by Veronika Oleksyn

VIENNA (AP)—An Austrian judge sent the case of a Black American mistaken for a drug dealer and tackled by an undercover policeman to a higher court June 24, saying the matter was too serious to be handled by a district court.

After a day of testimony from both sides and an expert witness, Judge Margaretha Richter decided she had no jurisdiction to rule in the case. It now goes to a provincial court.

ASSAULTED—U.S. citizen Mike Brennan, 34, from Jacksonville, Fla., enters the courtroom in Vienna, Austria, June 24.

The undercover policeman, who could not be identified under Austrian law, pleaded not guilty to assault but acknowledged that he used force to floor 36-year-old Mike Brennan in a Vienna subway station Feb. 11, 2009.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)—Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu said South Africans should take a moment to congratulate themselves on being the first nation on the continent to host the World Cup—and then turn to building on the good will and good publicity the tournament has generated.

DESMOND TUTU

At a news conference in Cape Town June 21, Tutu said international broadcasts from the the main event of the world’s most popular sport, have cast the nation in a good light and will boost its tourism industry.

Almost from the moment in 2004 it won the bid to host the World Cup, South Africa has faced questions whether a nation with high crime and poverty rates could host such an event.

(NNPA/GIN)—Recruited voluntarily or by force, child soldiers (boys and girls under the age of 18) are fighting in more than 30 conflicts worldwide—as combatants, messengers, porters, cooks or for sexual services.

The north African nation of Chad, with 450,000 displaced people in its eastern areas, is beset with child soldiers fighting for both government and rebel forces.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP)—Singer R. Kelly said he hopes his new World Cup anthem can inspire people in much the same way as his signature song “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Kelly’s new “Sign of a Victory” has been declared the official anthem for the World Cup. The songwriter said in an interview on June 9 that it carried a message of hope and triumph.

R. KELLY