World digest

www.billingsgazette.com Friday, January 31, 2003

Ireland's government to ban smoking in pubs DUBLIN, Ireland -- A once unthinkable change is coming to one of the social hubs of Ireland: The pub is going smoke free. Bowing to health concerns, the government said Thursday that it will ban smoking from all workplaces including pubs, where a pint and a cigarette have long gone hand in hand. "This ban will mean a massive cultural change for people right around this country," said Health Minister Micheal Martin in announcing the new rules. In fact, the change is so significant that the government has given the public 11 months notice before enforcing the ban: the new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2004. In announcing the ban, Martin released a study that links second-hand smoke to cancer and heart disease in workplaces. Brazil starts project to feed 1.5M families BRASILIA, Brazil -- Brazil's new president launched his anti-hunger program Thursday with a move to provide $14 a month to 1.5 million families, most from the country's poverty-stricken northeast. While the stipend may seem insignificant, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's hunger task force estimated 46 million of the country's 175 million citizens survive on less than $1 a day. "The struggle against hunger is a fundamental step toward overcoming misery, poverty, a lack of opportunities and social inequality," said Silva, who as a boy dropped out of grade school to help support his family. He made hunger eradication his top priority during his Jan. 1 inauguration speech. "We are going to create the conditions so that everyone in our country can eat a decent meal three times a day, every day, without needing donations from anyone," he said. Rembrandt self-portrait found under painting AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Art researchers have identified a Rembrandt self-portrait that was altered more than 300 years ago into the likeness of a Russian nobleman, the Rembrandt House Museum said Thursday. The restored portrait shows the Dutch master with medium-length curly hair, a slightly upturned mustache and a beret. In it, Rembrandt's portrait has the familiar round chin and gentle eyes of many other self studies. The original portrait from 1634, painted when Rembrandt was 28, was later painted over, apparently by a student in Rembrandt's studio. The student added earrings, a goatee, shoulder-length hair and a velvet cap to make it appear to be a Russian aristocrat, said museum spokeswoman Anna Brolsma. Commuter train derails in Australia; 9 killed SYDNEY, Australia -- A train packed with commuters derailed during rush hour Friday morning outside Sydney, killing at least nine people and trapping others in the wreckage. All four of the train's cars lay crumpled or toppled along the tracks. Rescue workers were trying to extricate passengers from the cars in the rough terrain of a ravine 20 miles south of downtown Sydney. Nine people were confirmed dead and more were trapped in the wreckage, said New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr who visited the scene. The train, heading out of Sydney with about 70 people on board, was likely going about 50 mph when it jumped the rails near the village of Waterfall at about 7:30 a.m., emergency workers said.