DOHA: A 23-year-old Nepalese World Cup laborer in Qatar died yesterday while working on one of the venues for the 2022 tournament, officials in Doha announced in a statement. An investigation has been launched after the man was killed "while working at the Al Wakrah Stadium project site", Qatar's World Cup organizing body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said. "His next of kin has been informed and the relevant Qatari and Nepali authorities have been notified," said the committee in a statement. - AFP

Riyadh frees Iran fishermen

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has freed three Iranian fishermen detained by the kingdom's coastguard last year, Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted an Iranian official as saying yesterday, following negotiations between the two regional rivals. Ardeshir Yarahmadi, the head of the fisheries department of Iran's Bushehr province, said the three fishermen were arrested in June 2017 after their boat drifted into the Saudi waters. They had been freed this week after "negotiations between foreign ministry officials of both countries", Yarahmadi said. - Reuters

Vienna 'most livable city'

LONDON: Austria's capital Vienna has beaten Melbourne to be ranked the "world's most livable city" in a new annual survey released Monday, ending the southern Australian city's seven-year reign. Vienna scored a "near-ideal" 99.1, beating Melbourne into second place on 98.4. Japan's Osaka took third place, Calgary fourth and Sydney fifth. At the other end of the spectrum, the five worst cities to live in were Damascus at the bottom of the table followed by Dhaka, Lagos, Karachi and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. - AFP

Free La Liga broadcasts

MADRID: Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and a host of La Liga stars will be beamed for free to viewers in the Indian subcontinent as part of a landmark deal with Facebook to broadcast live matches, the Spanish top flight division said yesterday. All 380 football matches of the new 2018-2019 La Liga season, which begins Friday, will be available to watch on the social media network in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, La Liga said in a statement. The deal will last for the next three seasons and will include pre- and post-match analysis programs. - AFP