Bomb alert stops train travel briefly in Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- High-speed train services from Brussels to Paris and London were briefly halted by a bomb alert Thursday after a suspicious package was found on a train in northern France.

Leen Utterhoeven, a spokeswoman for Belgian railways, said the Thalys train from Paris to Brussels was stopped near the town of Wannehain, about 140 miles north of Paris, and police removed the package. She said the train was expected to continue to the Belgian capital.

Passengers were evacuated temporarily, Utterhoeven said.

The alert briefly disrupted Eurostar trains traveling from Brussels to the Channel Tunnel link to London and along the Thalys high-speed link between Paris and Brussels. A spokesman for Eurostar in London said trains had been diverted onto an "old route" through the Belgian city of Tournai, rather than using the high speed line.

The Channel tunnel was not closed.

Foreign POWs can't sue Japanese companies

SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of people from China, Korea and the Philippines have been denied the right to pursue lawsuits in U.S. courts against Japanese companies they say enslaved them during World War II.

The lawsuits were filed by former prisoners of war who say they were forced to work in mines, dig roads and perform other hazardous duties.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said Wednesday that Filipinos could not sue because their country was a signatory to the Treaty of Peace, which had also been signed by the United States and Japan. He said allowing the suits to proceed could "unsettle half a century of diplomacy" between the nations that signed the treaty in the 1950s.

Utah polygamist appeals bigamy conviction

SALT LAKE CITY -- A self-proclaimed polygamist filed an appeal Thursday of his conviction on charges of bigamy and failure to pay child support after a judge refused to grant him a new trial.

Tom Green, 53, was sentenced on Aug. 24 to spend up to five years in prison for bigamy. He lived in Utah's west desert with five wives and 30 children.

Green had asked 4th District Judge Guy Burningham for a new trial but was turned down. He also asked the judge to release him from prison to prepare an appeal, but that request also was denied.

Green filed the appeal with the Utah Court of Appeals.

Green's case was the first to go to trial in the state in nearly 50 years. He had appeared on TV talk shows including Sally Jessy Raphael's to discuss his "original Mormonism."

Judge rules French ban on British beef illegal

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- France's ban imposed on British beef imports because of mad cow disease fears is illegal, according to a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice.

The court's advocate general said France must implement the European Commission's decision in 1999 to lift the ban on British beef imposed after a serious outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

A final verdict from the European Union's high court is not expected until later this year. Although the advocate general's opinion is not binding on the court, its panel of judges usually follow the ruling.

$80 million health care damage award negated

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- An appeals court overturned a nearly $80 million verdict against Humana Health Insurance Co. for improperly terminating treatment for a girl with cerebral palsy.

The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the lower court judge made a series of "glaring errors" in the case including not telling jurors they were not obligated to award punitive damages.

The parents of 10-year-old Caitlyn Chipps, who sued the company in 1996 when the girl was 5, can ask for a new trial to determine how much Humana owes the family.

--From wire reports