■ Belgium
Qaddafi visits Europe
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi made his first trip to Europe in 15 years, beginning with a visit to the European Commission in Brussels. He was scheduled to dine last night with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and meet business leaders and lawmakers before leaving today. Qaddafi's invitation resulted from what the EU called the "remarkable progress" Libya has made in recent months in shedding its rogue nation status, including abandoning its nuclear weapons program and settling the Pan Am-Lockerbie and UTA airliner bombing cases. Qaddafi has said he will seek full mem-bership in the aid and trade program the EU runs with its neighbors.
■ France
`Mona Lisa' shows her age
The Mona Lisa is showing signs of wear and worried officials at the Louvre museum in Paris have ordered tests to check the condition of Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old painting. "The thin panel of poplar wood, on which this mythical image is painted, is more warped than it was previously," the museum said in a statement on Monday. The Louvre has ordered an in-depth study to determine the materials used and the state of the painting, which is particu-larly sensitive to changes in temperature, it said. The portrait will remain on public view throughout. The tests are due to begin next year.
■ United States
Princeton limits top marks
Princeton University's faculty has approved a plan to combat rising grades by limiting the number of A's it awards to undergraduates. The faculty voted 156 to 84 on Monday to implement the plan, making Princeton the first US college or university to formally curb grade inflation by rationing A's, said a university official. Under the guidelines, faculty are expected to restrict the number of A's to 35 percent in undergraduate courses. For junior and senior independent work, the percentage receiving A's will be capped at 55 percent.
■ Colombia
IRA suspects to be expelled
Three alleged members of the Irish Republican Army who have spent more than two-and-a-half years in prison in Colombia were cleared on Monday of charges that they had trained leftist guerrillas. But James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were convicted of travelling with false pass-ports. They were sentenced to jail terms varying from 44 to 26 months, but the judge ordered their release upon payment of fines and their expulsion from Colombia. The trio were detained at Bogota airport on Aug. 11, 2001 as they prepared to leave after spending five weeks in southern Colombia.
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