INDIA: An Indian court will consider today a federal police petition seeking to reduce charges against the former chairman of US-based Union Carbide over a gas leak disaster which killed 3,000 people.
The leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in December 1984 in the central Indian city of Bhopal was one of the world's worst industrial accidents and left many thousands of people with lifetime illnesses. Thousands more have died since the disaster.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought to dilute charges against Warren Anderson, the main accused in the case, from culpable homicide to a rash and negligent act, despite protests from thousands of survivors. - (Reuters)
Nepal arms deal shakes Brussels
BRUSSELS: The Belgian Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt, sought yesterday to calm concerns about his coalition's future after a cabinet minister resigned over a controversial arms sale to Nepal.
Mr Verhofstadt, who has led the Belgian six-party "rainbow" coalition of French and Flemish-speaking groups since 1999, said he regretted the departure of Health Minister Ms Magda Aelvoet. She resigned late on Monday because of "serious doubts" about the sale. - (AFP)
Beatification of pope considered.
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is to consider beatifying Pope John Paul I, who served just five weeks before his death in 1978, in answer to a call by 300,000 people around the world, a church spokesman said yesterday.
The Vatican will weigh up the life and work of John Paul I following a petition first launched in the pope's native diocese of Belluno in north-eastern Italy calling for his beatification. - (AFP)
Biological warfare acknowledged
JAPAN: A Japanese court recognised for the first time yesterday that Japan conducted biological warfare in China during the second World War.
But the Tokyo District Court rejected a lawsuit for damages filed against the Japanese government by Chinese people who said their relatives were killed in the germ warfare. - (Reuters)
Madagascar flu epidemic worsens
SWITZERLAND: The death toll in Madagascar's flu epidemic has surged in the past two weeks to 671, with reported cases nearly doubling to 22,646, the World Health Organisation said in Geneva yesterday. - (Reuters)
Foetus removed from boy's stomach
INDIA: Doctors in Calcutta have operated on a six-month-old baby to remove a dead foetus from his stomach.
A doctor said yesterday: "It was not a case of twins. It is a rare congenital disease. A foetus with a foetus inside it developed in the woman's womb." - (AFP)
Schmidt recovering after operation
GERMANY: Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (83) was recovering from an emergency bypass operation yesterday, after a major heart attack.
The University Hospital in Kiel said Dr Schmidt's condition was stable. - (Reuters)
Cuban fencers defect in Portugal
SPAIN: Two of Cuba's best fencers failed to leave for for home after world championships in Portugal, a spokeswoman for the Cuban embassy said yesterday.
The fencers, Elvis Gregory and Ivan Trebejo, did not show up when the Cuban team left Lisbon. - (Reuters)
Putin seeks visa-free travel
RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin urged the EU to adopt a visa-free travel regime with Russia to avoid isolating its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
The EU plans to require residents of Kaliningrad to get visas to travel to Russia through Poland or Lithuania after those two countries become members. - (Reuters)