■ United States
Church to pay sex victims
A judge granted preliminary approval to the nation's largest settlement in the church abuse scandal, authorizing a US$120 million agreement between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, and hundreds of victims of child-molesting priests and other employees. The decision announced on Tuesday by Judge John Potter makes immediately available US$40 million from diocese assets. The victims and the diocese are suing two insurance companies for the remaining US$80 million. The class-action suit was filed in 2003. It accuses the church of a 50-year cover-up of sexual abuse by priests and employees.
■ Spain
Better grip on bull-run route
Authorities in Pamplona have painted a special non-slip coat onto the streets where the city's annual bull-runs started on Tuesday, in an effort to reduce the number of people gored or trampled. The 850m route to the city's bullring, down which six bulls will run every morning for the next eight days, has been coated with an acid-based product designed to stop bulls and runners from falling over. "It is there, above all, for the bulls, so they do not fall as they go around the corners," a spokeswoman for the city said. Fifteen people have died in the event over the past century.
RSS