While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 21 edition

Brussels airport bomber worked there for five years: report

One of the militants who blew himself up at Brussels airport last month had in fact worked at the site for five years until 2012, Belgium's VTM television reported on Wednesday.

It had already emerged earlier that Najim Laachraoui also briefly worked as a cleaner at the European Parliament several years ago.

He was one of two suicide bombers at Brussels airport on March 22 in coordinated attacks that also struck a metro station in the city, killing 32 people overall.

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Damien Hirst works leaked formaldehyde gas: study

Iconic works of art by British artist Damien Hirst involving dead animals preserved in giant tanks leaked potentially-dangerous formaldehyde gas during a show at London's Tate Modern gallery, it emerged on Wednesday.

Scientists testing a new sensor for the remote detection of the carcinogenic gas in the 2012 exhibition found levels above those legally permitted, according to a study in the journal Analytical Methods.

"It has been found that the tanks are surrounded by formaldehyde fumes, constantly exuded in the atmosphere (likely via the sealant), reaching levels of 5 ppm (parts per million), one order of magnitude higher than the 0.5 ppm limit set up by legislation," the abstract states.

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Mass murderer Breivik wins lawsuit over 'inhuman' treatment

Norwegian mass murderer and self-proclaimed Nazi Anders Behring Breivik on Wednesday won his lawsuit against the state over his "inhuman" solitary confinement in prison.

The ruling was greeted with surprise by the state's lawyer and some of the survivors of Breivik's bomb and gun rampage in 2011 that killed 77 people.

"The prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment represents a fundamental value in a democratic society," the Oslo district court said in its decision issued after hearing the case in March.

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German airport's secret emergency plan was on internet for months

A confidential emergency plan for Cologne-Bonn airport was posted on its website for several months, German broadcaster ZDF said on Wednesday, heightening concerns about security after attacks at Brussels airport.

ZDF said the document, which was over 230 pages long and meant for internal use only, included instructions on how to deal with natural catastrophes and air accidents at the airport as well as terrorist attacks, bomb threats or hostage takings.

The SITE intelligence group reported last month that Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had posted pictures on the Internet calling on German Muslims to carry out Brussels-style attacks at Cologne-Bonn airport and Chancellor Angela Merkel's offices.

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Brexit would prompt banker exit, hurt currency trading, City of London says

A British exit from the European Union would hurt London's status as a global financial centre because international banks could move away and euro trading would be hit, the City of London Corporation said on Wednesday.

Many financiers say a British exit would sap London of its wealth, hammer sterling, undermine the world's fifth-largest economy and prompt some traders to move their business to other financial centres such as New York and Singapore.

The City of London, which runs the only global financial centre to rival New York, formally backed Britain's EU membership last month though some financiers opposed what they said was a public foray into domestic politics.

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