DOZENS INJURED: At least 10 people were killed in the accident in which a passenger on the train said the driver of a truck failed to react until the last minute
A passenger train and truck collided at a rail crossing in southern Australia yesterday, killing at least 10 people and injuring up to 50, police said.

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CLASS WAR: A caste of farmers and shepherds went on a rampage throughout northern India in support of their demand to be reclassified as the lowest of the low
Enraged mobs from one of India's myriad lower castes blocked roads with fiery barricades, stoned police and battled rival castes across a wide swath of northern India for a week to make a single, simple point: They want to be even lower.

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Pakistani police said yesterday they had registered a case against about 200 journalists for defying a rally ban in the capital by protesting curbs on the media, the latest sign that the government has grown intolerant of coverage of a three-month-old political crisis.

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JOINING THE CLUB?: US ally Australia is evaluating the possibility of participating in Washington's missile defense system. The defense minister admitted the decision would be left to a future government
Australia is studying whether to participate in a joint missile defense system with Japan and the US, partly as a bulwark against regional threats such as nuclear-armed North Korea, its defense minister said yesterday.

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A 19-year-old Chinese soldier has died of the H5N1 bird flu strain, the country's 16th reported death from the virus, the WHO and China's health ministry said yesterday.

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NEW LAWSUIT: The central government's action is separate from civil and criminal cases against the firm filed by Kano state last month but stem from the same drug trial
The Nigerian government filed a lawsuit against Pfizer Inc, asking for US$7 billion in damages over allegations the pharmaceutical giant conducted a drug experiment that led to deaths and disabilities among children more than a decade ago, court papers showed.

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Former Liberian president Charles Taylor refused to leave his jail cell, the defense attorney got up and walked out and an interpreter interrupted proceedings.

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A grudging handshake on the White House lawn promised two peoples what they so desperately craved: for the Palestinians, a state of their own, for the Israelis, peace and quiet. Soon after, the two sides returned to violence.

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`DON'T GET SICK': Strikes by junior doctors, nurses and health staff have left public hospitals without enough people to treat patients, even those with minor ailments
Zimbabwe's health service is no longer in danger of collapse. It has collapsed, a doctors' group said on Monday.

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The armed Basque separatist group ETA said yesterday that it was ending the "permanent" ceasefire declared in March last year, accusing Spain of trying to persecute the group rather than negotiate with it.

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MORALE DOWN: A recent poll showed that US support for military operations in Iraq is dwindling, as is public regard for how the Democrats are handling the situation
Word of a new video claiming that three captured soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were killed in Iraq last month reached the gates of the Fort Drum Army base as some of their comrades prepared to return to war.

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EXPLICIT REQUEST: Prompted by the new French president, Bogota began releasing FARC members from jail on Monday, seeking reciprocity on the part of the rebel group
Colombia released a top guerrilla leader from jail on Monday, the first of at least 150 rebels the government planned to free in the hope of gaining the release of 56 hostages held by the leftist fighters.

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US President George W. Bush criticized Russia and China on democracy yesterday, saying the US would continue building relationships with those countries but without abandoning its values.

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Democratic 2008 front-runner Hillary Clinton candidly admitted on Monday her faith in God helped her survive her public anguish over former president Bill Clinton's infidelity.

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A federal appeals court opened the door for Missouri to resume executing inmates, ruling on Monday that the state's lethal injection procedure did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

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Nineteen Mexican soldiers were sent to a military prison on Monday after troops allegedly killed two women and three children whose vehicle failed to stop at an army checkpoint, the Defense Department said.

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■ RUSSIA
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