Power, gas shortages put millions in cold

Snow and freezing temperatures Thursday deepened the misery in Georgia after cold and malfunctions shut down power stations. An explosion on a major gas pipeline that runs through the Russian border region of North Ossetia cut supplies to many regions. Millions were without heat.

President Mikhail Saakashvili cut short his trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to try to assuage anxiety. He said Iran had agreed to supply gas via Azerbaijan.

Residents formed long lines to fill kerosene canisters for portable heaters, while others brought valuables to pawn shops to scrape together enough money to buy heaters and kerosene, the price of which has increased sharply in Georgia. Still others could be seen cutting down trees and branches in the capital to burn in wood stoves.

Agent Orange suit

wins $62 million

A South Korean court ordered two U.S. manufacturers of the defoliant Agent Orange to pay $62 million in medical compensation Thursday to local veterans of the Vietnam War and their families.

The Seoul High Court ordered Dow Chemical in Midland, Mich., and Monsanto in St. Louis to compensate about 6,800 people. It was the first time a South Korean court has ruled in favor of people seeking compensation from the makers of Agent Orange.

The companies said in a joint statement that they will appeal the decision, which they called "contrary to the overwhelming weight of independent scientific evidence, which has not found a causation between exposure to Agent Orange and any serious human illness."

The herbicide was used to destroy jungle cover for communist troops during the Vietnam War.

Also

CIA investigation: A European Parliament investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons could ask Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to testify, although it has no legal power to subpoena them, a member of the panel said Thursday.

Passport ring: Colombia has dismantled a false passport ring with links to al-Qaida and Hamas militants, the acting attorney general said Thursday following 32 simultaneous raids in five cities. Nineteen people were arrested as a result of the operation, which was carried out in collaboration with U.S. authorities, the attorney general's office said.

Bhutto arrest sought: Interpol has issued international notices at Pakistan's request seeking the arrest of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, officials said Thursday. Bhutto, who was prime minister in the late 1980s and early 1990s, lives in exile in Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Compiled from The Associated Press