- Tennis world No. 1 Swiatek hires stars' coach Fissette
- French Senate speaker 'astounded' by Macron 'ignorance' on Israel
- Israel strikes Syria, US pounds Huthis in Yemen
- India all out for record home Test low of 46 against New Zealand
- China says UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to visit this week
- Iran Guards chief warns will hit Israel 'painfully' if attacks Iranian targets
- Pakistan tottering at 43-3 in England Test after Bashir takes three
- Zelensky in Brussels to defend 'victory plan' at EU and NATO
- Markets mixed as China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting
- Climate-hit Pacific Islands plot landmark UN court case
- India collapse to 34-6 after opting to bat against New Zealand
- Israel strikes Syrian city, US pounds Huthis in Yemen
- Taiwan's TSMC posts sharp rise in third quarter net profit
- Pakistan's Sajid takes seven as England all out 291, trail by 75
- Kenya Senate to vote on deputy president's impeachment
- Bronski Beat's gay anthem 'Smalltown Boy' strikes chord 40 years on
- NATO to weigh Zelensky plan in US vote's shadow
- Trial into Brazil mining disaster to open in London
- Italy's Di Giannantonio to miss final two MotoGP for surgery
- Hard talk on migration expected at EU summit
- South Korea's Hwang Ui-jo faces four years in jail for sex video
- Israel pounds Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
- India slams 'cavalier' Trudeau in Sikh separatist murder row
- 'Love match' apps rival traditional matchmaking in Pakistan
- Asian markets rally but China's latest stimulus leaves traders wanting
- UN report says 1.1 billion people in acute poverty
- Vietnam death row tycoon awaits verdict in new trial
- 'Our time has come': the female Indian director hoping to make Oscars history
- Bondi beach 'closed' as Sydney shores hit by 'tar balls'
- Dodgers smash Mets to seize lead in MLB playoff series
- China to almost double support for unfinished housing projects
- King Charles heads to Australia, a nation shrugs
- China to boost credit for property market, renovate 1 mn homes
- New York fight back to take 2-1 lead over Lynx in WNBA Finals
- Family feud reignites over Singapore ex-PM's historic home
- ECB set to cut rates again as inflation cools
- Malinin, Sakamoto headline pre-Winter Olympics figure skating season
- Prospective Paris FC takeover could transform French football landscape
- Asian markets rally, with eyes on China housing briefing
- China's underground lab seeks answer to deep scientific riddle
- China toughens Taiwan stance over president's sovereignty defence
- BTS member J-hope discharged from South Korean military
- How Indigenous guards saved a Colombian lake from overtourism
- Despite threats, Florida abortion advocate fights on
- Garcia Luna: Mexico's 'supercop' turned cartel abettor
- North Korea says constitution now defines South as 'hostile' state
- Vietnam death row tycoon faces verdict in new trial
- Menendez brothers' family call for release as US prosecutors review evidence
- Fiery Harris vows break from Biden in testy Fox interview
- Fiery Harris claims break from Biden in testy Fox interview
Trial into Brazil mining disaster to open in London
A long-awaited trial into whether Australian miner BHP is liable for one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters opens in London on Monday, potentially triggering compensation totalling billions of dollars.
The High Court in London will over several months examine whether BHP was in part responsible for the collapse in 2015 of a tailings dam in Brazil that killed 19 people and caused huge damage to the environment.
The tragedy in the southeastern town of Mariana unleashed a torrent of almost 45 million cubic metres of highly toxic mining waste sludge, flooding 39 towns and leaving more than 600 people homeless.
The flood also killed thousands of animals and devastated protected areas of tropical forest.
The collapsed dam at an iron ore mine was managed by Samarco, co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale.
At the time of the disaster, BHP had global headquarters in the UK as well as in Australia.
A separate case in Brazil has seen Vale and BHP offer to pay almost $25 billion in compensation. Vale has offered to share any compensation BHP ends up paying as a result of the London trial.
Tom Goodhead, of law firm Pogust Goodhead that is bringing the case, told a news conference on Wednesday that the London trial was the culmination of a six-year legal battle in Britain.
"For a lot of the clients that we represent, this is their opportunity for accountability and for justice, putting aside any of the financial damage or the environmental damage which has been caused."
- Accountability -
The amount of damages sought in the upcoming civil trial is estimated at £36 billion ($47 billion), on behalf of more than 620,000 plaintiffs including 46 Brazilian municipalities, companies and Indigenous peoples.
"Such a thing cannot go unpunished," said Pamela Rayane Fernandes de Sena, whose five-year-old daughter Emanuele Vitoria was killed in the tragedy.
Speaking to AFP ahead of the trial, the 30-year-old said she was "not here for the money but to bear witness" to Emanuele's life, adding that she wished to remain "firm and strong" to obtain "justice".
"So I'm not going to give up," she said, calling the trial in London "(her) only hope".
The hearing, set to last until early March, must determine BHP's potential liability surrounding the disaster.
If found liable, another UK trial should take place from October 2026 to determine the amount of damages.
BHP argues the London court case is unnecessary because of the ongoing trial in Brazil.
The company estimates that more than 200,000 plaintiffs in the London case have already been compensated.
BHP adds that the Renova Foundation, which manages the compensation and rehabilitation programmes, has already paid out more than $7.8 billion in emergency financial aid.
The Australian giant additionally insists that the quality of river water contaminated by the fallout has returned to pre-disaster levels.
burs-ode/bcp/phz/sbk
L.Mason--AMWN