NEW DELHI, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - India could reach an out-of-court settlement with US giant Dow Chemical to clean up the Bhopal gas disaster site and end liability claims after more than two decades, a report said Monday.

India's law ministry said the move would clear 'legal hurdles' to future Dow Chemical investments in India by setting up a fund to clean up thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil along with other measures to resolve long-running lawsuits linked to the disaster, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

BEIJING, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in southwestern China after a huge landslide dammed a river, creating a menacing lake that threatened to burst, state media reported Monday.

The landslide occurred Friday when an estimated 500,000 cubic metres (18 million cubic feet) of mud and rock tumbled into a river near Guangyuan city in Sichuan province, Xinhua news agency said.

WASHINGTON, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Emergency services in the United States are ill-prepared to help one of the most vulnerable population groups, children, in the event of a disaster, the results of a study published Monday showed.

'Children are among the most vulnerable in a disaster situation; planning for their care should be a major priority of the emergency care system,' said the study, led by Steven Shirm of the University of Arkansas Medical School.

ZURICH, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - The world's largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, on Monday said that damage claims for natural disasters for the year were likely to nearly triple and cost the industry an estimated 35 billion dollars in 2007.

The global insurance industry suffered some 12 billion dollars in claims due to natural disasters in 2006, in what was regarded as a 'benign' year, Swiss Re said in a statement.

Swiss Re said its latest estimate marked a continuation of 'the long term trend towards high catastrophe claims.'

STRASBOURG, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - European parliamentarians on Tuesday called for an EU rapid-reaction force to tackle natural disasters, backing a similar call from Athens following devastating fires on Greece's Peloponnese peninsula.

The Eurodeputies, who approved the proposal through a show of hands, called on the European Commission to come up with 'concrete proposals.'

LONDON, Sept 1, 2007 (AFP) - The treacherous British bay where at least 21 Chinese workers drowned reopened for shellfish picking Saturday under tight new rules aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2004 disaster.

About 220 workers were out collecting edible cockles in the early hours as the new fishing season began in Morecambe Bay, north-west England.

Cocklers have been prevented from operating in the bay since May last year due to concerns over too many people being out on the highly dangerous sand banks.

TOKYO, Sept 1, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of people took part in disaster drills across Japan on Saturday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declaring a mock emergency with a huge quake about to hit the nation.

The exercise came a month before Japan introduces an early quake warning system nationwide.

The central government held a drill at the prime minister's office, assuming the meteorological agency warns that a massive quake will strike within days.

SINGAPORE, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) - Natural disasters are far more destructive than wars, and the damage will only worsen unless drastic change is taken to address global climate change, a former UN humanitarian chief said Tuesday.

'Already seven times more livelihoods are devastated by natural disasters than by war worldwide, at the moment, and this is going to be much worse, the way the climate is developing,' Jan Egeland told AFP after addressing the top governing body of the Christian aid organisation World Vision.

SYDNEY, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Asia-Pacific countries accounted for 90 percent of people affected by natural disasters around the world since 2000, the region's emergency management chiefs were told Monday.

Climate change and population growth were likely to increase the incidence and severity of the disasters, which already affect about 250 million people globally each year, said UN expert Terje Skavdal.