Indian coast guard tries to contain spill: The Indian coast guard

Indian coast guard tries to contain spill: The Indian coast guard on Wednesday spread chemicals in the Bay of Bengal in hopes of containing oil spilling from an Indonesian ship that sunk near the coast last week, officials said. The ship, hauling oil and soda ash used to make detergent, is "slowly sinking into the sand" around 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Calcutta, Indian Coast Guard Commandant R.K. Wadhwa said. "The ship has tilted 90 degrees to its right side under the water, and oil and soda ash from the containers of the ship spilled into the sea water Tuesday," he said. He said it was unclear whether the leakage was causing pollution, but said it "poses a threat to the marine life in the vicinity." -- AFP

Taiwan travel warning extended as SARS spreads: The World Health Organization extended its SARS travel warning for all of Taiwan on Wednesday as the island tried to stop the deadly flu-like virus spreading through its health system. Hours after giving the Philippines the all-clear, the UN health body urged travelers to postpone all but essential travel to Taiwan, which reported dozens more cases of the disease that has killed hundreds and infected thousands worldwide. Health officials reported 35 more cases on Wednesday, bringing the total on the island to 418. --Reuters

Pakistan has banned leading Kashmir rebel group: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Wednesday that Pakistan had banned Kashmir's leading rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin. Hizbul Mujahedin, based in the Pakistani section of Kashmir, is the largest rebel group fighting Indian rule in the Muslim-majority Himalayan province. Pakistan has denied it has banned Hizbul Mujahedin, saying it does not have the right to do so because it is not a Pakistani outfit. It has, however, banned a prominent extremist, Masood Azhar, from entering its zone of Kashmir. --AFP

Canada hunts for mad cow case origins, tests urged: Canadian vets said in Europe on Wednesday they were chasing down possible origins of the country's first mad cow disease case in a decade, which sent shockwaves through the North American food industry. Canada said on Tuesday it had found a case of brain-wasting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in the western province of Alberta but stressed that the affected animal had not entered the food chain. --Reuters

Russia signs treaty to track nuclear waste: Russia, the European Union and the United States on Wednesday signed a nuclear safety treaty aimed at cleaning up Russian atomic waste and stopping it from getting into the hands of militant groups. The Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation (MNEPR) treaty provides a legal framework for handling spent atomic fuel from, for example, decommissioned Russian nuclear-powered submarines. --Reuters