IN COURT

Lebanon to sue Israel: Lebanon is preparing legal action to sue Israel for damages over a huge oil spill, which occurred when Israeli warplanes bombed the Jiyyeh power station on the Mediterranean coast off Beirut in mid-July. The bombing spilled around 110,000 barrels of oil into the sea and has been described as Lebanon's worst environmental disaster. Officials of the Lebanese environment ministry estimate the cleanup cost at US $100 million, but the total loss is likely to be much higher once the loss from the tourism and fishing industries are taken into account. According to media reports, the Lebanese Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf said that Lebanon would pursue the legal action both at the UN and the International Court of Justice.

oil lease sale: The US interior department has told the US district court of Alaska that it is willing to withdraw sensitive wetlands from its planned lease sale. The wetlands in dispute form a large area in Alaska's western Arctic region. The department has asked for energy exploration to continue on other lands (see