IRAN: Tehran said yesterday that it is scaling down plutonium production plans at its partially built heavy-water reactor, saying the facility will make smaller amounts of plutonium than required for a nuclear weapon.

Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said that instead of 22 pounds as initially planned, the Arak reactor will make less than 2.2 pounds.

The change of plans is part of a deal that Iran is negotiating with world powers to ensure its nuclear programme will not produce an atomic weapon.

WEST AFRICA: Low-level drug offences should be decriminalised in the region, the West Africa Commission on Drugs said yesterday.

It noted that drug cartels are undermining the region by using it to transit cocaine.

But the commission headed by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said the cartels should be tackled but that punishing the personal use of drugs does not work.

EUROPEAN UNION: The European Court of Justice ruled yesterday in the case of a German man’s widow who had claimed — as his heir — that she was due payment for 140.5 days of vacation he had not taken because he was on sick leave.

A German court had thrown out her case, relying on local law.

But the Luxembourg-based appeals court said European law supersedes national legislation.

SOUTH KOREA: Police raided the compound of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea yesterday for the second day in a row as part of a manhunt for a fugitive businessman Yoo Byung-Eun, who is wanted over April’s ferry disaster.

The raid into the sprawling church and farming complex in Anseong involved around 3,600 officers.

It was not clear if police had detained anyone after the second raid.

UNITED STATES: A European Union court upheld a €1.06 billion (£629 million) fine against US microchip manufacturer Intel yesterday for abusing its dominant position in the market for computer chips.

EU officials assessed the fine in 2009 after determining that Intel had awarded rebates to computer makers if they bought exclusively or mostly Intel-made CPUs.

Intel had sought the annulment of the decision but the EU General Court dismissed the action on Thursday.

GERMANY: A Berlin court ordered the government yesterday to pay the heirs of Jewish owners of a department store chain €50 million (£40m) compensation for property seized by the nazis.

The Berlin administrative court said that the Schocken family lost its chain of stores during the nazis’ so-called “Aryanisation” of businesses in the 1930s.

The family was paid about £15m (£12m) for one building in the 1990s.

PACIFIC ISLANDS: Pacific island nations announced plans yesterday to dramatically increase the fees they charge tuna fishing boats for the right to enter their waters.

Around half the world’s skipjack tuna is caught in waters belonging to an eight-nation group known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA).

Fleets from Europe, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan pay $6,000 (£3,500) a day.

But Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak said PNA nations plan to lift the day rate to $10,000 (£6,000) in 2015.

PAKISTAN: A Karachi court struck down a government order yesterday barring former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who faces treason charges, from travelling abroad.

The government has 15 days during which it can appeal against the decision. This means that Mr Musharraf can’t leave the country immediately.