World briefs

At least six children were killed when a school bus plunged into a river in the Indian resort of Goa.

Police divers and rescuers were searching the waters for another eight people still missing.

The bus went into the Kalvi River this morning about 18 miles from Goa’s capital Panaji.

Police say the driver lost control and jumped along with the bus conductor from the vehicle. Both were unhurt.

Police director-general Kishan Kumar said rescuers pulled the bus from the water and recovered the bodies of six children and one adult.

Seen searching bins for food

A mother in the US has been arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after a naked 12-year-old girl was spotted eating food out of rubbish bins.

Sheriff’s officials in Temecula, California, say when police responded to an emergency call on Thursday, they found the girl in a car where she was allegedly left by her 40-year-old mother, who was later arrested. Witness Dominique Prado told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that she and her husband were in their garden when they saw the girl rooting through a bin.

The girl is now in protective custody and was given medical care at a nearby hospital for unspecified ailments.

Prince’s life still in danger after avalanche disaster

Dutch Prince Johan Friso spent a quiet night in hospital but his life remains in danger after being seriously injured in an avalanche in Austria, the Dutch government said yesterday.

The 43-year-old second son of Queen Beatrix was rushed to the intensive care unit of Innsbruck’s main hospital last Friday after he was buried by the snow slide. He had been skiing off marked trails in the Lech winter sports region.

The government statement said: “His life is still in danger, but he had a calm and stable night.”

The Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad said the prince suffered serious oxygen deprivation after being buried for some 20 minutes but has no other major injuries.

32 accused in €1.9 billion Iranian bank fraud trial

A court in Tehran has begun hearing the trial of 32 defendants in a €1.9 billion bank fraud described as the biggest financial scam in Iran’s history.

State TV said Tehran’s chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi read the text of the indictment against the 32 accused, who attended today’s court session in prison uniform.

The semi-official ISNA news agency said Judge Nasser Seraj must go through 12,000 pages of documents before he can issue a verdict in the high-profile case.

Officials say the fraud involved the use of forged documents to get credit at one of Iran’s top financial institutions to purchase assets including major state-owned companies.

The first details of the case became public in September.

Huge blaze at BP refinery

Fire crews tackled a dramatic blaze that broke out at Washington state’s largest oil refinery, sending up towering flames and creating a thick plume of smoke visible for miles.

Workers at the BP Cherry Point refinery near Blaine were evacuated shortly after the fire started at about 2.30 p.m. local time on Friday in a tower on the refinery’s south side.

BP spokesman Scott Dean said the fire was put out 90 minutes later.The Bellingham Herald said about 100 evacuated workers gathered in a car park to watch the flames.

Mr Dean says all employees were safe and accounted for.

He could not say what the tower was normally used for or what it contained.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire or the extent of damage.