Family of US chimp attack victim seeks $50M

The family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages against the primate's owner, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."

Attorneys for Charla Nash, who remains in critical condition, filed the lawsuit against Sandra Herold late Monday in Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut.

The suit also alleges that Herold gave the chimp medication that further upset the animal. Herold has made conflicting public statements about whether she gave Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, to Travis on the day of the attack. The drug had not been prescribed …

W. Germany copes with a surge in refugees

BONN Refugees seeking asylum, particularly Yugoslavs and Poles,are pouring into West Germany at almost double the record rate of1988, the government said Friday.

An Interior Ministry statement said 34,812 asylum-seekers wereregistered in the first three months of 1989 compared with 18,527 inthe corresponding period last year. A total of 103,000 arrived in1988.

About half the 11,235 people who arrived last month wereYugoslavs and Poles, followed by Turks, Sri Lankans and Lebanese.

The refugee influx has led to the emergence of anti-foreignerrightist parties in …

French football investigates discimination report

PARIS (AP) — French football officials strongly denied accusations of racial discrimination on Friday after a report claimed that the federation agreed to reduce the number of black and Arab players in national training programs.

An angry French federation president Fernand Duchaussoy and national team coach Laurent Blanc told separate news conferences that such a move was never discussed.

Investigative website Mediapart reported on Thursday that senior figures within the federation including Blanc approved proposals to limit to 30 percent the number of players of African and North-African descent once they reach 13 years of age.

Speaking in Bordeaux, Blanc called the …

Iraq: 13 suspects arrested in Baghdad blasts

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official says 13 suspected al-Qaida-linked insurgents are in custody as alleged planners in last week's deadly bombings in Baghdad.

The official says authorities believe the suspects are linked to al-Qaida in Iraq and helped mastermind the bombings that killed at least 127 people. They are the first arrests confirmed after Tuesday's blasts.

The …

Wright broke rules - report // 2 Dems join in ethics panel's stunning 8-4 decision

WASHINGTON The House ethics committee delivered a stunning blowto House Speaker Jim Wright by concluding that he improperly acceptedgifts from a business associate and evaded outside income limitsthrough sales of a book, congressional sources said Wednesday.

Behind closed doors, two Democratic members joined the sixRepublicans in a key 8-4 decision that Fort Worth developer GeorgeMallick, a longtime pal who gave Wright benefits, had "a directinterest in legislation," the sources said.

The powerful Texas Democrat's tangle with House rules was evenmore serious because two Democrats split from four other Democraticmembers of the committee to join in a bipartisan …

TEXTILE MANUFACTURER, NATIONAL PARK PARTNER TO RECYCLE

Plastic bottles collected from Grand Teton National Park will be converted into nonwoven fleece material used to manufacture high-performance environmentally friendly backing for carpeting and synthetic turf, thanks to a partnership between Universal Textile Technologies (UTT) and the park. Other partners in the "PET Park Project" include Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling, the United Soybean Board and CPE, Inc. UTT combines the recycled bottles with soybean-based polylols to produce its BioCel and EnviroCel Polyurethane backing. "Grand Teton National Park has proven its commitment to promoting beneficial environmental stewardship practices, and the PET Park Project is an excellent …

Belgium government collapses, divided over Dutch/French self-rule; King holds talks

Belgium's government collapsed Tuesday, unable to resolve an enduring divide over more self-rule for the country's Dutch and French-speakers. The gap was so wide the premier suggested the end of Belgium as a country was looming.

King Albert II immediately began political discussions with lawmakers to try to resolve the situation, talks expected to take several days. He did not formally accept the resignation of government offered by Premier Yves Leterme late Monday, so Leterme's government stays on in a caretaker capacity for now.

In an unusual declaration, the premier said Belgium's constitutional crisis stems from the fact that "consensus …