NUCLEAR DOUBTS
The future of Japan鈥檚 nuclear fuel policy is in doubt, following a landmark court ruling that the experimental fast-breeder Monju reactor should not be reactivated because it was built to flawed safety standards. The facility, 300 kilometres west of Tokyo, was to have been a prototype for reactors important for the Japan鈥檚 nuclear fuel recycling programme. But in 1995, while operating at 40 per cent of its capacity, it leaked a tonne of sodium coolant and was shut down.
US TESTS THE AIR
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The US government is about to start monitoring the air in major cities for biological weapons, by looking for bacteria and viruses in the air filters that now monitor pollution. Critics say that the system will miss bioweapons released in buildings, considered a more likely attack scenario, and could generate false alarms.
VANISHING HORSES
The seven remaining species of wild horse are in danger of going extinct. The threat comes mainly from human encroachment on the fragile desert or savannah habitats in which they live, says the World Conservation Union. At risk are the three species of zebra, three types of wild ass including the Tibetan kiang, and the ill-fated Przewalski鈥檚 horse, which is already extinct in the wild.