Sweden cuts speeds on ageing rail network

STOCKHOLM • Sweden will cut the top speed for trains on dozens of railway lines as the ageing network has become unsafe for fast travel, the country's rail operator said yesterday.

Maintenance authority Trafikverket warned that rail cables, tracks, signals and bridges on 69 main lines are so run down that high speeds have become risky.

In June, it recommended cutting the top speed on the express train between Stockholm and Sweden's second biggest city Goeteborg - the key rail link in the country - to just 130kmh from 200kmh.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Italy to set up military hospital in Libya

ROME • Italy will set up a military hospital and deploy 100 doctors, nurses and 200 soldiers in Libya at the request of the United Nations-recognised government in Tripoli, a government source said yesterday.

The hospital near the Misrata airport should be in a "safe location, but not too far from the battle zone", the source said.

Libyan forces aligned with the UN-backed government have been fighting to drive Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants out of their former stronghold of Sirte for months, but they have faced stiff resistance and suffered numerous casualties.

REUTERS

55 held in UK Sikh temple dispute

LONDON • British police have arrested 55 people and seized blades at a Sikh temple, following a protest against a mixed marriage.

Armed officers were deployed to the Gurdwara Temple in Leamington Spa, central England, early on Sunday after a group of men entered the building.

A total of 55 people were arrested for aggravated trespass in what police chief David Gardner described as "an escalation of a local dispute".

No one was injured in the incident.

Secretary general of Sikh Council UK Gurmel Singh said protesters held prayers and a sit-in to oppose the wedding.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE