Copiapo, Chile  - Spanish leader Carlos Sainz on Monday closed in on Buenos Aires and victory in the Dakar rally as he picked up his fifth stage win of the race.

There was was further good news for Sainz's VW team as Touareg team-mates Mark Miller and Giniel de Villiers finished the 537 kilometre ninth stage from the Chilean towns of La Serena to Copiapo in second and third place.

Athens/Nicosia  - Rival leaders seeking a solution to reunify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus will soon embark upon the complex legal issue of settlement and property disputes, where thousands of individuals stake a claim on property seized decades ago, UN officials said Monday

Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Chistofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat discussed relations between a federal government and the constituent states during peace talks on Monday.

Cairo  - A Hamas delegation and a senior Turkish foreign policy advisor returned to Cairo from Damascus Monday, airport sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ahmet Davotoglu, chief foreign policy advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was in Damascus for talks with Hamas in Damascus and with the Syrian authorities. He returned to Cairo Monday evening by private plane, airport sources said.

London  - The husband of drug-and alcohol-afflicted British soul singer Amy Winehouse confirmed Monday that he is seeking a divorce from the talented star on the grounds of adultery after a marriage that lasted less than two years.

Solicitor Henri Brandman, who is representing 26-year-old Blake Fielder-Civil, said in a statement: "I can confirm that I have been instructed to commence divorce proceedings on the grounds of Amy's adultery."

Lawyers for the 25-year-old singer Monday acknowledged receipt of the divorce papers.

Detroit  - Toyota Motor Co on Monday unveiled the third version of its best-selling hybrid car, the Prius, one day after Honda Motor Co launched a similar car it hopes can eat into Toyota's commanding share of the hybrid market.

The 2010 Prius, which Toyota says is more fuel-efficient than any other car on the market, was the highlight of this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a toned-down affair as automakers leave behind one of their worst sales years in decades.

San Jose  - Rescue teams had found the bodies of 18 people killed in last week's earthquake in Costa Rica by Monday, while over 100 others who suffered injuries have been rescued.

The quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale left a further 47 people missing, the Red Cross said Monday.

More than 1,300 people had to be taken to emergency accommodations in the area affected by the quake, 60 kilometres northwest of Costa Rican capital San Jose.