TBILISI - GEORGIA said on Tuesday it had peacefully put down a mutiny at a military base on the eve of Nato exercises in the former Soviet republic and accused Russia of backing an armed coup.
MEXICO CITY - THE swine flu epidemic cost Mexico's economy around US$2.3 billion (S$3.38 billion), Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said on Tuesday, as he detailed a stimulus package to counter the damage.
He told a news conference that the impact of devastated tourism, closed businesses and other effects was 'close to 0.3 percent' of gross domestic product.
PARIS - ANTI-RIOT police fired tear gas on Tuesday at prison wardens blocking access to France's biggest jail in a nationwide protest over severe overcrowding and staff shortages in the country's prisons.
ROME - THE risk that pork meat could carry the new H1N1 influenza virus is 'totally negligible', the United Nations food agency said on Tuesday, reiterating that pork and pork products were safe to eat.
Up to 20 countries worldwide have banned imports of pork and other meat in response to the outbreak of the new flu virus, according to documents from the World Health Organisation.
