■ VALLETTA. Malta police check Madeleine

sighting reports . Maltese police are investigating two reports that missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has been sighted on the island. Net Television, owned by the ruling Nationalist Party, said the reports were made by tourists on Saturday in Valletta.

A search in one location had proved fruitless but police were keeping a closer eye on departures from the airport and Valletta harbour. Madeleine disappeared from a Portuguese holiday apartment on May 3.

■ SANTIAGO Missing: Large lake in southern Chile. A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole. The lake was situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and was fed by water, mostly from melting glaciers. It had a surface area of between 4 and 5 hectares (10-12 acres) ? about the size of 10 soccer pitches. ?In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal ... we went again in May and to our surprise we found the lake had completely disappeared,? said Juan Jose Romero, regional director of Chile?s National Forestry Corporation.

■ BAGHDAD. Mortar bombs strike Green Zone. A barrage of mortar bombs hit Baghdad?s heavily fortified Green Zone on yesterday and several plumes of smoke could be seen rising near buildings housing the Iraqi parliament and government offices, Reuters reporters said. On the other side of the river Tigris, a thick plume of black smoke could be seen near the area where a suicide truck bomb partly demolished a Shi?ite mosque and killed 87 people on Tuesday.

■ LAGOS. Nigerian oil exports continue despite strike. Loading of oil tankers at Nigerian export terminals continued normally yesterday, the second day of a general strike in Africa?s top oil producer, ship agents and oil company officials said. Oil unions had threatened to withdraw key staff from the terminals yesterday to stop exports and exert more pressure on the government to reverse an increase in fuel prices. ?We are not seeing any impact on loadings at the moment,? a shipping agent said. The strike is the first major challenge for newly-inaugurated President Umaru Yar?Adua, who inherited the controversial fuel price increase from his predecessor, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo. It has paralysed most economic activity in Africa?s most populous nation, including general cargo ports, government offices, schools, banks and many private businesses. But unions have allowed essential operations in the oil industry, which is the country?s economic lifeline, to continue.

■ JOHANNESBURG. S.Africa court to rule on police joining strike. South Africa?s labour court was expected to rule yesterday on whether police, prisons and traffic officers could join an already crippling three-week public sector strike. The labour court issued an interim interdict last Friday prohibiting members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) from taking part in the industrial action. It also ordered POPCRU not to promote police involvement in the strike, which has highlighted divisions between the ruling African National Congress and its powerful trade union allies.

■ RUMOURS . US wants Blair as mediator for Middle East. The US government is reportedly considering offering Tony Blair a role as a Middle East peace envoy after he steps down as British Prime Minister.U.S. officials have already begun taking steps toward offering Blair a role as Middle East envoy for Palestinian governance and economic issues, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

If Blair accepts the role, he would focus on creating a new Palestinian state through international negotiations.