PARIS

Libya offering $1 million to families of airliner victims

Libya has offered to pay $1 million each to families of the victims of a 1989 French airline bombing — more than five times the amount of a previous compensation deal, the head of an association of victims said Friday.

But that new proposal, made during negotiations that contributed to the recent abolition of U.N. sanctions against Libya, still is too low, said Francoise Rudetzki of SOS-Attentat.

“We have no intention of selling off the memory of our dead,” Rudetzki said at a ceremony honoring French victims of terrorism, held exactly 14 years after the UTA airliner exploded over Niger, killing 170 people.

Six Libyans, including a son-in-law of Gadhafi, were convicted in absentia by a French court and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing.

Libya already paid $33 million — or about $194,000 to each family — in a 1999 accord.

SAN FRANCISCO

Governor signs law adding to domestic partner rights

Gov. Gray Davis signed a domestic partner bill Friday granting same-sex couples nearly all the rights and responsibilities of married spouses.

“A family is a family not because of gender but because of values, like commitment, trust and love,” Davis said before a cheering crowd at San Francisco’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender center.

California already had domestic-partner laws, but the bill was designed to close the legal gap, to the extent possible under federal law, between homosexual and heterosexual couples.

The law, scheduled to take effect in 2005, will allow domestic partners to seek child support and alimony and give them the right to health coverage under a partner’s plan.

United Arab Emirates

Finance chiefs to ponder Iraq, terror funds, rich-poor gap

The head of the World Bank said Friday that recent U.S. estimates on the costs for reconstructing Iraq — up to $75 billion over three years — were probably close to the mark.

But as financial barons gathered in this one-time desert outpost for the bank’s annual meeting, bank President James Wolfensohn said he was waiting to hear from Iraqis themselves before releasing his institution’s own assessment.

“The most important intervention will be from Iraqis because it’s their country and we’re going to try and see if we can help them,” he said.

The World Bank and IMF meeting officially opens its first meeting in the Arab world on Tuesday, with a series of smaller gatherings beforehand.

TOKYO

Earthquake injures seven

A strong earthquake rocked the Tokyo area early this afternoon, injuring at least seven people and causing minor damage to some buildings.

The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 and was centered just east of Tokyo, was strong enough to sway buildings in the capital. Though damage appeared to be light, Japan’s Kyodo news service reported a temple wall collapsed, injuring seven.

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, had initially warned that the quake could cause tsunami, potentially dangerous ocean waves. But Japan’s Central Meteorological Agency quickly announced that was unlikely.