Today's other stories in brief
Arctic sea ice recovers after its record low
WASHINGTON - Arctic sea ice may have started rebuilding after reaching a record low, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre.
Arctic ice now covers 4,169,000sq km (1.61 million sq miles), the agency said yesterday, up a fraction from September 16th, which appears to have been the minimum.
The Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the coasts of Canada and Alaska remains open but is starting to re-freeze, the centre said.
The Northeast Passage along the coast of Siberia is closed by ice, according to the research co-operative. - (AP)
Pilots affected by toxic cabin fumes
LONDON - The cabins of commercial aircraft will be tested for toxic fumes after a report, backed by the British government, called for an investigation into whether pilots are being disorientated by poor quality air.
The UK Department for Transport hopes to begin tests this year after warnings from airline pilots and academics that cabin fumes are an under-reported problem.
The committee on toxicity said there was a "large body of anecdotal and descriptive evidence" linking ill-health among crew with poor air quality, but further work was needed to show if there was a definite link. - (Guardian service)
Supermarkets ran dairy cartel
LONDON - The four big supermarkets and dairies in the UK were accused yesterday of illegally colluding to increase the price consumers pay for milk, cheese and butter.
The UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it believed the firms broke competition law by fixing the retail price, leading to an estimated cost to consumers of £270 million. Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Safeway, now owned by Morrisons, were named by the OFT, as were processors Arla, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, and The Cheese Company, which is part of Milk Link and Wiseman. - (Guardian service)
Poland ignores EU ruling on cod
WARSAW - Poland will not impose fines on fishermen who break an EU order to halt trawling for cod in the Baltic Sea that is aimed at protecting the threatened species, a Polish official said yesterday.
The EU ordered Poland to stop fishing cod in the area, saying the country had misreported its catch and exceeded its allowed EU quota.
"The ministry is not talking the fishermen into breaking the rule but the ministry does not intend to punish them either," Krzysztof Gogol, a spokesman for the marine economy ministry, was quoted as saying. - (Reuters)
Georgia warning for Abkhazia
TBILISI - Georgia told breakaway Abkhazia it was "playing with fire" after a shootout yesterday in a disputed gorge in which at least two people were killed.
Abkhazia said it would reply with appropriate measures to the "act of aggression" by Georgia.
The clash took place in the Kodori gorge - a gateway to the Black Sea province of Abkhazia, which has enjoyed de facto independence from Tbilisi since 1993. A Georgian Interior Ministry official said that Abkhazian rebels crossed into the Georgian part of the gorge and opened fire on policemen. They fired back, killing two Abkhazian fighters. - (Reuters)
Five killed in tanker explosion
WILLEMSTAD - At least five people were killed in an explosion on an oil tanker under repair in the main port of the Caribbean island Curacao yesterday, a government official said. - (Reuters)