A 12-YEAR-OLD chimpanzee was heading to a sanctuary in Brazil yesterday after animal rights workers discovered him smoking cigarettes to entertain visitors at a Lebanese zoo.

SHOWJUMPER Denis Lynch yesterday filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the provisional suspension imposed at the Olympics when his mount, Lantinus, tested positive for a banned substance.

Firefighters aided by dogs searched a huge crater for a missing minibus today, after the walls of a hole being excavated for a new subway station collapsed in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Customs officers today seized four kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of €280,000 at Dublin Airport.

A South African who imported almost €20,000 worth of cocaine into Dublin contained within 35 capsules he swallowed in Sao Paolo in the days preceding his flight to Ireland, has been jailed for four years.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan was arriving in Brazil today to attend the UN Conference on Trade and Development which promotes trade to help poor countries.