's first bronze medal victory at a EuroBasket championship, after striking gold in 1937, 1939 and 2003. Lithuania won the silver medal in 1995.
Defense Minister Juozas Olekas traveled to Kabul on Sept. 18 for a three-day visit to meet with his Afghan counterpart and top-ranking NATO officials. The Defense Ministry reports he will hear progress from the national army and discuss Afghanistan's security-related issues. Olekas is also scheduled to go on a trip to the Ghor province, where he will join Lithuanian troops in the Provincial Reconstruction Team and inspect conditions on the field.
A monkey at a private miniature zoo near Klaipeda has made friends with tiny feathered friend. A chick wandered into the male baboon's cage a month ago. Since then, the baboon has been playing with it and carries it around like a doll. Zoo owner Edvardas Legeckas told BNS that in their natural habitat, baboons usually eat small birds, rodents and plants. The strange friendship is not unusual at the zoo, where in the past a female dog has shared the same cage with a tiger cub.
Police and prosecutors in Klaipeda have launched a case with no precedent in Lithuania 's an attempt by a man to infect his ex-wife with HIV. The man, 36, is suspected of convincing an associate to inject HIV-infected blood into his ex-wife as revenge for her seeing another man. The accused reportedly obtained blood from a man with HIV and gave a syringe to his accomplice, who waited for the woman near her home and tried to inject her with it when she came outside. The woman managed to avoid the attack by hiding in a car. The incident is alleged to have taken place in May. If found guiltly, the man faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.
