• The US and some of its allies plan to complain to the head of the UN nuclear watchdog about his proposal for Iran to retain some nuclear enrichment activities, a US official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said US and ambassadors from France, Germany and Britain - the so-called EU3 - this week were expected to visit Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and tell him his comments were unhelpful as major powers seek to persuade Tehran to end uranium enrichment.

• Cases of acute kidney failure and some deaths have been reported in patients using Novartis AG's iron overload drug Exjade, the US Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. The oral drug's effect on the kidneys has been an issue since 2005, when a US advisory panel voiced concerns and cautioned there were not enough long-term data.

• Four gunmen seized a Lebanese oil executive in Nigeria's southern city of Warri yesterday, the army said, taking the number of foreign hostages in Africa's top oil producer to 15. The attackers also snatched the Lebanese man's car and a gun was recovered at the scene. The man was a financial controller at local oil service company Nigercat, security sources said.

• A vanguard of European Union members could move ahead with closer integration if EU leaders fail to agree next month on a new treaty to reform the bloc's institutions, Italy said yesterday. Addressing the European Parliament, Prime Minister Romano Prodi appealed to the 27 leaders to reach a deal at a June 21-22 summit preserving the key features of the EU's stalled 2004 Constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters.

• The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will be more active than normal with 13 to 17 tropical storms, and as many as 10 of them could become hurricanes, the US government's top climate agency predicted. Of the seven to 10 hurricanes forecast, three to five will be major ones of Category 3 or higher with winds over 177 kmh, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its annual forecast.

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